“Lin. We arrived at mercenary-city.” Bo An sounded so sad when she said that. Stopping his spirit-cultivation and opening his eyes... the boy could clearly see the huge amount of unwillingness within her eyes... after holding the young-girl's hand the great-sage said : “My Bo An. You’re strong in body, mind, and spirit. Don't start crying now or, I’d be the one to stop you from leaving me.” Lin tried to calm the young-lady of the Chentian clan who’s being very emotional right now and wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes—which from the look of it—are about to over-flood her cheeks! “En,” Bo An nodded once to affirm her so-called strength then held Lin's hand tightly while removing the remainder of her tears from the corners of her eyes with the sleeve of her other hand, “Let's go. I want to watch the sceneries outside, the three naughty and heartless "dummies" have already left a while ago.” Bo An tried her best to smile because she wants the last memory with Lin to be of them together to be happy memories... where she’s smiling and exposing the cheerful and cute side of herself not while she’s in tears and feeling sad.

“And go where exactly?”

“Humph. To have fun, of course!” The young-girl puckered her lips and clung to the boy.

After taking the young-lady of the Chentian clan outside. The first thing the great-sage noticed is the long line of carriages dragged by different kinds of beasts, people riding their mounts, and people walking on foot be that walking alone or with their families, travel-companions... this line extends all the way to the obsidian-black walls of this city! ahead and behind their caravan there’s other convoys while at the two sides of this wide road—which seems to be made from the same type of black-colored stones like the walls of mercenary-city—has teams of people moving back and forth in a... "predetermined-range" and they seem to be responsible for keeping a "close-eye" on the caravan-convoys currently waiting their turn in-order to enter mercenary-city. Each team consists of twelve people attired in some kind of black-colored armor—which looks very heavy and extremely sturdy yet none of them seems uncomfortable while wearing it during their duty—there isn't a single spirit-apprentice among these guards... the individuals with the lowest cultivation are spirit-disciples and are in the high stages at that! even the most weak-looking females among these guards seem much stronger than the spirit-cultivators amongst Wei’s caravan despite the major-realms and stages being identical when the boy made this comparison... there’s always three captains attired in silver-colored armor moving ahead of each team of black-armored guards. These small units are constantly walking in some sort of formation and every silver-armored captain is in the middle-stages of the spirit-master realm or... higher! ahead of each team—of fifteen guards which keeps patrolling the black-road—there’s a single commander who’s attired in a bright gold-colored armor however... most of these gold-armored commanders are sitting at the center point of the "sentry-area" that his patrol-team is tasked-with guarding it. Measuring the area each one of these teams is responsible to guard with his eyes... the great-sage noticed that each team is responsible for watching-over a distance of eight kilometers on this black-road! once any sign of issue, scuffle, or disturbance about to happen between any of these convoys or people for any sort of reason... these "troublemakers" would find one of these teams intervening to "calm" things down or... suppress them with force to maintain order among the crowds... meanwhile the other team-members at the other side of the black-road would split in two and spread  themselves on both sides to take care of the guarding duty.

“Eh! even the mercenary-groups that Wei hired are wearing an armor that’s similar to these guards.” Lin looked around and noticed Li Yang wearing a green-colored armor which twinkled under the light of the sun... meanwhile Chen Fu and his wife Ning Xue are wearing a golden-armor like the commanders of these teams of guards! there’s also a few other gold-armored people within the two mercenary-groups... the rest are wearing either silver-armor—which is the majority—or... black-armor—which is the minority—like little-Tong for example. “Their city-rules forces them to do so. The mercenary-guild forbids any guild-member to enter the city without wearing the armor they earned from the guild but, don't let the colorful-appearances of these armors fool you... the higher the rank of their guild-armor, the tougher it is to hurt these mercenaries! if you meet any of them in battle in the future? then, you'd immediately notice the difference between a mercenary that’s wearing his guild armor and any other spirit-cultivator. These armors are called dark-steel, deep-silver, heavy-gold, and crystal-tyrant armor. The mercenaries are ranked within the guild according to their armor and are titled likewise, dark-steel mercenary, deep-silver mercenary, and so-on it goes... beyond these ranks there's the cyan-warlord, blue-king, purple-emperor, and finally... the white-sovereign mercenary.” While circling his neck with her left hand... the young-lady of the Chentian pointed at the different colors of armor and began to educate the boy about mercenaries. “I see. Come, let's go up... I want to take a look at this mercenary-city from above.” After circling Bo An's waist with a strong arm and supporting her lightweight on his arms... the great-sage activated his martial-spirit and jumped up then began to fly directly upwards... while aiming to take a look beyond these extremely high black-walls and see the city where mercenaries live—according to the estimations of Lin—these black-walls extend upwards for almost ten kilometers in height yet... after flying much higher up than these black-walls the boy could only see a single building within these black-walls! that building is already extremely tall and enormous in size... it’s made completely from white-colored and extremely big stones—which could be noticed from all the way outside the city-walls—its location is directly at the center of this great-sized city. There’s a layer of white-fog beginning from around the center of that white-building and extending all the way to the black-walls... that white-fog is blocking the great-sage's sight and preventing him and the young-girl from seeing anything else inside mercenary-city besides the white-building! that white-fog stops on-top of the city-walls and doesn't spread outside that range at all... like a thick-layer of curtains that’s made from white-fog and covering the whole city... only the great-sized and extremely-tall white-building in the center of mercenary-city is allowed for outsiders to see. “Heh. You really thought that you could just take a peek inside the city because you could fly? of course there's going to be a protective and disguising-formations in such a large-sized city! see, that white-building over there... that's the tower, headquarters of mercenary-guild. Not even my grandpa is allowed to enter anywhere beyond the area where this layer of white-fog, upwards live the highest-ranked mercenaries in this spirit-world! they’re very, very... very dangerous people. So, if you want to see what's beyond these black-walls? then, you have to just enter mercenary-city like everyone else... after paying your entrance fees, of course. We should go down now, if one of these seniors who live at the higher-levels of mercenary-tower does find our actions to be... displeasing? then, we're going to be in some serious trouble.” Bo An smirked when she noticed how Lin squinted his eyes while obviously trying to take a closer look at this white-tower... the young-girl tightened her arms around the boy’s neck and gave him a great hug while enjoying the feel of being carried to fly! even when the young-lady of the Chentian is already experienced with what it feels to fly ever since she was a toddler... this time is completely different for her and Bo An felt like there's not a better feeling than right now since she’d being hugged by Lin and hugging the boy back while they both fly freely in the sky... such feelings of peace and tranquility... she’s not going to be receive any of it for a long while to come... unfortunately. “Hmmm. Alright, let's go down before we become an annoyance to anyone,” The great-sage kissed the young-girl’s cheek then flew back down and took a seat with the young-lady of the Chentian clan at the roof of their carriage... afterwards he began to spread his ability of soul-sense until it hit its maximum-range... when he couldn't find Frostine, Sun, or Fang Bo after looking everywhere within the fifteen kilometers from where his location Lin asked Bo An, “Where’s the kids now? did you see any one of them yet?” However... the young-girl didn't seem worried at all for the safety of their beast-companions! “Most likely, to explore the surrounding area. Stop worrying! they already promised not to cause any trouble, and to always stay in their cute-form while keeping their distance from strangers... of course I told them not to try and enter mercenary-city on their own, under any circumstances.” The young-lady of the Chentian clan spoke while slightly biting at her lower lip and began to run the tips of her fingers through the great-sage's long hair... Fang Bo would hurry towards her location at the first signs of danger or trouble happening to any of the beasts anyway... and Frostine is already strong enough to help the two others if they need help so... Bo An isn’t worried about the beasts right now. “You... won't be entering mercenary-city with us?” Lin pulled the young-girl towards him and hugged her tightly once he noticed the sadness in her eyes... seeing her nod slowly the boy continued : “Then, I won't be saying goodbye to you... you just keep yourself busy with cultivation and before you know it I’d be already knocking on the doors of your clan.” While kissing her again and again on the cheek... the great-sage patted her back with a soothing-rhythm and the young-lady of the Chentian clan began to sob in silence while clinging to his clothes ever so tightly with a death-like grip! “You promised, you’re going to come visit me before big-sister Mia... if you dare go to her first? then, I’ll never forgive you for breaking the promise. Humph, I won’t forgive her too.” Finally after a while Bo An began to calm-down... seeing calm-look inside Lin's gold-pupils and the boy staring in silence at the sight of the side of her face... the young-girl muttered these words very faintly in a whisper! when the young-lady discovered the amused smirk on the face of this kid after he heard what she said... Bo An became so embarrassment of herself after exposing her jealousy and hid her face in his long and soft black hair. It was then that she felt the great-sage's gentle kiss falling at the nape of her neck which tickled her and the young-girl began to giggle while trying to squirm and writhe from Lin’s hug. “Bo An is so, so cute! especially when she's... feeling jealous, oh no you won’t escape these hugs of mine because... you’re mine,” After whispering these final words in her ear the boy squeezed her slim waist and gave her a final warm and tight hug... then released the young-lady of the Chentian clan and pointed towards the three beasts who’re coming towards them, “look, the kids are already back.” Whenever the three beast-companions passed a group of kids there would always be some loud cheer that follow... that cheer is mostly made-up from various cute-names being given to the three small-sized beasts! girls and women are "awed" and "smitten" by the cuteness of these three animals... some "courageous" or maybe... "idiotic" boys would try to catch them however... the three demonic-beasts are not normal animals and could easily evade these attempts without being touched by any of the kids who caught thin-air with arms while avoiding being encountered with any especially strong individuals during their return. “En. Take care of yourself, love! Bo An is going to dream about you every time I fall asleep.” After whispering these daring words in his ear... Bo An pecked the great-sage on his lips and gave him a very fleeting yet very passionate and soft kiss! afterwards the young-girl released herself from his embrace very gently and turned on her heels then began to run towards Fang Bo... once she reached her beast-companion the young-lady of the Chentian clan took the silver-puppy into her arms and continued to run south parallel to the city-walls of mercenary-city. Even when she’s trying to hide her crying face from Lin... the tear-drops—which fell behind Bo An—betrayed the young-girl! the boy sighed inwardly and watched her move further and further from where he stood until the young-lady of the Chentian clan—who took care of him for months and entrusted him with her emotions of love and adoration—left the range of his sight and soul-sense.

“Buddy. What did you do to Bo An?”

“Nothing.”

“Yeah right! tsk, her eyes were so red... not to mention that she’s crying.”

“I noticed.”

“What are you doing standing there like an idiot? shouldn't you go after her and apologize for whatever that you did?” Sun jumped on his best-friend’s shoulder and kept tugging at the boy's hair and instructed him on what to do in this situation while adopting his "sage-mode" it looked very cute though.

“Hooit.” Frostine nodded her feathery-head while patting her talons on the great-sage’s shoulder—which made it seem like she's practicing some kind of tap-dance—the white-owl clearly agrees with the winged-tiger for once after hearing what he just said.

“You two really think that I’d hurt her feelings? unbelievable!” Lin saw the two demonic-beasts nod their heads so naturally because—in their opinion—since the young-girl was crying then... it’s his fault! “Listen well you two... idiots! the reason she's sad is because Bo An is leaving us, she’s going back to her clan.”

“That so?”

“Hoot!”

“Humph. Come, let's go see how Zhang's date went... I really hope that nothing wrong happened to the big guy.” Hearing these bleak reactions from his beast-companions caused the boy to slump his shoulders while feeling disappointment because... clearly he’s being judged right now by these pairs of yellow and blue-eyes! the great-sage just clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes at the ice and fire-pair on his shoulders because they’re trying to annoy him... then walked towards Zhang who’s taking advantage of this chance after the caravan stopped and went to train his physical-strength at an open-area outside the jurisdiction of the teams of guards towards the north at a location nearby the borders of the eternal-forest. Whenever one of the mortal families laid-eyes upon Lin they would all smile and give him greeting and welcoming-gestures however... the kids are an entirely different type of "breed" because... they quickly "swarmed" the boy and began to ask all sorts and kinds of questions! or... tried to pat and sometimes hold Sun and Frostine who don’t like these "mischievous" little-brats... at all. The mercenaries who’re now attired in their armor and the loose-cultivators who joined Wei’s caravan midway would cup their fists and greet the great-sage... meanwhile Qiang Chi brought Rong Qing with him and began to followed Lin once they found him leaving the caravan and rescued their kind young-master from the kids... shockingly enough... the former-assassin successfully regained two stages of the apprentice-realm during the short duration since Lin last saw him! Qiang Chi on the other hand kept giving the man—which the young-guard still thinks that he’s someone who’s terribly and extremely-dangerous—very envious looks.

Wei is currently in some kind of "argument" with the merchant that’s called merchant-Hao—which the fatty once kicked-out very ruthlessly and heartlessly alongside many other merchants midway through the journey and disbanded the alliance once the danger of the beast-wave was over—who’s seemingly blaming the fat and greedy merchant for that decision.

Zan Shui and Su Meiyin held the hands of the youngest-princess and looked towards Lin from afar before leaving the caravan ahead of the rest and went towards the city to enter on their own.

Li Yang and Chen Fu are very happy because they’re just a few hours away from completing their escort-mission... afterwards they can use their share of the solidified sin-energy and begin to develop their mercenary-group however they want.

Wang is busy searching for a woman for his best-friend before it’s too late! Lai is next to Wei and wishing if his own ears had some extra ear-wax within them to isolate this very silly conversation while plugging his ears with some of his earth-energy in-order not to hear all this "nonsense" from this group of very talkative-merchants—which got attracted by the loud voice of merchant Hao—soon afterwards the main-topic changed! the price of materials, market-trend, successful individuals and establishments, predictions, rumors... the blade-user really wanted to strangle fatso-Wei, merchant-Hao, and the rest of these long-winded merchants while shouting : "The fuck! are you calling this an argument? why don't you fat-fucks fight it out and get this farce over-with already? you, you, you... bunch of hypocrites! clearly none of you stands the feeling of being close to the other one, yet here you're... all of you smiling this greasy and obnoxiously-gross smile while exchanging ideas for profitable-ventures. You’re all a bunch of two-faced, wealth-addicted, sincere-pretenders, friendly-deceivers, and resourceful-imposters!"

Lin joined Zhang and began his morning exercise after dragging Chi and Qing to train their bodies... meanwhile Sun and Frostine watched from the side while enjoying the snacks—which Qiang Chi kept offering them during his break-time—then... the two demonic-beasts happily accepted the young-man and welcomed him after entitling him into becoming their servant! in the beginning the boy was very surprised after seeing Qing's really fast advancement in spirit-cultivation but... the great-sage attributed this speedy-advancement to the man being a spirit and devil-cultivator once before in the past... and really tried to suppress his feelings of envy after noticing the completely different standards of inherent-strength, speed, and reflexes this former-assassin currently have. Then Lin became so surprised once again when Chi activated his martial-spirit because... the young-guard’s skin-color, texture, body-height, body-features, and body-dimensions completely changed... the young-man practically transformed into some brown-colored bear that have very thick fur, long bear-like claws, and very long fangs grew on his upper and lower-jaw! this form—which helps Chi absorb an insane amount of damage from any hits he receives to his body—made the young-guard seem like... an invincible-being but—according to the former-general himself—he’s mostly immune to damage from blunt-weapon however... slashing, cutting, or such attacks from sharp objects does affect him slightly—that’s what caused all his previous wounds and left all these scars on his body—but attacks from blunt-weapons could almost be completely neglected and wouldn’t leave a scratch on his body... if these said-attacks don't surpass a certain degree of force? then... Qiang Chi was mostly just "killing-time" in these battlefields. When the boy attempted to use light-energy while facing Rong Qing in a sparring-match... the great-sage was completely suppressed and "very harshly" at that! to clearly mention what happened we need to note a small detail because... the former-assassin is someone who’s capable of using four different types of elements while naturally mixing soul-force in his attacks or... simply use it independently. Yes... when Qing used light or fire-energy he wasn't doing it expertly—like someone who’s used to his natural-affinities—and whenever the man tried to use chaos-energy he was only able to use a miniscule-amount of the energy inside his dantian-space because... the pathways of his meridian-system can't handle this extremely heavy and tyrannical chaos-energy just yet! however... the former-assassins is very experienced in usage darkness-energy already... his techniques are smooth and his abilities are fluid not to mention that he can mix darkness-energy very easily with his soul-force through the soul-nature of his martial-spirit... that enabled him to suppress Lin's light-energy—which didn't reach a "satisfying" degree of purity yet, for example like it's once before when the cloud-generals commanded the two armies of light-energy in his dantian-space previously—just by relying on his experience from years of fighting other spirit-cultivators. Qing was able to give the boy a "thorough-demonstration" of the difference between someone experienced and a "greenhorn-amateur" spirit-cultivator like himself... thankfully the former-assassin was still able to rely on the unlocked meridian-tunnels of his meridian-system—which allowed the man to use a lot of abilities including energy-armor—since he used to be comparable to a high-stage spirit-tyrant once before otherwise... Qing wouldn't have been able to suppress the great-sage like... at all! especially when Lin isn’t planning to create some distance between them—since it’s a sparring-match and the boy wants to test himself against the man who could use an element that’s three element-ranks higher than his light-energy—where it would be difficult for the former-assassin to follow the movements of the great-sage... right now—according to the judgment of Lin—Qing only lacks some cultivation-techniques that are suitable to his "new" and old natural-affinities so that he could fully develop himself while tapping-into all of his latent-potential. After sparring with Zhang, Chi, and Qing... the boy looked towards the line of carriages which shrunk by almost a half and disappeared inside the city now... on-top of some stone-poles that are made from the same black-stones at each side of the black-road there’s lantern-like decorations carved-on the stone-poles and have inside them some kind of white-colored crystals began to shine brighter one by one and lit-up the black-road once the darkness of night descended on spirit-world yet... there’ve been more caravans still joining the end of the carriages-line every couple of hours! and the great-sage began to wonder if they’re other caravans who managed to catch-up with their caravan since their caravan stopped a couple times once to rest and the other time to deal with Rong Qing.

“We should go. Wei and the rest must be about to enter the city, we shouldn’t delay them.” Lin said then took Sun and Frostine into his arms and began to walk towards the city-gate—which is quite a few miles away from their current location—before looking towards his left-hand side and saying : “So? big guy... hello! stop ignoring me, did you and little-Tong talk yet?” The boy asked then rolled his eyes before roughly poking Zhang with his elbow on the soft flesh of his side! “En. W-we did... yesterday.” the simple man seemed like he’s about to blushing when he answered but he tried to hide it by walking faster. “That's good... to know! come-on man, was it a short conversation or a long one? won’t you tell me even that? since when were you the type to keep secrets? what happened? spill it out already.” The great-sage smirked when he noticed how this muscular and strong man trying to avoid the topic and ignore him. “She was about to finish her shift and invited me to her carri-... never mind, nothing happened.” Zhang grinned while remembering what happened then... suddenly the earth and fire-cultivator halted his words and scratched the back of his head before trying to avoid the topic once again! however... his eyes fell at Chi and Qing—who were likewise very curious—behind Lin when he looked backwards. “I see. You two, go-on ahead of us. Here, take Sun and Frostine with you.” The boy handed one of his beast-companions to each of his followers and smiled when he found the two men giving the simple man looks of slight annoyance... still—despite their unwillingness—Qing and Chi ran ahead towards Wei's caravan like their young-master ordered and left him alone with the spirit-grandmaster to "enjoy" listening to what happened when Zhang had his first date! “No need to hide any details from me, you know that I'm a good keeper of secrets... right? big guy, I’d really hit you in the face if you leave me hanging... I could be very, very... violent you know.” The great-sage said so while munching on some snacks from his space-ring... they’re sufficient to satisfy his hunger—at least—until they return to the caravan where he could ask for an appropriate-meal to be prepared for him or... eat something inside the city at some restaurant however... the simple man clearly sensed how this "threat" from his little-friend isn’t "empty" at all. “Tong met me after I left your carriage yesterday and said that she wants to talk to me after her shift ends, since I wanted to get to know her better I... I visited her carriage like we agreed. You see, in the beginning I wasn't able to speak because I didn’t know what to say but... she held my hand and kept speaking about a whole lot of things. Then, gradually I found things to say when she talked about how hard it’s to cultivate... I just said what I know and expressed how I felt while trying to answer these questions. Before we knew it, it was already almost morning... Tong suddenly moved her head closer to me then kissed me on the lips and placed one of my hands on her chest. My mind just... blanked afterwards! when I woke-up to my senses, Tong was pressed beneath me while both of us are fully naked and... my penis was fully inside her body. I already know all about the acts between men and women—thanks to Wang—but, I could never ever believe him... he always said : "Doing these "naughty" actions would feel good." however, I could never imagine it to be "this" exciting!” While being apparently very spirited and full of excitement... the strong man fully narrated what happened and Lin laughed at the sight of Zhang's wide ox-like eyes when they widened and enlarged even further when he specifically mentioned his first "discovery" about sex! “Yes—according to what I heard and learned—doing that could make your heart stop or, make you feel like it’s going to burst! alright... enough of that, back to the important questions. So, do you like Tong? I don't mean the softness of her flesh and loveliness of her sweet body, you know what I mean and all that. What do you think about her personality, character, aura and halo?” The boy felt slight frustration because... this body of his is still short where he had to activate his martial-spirit in-order to pat Zhang's shoulder! then asked the simple man since he still needs to confirm that this honest friend of his isn’t going to break little-Tong’s heart... after all... the mist-cultivator does seem like she’s the individual who’s most vulnerable in this "budding" relationship. “I... really don't know! I’ve never tried doing t-that... with any female friend of mine before.” The strong man scratched the back of his head while looking up towards the sky... he really did seem at a complete loss of words! “That’s a surprise, I always imagined you as someone who doesn’t have any friends besides Wang, Wei, Lai, and old Tao. You really do have friends from the opposite-sex?” The great-sage muttered then looked towards the spirit-grandmaster and asked while doubting this detail. “I do, they just don’t like being near Wang because they say he isn’t faithful. But, I really don't mind spending the rest of my life with Tong... if that's what you mean by your question, I’m not very good when it comes to expressing my emotions. I’d rather express what I feel with my actions, I’ve always been that sort of person... I just hope Tong wouldn’t find much difficulties when dealing with me because I’m willing to make the effort to make things work between us,” Zhang's simple and straightforward answer caused Lin to smile and he decided to say no more, “They're already about to enter the city! let's go.” The earth and fire-cultivator noticed little-Tong waiting next to a carriage at the far end of the Wei’s caravan and his wide ox-like eyes twinkled in a different glow... before the strong-man left his little-friend behind and began to run towards his girlfriend after giving that excuse! “Heh. Honestly that one is really full of surprises, I never took him for a love-struck fool but... I got to admit that he looks very cute though.” The boy stopped and muttered to himself while watching this scene between these two... Tong smiled ever so cheerfully once she noticed Zhang who’s running towards her location and began to gesture with her hand before sneaking into some hidden location between the carriages and away from the prying-eyes of others! then... the young-girl took the spirit-grandmaster between her arms once he followed her and began to kiss him deeply... meanwhile Zhang held her butt with her big hands and raised her to a comfortable level and pressed her against one of the carriages... that’s when the great-sage decided that he has seen enough and cut-off his ability of soul-sense.

Looking towards the huge-sized city-gate—which is left wide open—then towards the other gate... yes there’s another gate right of the bigger-sized city-gate but... this one is much smaller in size! individuals would pass through the long-tunnels underneath the city-walls be that on-foot or mounted and rarely would they enter while riding a small-sized carriage however... one thing is in-common between all of the entrees... they’re either all alone by themselves or... they’re families who aren’t many in numbers. Through the left-most tunnel mortals would be the only ones to enter... while through the tunnel right next to it to the right cultivators would be the only ones allowed to enter and each of these two neighboring-tunnels is split in two parts where one part is for those entering and the other is for those exiting the city... the tunnel next to them is slightly bigger in width and split in four parts instead of two! two parts of the wide tunnel are for caravans and convoys entering the city while the other two parts are for those who which to exit... convoys entering the city are split in two lines of carriages before entering through each of these two passages even if all the carriages are from the same convoy! Lin noticed that the left-part of this wide-tunnel only carriages driven by mortals would enter while the carriages themselves only contain mundane-looking merchandise... meanwhile through the right-part of this wide-tunnel spirit-cultivators and mercenaries alike would enter by themselves or alongside some carriages... the boy concludes that these cultivators and mercenaries have the merchandise within some storage-items when he discovered a certain similarities between these people... for instance... they’re all wearing a lot of space-rings like Tang Wei or... the carriages they’re riding does contain items which the great-sage could sense spirit-energy from them... even the merchandize that contains the weakest strands of spirituality went through the same passage. The third-tunnel from the left have a single person manning it... that elder is wearing cyan-armor—which looks very light and seems like it’s some weightless-cloth—and apparently he’s enjoying his time there doing nothing! the man is even raising the cup of tea towards his lips to take small sips from time to time... he’s sitting underneath a small and very simple pavilion that’s made from four wooden-poles that are so thin and crooked they resemble fragile-twigs! at the top of these wooden-poles there’s a piece of linen that’s carelessly tied to provide some shade to this elder from the sun when there’s sunlight and shelter from the rain when there’s any... there’s also a small and short-legged wooden-table ahead of this man where his tea making tools and tea-cups are left. Next to this towards the right of the three tunnels there’s a strange monolith that’s made from a completely white-rock... the reason why the great-sage finds this monolith "strange" is because... for a short moment there Lin almost swears that he had the misconception that he isn’t looking at a rock but a gigantic-tree instead! the surface of this white-rock monolith looks very smooth and the lower-third of its total-size is rectangular in shape then it narrows gradually on the upper parts until the top where it becomes the narrowest-part... somehow... this monolith have some resemblance with the mercenary-tower at the center of this mercenary-city but... it’s only five meters tall nothing more so... there’s no comparison at all... this tunnel is completely open yet empty and there’s anyone seeking to enter or through it... from the looks of it... this tunnel isn’t split into parts like the other two tunnels and only allows people to enter because... there’s arrow-like tiles at the ground and walls of every tunnel pointing directions and this one only have one type of arrow pointing inwards towards the city. There’s also a couple more tunnels towards the right of the third-tunnel but... they’re blocked by colorful-stones beginning with black-stones at the first tunnel and white-stones at the final tunnel on the far right! looking up from where he’s standing the boy couldn’t help but notice the great-sized sign that carries the name of this city and the bold lines these words are written in caused the eyes of the great-sage to hurt him and he felt like they’re burning... his vision began to blur when he stubbornly tried to stare at the sign until Lin had to surrender in the end and accept his loss after hearing Kai snickering. Below that "annoying" sign there’s another sign that’s much smaller in size and it says: "west gate" and the boy quickly lost interest when he felt nothing strange from that sign after staring at it for a while but honestly... the great-sage only stopped trying to "challenge" that sign when the talking-raccoon couldn’t hold his laughter any longer and made fun of the "stupidly-amusing" brat! Lin lowered his head—while blushing from embarrassment—and looked towards the end of this empty third-tunnel then... towards this elder who’s smoothening his goatee while calmly sipped from his cup of tea seemingly without any care at all despite the hustle and bustle that’s happening right next to him at the two forked-tunnels.

“He's wearing a cyan-armor, then... he's a cyan-warlord mercenary. Does that mean this tunnel is only for individuals at the lord-level of strength to enter?” The boy crossed his arms and muttered faintly to himself while watching what’s happening inside mercenary-city with just his vision through window this tunnel is providing him then... he continued while looking at the blocked-tunnels : “Does it mean that these blocked-tunnels are for specific-people? like... kings, emperors, and sovereigns!” While scratching his chin... the great-sage looked upwards and frowned after remembering the white-fog that spans from city-wall to city-wall and blocked him from taking a good look at this city! then... looked towards Wei’s-caravan which is still just one turn behind another convoy until it’s their turn to enter before smirking slyly... afterwards Lin began to slowly walk towards the goatee-elder meanwhile the expression on his face is no different from any curious child who’s around his age... anyone would mistake the boy for some kid who’s being amazed by the new and different sceneries around him. “Hmmm!...” The goatee-elder underneath this "makeshift" pavilion raised his head to look at the boy who’s approaching him while feeling surprised then... he smiled faintly while raising his cup to take another sip... after discovering that his cup is already empty the goatee-man quickly filled it again and resumed his slow routine of drinking while watching the kid walk towards his direction. 'He’s looking everywhere around but... why does it feel like his eyes never left me at all?' The cyan-armored mercenary thought to himself while studying this little-boy with his eyes. “Greetings senior. This tunnel is empty, these two tunnels are very... very busy! while the rest of these tunnels are blocked, senior. Would you be so kind and enlighten an ignorant junior?” The great-sage cupped his fist and bowed politely when he was fifteen meters away from the goatee-elder's "shabby" pavilion then asked while straightening his waist.

“Y-you... idiot! senior Xiao Yan, this kid doesn't know the rules of-” Li Yang happened to look towards the right... right before the mercenary-leader led his mercenary-group to enter the second-tunnel with the caravan—which was about to enter the tunnel after it became finally their turn—but... seeing young-hero Ming standing in front of this warlord-mercenary at the entrance of the third-tunnel almost gave the lightning-cultivator a heart-attack! why? because... this is where only those who seek to challenge the trials and gain the approval of the awakened-soul of the everlasting-stone to enter or exit freely from mercenary-city whenever they want however... when the spirit-tyrant tried to warn the boy... Li Yang found this elder Xaio Yan smirk while looking directly towards him before smoothening his goatee then... that cyan-armored mercenary raised his hand up towards the mercenary-leader and the lightning-cultivator immediately closed his mouth while emotions of terror could be visibly seen within his eyes.

“Even mortals are allowed to challenge this trial. Since you’re here, why not test yourself? you're just a junior at the apprentice-realm so, it isn’t going to be life-threatening if you’re not stubborn! meanwhile, the difficulty of the trial itself is adjusted according to the challenger himself... kid. What’s your choice?” Xiao Yan looked Lin directly in the eyes before saying that... actually he was admiring the gaze within Lin's golden-pupils then decided to throw the bait just to see what kind of choice this boy would make after noticing a few dozens of spirit-cultivators stand next to or behind Li Yang! including Chen Fu and Ning Xue—whom the goatee-elder already knows—there’s quite a gathering of mercenaries... and another gathering of unknown spirit-cultivators who—judging by the look in their eyes—seem really worried about this kid... plus an even bigger gathering of ignorant-looking and confused mortals who’re watching from further back while trying to silence their very... very excited children and stop them from drawing attention! witnessing this sight caused Xiao Yan to become very eager in knowing what this "popular" boy is going to choose. “Since it’s a trial that’s adjustable in difficulty according to the challenger then, I would like to challenge myself with it. It’s going to be within the standards of ability those around my age have, right!” Lin looked at Xiao Yan directly right in the eyes without shying-away from his piercing-gaze then inquired. “En. This trial is a test, it tests the dormant latent-potential really... not fighting-experience or ability. That's why I said it isn’t life-threatening, unless you don’t know when to give-up that is! also, you don't need to worry about exposing the secrets of your cultivation while taking the trial either... all you need to do is... cross a predetermined-distance that begins from the entrance of this tunnel and ends at some point within it to pass. How far is this distance? that doesn't get to be decided by me, now... what is it going to be? are you real challenger? or... are you another "quitter" little boy.” After saying that the cyam-armored man raised his tea-cup to take another sip drink however... Lin didn’t miss the sly-gaze which Xiao Yan gave him after attempting to emotionally-manipulate the boy with these words! “Heh. Senior Xiao Yan is teasing this junior but, I'm not shameless-junior who would show his back to his seniors... especially after that senior wasted some of his precious time to give me this very "detailed-explanation" I accept the offer. Please allow me to challenge the trial of your city.” While smiling very confidently... the great-sage cupped his fist and firmly announced his wish out-loud to this goatee-man. “En. Good.” Xiao Yan gave Lin a nod while approving the extreme-confidence within this boy’s golden-eyes then... the cyan-armored mercenary got-up from his seat and slapped the white-monolith with a handful of his fire-energy... this fire-energy is bluish-white in color and within it the great-sage sensed the existence of a fire-intent that’s already many-times stronger than his own fire-intent... even stronger than the combination of the gold and red fire-intent! “Buzz...” A buzzing noise could be heard from the white-monolith then some sort of formation appeared on the black-floor of this tunnel in front of Lin... many colorful and colorless runes and formation-inscriptions appeared then disappeared before swapping-position from this place to that afterwards the combinations of runes and formation-inscriptions began to become very difficult for him to follow while just using his eyes until the workings of this formation became so unpredictable for the boy to try to even understand what is what!

Wei frowned because... this behavior from Lin is so "high-profile" and could make a certain amount of—possible "victims" to the fatty’s plans and schemes in the future to—people notice the boy long before he gets to fight within the fighting-arena... the sly and greedy merchant wanted the kid to just suddenly appear at the arena and become his "dark-horse" and like a "shooting-star" they both ride the escalating-wave of pure profit! before the group end this phase of their journey—where they have to disguise their identity—and let the "fake-team" continue with the Cheng clan’s trade-delegation all the way to the Sunrise-empire at the far away eastern-heights... while they themselves could finally sneak their way back into Tang-city and send the water-pearl to Wei’s ancestor Tang Jianyu... alongside some other surprises like the profits they're certainly going to gain after betting on Lin winning some fights... plus auctioning the red-bricks of solidified sin-energy.

Lai on the other hand was so excited since he’s going to be able to witness this freak-of-nature when he’s taking-on the famous trial of mercenary-city... despite this trial being very famous since like... a long time ago! not many individuals would attempt to undergo it every year... especially those juniors who belong to the same generation like this boy! because... once someone steps inside this formation... their bone-age would be very accurately-calculated then they’d be given the highest standards of difficulty within this age-limit... it’s often calculated and estimated to be the same kind of difficulty some great-genius who might not be alive today... said-genius could be someone who lived dozens of millions of years in the past and passed this trial before or... someone who couldn’t pass it yet... that person was the one who was able to cross the furthest distance ever in this test and forcefully set the bar in this age-limit that high! that’s why this trial is freakishly frightening because whenever the toughest and hardest record in that trial is broken... it becomes harder for everybody else within that age-limit... forever.

Wang has already gained some sort of "immunity" to these sorts of situations... now there’s some kind of "blind faith" and became a lot similar to Zhang in trusting the capabilities of Lin and his ability to break every common-sense that he once had before meeting the boy... the handsome-man was more busy searching among the crowds with his eyes for his best-friend... the ice-cultivator isn’t happy because he already noticed a few—possible-candidates— females who does seem to have a somewhat "acceptable-probability" in being accepted by the simple man! yet... the spirit-grandmaster just can't find the big guy everywhere he looks and became very befuddled by this weirdly-incorrect and illogical situation because... clearly Lin was with Zhang and these two fellows—who became the lackeys of this boy—however... all three of them returned except for the strong man. 'Something isn’t right here! something is wrong, very... very wrong.' Wang thought to himself before nudging the young-man who have lots of ugly crisscrossing scars all-over his body and said : “Qiang Chi. Hey! have you seen Zhang? do you have any idea where he went?" The handsome-man asked while looking around... thankfully this ice-cultivator being so distracted prevented him from noticing the expression on the face of the kid's follower before the young-man quickly reacted and managed to hide his emotions before saying : “Young-master Ming told me and brother-Qing to go ahead before him, he ordered us to do that because the young-master wanted to speak with senior Zhang privately.” Qiang Chi covered Sun's mouth to shut this little—nosy, mischievous, and troublemaker—demonic-beast up before it says anything that shouldn't be revealed then... the young-guard answered while looking towards his young-master who kept looking at the formation—which lit-up the black-floor of the tunnel ahead of the boy—but... in fact... the young-man was trying to avoid eye-contact with this senior Wang! because... Chi doesn’t trust his own capability in being able to endure it and keep himself from bursting in laughter if he looked at the handsome-man one more time... since the former-general and his brother-Qing the former-assassin did notice something happening between the carriages at the caravan’s-rear after their young-master Lin arrived.

Rong Qing just smiled when he heard this conversation and watched in silence while the ice-cultivator walked away and began to search for Zhang... then looked towards Sun—who kept glaring at Qiang Chi since he just dared to hold its muzzle and stop it from talking earlier—the orange-kitten hanged itself from the clothes of the young-guard at the chest-area and began to "swing" at him! with each lacerating-strike from its extremely sharp-claws... the winged-tiger would accurately cut a single strand of hair from the young-man's immature-looking and incomplete-beard yet... the person himself—despite being the victim—stood still at attention like a soldier that’s completely made from granite and never flinched once... while being on the receiving-end of these mind-games and being toyed-with by this beast-companion that belongs to his young-master... his keen-senses and superior survival-instincts warned Qiang Chi that his throat could become the next target of this demonic-beast... once he twitches the killing-blow would land immediately afterwards! simply because... Sun isn’t hiding his killing-intent and is making the former-general the sole target of it all. “Ho-hoot!” Frostine kept nodding its feathery-head repeatedly... seemingly to encourage this weak and stupid little-fellow—Sun—to keep bullying this young-man... sometimes her tone of voice would change because she’s trying to teach the red-tiger how to trim the young-guard's beard the "right" way! while perching on the shoulder of the former-assassin... the white-owl kept fluttering her wings—which caused a breeze of cool air to be spread everywhere around her in the surrounding area—from time to time to express her excitement... especially when the actions of the winged-tiger would scratch the surface of the skin and... draw some blood. 'Humans always hurt themselves while shaving, his face is also covered in scars... he’s just a servant too! he wouldn’t dare say anything, is he? humph, why should I care? his "beloved-pet" is the one doing everything anyway.' Frostine had these thoughts to comfort herself when the white-owl remembered what Lin told her once before after she bullied Sun however... even the ancestral-bird herself didn’t notice that she’s already subconsciously attaching herself to Lin and are holding some feelings of jealousy towards the winged-tiger! because deep inside Frostine longs for the time she gets to succeed in forming such a unique-relationship with this boy like the devil-beast in front of her.

Li Yang and Chen Fu immediately understood that there’s no way for them to change this situation... especially after senior Xiao Yan gave the lightning-cultivator the first warning... quickly afterwards both mercenary-leaders turned towards their captains and began to give them orders to lead the men and do their job of making the Cheng clan's caravan to enter mercenary-city smoothly without any complications and... to be quick about it! because... neither of the two mercenary-leaders wants to see the caravan of—greedy—merchant-Wei blocking or... even delaying the entrance of other caravans... since—according to their contract with the fatty—it could burden their lightning-spear and crushing-hammer mercenary-groups with a very... very "hefty" and an extremely ruthless-fine.

Now there’s only the three spirit-tyrants remaining outside the city-walls with Wei, Lai, Chi, and Qing... they’re the ones from the caravan who’re going to watch the boy when he begins to challenge this trial however... the great-sage didn't take a single step inside the tunnel and kept waiting! despite the confusion it caused others Lin was just waiting for Xiao Yan... waiting for the cyan-armored mercenary to give him the signal to begin to move... instead of overthinking or pressuring himself with anticipation... the great-sage just allowed himself the opportunity to enjoy watching and admiring this new formation.

Meanwhile the goatee-man is using his eyes to study every expression this boy made and wanted to see if he’s going to express or reveal some signs of becoming nervous or impatient yet... after Xiao Yan intentionally prolonged the time of wait and delayed giving the start-signal to this kid... the cyan-armored mercenary only got to see Lin calmly wait and wait without showing displeasure nor worry at all! “Alright. You can start now, once you step inside the borders of this formation then you should wait for a while without moving—at least—until it calculates your bone-age... afterwards all you'll need to do is cross the area that’s being lit-up by the formation itself to pass this trial.” The goatee-man raised his cup to take another sip then gave Lin the "green-light" to start while making himself sound like he’s lazy and doesn’t care about the result however... Xiao Yan was really anticipating this trial. “Thank you.” Lin cupped his fist again and slightly bowed towards the elder then turned and took his first step inside the borders of this formation... the boy sensed a gentle stream of attribute-less neutral-energy on his skin and didn't resist against it or prevent it from entering his body... it happened before when the great-sage used the testing-tool back on Wei’s-ship! after this weak strand of neutral-energy moved everywhere inside his body it exited quickly after extracting some blood from the great-sage and went back towards some node of the formation before disappearing... then the formation below his feet began to glow very brightly in a blinding gold-colored light... then that color got altered from the gold-color to the red-color... then it became silver-color... green-color... then finally it became a white-colored glow before dimming-out completely. It was then that the goatee-man began to look at the boy and give him a completely different type of appreciation... this time the cyan-armored kept looking at the kid—who's standing inside the trial's formation—and admired his talent while suppressing his own feelings of disbelief and hid them deep... a slightly faint residue of these emotions could be seen inside the eyes of this elder now! while smoothening his goatee... Xiao Yan tried to make an estimation of this boy’s talent according to the brightness of each colorful-glow the formation made earlier... unfortunately this formation is directly controlled by the "key-holder" of this mercenary-city... the true-master and current owner of one of the everlasting-stone’s replicas. The strongest mercenary, individual, and white-sovereign within mercenary-city and the entire southern-continent... the most formidable white-sovereign among the few white-sovereigns who once choose to take the mercenary-city at this southern-continent and make it their own base of operations! “Om!...” Once again the formation-inscriptions below Lin’s feet seemed to become alive and began to brighten the black-floor of this tunnel ahead of the boy for a hundred of meters however... seeing this happen caused the cyan-armored to actually frown! 'Judging by the looks, shape, and size of his body he's—at least—eight or... eight and half years old. Judging by his character and attitude he's—at least—fifteen years old! yet, after the formation actually measured his bone-age... he's still much younger than what I thought he’d be! how could he be just seven years old?' The goatee-man looked at the boy while felling like there’s some kind of "explosion" currently happening within his own head where many of his thoughts got entangled because of it... then Xiao Yan decided to just ask before the kid began his trial and said : “Kid. How old are you?” The cyan-armored mercenary wanted to confirm that there's nothing wrong with the formation as well as his own mind... because—according to his own judgment—someone who looks and seems as old as this kid... should—at least—receive a trial that’s a couple of hundreds of meters! “Replying to senior. I believe that I am about six years and six months old, give or take a few days maybe... my age shouldn’t fluctuates more than a couple of weeks over or under that limit. So, should I begin to move? or, is there something wrong with this formation?” After looking towards this elder... Lin decided to answer with the truth even if it might complicate things a little for their group later.

“Eh!” Li Yang.

“Huh!” Chen Fu.

“There’s no way this brat is this young, right? he’s like, nin-... no. he’s—at least—ten or older!” Ning Xue’s mouth gaped and she kept tugging at the arm of her man who’s the same like her and feeling disbelief.

Qiang Chi and Rong Qing became surprised like everybody else yet... it filled these two with pride after knowing the age of their young-master.

'Young-master Lin is a real genius, he does have unbelievable prospects.' The former-assassin thought while imagining a future where he and his young-master capture the short old man together.

'Just what kind of insane amount of potential does he have within this small body of his?' The former-general thought while making sure that he doesn’t move any muscle of his body because... Sun is still playing his "game" of trimming the young-guard’s beard.

Wei on the other hand just sighed so deeply while feeling at a loss for words because... the more people knew certain pieces of detail about his brother-Lin... future-probabilities of these people actually betting against the boy when he fights in the arena would become a lot less! the fatty felt like his heart is being squeezed by a cold hand when his imagination hovered towards the missed opportunity of making a huge amount of profit alongside the pleasure of it all... the greedy-merchant always had this feeling of pure-bliss whenever he snatched food from the jaw of his opponents by outwitting them in this game of wealth however... conning the big-gamblers within this mercenary-city is becoming less probable to happen now... the probability has been going down ever since this boy appeared in front of that strong mercenary.

“Go-on then... junior, give it your best.” After getting a firm hold on his tumultuous-emotions... the goatee-man gestured for the kid to move forward and begin his trial however... this time—judging by the tone of his voice—Xiao Yan seemed to be encouraging Lin! the boy nodded then looked towards the far-end of the tunnel ahead of him before taking his first step forward within the formation... once the sole of his right-foot touched the black-floor of this tunnel... the great-sage felt like his overall-weight of  forty-eight kilograms instantly increased and became one-time heavier. “Gravity huh,” Lin muttered faintly to himself then continued to walk forward while mentally calculating the additional-weight that’s burdening his body after each step forward, “One ton... one and half... two tons, hmmm! there's a difference at this point... the suppression of spirit-energy is replacing the pressure of gravity. So this formation isn't just all about gravity-pressure, there's spirit-pressure as well huh... interesting.” After crossing the mark of ten meters... the boy sensed the difference and began to smile widely while moving forward. 'Just watching sweat fall from his forehead and splash against the floor below his feet, seems to be the most exciting thing ever for this kid... his fighting-spirit is burning! I can feel it clearly, who’s this boy?' The cyan-armored mercenary thought while feeling his own fire-intent reacting to the actions of this young-kid however... the goatee-man just doesn’t know that this is exactly the type of exercise which the great-sage feels like his body really needs right now... carrying two tons worth of weight and getting suppressed by an increasing gravity-pressure of two tons are... two completely different things actually! when spirit-pressure is added to the mix of this trial... it means that Lin can get an extremely accurate estimation of his capabilities when it comes to his physique and spirit-energy... that’s why he’s loving and enjoying this trial already. 'What kind of little-monster have you found Yan? this brat, he's enjoying this pressure!' Xiao Yan had this thought then shuddered when he imagined the junior-version of himself being placed under similar suppression that splits into two phases of pressure that comes from two fronts one followed by another... gravity-pressure then spirit-pressure! remembering the red-color—which appeared earlier right after the gold-color—the cyan-armored mercenary is certain that this boy have the natural-affinity towards the element of fire just like himself. While the elder that’s called Xiao Yan was formulating a plan to recruit this kid and take him under his wing and make him his personal-disciple... Lin just crossed the mark of twenty meters and stopped for a few seconds to feel the new difference. “Now it's the suppression of soul-force that’s being added to the mix of alternating pressure, still... this pressure is so weak that’s almost laughable! sadly, the gravity-pressure has disappeared after the ten meters mark... it reached the weight of three ton. Meanwhile spirit-pressure never fluctuated after reaching a certain limit it didn’t increase at all.” While murmuring these words to himself... the boy continued to walk forward step by step while fending the soul-pressure away from his soul-world effortlessly! the great-sage felt slightly worried about how his martial-spirit would perform in this trial since almost all the gaseous-clouds of light-energy inside his dantian-space are "fresh-recruits" cloud-soldiers... even the best armies are considered useless if they’re without a commander. 'Such light-energy isn't pure or disciplined at all, they’re unlike the two armies when the cloud-generals drilled them into a single united front... "RIP" dear generals. Curse senior Kai all you want, he’s the "supreme-commander" during that "suicide-mission" he’s the one to blame not me.' Lin thought while taking a step forward after reaching the mark of thirty meters... the boy sensed some kind of ethereal-suppression that’s trying to get inside his body and this suppression seemed really sneaky and hard to prevent from entering no matter how the great-sage tried to guard himself! however... when all attempts seemed to fail... the two types of fire inside the glass-heart at the right part of his chest suddenly reacted... they stirred-up like a pair of beasts inside a cage then rose to this challenge... the gold and red fire-intent began to fight and push-against this foreign, elusive, wily, and illusory-pressure.

“Eh! t-this... there’s no mistake, that’s the energy of weapon-intent... specifically fire-intent! the boy doesn't only have the natural-affinity towards fire-energy but also fire-intent, excellent... just excellent. He's mine, this kid is mine... mine! he’s going to become Xiao Yan's personal-disciple in the futur-... tsk, why would they come at such time if not to seek trouble?” After sensing fire-intent from Lin's body... Xiao Yan smiled widely because he's the person responsible of this shift when guarding this tunnel... since he’s the commander of this trial then... this cyan-armored mercenary is allowed the right of taking the "first-pick" whenever he discovers any promising-talents among those who attempt the trial on this side of the city-walls! this goatee-man is commonly-known for his search for talented-juniors to introduce them to the high-rank members of mercenary-guild... while doing so he’s also searching for a junior who shares the same types of natural-affinities and talent towards fire-intent to take that junior and make a frightening personal-disciple in the future however... right after Xiao Yan found that junior... the cyan-armored mercenary sensed the aura that belongs to some of his friends and a few others who’re responsible for overseeing other trial-tunnels. While frowning very deeply... the goatee-man really wanted to find the loose-tongued asshole who leaked the news about this boy and give him a few tight slaps on the face just to vent his current frustration! “Fuck! I promise to find-out who sent the word about someone undergoing the trial at my tunnel, just wash your face and wait for me to... later is soon to come for you all,” Xaio Yan looked towards the teams of mercenaries at the western-gate and voiced this warning out-loud—which caused the knees of a couple of mercenaries to feel weak—then turned to look towards the boy within the tunnel, “Nobody is allowed to snatch this kid away from me, let see them try.” While grinding his teeth... the cyan-armored mercenary raised one of his hands and a spirit-barrier that’s made from blue-colored fire-energy covered the area around the entrance of the trial’s-tunnel.

That action from the elder caused the audience to frown... especially the friends and acquaintances of this boy because... the show was suddenly stopped and so abruptly at that! but... Xiao Yan—apparently—doesn't give a single shit about all that... he’s being obsessed since others began to stick their noses into his business.

Wei and the rest of the great-sage’s companions decided to go wait at the other side of the tunnel while hoping to get the opportunity to watch the trial. However... the procedures they have to take before entering mercenary-city aren't to be skipped under any circumstances! otherwise the authority of mercenary-city would be immediately implemented... if they’re lucky? they would be thrown into the dungeons after the "disciplinary hall" of mercenary-guild is finished "investigating" their group. If their "transgression" is more severe? they would be served a more severe punishment or... they would never be allowed to leave at all! most likely... this location of the southern-continent would be their "resting place" forever. By the time the fatty’s caravan underwent the inspection and his entourage reached the opposite side of the city-walls... the trial was over and Lin's fate was decided.

.........

In front of the blue-colored spirit-barrier.

“Ara! Big-brother Yan... you’re not giving me any face at all, I heard that there's some kid who’s attempting the trial. I even had to skip one of my massage sessions to personally come and see it for myself.” A slightly old-looking woman who’s wearing a similar cyan-armor with a white-colored cape clasped to her tiny shoulders spoke with a wounded tone of voice—which caused the corner of Xiao Yan eyes to twitch when he heard her—that woman has signs of startling-beauty... a beauty which began to fade and fall under the effect of the ruthless and cruel "time". White-cape fluttering behind her back... that woman stood outside the fire-barrier and smiled widely while patiently waiting... she didn’t say anything else and from her expression she seemed confident that Xiao Yan wouldn’t neglect her.

“Big-sister Huang is already here! tsk... it seems your "news-source" is better that mine so don’t forget to hook me up later, I’m still your beloved, cute, and cheerful little-sister. Say, where's the boy who wants to take the trial?” Another woman appeared and seemed a little disheartened in the beginning then asked the older woman for a favor right after she arrived... this new arrival did seem a lot younger and much more livelier compared to the older woman who seem calm and serene like a gentle breeze... after hearing the question from the younger woman this old woman only smiled and shrugged the first request with a small gesture from one of her shoulders then pointed towards the fire-barrier, “Stingy, stingy, stingy. Humph... big-sister Huang I’m ignoring you until you share with me, Eh! this... big-brother Yan this isn't fair. I want to see, I want to see, I want to see. Let me in, let me in, let me in.” After the young-looking woman in cyan-armor declared her stance to her big-sister... she looked towards the trial-tunnel and seemed to finally figure-out what is really going-on in this situation! this young-looking woman kept banging on the fire-barrier with both hands while shouting her demands and acting no-different than a spoilt brat... despite how light and careless these actions were... the spirit-barrier kept rippling which revealed how strong this young-looking female really is.

“Sister Huang, sister Ting... why did Yan create a barrier?” Another woman in a cyan-armor arrived and asked while touching the fire-barrier which fluctuated harder and harder under the hands of Ting... in a split second the blue barrier regained its previous shape exterior calm.

The young-looking woman who’s called Ting latched herself on the neck of the newest arrival and began to complain with a sad tone of voice : “Big-sister Jia! you see... your stupid, stinky, and heartless-man. He’s refusing to let me watch, I want to see the boy... I was told that there's a kid who’s attempting the trial, but your husband is blocking us outside.” Taking advantage of the situation... Ting made it seem like Xiao Yan is a bully in the eyes of his woman which made the man himself feel like his head is almost about to exploding from anger when he heard what she said from inside the spirit-barrier.

“I see. Little-Ting... you're not trying to drive a wedge between me and my man, are you?” While gently patting the head of the young-looking woman... Jia slowly asked Ting and squinted her eyes while smiling "dangerously" at her fellow cyan-warlord.

“I-I'm not! Big-sister Huang... help! husband and wife are bullying me.” Suddenly sweating and feeling a cold shiver on her spine... Ting tried to smile yet her words failed her! quickly fleeing from Jia like wind itself... the young-looking woman hid herself behind the old woman and stole peeks to confirm if she’s really in trouble while covering herself with the white cape.

“The party started without us huh, it seems like brother Yan is serious about protecting that boy, does this mean that he’s going to take the kid as his disciple?”

“It’s about time he takes one for himself really, he's the only one among us who doesn't have any disciples under his care.”

“Brother Yan used to be the most talented one amongst the seven of us... unfortunately his heart-demons restricted his cultivation for a long time, whenever I think about it and remember the days when he used to have the greatest chance of becoming a blue-king... sigh.” Two old men in cyan-armor arrived together... one of them short and bulky while the other is tall and thin. The one who spoke first was the tall cyan-warlord and the short one replied while seeming to agree with every each and every word being said by his closest friend and nodded seriously while bringing-up the matter of Xiao Yan having no disciples at all.

“We once had something that’s better than any disciple once... alas, other’s "jealousy" and the "hearts" of people are two things which I could never understand. Welcome elder Feng and elder Yao. You’re both welcome to join the three of us and wait or... go back and rest, little Jia would certainly come and visit later to report the events of today. Even I his wife am being left outside like everyone else.” Jia said calmly while retrieving a chair from her space-ring to sit outside the spirit-barrier however... what this woman said caused the mood between the few spirit-lords to become a bit dark and a lot heavier! even Ting—who was acting like a child earlier—sighed and brought a chair to sit right next to Jia then held her hand... Huang sighed and did the same while Feng and Yao shook their heads in regret then sat in silence in-front of the blue-fire spirit-barrier.

This "stifling-silence" caused the rest of mercenaries who are currently operating the other tunnels and supervising the incoming visitors to do their work while being as quiet and efficient as possible! after all... just a few dozens of meters away from them there’s five mercenary-warlords. If such mighty individuals are staying silent? then... they being the much weaker individuals and them being the group of much lower social-status... better keep it that way.

The ones who felt delighted by this unexpected change were the people waiting outside the city-walls and want to enter mercenary-city! inspections became a lot faster and what usually would take ten minutes to be completed would be over in just one... the only sound to be heard on the west-gate of mercenary-city would be the sound of clopping when the demonic-beasts dragged the creaking carriages to enter or exit the tunnels... even these demonic-beasts seemed to become mute and silently moved without daring to breathe aloud.

“Sigh... like usual brother Xiao’s bearing is so decisive and apathetic, giving his own wife and fellow colleagues such an unfair treatment. No wonder his dao is so unshakeable, admirable indeed.” Another person in cyan-armor arrived outside the spirit-barrier and said these words seemingly complimenting Xiao Yan on his firm actions yet... his words sounded like they’re dripping pure ridicule! after hearing these words it caused the five mercenary-warlords to frown while giving this man who just arrived very contemptuous glances.

“Says you? brother Ma overestimates this Yan a bit too much... I just didn't want to leave you my lifelong rival out of this surprise and reveal my new disciple to them before you arrive, I wanted you to witness it too. Maybe your dao would solidify after seeing some "unexpected" scenes.” Xiao Yan answered from inside the spirit-barrier with a cynical tone of voice... he seemed to enjoy this moment.

“Well. If brother Yan would allow it, then... this Ma asks you to give us brothers and sisters this opportunity to broaden our horizons.” Mercenary-warlord Ma raised an eyebrow because he didn’t expect such a provocative-answer from his rival... then contained his emotions and cupped his hand while asking on-behalf of the group.

“All of you come in and take a look.” Finally Xiao Yan created a small opening on his spirit-barrier for his colleagues to enter while feeling deep and heartfelt gratitude inside his chest for the boy! why? because... if the kid was taking this trial seriously since it began? then... maybe everything would've already been over long before this "disgusting" and "arrogant" fellow who’s called Ma arrived.

.............

When the six cyan-warlords entered the spirit-barrier Lin was at the sixty meters mark.

The degree of suppression this boy experienced changed almost completely from the moment he reached the halfway-point of this one-hundred meters trial... at the fifty meters mark the great-sage didn’t only experience a suppression of gravity, spirit, soul, intent, or faith-pressure but... the pressure became a fusion of two different types of energy! in the beginning the suppression of energy-fusion was clearly not a pressure that’s done "expertly" however... each step Lin took forward on the ten meter area the pressure of the energy-fusion became perfect until the boy reached this next mark at sixty meters. Instead of experiencing a harsher suppression of both gravity and spirit-energy being fused... the great-sage sensed how the mixture of suppressive-pressure changed into a different combination between spirit-energy and soul-force! like before the suppression of energy-fusion was crude and flawed... gradually with each step Lin took forward the fusion between spirit-energy and soul-force would become better and better. 'I see. From zero to ten it’s gravity-pressure which kept increasing until it was replaces with spirit-energy, soul-force, weapon-intent, then faith-energy. The trial forces me to undergo suppression after suppression from different types of energy in a singular form in the first-half, meanwhile from the mark of fifty meters the trial changes and the point is to show me the fusion between different types of energy from amateur-fusion to expert-fusion while trying to suppress me with these different combinations every ten meters.' The boy understood what kind of trial he's taking and continued to walk forward step by step while accepting the baptism of spirit-energy and soul-force and a stronger fusion... of course the great-sage noticed the growing audience and the arrival of small gathering cyan-armored old people and ignored them. Since Lin already have Kai who’s—at least—like a "thousand-times" stronger than these people... if any of them wanted to harm the boy while the talking-raccoon still has a need for the great-sage? then... all of them combined wouldn't be able to touch a single hair on Lin’s head... if Kai doesn’t want to interfere? then... the boy wouldn't be able to avoid getting bullied by this group no matter what happens. If so is true in both scenarios? then... there's no need for the great-sage to overthink things and dwell-on whether or not these cyan-warlords are a group of people who could possibly be his enemies in the future or not... simple facts in this situation encourages the boy that he should better focus on how the two types of energy are being fused because... the great-sage already has each and every one of these different types of energy already! the problem of how to fuse his energies without harming himself has always been haunting the thoughts of Lin for a long while now... besides soul-force and weapon-intent... weapon-intent and spirit-energy or the even more difficult fusion between spirit-energy, soul-force, and weapon intent... the boy have practically no control over his qi-vitality. Not to mention the much more elusive type of energy... the faith-aura—which is according to Kai’s—belongs to the great-sage and is massive in size! Previously during the first-half of this trial when the gravity-pressure increased and suppressed him Lin passively and purely resisted with his basic physical-strength... the same happened when faith-pressure pressured him the boy’s so-called faith-aura helped and protected him when he moved forward between the forty and fifty meters mark. Lin just felt a faint connection with some "existence" that’s somewhat hidden yet actually exists somewhere inside his body yet enabled him to passively resist the unique-pressure from the formation underneath his feet... unlike when the foreign weapon-intent attempted to invade his body... unlike when the foreign soul-force attempted to confuse his mind... unlike when the foreign spirit-energy attempted to blockade the pathways of his light-energy within the meridian-system and push it back to his dantian-space... unlike when gravity-pressure attempted to restrict his movement and shackle him... his fire-intent, soul-force, light-energy, and physical-strength were like dragons who got riled-up after being held by the tail and roaring in anger! these different types of energy began to push against the different forms of pressures and protect the boy... the phase of faith-pressure was the easiest yet most confusing phase for him because... honestly the great-sage couldn’t figure heads from tails during every step of these ten meters.

...........

While Lin is walking within the trial-tunnel a few dozen meters behind him the seven cyan-warlords were watching.

“Jia... forgive me, I had to keep you waiting. Apologies to my brothers and sisters.” Xiao Yan held the hand of his woman then raised it towards his mouth to give it a kiss before asking for her forgiveness... afterwards he hugged his wife and looked at Huang, Ting, Feng, and Yao before giving them a quick bow to express his apology... the fellow that’s called Ma was completely ignored by the goatee-man who began to pour tea for the others before sitting next to his wife Jia and holding her hand very tightly.

“Tsk... why's the length of his trial so short?” The revolting man that’s called Ma gave Lin a fleeting gaze then suddenly mentioned the matter of Lin's trial... before Xiao Yan or the other spirit-lords got to say anything Ma continued to speak : “Humph. Old Yan did you manipulate the trial’s-formation? this matter... the higher-ups, they wouldn't tolerate what you did, you know that right!” Ma spoke with certainty in his tone of voice since—in his opinion—that Xiao Yan must’ve done something "underhanded" which caused the other cyan-warlords glare at him.

“Even if in the eyes of people like you he's nothing but "trash" I'm still taking this boy... he’s my Xiao Yan’s disciple, since you wish to report whatever "manipulation" to the higher-ups then... that would be for the best. You better quickly go and do that, after all... seeing my trash seems to hurt your pure eyes, old Ma this Xiao Yan is busy collecting trash and can’t accompany you to the tower but he’s wouldn’t delay a single second when he’s summoned by the disciplinary-hall for investigations.” Xiao Yan gently squeezed the hand of his woman when he spoke to hold her from saying anything to this obnoxious-fellow.

“Your disciple! heh... then allow me to congratulate you in advance, since brother Xiao is so willing to break the rules for his disciple then here's my welcome gift, unfortunately this boy is too weak and wouldn’t be able to use any spirit-tool right now which is why I'm having a headache and facing difficulty when deciding the right gift to choose for him. Uh-huh! found it... this ore, I once found it in an abandoned-mine within the mining-mountains, I went there to ask a friend of mine if there’s some pure heavy-gold ingots available for me to purchase for my son's birthday gift. I believe he said it’s an ore of dark-steel which have... a five-percent chance of containing the essence of dark-steel but, this Ma got preoccupied with the matter of refining my son’s armor. Now that I've seen enough of brother Xiao's first-disciple, this Ma has other things to "report" to the tower... let's just hope this kid isn’t going to be the "last" of your disciples.” With a smug grin on his face and a cocky-attitude... that disrespectful-man that’s called Ma left a big dark-brown boulder where he stood and left these words behind before leaving the spirit-barrier... cyan-warlord Ma was honestly feeling like he’s the clear victor of this situation which is a rare chance for him to suppress his lifelong-rival! his arrogance has blinded him completely to the degree where this spirit-lord actually didn’t check anything after noticing the discrepancy between the kid's apparent age and the length of the trial... had he stayed a bit longer to see how much pressure the boy is enduring? then... certainly Ma wouldn't have took the matter as a simple joke and caused and embarrassment to himself when he reported the news to his faction.

“Heh. What a great gift! Jia don’t worry... I'm sure the boy is going to personally repay it to him soon enough.” Xiao Yan looked at the boulder that Ma left with contempt then hugged his woman by the waist and pointed towards Lin who reached the seventy meters mark when he spoke.

“Big-brother Yan, this disciple of yours is such a little monster! he’s able to endure the perfect-fusion of spirit-energy and soul-force, that’s something that I wouldn't have been able to endure when I was at peak-perfection of the spirit-disciple realm, who is this boy?” Ting didn't seem like she heard or noticed what Ma said or even that he already left... after spouting all these words the woman seemed to finally remember the existence of the "unwelcomed-guest" and looked around her then sighed when she discovered that he’s—thankfully—gone.

“Tehehe... little-sister Ting just spoke without minding her situation again, had that bad person Ma been nearby? then... he would've known something, something which he should never know. You better remember that! otherwise? sister Jia would have her way with you.” Huang smiled while looking at Ting who flinched when she found Jia glaring towards her.

“H-he didn't, he didn’t... I’ll keep my mouth shut, I promise alright! stop glaring at me already, big-sister Jia you’re so pretty but you’re very scary when you’re angry.” Ting shrank in her seat and spoke in with fear in her tone of voice while using the white cape of her sister Huang like a white flag to demonstrate her surrender to her sister Jia.

“Am I that frightening to you?” Jia’s mouth twitched when she said that and the five spirit-lords around her—including her husband—flinched while inwardly nodding to themselves! Ting shook her head from left to right and back over and over before puckering her lips while doing her best to avoid looking towards her big-sister Jia... this cyan-warlord tried to distract herself by watching the boy undergo his trail while reminding herself to keep her mouth shut... She didn't want answers for many of her questions despite being very curious... who knows? she might say something and annoy Jia who seems to be in a very bad mood—especially—after Ma kept provoking her husband in-front of her.

“Still, this boy is really putting all of us to shame... while enduring the pressure-fusion of both spirit-energy and soul-force he didn’t seem to have any problem at all with that suppression! he just breezed-through it all, shrugging it off as if he’s walking underneath the rain then shook it off of his hair. Now he's doing the same to the pressure-fusion of soul-force and weapon-intent, I really have to agree with little-sister Ting... he’s really a frightening little "monster" indeed. Brother Yan, where did you hide him from us exactly? beast-mountains maybe!” Feng the tall and thin elder... lowered his cup of tea towards the table and asked while feeling sorry for the overconfident Ma who is bound to receive a frighteningly-great "surprise" in the future after his earlier misjudgment.

“Heh. I don't even know the name of this boy, he just walked towards me and I kind-of pushed him to challenge the trial because I was feeling bored. Despite having arrived here with one of these convoys this kid left his companions and started asking me why these tunnels are busy and this one empty while the rest are blocked with colorful stones. "Such a strange boy" I thought, then this thought struck me "why not offer him the trial?" even I—with all my years of experience—would've never expected this "fountain" of talent to practically "explode" in my face.” Yan leaned his head on Jia's own and told his friends what happened but... the goatee-man was suddenly remembered the son that he once had with the woman between his arms! their son wasn't really a great talent like this kid or anything of these sorts however... that boy was their flesh and blood after all yet... he was taken away from them way too soon.

“This kid! do you think he's going to breeze-through the pressure-fusion of weapon-intent and faith-aura like before?” Finally the short and bulky elder who’s called Yao spoke while looking towards Lin who happened to reached the eighty meters mark on his trial.

“Even if he did... it just doesn't matter, we all know how difficult it becomes for everyone taking this trial, especially within the final ten-percent of any trial. His trial might seem easier for people like us but... for him it’d be similarly hard on the final stretch because this test is made to fit his ability and talent.” Jia said while looking towards the boy... she was looking at this little stranger who’s able to suddenly and quickly receive a place within her man's heart with some worry! the last time something like this happened when their little baby-boy began to reveal sufficient talent and diligence in his cultivation however... after losing their precious son in an unfortunate accident... her man's heart practically broke apart and got shattered into fine fragments during his long phase of grief... after many years her husband finally began to show signs of recovering from his loss... this wife dreads the unforeseen-future and the probability of Xiao Yan suffering from a similar state after hanging his hopes on this kid.

“Ah! this is impossible... impossible I say, how come he isn't suppressed? how exactly is he doing it? don't tell me he's cheati-” Ting suddenly gawked and began to mutter to herself... when Jia gave her a side-glance that’s full of disappointment this woman shrank her neck then covered herself with Huang’s white cape once again.

“Bffft... look closely you little idiot, can’t you see that he’s not wearing any spirit-tool or spirit-equipment on his body? except for the normal and mundane clothes the only spirit-tool he currently have on him is that space-ring—which is allowed because our storage-items doesn’t give any active or passive assistance to us within the trial—and brother Yan wouldn’t miss something so important to begin with. Not to mention how the difficulty of the trial would increase dramatically when the challenger rely-on the use of external methods. Still, that's quite a high-quality space-ring for someone who’s in the first-stage of the spirit-apprentice realm, not to forget that this is honestly a "gigantic" amount of latent-potential for someone around his age! I guess it's fair to call it unfair... despite all that’s said—at least in my eyes—this kid is cheating all the juniors of his generation, somehow I feel sorry for all of them.” Huang pinched Ting's cheek while covering her young-looking woman’s mouth to stop her from saying anything ridiculous—an action which revealed some of the old woman’s inherent beauty and elegance—then she seriously said that judgment while sensing the fire-intent energy and some faith-aura from the great-sage mixing and resisting the pressure-fusion from the formation below his feet and pushing it all away and clear from his small body! yes... this boy seems to be struggling slightly while being under this suppression but... Huang—and the rest of the spirit-lords—saw it very clearly... this little fellow is actually getting better at using his unrefined fusion of different types of energy and is currently polishing his techniques. The most obvious proof is how this boy doesn’t seem to be at a hurry at all to finish the trial or to reach the end! and how he’s slowly advancing while making sure to get a clear feel of the pressure that he’s currently being affected with after each step forward... the other spirit-lords nodded silently after hearing what Huang said and watched Lin in silence until he reached the point of ninety meters on his trial... from this point forward—in the honest opinion of these six cyan-warlords—this kid’s "true-trial" just began. The first sign of being in pain and suffering some difficulty in this trial appeared on the boy's expression when his small body got slammed-with the pressure-fusion of three types of energy all at once... Lin almost staggered backwards and that step would’ve caused him to return to the area within the range of double pressure-fusion by this much difficult suppression! this group of cyan-armored people witnessed the great-sage do his best to stabilize his body then calmly resist this advanced-pressure by firmly standing in the same position while ignoring the sweat that drenched all of his clothes and caused it to uncomfortably stick tightly to the skin of his small body... the extreme gravity-pressure caused that trickling sweat to puncture the soles of his shoes and his clothes to be torn in different areas! this sight was just too awe-inspiring for these lords and the few ladies in this small audience gasped from admiration when they looked at the boy’s immature face showing such a heroic expression despite his situation... then they all heard the thumping and rhythmic sound of Lin's heart which initiated its unique "melody" whenever this kid’s body is experiencing a great physical strain... In tandem with the boy's heartbeats these six spirit-lords clearly felt how their hearts palpitate in the beginning with a slight feeling of apprehension before they forcefully calmed themselves and got hold of their chaotic emotions. The six cyan-warlords looked at one another with extreme shock on their expressions while a single thought popped up in all of their heads at the same time. 'Qi-refiner!' before looking towards Xiao Yan with extreme jealousy within their eyes except for Jia who snuggled in her husband’s embrace while feeling happy for him after he managed to find such a rare "jewel" by pure chance.

“Sigh. Judging by the length of his trial, this boy shouldn't be any older than seven, brother Yan... am I right?” elder Yao asked the goatee-man while feeling slightly regretful that he wasn’t the one being tasked with the duty of this gate.

“En. Less than seven, about six years six months... give or take a couple weeks.” Xiao Yan smiled very widely while giving the same answer that Lin once gave him... then smoothened his goatee while enjoying the expressions of shock on the faces of his old friends.

Huang : “Hmm...”

Ting : “Hiss...”

Jia : “Heh...”

Yao : “Heavens!”

Feng : “He’s so... young! so young indeed.”

“He’s mine! brother Yan you’re not wort-... kyaah! big-sister Jia let go, quick... let go, ayooh. You’re unfair, you always take his side. I’ll fight you two for the kid... kyaah! big-sister Huang... help, ouch, ouch... I give up. I said I give up! you’re bullying me- eek!...” Ting suddenly had a wicked idea and Jia quickly eliminated that thought from the head of her foolish little-sister through the use of some "old-school physical bullying" Jia made sure that this lesson would—at least—last sometime into the nearest future.

“This kid isn't far away from attaining mastery of qi-vitality, already has access to fire-intent much earlier than brother Yan, has a great amount of soul-force which even I can't estimate, but... his faith-aura is his biggest mystery so far! how does such a young junior carry this much faith on his "immature" shoulders? how did he find time to accumulate all of it? I just... feel "dizzy" just by trying to find an answer to some of these questions. By the way... what’s his natural-affinities... never mind. Sigh... he's able to use the ability of energy-armor in the apprentice-realm!" Yao counted Lin's advantages then got shocked when the energy-armor of light-energy covered the boy's skin then sighed himself into sweet surrender while thinking about how someone like Xiao Yan—with all due respect—doesn’t deserve such a genius.

“Congratulations brother Yan, this is my welcoming gift for your disciple.” Huang searched inside her space tool then retrieved a white-colored cape much like the one that she's currently wearing to decorate her own cyan-armor but smaller in size... while handing it to Xiao Yan the old and once an extremely beautiful lady smiled once she imagined how cute Lin would look when he wears it.

The corner of Jia's mouth twitched slightly once her eyes fell-on Huang’s gift... meanwhile Xiao Yan gave the white-cape a single glance then accepted it anyway after cupping his fist towards this old friend and colleague of his. It’s defensive spirit-tool which could protect the boy from an all-out attack that’s made by a spirit-cultivator who’s in the peak-stages of the master-realm.

“This is my gift to him. Congratulations brother Yan on your first disciple I don't think you deserve him... Kyaa! bad sister Jia... you're a bully, a hateful bully.” Ting offered a pair of green boots but her ear was twisted by Jia once she began-to talk nonsense... after jumping into Huang's embrace the cheerful woman puckered her lips while grumbling to herself.

“I don't know what kind of weapon the boy prefers, that's why... I’d give him a pair of gloves. Congratulations brother Yan, you chose a perfect candidate for a first-disciple.” Feng retrieved a pair of thin and soft gloves that seem like they’re made from silk then looked at his best-friend Yao who in-turn took a moment to think before retrieving a silver chainmail which looks extremely lightweight yet soft and sturdy in the same time.

“Brother Yan... honestly I was planning to give this chainmail to my youngest disciple once he reaches the realm of spirit-disciple and pass the mercenary exam, but... the safety of your disciple takes priority over mine. That brat of mine can wait until I make another one before going into any mission outside our city. Congratulations... congratulations.” Yao spoke and Xiao Yan appreciated with his eyes the creation of this friend of his who’s not only a spirit-lord in the pinnacle-stages but also a master-forger and blacksmith who’s almost about to reach the rank of grandmaster-forger in his profession.

“From me... he gets this pendant, when his life is in danger... it can protect him from the attack of a peak-perfection spirit-tyrant. As long as he keeps wearing this pendant, then... it can invigorate his spirit-energy and ease him into a state of passive-comprehension.” Jia retrieved a small blue-colored pendant that’s hanging from a thin silver chain and placed the pendant in the hand of her husband then she helped him close his fingers around it and looked towards Lin who already managed to cross one more meter in the final ten mater part of his trial.

“I think I've seen enough, watching the trial of this boy... it really makes me want to go and... just beat-up all of my disciples.” Yao cupped his fist towards his friends then gave Lin one final glance before leaving the blue-barrier.

Feng smiled and gave a silent nod to his friends before following after his best-friend... this one is really planning to actually show his disciples what it means to feel the sweet pain of really hard work.

“Tsk... sister Jia! don't give me these looks, I know that you want to be all lovey-dovey with big brother Yan, en... kyaa! alright... I’m leaving, I’m leaving! mercy, mercy.” While sitting on Huang's lap and hugging the old woman’s neck like a spoilt princess dealing with her closest maid and swinging her feet as she spoke... Ting buried herself deeper into the gentle woman's embrace to protect herself from her opponent but... she got held by the hair this time since Jia couldn't get an opportunity to snatch the ear again! quickly surrendering and fleeing once Jia snorted and let go of her hair and Ting pouted her lips while flying back towards her residence but her eyes were dead serious... the few girls within that residence—which are her disciples and their own groups—didn't know that their cheerful master is about to show them an entirely different side of herself.

“Guess I should be going too, to give you two some... private time! this god-sent genius is the way this unjust world is trying to make amends with you two, especially... after all the suffering you went through. Maybe, he'd manage to someday fill the place that once belonged to your son in your hearts.” Huang said that before leaving the barrier... her words made both Xiao Yan and Jia shudder from extreme sorrow before they raised their heads to look up towards Lin who crossed another meter in his trial. While holding hands with one another these two spirit-lords looked at their companion in the face and noticed the few touches of sorrow and loss in the other’s expression... their own son is lost... the news about his last confirmed location and whereabouts ended after the tracks led to a forbidden-area within the borders of beast-mountains! both of them searched for many years afterwards yet they managed to find nothing at all... can this little-boy replace little Tu in their hearts? like Huang said earlier this might be their ticket and final chance towards a happy future... the alchemist that examined Jia’s body said : "It’s near impossible for her to have another child after the injury that she received." The female spirit-lord became critically injured once while searching for her little Tu.

.......

Within the formation of this trial.

Lin’s breathing is no longer calm but rugged and hurried... the expression on his young face is no longer relaxed but of one who’s in pain and struggling against it... all of this resistance and struggle against the suppression—which kept changing the sequence of powers and method of applying strength during its attacks—each meter crossed on the trial... unlike before—when it revealed difference—it only revealed change every ten meters! yet... despite all these hardships that he's under their influence right now... Lin’s golden-eyes kept firmly and strongly looking forward without showing any panic or fear at all. While the two spirit-lords became submerged in the sad memories of their past... the boy was struggling really hard with each step forward ever since he reached the ninety meters mark of this trial! the triple-fusion of gravity, spirit, and soul-suppression was rudimental at best in the beginning yet... whenever the great-sage took another step forward the suppression would become advanced in the way the three different types of energy become fused. At the last step of the first meter—after the ninety meters mark—the triple-fusion would be expertly implemented and executed in a perfect method where Lin couldn't find any flaws in that fusion of different energy at all... during the earliest stages of this trial the fusion between different types of energy would be gradually demonstrated through this formation within the span of ten meters yet... now it’s being demonstrated within the distance of just three steps! whenever the boy took the fourth step he would discover that the mixture between the different types of energy would change completely... at the point of ninety-one meters on this trial the great-sage experienced gravity, spirit, and soul-pressure yet... once he reached the point of ninety-two meters gravity-pressure was removed from the mixture of fused-energy suppressing him and got exchanged-with weapon-intent instead. Then during the following meter spirit-energy got removed and the boy experienced another mixture of triple-fusion of energy where faith-suppression replaced spirit-energy... at the point of ninety-three meters... the suppression became a mixture of weapon-intent, faith-aura, and gravity-suppression! at the point of ninety-four meters... it became spirit-energy, weapon-intent, and faith-aura fusing to suppress Lin and hold him against advancing further. However... the step this boy took to be within the borders of the point of ninety-five meters on this trial... almost made the great-sage fall on his side because his balance was fiercely disrupted by another type of energy-fusion where four different types of energy are in this new mix! just the expression on his face becoming so red while he’s doing his best just to keep himself standing... under this unbearable suppression every breath he took would feel like it’s falling into the deepest areas of his stomach instead of entering his lungs... not only is the gravitational pull really strong this time but also the other forces of suppression were strong all the same. 'This is the influence of the rudimental-fusion between four different types of energy?' Lin gathered his strength to take another step forward while smiling inwardly at how much he's struggling in the last stretch of his trial... gravity, spirit, soul, and weapon-intent suppression! these four energies are fused together at a much deeper level after each step forward the boy took on this meter and does seem to be doing their best to push the great-sage back... as if he's some "mortal foe" which must be rebelled back at any cost. The good thing in this situation is the gentle assistance that his body kept sending towards his legs to relieve them of their stress after experiencing such a severely straining degree of gravity-suppression... the cool and reinvigorating stream that kept coming from some of Lin's opened acupoints was such a great help... it enabled him to pass this small hurdle and reach the next level of this trial! the point of ninety-six meters was easier on the boy in comparison to the previous meter... simply because... the basic size of his faith-aura is much greater in comparison to his attainments in the system of body-refinement. The only difference is that one is being harnessed and refined while the other type of energy is still in its most "raw form" yet... despite being in its most basic and raw form... that type of energy still remains as being much greater in quantity and doesn’t become affected no matter much that’s needed to supply the great-sage needs in this situation. The extreme gravitational-force got replaced with the suppression of faith-aura in the four-way fusion just like how Lin predicted earlier... and the boy crossed this meter after taking a few moments after each step to remember the workings of every of difficulty in the fusion of this level. At the point of ninety-seven meters... the nasty gravity-pressure is back once again however... this time its suppression is a lot stronger when compared-to the last time! not only that it’s much stronger this time... its arrival was in-exchange with the easiest type of energy for the great-sage to resist amongst the four-way energy-fusion... sadly gravity-suppression replaced soul-force in this combination. 'Sigh. It’s like this trial is a sentient being who knows all about my own weaknesses! and that being is trying to focus on them... weird.' Lin thought to himself while feeling like each one of his legs currently weighs a few mountains! noticing that he's no longer able to raise his feet from the ground... the boy began to slide his legs forward slowly while concentrating on keeping his own body standing still and maintaining his balance. Normally the great-sage would cross the distance of one meter in just three steps... this time however Lin was slower than a snail when crossing such a small area! the fusion between the four different types of energy gradually strengthened while the boy he advanced further on his trial along with the much more intense gravitational-pressure... moving a single one of his fingers felt like raising an object of a considerable amount of weights for the great-sage.

Seeing Lin getting slower and slower the more he advances in his trial... Xiao Yan mentally prepared himself to stop the trial-formation once this boy reveals any sign of failing his trial. Jia was absentmindedly looking at the boy and admiring the look in his eyes—which never ceased to burn brighter with self-confidence—she got reminded of the junior years of her little-boy... long ago when his liveliness and cheerful aura of immature youth used to fill every corner of their residence! she felt afraid for this first disciple of her husband and began to ask herself : 'Will he... be able to accept his loss in this trial?' She thought while watching the little kid struggle at the last couple of meters on his trial.

Still Lin endured and by sliding one of his legs forward bit by bit he finally managed to arrive at zone of ninety-eight meters however... that place wasn't a place where the boy could find joy and happiness... what he found there was nothing but an insane force slamming him with an extreme amount of pressure which made the great-sage feel like his bones and body-joints are groaning and screaming from pain! because in this area Lin didn't suffer from the suppression of four types of energy being fused like earlier... this was his first encounter with a suppression that gathered the five different types of energy in a unique fusion to suppress his small body... these five types of energy are simply aimed towards his body with the single intention of crushing it beneath its pressure.

“Ugh!...” Even when his endurance-limits—which far surpass others around his age-group or much older cultivators who have quite a history when experiencing pain—Lin found this five-sided energy-fusion "irresistible" especially when his soul is currently weakened and lacking a lot of soul-force plus his dantian-space that’s lacking a lot of strands of spirit-energy which currently aren't in their best form... a deep grunt escaped his throat and the boy understood that he won't be able to remain standing for a lot longer! seeing no other option other than to activate his spirit-wings and use them to push himself the two remaining meters... without hesitation the great-sage willed his martial-spirit to help him move forward while trying to resist the fused-energy—which became fundamentally and expertly fused together—Lin thought that his pair of wings would be able to easily get him out of this predicament yet... the boy found himself skidding-forward slowly after his wings fluttered once only to be halted completely once his body actually reached the point of ninety-nine meters. If within the point of ninety-eight meters the great-sage was being "crushed" by the five-way energy-fusion and its pressure? then... at the point of ninety-nine meters Lin was being "grinded-down" all the way to the "molecular, atomic, and microscopic-level" which isn’t a pleasant experience. The boy felt how his chin is getting roughly pressed-against the upper-parts of his ribcage... his two arms are practically hanging limb on his sides as if they're crippled while his shoulders are slumping down extremely uncomfortably by the effect of this advanced quality of energy-fusion! his knees buckled while his spine is forcefully being bent-over... every vein of his body is on the verge of bursting after throbbing and expanding to their maximum limit... even his blood-stream did feel like it’s being forcefully delayed or outright being paused in its place.

“Thump... ba-dum...” In the moment when the great-sage felt like his body is really failing him... Lin heard his heart beating with an unstoppable momentum and from his back the boy could feel a surge of heat overcoming his skin and muscles then blood got forced-out from every one of his pores! the ability of energy-armor did receive a shade of red color when all that blood was flushed out from the great-sage's body and he regained the ability to walk again after the suppression in his surrounding became somewhat... tolerable. Each step Lin took forward the layer of red-color on his ability of energy-armor would fade-out until the boy stood at the last and final step of this trial... only one single step and the great-sage’s little test and trial would be done and over-with yet... after the layer of blood was completely evaporated from the ability of energy-armor... Lin felt how he’s being imprisoned in this place ever since he arrived... the effect of the highest and most perfect energy-fusion between these five different types of energy practically shackled him in that location! it simply crushed, compressed, and suppressed his small body from every single angle... even drawing breath into his chest feels like his small ribcage have to push a whole continent just to squeeze a meager amount of air inside. 'This is bad... I can't wait in this place any longer. Move, move, move... move... move I say!' knowing that this situation was really dangerous to maintain... Lin's golden-eyes finally began to reveal some signs of panic and the boy commanded his spirit-wings to move him forward and away from this five-way energy-fusion.

“What a Lively boy you have here little Yan, he almost broke my hand and here I was trying to protect him from bashing his head against the tunnel-walls.” This deep sound awoke the two spirit-lords from their daze... husband and wife raised their heads to look towards the ceiling of this tunnel where they found an old man who have such a great amount of muscles which his white-armor couldn't hide them entirely or cover how this elder is still in great shape despite his advanced age! Lin's small body was held by the waist on the huge hand of this elder and clearly the boy is currently unconscious right now... looking down at where the great-sage stood just a few seconds earlier at the end of the trial-formation... the two cyan-armored spirit-lords did see the green line at the end of the trial-formation which indicates that Lin has already passed this trial.

“Greetings sovereign. This Yan is grateful for your timely intervention, senior really saved my disciple.” Connecting the dots after seeing the green line at the end of the trial-formation and the boy's unconscious body held by the hands of sovereign Jianhong plus what the elder just said... Xiao Yan was about to kneel on a single knee like he should when seeing this city-lord but... the spirit-lord couldn't give his respect to his superior! seeing his own woman kneel normally right next to him yet he himself being unable to do the same made Xiao Yan give sovereign Jianhong a helpless look because the reason of this strange situation must be because of the sovereign himself... only someone as unfathomable as this senior can manipulate Xiao Yan's body without him even noticing how it’s being done.

“He isn't your disciple yet, but... that doesn't mean you can't be his teacher. Both of you have the fire-intent, but the kid doesn't have a single strand of fire-energy inside him. You can ask me for anything however, you can't be his full master. Understood?” The extremely muscular and big in both size and shape old man in white armor which Xiao Yan just called sovereign Jianhong... held the unconscious boy and brought him close to his chest as if the great-sage is an over-sized baby while speaking! while giving Xiao Yan a side-glance the white-armored elder seemed to be feeling apologetic for the goatee-man but... he wouldn't allow Yan to be Lin's full master no matter what yet... he can allow the spirit-lord to be the boy's teacher of weapon-intent and that’s clearly his bottom line.

The spirit-lord was feeling slightly unwilling but he hurried to exterminate these unhealthy thoughts from his heart... Xiao Yan lowered his head and cupped his fist then said : “Sovereign Jianhong. I'm willing to be his fire-intent teacher, it would be my honor to teach your future disciple how to methodically use his weapon-intent.” Then the goatee-man bowed deeply while smiling helplessly after remembering how much little Ting's earlier predictions were so correct... he really doesn't deserve such a genius to take as a disciple! when the boy passed the trial neither he nor Jia were able to notice what the boy did earlier... both of them simply felt the kid suddenly vanish from their sight and senses. If it wasn't for what sovereign Jianhong just did then... the great-sage would've really bashed his head against the ceiling—which is hardened by the formation—and since the kid has already fainted right after using his spirit-wings to move! then... it’s very possible that Lin might've ended-up as a splash of blood and gore on the tunnel-ceiling right now if it wasn't for sovereign Jianhong’s intervention.

“Good. You'd be rewarded twenty-thousand contribution-points plus the freedom to choose one item from the blue-rank treasury, be that a spirit-tool or a spirit-equipment. When the boy wakes-up you'll be receiving a notice to come give him his first lesson on weapon-intent. Were these his welcome-gifts from you and your friends?” Jianhong nodded then went to touch the five meters rock at the entrance with his right-hand while telling Xiao Yan of his rewards and responsibilities... that white, smooth, and rectangular-shaped white-stone shrunk in size until it became no bigger than two-fingers thick and flew towards Lin's forehead! that white-stone covered the boy in a halo of green-colored spirit-energy then the eyes of this sovereign Jianhong fell-on the gifts—which Xiao Yan's friends and colleagues left for the boy—on the table then at the disgusting-looking boulder which Ma left then asked.

“Yes. My gift isn’t among them, I was planning to give him this fire-crystal vest but... the kid isn't a fire-cultivator. Maybe this strand of wood-lichen to help him recover, or... this root of vitality-ginseng! it’s a thousand-years old medicinal-ingredient...” Xiao Yan was taken-aback by the sovereign's question... the spirit-lord quickly retrieved a protective-vest which caused the temperature within the area of the blue-barrier to rise a few dozen degrees higher than normal and he began to explain while taking-out one valuable item followed by another. Meanwhile the over-exaggerated senior smirked and watched in silence and Jia raised an eyebrow because she’s feeling embarrassed after seeing how simply "idiotic" her man is acting right now while thinking to herself : 'Just what kind of treasure can Xiao Yan possibly own which this sovereign Jianhong doesn’t or can't have with a simple snap of his fingers! it’s the "sentimental-value" that matters I guess.'

“Just the fire-crystal vest would do, I’m going to have it added to boy's belt or used as a piece of decoration for one of his garments.” Feeling like he had enough "fun" with these juniors... Jianhong gathered the gifts and placed them into the space-ring on Lin's finger then gave the stone-boulder a look before touching it with his hand which caused it to be turned into fine powder!

"That was fellow cultivator Ma Bingwen's welcome-gift, something about it probably having a five-percent chance of containing the essence of dark-steel was mentioned. That’s if my weak memory doesn’t fail me.” Xiao Yan offered the explanation to sovereign Jianhong once he saw the old man frown and squint his eyes after turning that boulder into fine powder... even Jia with all her serious-attitude had to stifle her laughter when she heard her husband dutifully say the full name of his rival in the earlier report!

“Ma Bingwen huh,” Seeing Lin's complexion and breathing already stabilizing... Jianhong took the two-fingers sized white-stone away from the boy’s forehead and threw it back towards where it once was and it enlarged back into its original-size! looking towards the dark-brown fine powder on the floor of the trial-tunnel the old man muttered the name of Xiao Yan’s rival in a lazy way before turning to look towards the direction of pearl-city for a few seconds then... sovereign Jianhong looked up towards the sky exactly towards the location where Hongtian has been secretly hiding before vanishing from the sight of the couple of spirit-lords.

Patting the back of her husband... Jia hugged Xiao Yan to comfort him after he lost his first-disciple! the goatee-man gathered his scattered items back into his space-ring and kissed his wife then hugged her deeply to show to her that he isn't as saddened as she might think before taking her towards the blue-treasury to choose the single item together from the vault which only spirit-kings are allowed access... her husband still have twenty-thousand contribution-points to be used during the incoming "shopping-spree" which her man is planning to give her... for once Xiao Yan wanted to pamper his wife—which he knows that he's been neglecting ever since the incident of their Xiao Tu's disappearance—and soon afterwards the trial-tunnel became empty and quiet after everyone left it. Another spirit-cultivator in the lord-realm from mercenary-guild who’s wearing a cyan-armor similar to the husband and wife arrived and waited for courageous individuals to take the trial... seeing the heap of fine dark-brown powder on the floor near the tunnel-entrance the man waved his arm and caused all of it to be scattered outside the city-walls and the white floor of the trial-tunnel became spotless clean once again.

...............

Finally Wei and the rest finished undergoing their inspection routines by the guards and arrived to the other side of the tunnel with Li Yang, Chen Fu, and Ning Xue where Lin was supposed to be exiting... after squinting their eyes to see the entrance of the trial-tunnel the group found the boy nowhere to be found! there’s some strange mercenary-warlord sitting at the other side of the tunnel... 'Where's young-hero Ming? where's elder Xiao Yan?' Yang thought to himself while watching Wei's face become so dark and become contorted like that of a bloodthirsty demon.

“Young-master Ming is on the move... he’s heading that way.” Rong Qing suddenly said that and Tang Wei—who almost released a long string of profanities—turned to look towards the direction Qing is pointing then ran with Lai and Wang who dragged the former-assassin behind him while ignoring the caravan and the mercenary-groups completely! Qiang Chi followed after them while carrying both Sun and Frostine on his shoulders. 'Fuck these asshole-mercenaries! to hell with this city and to hell to all the plans I once made... they dare kidnap the grandson of that senior Ming? they dare snatch the person who have my water-pearl? humph... what courage! what gall.' Wei would look back at Qing to confirm their direction every once in a while before grinding his teeth in silent rage... his thoughts became oriented towards revenge... and payback.

Li Yang and Chen Fu looked at one another then towards the convoy of the Cheng clan—which is currently missing someone of authority—before deciding to work some extra time for free just this once... Ning Xue was wondering where did little-Tong go because... the beautiful woman didn't see her goddaughter long before the caravan began to enter the city and thought the little girl moved ahead of them and entered the city! yet... after the whole caravan is already inside the city-walls there's still no sign of the girl at the front and rear of this caravan. While Li Yang and Chen Fu gave orders for the caravan to begin moving towards the residence of the Cheng clan... Tong and Zhang were tumbling in some bed inside a room of a hotel nearby the final destination of the caravan! this little-girl was so impatient after getting some foreplay from Zhang back at the caravan-rear earlier and she decided to take the simple man along with her and enter the city ahead of the caravan by going through the tunnel where individual spirit-cultivators can enter... because she's already a member of mercenary-guild her entrance took a small examination and confirmation of her identity-token and her mission before she got allowed to enter and Zhang followed soon after her... both of them hurried towards the hotel and picked a regular room in a hurry before the bang, bang, bang-mission began from the get-go until the caravan arrived at the residence of the Cheng clan. Smiling ruefully while looking at one another because their time is up... the two lovebirds decided to meet-up once again in the same room later after things settle-down! however... once they snuck back to the caravan the two of them became so surprised after hearing the main-topic of the conversations between the teams of guards 'Young-hero Ming disappeared? merchant Wei and the other bosses are already searching for the kid!' The strong man thought to himself while feeling disbelief.

“Little-Tong where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Ning Xue was very worried for the young-woman and held her by the shoulders and gave her a cursory-look from top to bottom while asking this question... somehow the long-legged beauty felt like the skin of this little-girl is different! “I heard that young-hero Ming disappeared and was searching the caravan then began to take a look around the streets nearby the tunnels before coming back, did you have any luck finding him?” While looking around her as if she’s searching with her eyes for the missing boy... Ning Tong tried to become as normal as possible while actually avoiding eye-contact with her godmother. “The fat merchant went to look for the brat somewhere, what crappy luck are you speaking of when you're the lucky charm of our group?” After muttering this answer... Ning Xue cupped the cheeks of the young-woman with her hands to admire the beauty of her goddaughter’s face while trying to think of a reason that makes the beauty of this girl different this time! while giggling Ning Tong hugged the slender waist of this charming lady—which raised her from a very young and tender age—but deep inside her the mist-cultivator didn't want her godmother to know about the relationship between her and Zhang just yet.

Zhang on the other hand was inside some carriage and feeling dizzy... despite his simplemindedness the simple man knows what it means for Lin to disappear! not only the boy has the water-pearl—which is the hope for ancestor Jianyu to recover—but also there’s his formidable grandpa Ming behind him... which could pour all of his pure wrath on the five-clans. 'I did this, if I hadn't been distracted by the beautiful body of little-Tong and its warmth... entering her felt so goo-... damn it! I almost got completely distracted after just thinking about it.' While walking in circles the strong man became dizzier and dizzier the more his thoughts branched... poor Zhang was having trouble thinking straight... once the caravan was inside the residence he got out from the carriage and ran towards his room while snorting from anger after finally accepting how dumb he could be! soon afterwards little-Tong gave her godmother an excuse of wanting to buy some things from the auction-house and snuck herself into Zhang's room... after entering the room the young-woman found her adorably-cute man huddled in some corner and cradling his head with his hands and sniffling like a little child who lost his family... once she touched him the simple man hugged her tightly and hid his face in her chest while apparently feeling ashamed of himself... little-Tong sensed feelings of gentleness spreading inside her chest—which her godmother always mentioned whenever she hugged her back in the days of her childhood—she felt like she’s holding a big-sized baby in her arms. After pulling the strong man towards the bed... the mist-cultivator soon learned from this man about the reason why he’s in this emotional-state! his fear for Ming and his friends has overwhelmed him emotionally and most importantly... little-Tong felt sweetness inside her chest and her eyes watered from joy when Zhang said that he couldn't think because he kept thinking about her and their moments together... after drawing a basic isolation-formation inside the room... the young-woman straddled the strong man on bed and gave this fellow—which grew-up inside her heart to seize it and made it a place only for his "simple-self" to exist—the night of his life... she filled that time with pure satisfaction and sweet release.

..........

Wei returned with the group around the time for next breakfast yet... Sun and Frostine weren't with them... once Zhang asked them about Ming the mood became slightly awkward and the fatty said that they couldn't take the boy back with them! why? simply because... the kid is now a disciple of white-sovereign Mu Jianhong.

“What?!” Every mercenary who got to hear this answer from merchant Wei gaped their mouth wide or gasped for breath and revealed a blank expression on their face! yet... their emotions of shock and disbelief were all the same. While shrugging Wei shouldered his way towards his room to get some sleep while snorting at their ignorance... he couldn't get his little-brother Lin back but... he did receive word from the sovereign Jianhong himself... when the boy wakes-up he's free to visit them and go anywhere he wants as long as he doesn't leave mercenary-city without receiving permission from his new master.

“Zhang! where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere and asking everyone about you since yesterday.” The eyes of Wang brightened when he noticed Zhang.

“Eh!” This time Ning Xue was the only who felt something click inside her head before she remembered how the skin of little-Tong was glowing... studying the complexion of this big fellow who seems slightly "malnourished" and calculating the exact timing where he went missing from the picture and comparing it with the time of Tong’s absence then... the "experienced" long-legged woman just figured it out and became so sure of her conclusions when she noticed how the simple man avoided having any eye-contact with her! turning to look at little-Tong... the beautiful spirit-tyrant noticed the stupid and happy smile on the face of her goddaughter and the looks of adoration the young-woman kept secretly giving the strong man... the water-cultivator snorted before twisting the ear of the mist-cultivator who dared to lie to her to her face and dragged her squealing goddaughter towards an empty room then shut the door behind them.

“What was that all about?” Wang raised an eyebrow before shrugging then pulling Zhang away from the group to check and see if some of the women that he just saw outside the residence are to the liking of this fire and earth-cultivator however... Zhang removed the hand of his best-friend from his shoulder and patted the handsome-man on the shoulder once before saying : “Brother. You don't need to worry about this matter anymore, I’m about to make my choice very soon... you just have to be a little bit more patient that’s all.” Before leaving towards his room and closing the door behind him. Wang raised his head and looked up towards the sky to check from which direction did the sun rise up today! tears of joy almost fell from his eyes when the ice-cultivator affirmed that it’s indeed rising from the east. 'He's finally grown-up! finally... his mother would get-off of my back.' Wang thought while feeling as light as a feather without any burdens on his shoulder! whistling care-freely... the spirit-grandmaster took a walk by himself towards his favorite spot in any city, town, or village... the brothels.

Lai saw everything that happened earlier and like how Ning Xue was able to figure it out... he did too as well and thought to himself : 'What a complete idiot! he really couldn't see it despite it happening right under his nose, yet... he’s always bragging about being best-friend this and best-friend that every single day, what a moron... I wouldn’t be surprised if he someday wears a green hat.' Then the blade-user took Rong Qing and Qiang Chi to finish handling the final details with the mercenary-leaders... their business together wouldn’t end before they’re given the "seal of confirmation" to confirm that their two mercenary-groups finished their escort-mission... then took the teams of clan guards to empty the carriages of the convoy and do the rest of the "boring tasks" which the greedy merchant usually handles with all the joy and pleasure in the world.

Finally after a while Ning Xue left the residence of the Cheng clan with little-Tong dragged behind her... the mist-cultivator kept puckering her lips while feeling wronged as she got dragged by her "unreasonable" godmother back towards the residence of their crushing-hammer mercenary-group! every once in a while the young-woman would look back towards the room of her beloved Zhang then snort because she’s feeling disappointment since the simple man isn’t aware that she's leaving already.

Soon afterwards the residence of the Cheng clan became devoid of mercenaries, young-hero Ming, his guards, and his beast-companions... even the servants and teams of guards who belong to the Cheng clan would be staying in inns and taverns until the time of their next journey is confirmed! that timing would only be confirmed after the "exchange" happens and the real Tang Wei and his clansmen are swapped with the fake Wei who continues travelling from this location in the southern-continent towards the sunrise-empire.

Rong Qing left to sell his red-brick of solidified sin-energy directly to the auction-house of mercenary-city... he’s in an urgent need for spirit-resources to cultivate, protective-equipment, a weapon, cultivation-techniques and manuals that are compatible for his new and old natural-affinities! Qiang Chi shouldn’t to stay in the residence of a clan that he specifically requested to leave and the former-assassin took the former-general along with him to see if he can find a few spirit-tools and equipment for him... after all... they both are going to be serving the same young-master from now-on.