“Enough with the serious business and all to their own matters from now on… I guess! As for me, I'm going to be staying with master Jianhong almost all the time, since I need to be fully prepared for my upcoming fights then... I should stick closely to the old timer. Wei. I honestly hope that this gets handled properly otherw-”

“Worry not brother Lin, I got this!”

Once Lin noticed the look on the faces of the four present men... he tried to end this conversation and head back to the tower but... the fatty interrupted the boy and patted his flappy-chest while giving him a confident reply and expressing self-confidence on his face.

“I have nothing to be worried about. Indeed there’s some things that might require me to dedicate a bit more of my time or effort to get them over-with however, the end-result would always be... me getting what I want pal,” The great-sage calmly smiled and looked towards his friend the greedy merchant then gave him this answer while standing from his chair before walking towards the exit... once Lin reached there he suddenly stopped at the door before continuing to speak, “Wei. I know that you have things that you wish to achieve, preferably sooner than later... just be careful, being overly eager to achieve more only to end-up alerting your old enemies of your existence on the board, having to play this dangerous game before your pieces are set in place would be "game-over" before round-one. My advice to you would be... one step at a time, let's go Chi.” After leaving these words behind and finishing what he has to say to his chubby friend... the boy exited the residence of the Cheng clan with his young personal-guard following closely behind him and taking strong, confident, and wide steps after running towards the stables to bring his young-master Lin his spoilt mount that he lately named Shuang.

...........

Wei was left mouth gaping and sweating from everywhere while watching the kid in silk turquoise-aquamarine pajamas leave his residence... in the same time Lai and Wang were left confused about Tang Wei's exaggerated reaction after hearing these words from Lin because... amongst the four of them this fat and greedy merchant is the one who’s always capable of winning in "deception" practically every single time yet... here he’s... obviously left baffled by the boy after hearing what he said in the end! 'Did he know that I was aiming to monopolize this opportunity? does it mean that there’s more to this than I’m aware of? information! yes... that most certainly is what I’m lacking right now, little-brother Lin asked me previously and specifically hinted that my information-gathering is... terrible. I better give this some investment. Sigh... my poor pockets are going to suffer badly this time!' Wei thought long and hard on words from the great-sage that night... by the time it was dawn the fatty was prepared to leave the residence and begin one of his biggest investments at that time... the merchant started an establishment that sells and buys only one single product... information! unaware that someday this establishment of his would grow into becoming a true "titan" within spirit-world however... that would only come to the light at a time that’s far from present time.

...........

Back to Lin, Chi, and Shuang.

While Shuang followed Chi towards the center of mercenary-city where the white-tower is located... Lin was sitting on her back and ruminating his schedule in the upcoming days... Gang is currently in a state of full-focus and doing his part of restoring their soul-force back to "optimum-condition" and the boy is... left to with one less of these annoying issues that needs to be done sooner or later... all thanks to his sin-brother! after spending a little bit of time scaling his priorities around within his imagination... the great-sage decided that between spirit-energy and qi-vitality then... qi-vitality actually wins because... it’s necessary for Lin to be capable of knowing his way around every single power of his and... right now qi-vitality is the only type of superpower that this boy doesn’t know how to manipulate... yet. Wasting not a split-second more... the great-sage simply closed his eyes and attempted to get a feel of this unique-power... that power is currently coursing through and within the circle of his unlocked acupoints! just like how his own blood is circulating within the systems of veins and arteries before eventually returning back to the source of main operations which is his golden-heart... this qi-vitality would nest some of itself after every few circles between the unlocked acupoints... the location where this "extracted-power" gets to be stored is within his own spine... like some lava-lake below a dormant-volcano where a tiny root of magma is connecting these unlocked and connected acupoints to this lava-lake beneath that volcano however... instead of that magma being oozing-out from that dormant-volcano... that tiny root of flowing magma is feeding the lava-lake instead. From the mount below him Lin clearly sensed the constant yet faint stream of reinvigorating-vitality being sent his way and feeding more to that magma-root... still some of that green-colored energy would be directly sent and transported through the veins and arteries-systems while carried by the boy’s gold-green blood towards his green-liver... when this process began to kick-in with smooth efficiency the great-sage noticed how the foliage, greenery, and the complicated webs of roots that’s buried deep below the foundations of mercenary-city were affected by his existence and started to "willingly" share some of their life-force with him whenever he passed them by or... was nearby their location! Shuang was enjoying this feeling of comfort and peace after being surrounded by this intense accumulation of wood-energy... this sense feels very close to how it was back then when this spotted mule-deer lived within her birthplace.

“Young-master Lin”

“hmmm... What is it now Chi?”

“Forgive me young-master, I really didn't mean to interrupt your cultivation but, this place is very crowded a-and... someone might do something that could interrupt your cultivation at a sensitive time! we really shouldn’t continue standing here in the plaza for much longer.”

Lin couldn't remember when did he enter that wonderful state of absent-mindedness! honestly the boy was feeling quite irritated at his personal-guard after Chi pulled him out from one of the extremely rare moments where the great-sage experiences complete and absolute mental silence however... once Lin sensed the sunlight that’s falling on his skin from above and witnessed the masses of people that are currently entering or exiting the white-tower through the eight gates when Qiang Chi gave this answer... the boy understood why the scarred young-man within the bear-styled brown-armor was feeling ashamed of himself and slightly hesitant when he gave that answer. It’s been some time since the great-sage entered that wondrous-state and this poor lad must’ve been standing there doing absolutely nothing... having to stick his thumb up his own ass and waiting while being on guard duty is nothing for this former-general but... having to wait for his young-master Lin to finish whatever that he’s doing on the back of his spoilt mount while being in such an overly-crowded location like this plaza is... really... really exhausting thing to do! both mentally and physically... whenever someone approached them this Qiang Chi would maintain extreme focus until they bass them by and widen the distance between them and their current location... the amount of focus becomes a few-times more when there’s a group.

“You're right. Come, let's go up then.”

Lin scratched his nose while feeling somewhat apologetic for Chi who’s going to have this job from now on... especially where all that boredom is included! then the boy activated his spirit-wings while smirking demonically in an attempt to imitate the role of a proper evil employer... afterwards he covered Chi and Shuang with a layer of soul-force before pulling them upwards towards the peak-floor of this white-tower where his master Jianhong resides.

“What is that boy doing?”

“How the heck would I know?”

“Heh. Ignorant I say the whole lot of you.”

“Right. The news have been spreading for a while now, ever since sky-queen Hongtian left the city this kid has been the talk of the hour everywhere you go, yet... after seeing him with their eyes they still can’t recognize him.”

“Just leave them be, we still have a mission to do... let’s move.”

Some mercenaries left after giving the fellows who talked earlier a sneering-expression... they’re members of the lightning-spear mercenaries who already know young-hero Ming who isn’t a Ming but a Lin however... they had the honor of travelling, battling, and training with the top-talent among the current generation of juniors and... the last and closed-doors disciple of sovereign Jianhong! maybe that boy is among the top talents of juniors who some of them personally met before or... heard about them in rumors or in the gossips of others about talented-juniors within the present era or... heroes that once lived in ancient past.

Li Yang commended the members of his mercenary-group after looking up and giving this young-hero "Lin" a somewhat "strange" glance before taking his men towards one of the eight major-streets to leave mercenary-city once again to embark on yet another mission! before entering the white-tower to receive his mission with his group this lightening-cultivator did notice that Lin was standing in front of one of the main gates of the white-tower... the boy was clearly meditating on-top of his mount and the spirit-tyrant refrained from bothering the youngest among sovereign Jianhong's many disciples... the group-leader decided to quickly finish the procedures of accepting his next mission and take the "reserve-members" of his mercenary-group on this mission... meanwhile the "main-members" of his mercenary-group would be taking care of all the work within mercenary-city... like selling both bricks of solidified sin-energy, loading the vaults and treasuries of their lightning-spear mercenaries because... once Li Yang completes this simple delivery up north somewhere in the south of the Dou-empire... the group-leader would quickly return to mercenary-city to enter a long retreat... it’d be quite a long while before the lightning-spear mercenaries are back into doing business once again.

..........

A few hours earlier before Qiang Chi had to interrupt Lin’s meditation... within a floor of the white-tower that’s located below Mu Jianhong's floor and the floor below it which belongs to the boy’s senior-disciple brother Zi Yun yet... that floor is still above the floor that belong to the great-sage's senior-disciple sister Yi Mingxia! the rankings and allocation of higher floors within the white-tower doesn't have to rely only on might since contribution-points does play another major-role in pinpointing where everyone’s accommodations are going to be every year... Lin's master does have his dao-essence which is an "exclusive-privilege" thanks to his own abilities which enables him to collect a huge amount of contribution-points practically without much effort... the acknowledgement from the replica of the everlasting-stone which allows him to saty in-control of a high-percentage of the protective-formation within mercenary-city that’s why he’s the current and reigning city-lord... his personal strength and advanced spirit-cultivation which helps the city-lord occupy the top spot on the white-tower thanks to his fair, direct, and generous management of this branch of mercenary-guild plus the good-reputation which in-turn generated a huge acceptance from mercenaries within the southern-continent. Meanwhile... the boy's senior-disciple brother Zi Yun does have his personal strength and advanced spirit-cultivation plus his expertise in the formation and talisman-dao which helps him collect enough contribution-points to occupy the second-best floor on white-tower yet... right below Zi Yun within the third-floor from the tower’s peak there’s the leader of Mu Jianhong’s opposing-faction! sovereign Kong is the name of that leader... Jiao Kong has always been lusting-after the position of Mu Jianhong... always dreaming of the day he gets to occupy that "throne" and carry that title on his shoulders... the title of being the one true leader of all mercenaries within the southern-continent.

“Humph.” Just that mere action of showing and expressing his annoyance by blowing some air through his nostrils... the cannon-ball-like bursts from that black-bearded man’s nasal-cavities caused the protective-formation to shudder all-over within his floor! when it finally withstood that sudden surge of powerful spirit-pressure that white-sovereign mercenary thought : 'Old fox Jianhong just you wait, just you wait... when the beasts arrive and the city starts to burn to cinders... let's see for exactly how long you’d be able to keep this farce going.' Jiao Kong had this thought when his spirit-sense caught the sight of Lin meditating calmly and peacefully on-top of the back of that spotted mule-deer right within the crowd of the plaza in front of one of the eight gates of the white-tower then... that black-bearded man retrieved his transmission-tool and began to send messages to different members of his faction with many instructions... one of these orders specifically was... to abandon every business establishment within the southern-area of the city... un-aware-ly both this angry sovereign Kong and the boy himself didn't even know that their actions that day and what happened after some decisions were made behind the scenes... caused everything within a certain "someone" plans to become... a whole a lot easier on getting his fat hands on the business-establishments in the south of mercenary-city!

..........

“Hmmm... why can't I take them above the point of ten-kilometers?” Lin clearly sensed how this cloud-like fog-formation is resisting-against his coating of soul-force when the boy attempted to bring both Shuang and Qiang Chi up to the top-floor by flying... from that exact point of altitude these two are forbidden from moving anywhere further! the great-sage already has the jade-token that he received before from his master but... it would seem that the effect of this ivory-white jade-token only apply on himself and that effect doesn't extend to his precious companions.

“Young-master. I can climb my way up within the tower it’s just that... I'm not a member of mercenary-guild, your presence would be required every time you wish to bring me along! otherwise, I wouldn't be allowed entry anywhere near the top-floors of the white-tower. Maybe I should just stay in the residence of the Cheng clan but, I wouldn't be able to serve young-master Lin his meals, I wouldn’t be able to keep being his sparring-partner whenever he needs a sparring-partner...” Qiang Chi was really feeling ashamed of himself when he noticed Lin frowning after struggling futilely for a while... the boy attempted to strengthen the coating of his soul-force and pulled-against the barring of this fog-formation however... when the scarred young-man remembered where his young-master is going to be staying... the former-general kept hearing his own voice becoming softer and softer the more he spoke while the emotions of shame spread further and further within his chest! “Yeah. I like it when my version of a punching-bag is inspired by the style of a teddy-bear, that’s why you have to come-along with me... of course!” Smirking after seeing Qiang Chi being so embarrassed of his current uselessness in this situation... the great-sage muttered softly then looked upwards towards the peak of the white-tower... when Lin extended his ability of soul-sense it was prevented from entering that extremely tall building or going past the limits of the balcony where Sun and Frostine are located... the boy couldn't find his master there with his two beast-companions and understood that he had to rely-on one of them to help! noticing that the orange-kitten is asleep while the white-owl is absorbed a bit too deep within her own world... probably enjoying herself comprehending all the information about the properties of water that the great-sage gave her earlier... Lin decided to ask the winged-tiger to help since the ancestral-bird doesn't speak the common-tongue of this spirit-world... Frostine only speaks her special "Hoot-hoot" language... for some "unknown" reason.

“Sun. Buddy! wake-up, wake-up, wake-up... where’s master Jianhong?”

“What now buddy? let me sleep, I ate too much and my tummy feels like it’s going to burst... can’t eat any more, purr...” Sun turned on his back and talked to himself while being in a state of half-awake half-asleep.

“Just go take a look and see if master is inside, if he’s? then, tell master Jianhong that I really need his help with something! if he isn't inside? then, you can just go right back to sleep. Buddy. How about that? deal!” Lin snickered to himself because the sight of this red-tiger in his sleep is quite the adorable and cute scene like always however... right now isn’t the time to admire it and that’s why the boy urged his beast-companion to move.

“Alright, purr...” Very groggily... the orange-kitten moved towards the edge of this recliner which it’s been using to sleep and flapped its cute bat-like wings... its path of movement during its flight was so erratic and crooked which made it seem like Sun is sleep-flying! until the winged-tiger entered the balcony’s door of his master’s private-floor then completely vanished from the senses of the great-sage.

“Lin'er is back huh... come-in, come-in. Are these two the ones you mentioned before little-Sun? hmmm... where is the little-assassin? did the brat finally decide to flee? I don't feel his inside the city anymore!” After waiting for about a minute or so... Lin noticed his master Jianhong coming out into the balcony with the red-tiger flying next to him... the city-lord simply spoke and the boy noticed the resistance from the fog-formation fading into nothing! “Rong Qing went back to his clan to meet his family, since they could be in danger, I let him go attend to his matters and warn his dear ones of the potential threat to their lives! I believe master Jianhong is aware that this threat might come from the devil-incubator who kidnapped Qing once before many years ago.” The great-sage descended into the balcony and answered the white-sovereign mercenary. “Little-Sun mentioned it, good, good, good... Lin'er. Always remember to take good care of all your subjects, especially the ones who follow you with loyalty! now, you two can stay here as long as you want but... don't you go wandering-around within the top-floors, either stay here in my floor or directly go down into the lowest-floors to take care of your business. This balcony and Lin’er's resting-area is where you're given complete freedom to do whatever you like, someone is going to arrive shortly to hand both of you your tokens of identity.” Mu Jianhong smiled and instructed the kid while ruffling the black-colored hair of his last disciple then... the white-haired elder turned to look towards the scarred brat in the brown-armor that’s styled like a bear and the spotted deer-mule however... the expression on Mu Jianhong’s face wasn’t a smiling one but a stern and serious one instead! the city-lord warned both of them about their behavior within the top-floors and how to behave in his own floor... in-general... they’re not going to be restricted within this white-tower.

“Yes sovereign. This Chi wouldn't dare overstep these rules.” While standing in attention... Qiang Chi answered the master of his own young-master Lin but... inwardly the former-general was feeling mega-excited right at that moment! just a couple weeks ago the scarred young-man was looking-up at spirit-lords and viewing them like they're some mountains... anyone of these "supreme" senior-cultivators could crush him with but a snap of their fingers yet... here he’s right now being honored with the chance of directly speaking with a high-stage spirit-sovereign. To be honest... Qiang Chi is feeling very proud of himself after he made the right choice and decided to follow young-master Lin... and feeling even more proud of his young-master himself since the boy is capable of catching the eye of such a person like Mu Jianhong who’s a "gargantuan-figure" and a true "heavyweight" within the cultivation-community! causing such individual to act personally and literally snatch the kid from one of his followers to make him his last and closed-doors disciple is... enough definition of the true worth of his young-master Lin.

“Whimpher...” Shuang answered the city-lord by lightly hitting the ground with its new and shiny hoofs while lowering her head however... the fruit basket on the table very easily distracted the mule-deer and she couldn't help but take a bite before learning first-hand how colossal the amount of spirit-energy inside these fruits could be! feeling her stomach suddenly becoming so bloated from the excess spirit-energy Shuang... found a comfortable spot to rest and closed its eyes and began to focus on refining all of the spirit-energy before absorbing it into her demonic-core.

“Good. Lin'er. Now that your friends are settled, come with me... Xiao Yan has a few things to teach you about weapon-intent.” Nodding once after seeing the two newcomers assent to his rules... Mu Jianhong raised Lin from the floor by the armpits and hugged him towards his chest while grinning widely then moved inside the white-tower... the white-haired elder is taking his sweet disciple towards the training area where he’s planning to personally witness his sweet disciple take his first-lesson in "how to properly use weapon-intent" probably the elder is more excited than the boy himself right now! “Cough... master...” The great-sage noticed the smirk on Sun's face when he saw Lin being carried like a toddler by the city-lord... it really caused some discomfort to the boy and he wanted to prevent such embarrassing situations in the future... hopefully forever! especially when the great-sage noticed how Qiang Chi was trying to do his best and avoid eye-contact with his young-master right now but... the amusement is very apparent within the eyes of this former-general and the smile which the scarred young-man practically fought to stop it from surfacing on his mouth were both clearly evident to the keen senses of Lin.

“Lin'er. What is it? you can ask for anything from your master! and remember... never hesitate to come and talk to me about any and every single thing because, I'll always be there for you.” Mu Jianhong hugged the boy's waist tighter when he spoke but... this white-sovereign mercenary is in a "fabulous-mood" at that time because... he clearly felt his connection with Lin becoming stronger and stronger whenever they spent time together! a few hours earlier the white-haired elder noticed when the great-sage entered a state of "complete-submersion" while cultivating qi-vitality and communicating with wood-energy in his surroundings... when it happened Mu Jianhong was feeling so happy yet so alert in the same time... the city-lord was happy because the element of wood was practically "stepping" all-over the different elements in the boy’s surroundings and suppressing everything tyrannically just to reach his disciple. Being the holder of the forbidden-tool that’s symbolizing the peak-purity of the element of wood and all vitality... one of the four replicas of the "everlasting-stone" itself... Mu Jianhong was feeling ecstatic when he witnessed it despite already knowing about his latest and closed-doors disciple natural-affinities after seeing his measurement-test yesterday! light, wood, fire, soul, and fire-intent plus... the boy's superior attainments and accomplishments within the system of body-refinement... this disciple of hi is like a bottomless treasure-trove with an endless amount of latent and dormant-potential... the deeper the white-sovereign mercenary tries to look... much to his surprise... the more the white-haired elder would find. Yet... Mu Jianhong is being alert out of fear for the great-sage's safety... while Lin peacefully cultivated in the open ground amongst the crowds the city-lord was giving the boy almost all of his focus in-order to protect him because... if some "suicidal-moron" tried to harm this beloved disciple of his? then... it would be a "tragically-infuriating" incident! had it happened? then... in terms of the toll of casualties things would’ve become so "ugly" in this city. The white-sovereign mercenary is aware that the opposing-faction within his mercenary-guild was already formulating plans within the shadows to "dethrone" him long before Lin appeared at the city-gates because... Jiao Kong just refuses to let the thought and dream of leading all mercenaries within this southern-continent to just... fade from his brain and put everything to rest! of that fact this white-haired elder is certain... that’s why Mu Jianhong kept himself close to the core of the protective-formation ever since the boy began to meditate on-top of his mount and cultivate qi-vitality at the doorsteps of the white-tower... in-case something came-up that might endanger his disciple then... this city-lord was completely and one-hundred percent prepared and willing to start a city-wide massacre on the offenders in his retaliation. Uprooting the opposing-faction entirely seemed like a... very satisfying option and a not so bad choice to the white-sovereign mercenary at that time really... especially when the shady relations with the cultivation-alliance is already surrounding that opposing-faction.

“I will master. It really is heart-warming to know that I'm always going to have your support and counsel, it’s just... that I can't be comfortable when I'm being carried by you master like I'm some sort of a little baby! honestly, I don't mind giving hugs, kisses, and such. Not at all actually but, being carried away like that is just a bit much... I feel like it would affect my image in front of my followers, they might not take me seriously when the situation requires them to be! at least that’s how I see it.” Lin gave the white-armored giant of a man a very strong hug then spoke his mind... the boy was being careful not to hurt the feelings of this white-haired elder. “Hahahaha... Lin'er is absolutely right. I just couldn't help myself and treated you like any kid who’s of similar age but, I'm warning you... if you dare neglect your master or hurt his feelings in the future? then, I'm going to spank you! you’re welcome to go and ask some of your senior-disciple brothers and sisters about how much these palms of mine could leave a "sting" that lingers for many, many years. Hahahahah...” Mu Jianhong nodded then lowered the boy to the floor while laughing then... the city-lord revealed to the great-sage his master's "mean-face" while ruffling the kid’s black-hair strongly before bursting-out into another bout of amused laughter! “Why does it have to be that kind of punishment? it remains the same every single time!” Lin puckered his lips and muttered faintly to himself while the memory of his beloved mother Tian when she spanked his less than a year old buttocks... everything that happened that day is still fresh in his mind. “Because it helps in ensuring that every one of my disciples remembers my teachings! come, you shouldn't leave your teacher of weapon-intent waiting any longer.” The white-sovereign mercenary answered in very serious tone of voice then after winking towards his closed-doors disciple who’s frowning deeply which revealed a very cute expression on his face... the city-lord led him through corridors until they reached another long hallway where there’s a single room at the end.

“Greetings sovereign Jianhong.” Once they entered the place Xiao Yan jumped to his feet from his cross-legged position and bowed deferentially... this time the cyan-warlord didn’t bother to kneel because he already knows that this white-sovereign mercenary wouldn’t allow it.

“Good afternoon senior Xiao Y-” Lin found himself being interrupted by an intense gaze from the goatee-man.

“From this moment onwards I'm going to be your weapon-intent teacher, little-Lin. Calling me teacher-Yan would suffice, now... why don't we start your first lesson by showing each other what we're capable of in a sparring-match?” Right after clarifying that to Lin... Xiao Yan took a heavy step forward towards the boy—which caused the runes and formation-inscriptions to activate on the floor beneath his feet, walls, and ceiling above both of them—and the great-sage instantly noticed how the room is getting very over-crowded by countless strands of fire-energy to the degree where it became very stifling... meanwhile the temperature in this spacious and empty room kept escalating at a frightening rate then... the cyan-warlord mercenary took his fighting-stance once his own fire-intent came blazing-out from his right-chest area and causing an omnidirectional-wave of pressure that’s unique to weapon-intent that reached the "materialization-realm" just like Mia! no... the fire-intent of this goatee-man seems way stronger that Mia’s sword-intent... that greenish-blue fire didn't give Lin the feeling of being chaotic or bursting with explosive power in every direction at random... his intuition was proven correct soon afterwards when that fire-intent began to take shape and assemble around Xiao Yan's body then form a greenish-blue azure-dragon that coiled on its owners cyan-armor and kept looking down at the boy from above and gave him a threatening and menacing glare with its pair of azure-colored, vertical, and draconic-eyes. Just the pressure from this dragon-shaped and materialized fire-intent is enough to make any spirit-cultivator within the realm of spirit- tyrant freeze from fear and be completely suppressed and restricted without being able to move a single step from their place however... the great-sage already experienced the fused-pressure of five different types of supernatural powers during his gate-trial a couple days earlier! Lin have his soul-force, fire-intent, spirit-energy, and qi-vitality and could already sense them chipping-away and alleviating that scalding-pressure... not to mention how the armies of his light-energy within his dantian-space began to become active and tumultuous... clearly all of these dark-gold clouds were about to enter his meridian-system to form his ability of light-armor... had Lin not stoppered and prevented all of them from coming out? then... that face-off would've been a head-on clash between himself and the first teacher the boy ever had in this second-life.

Mu Jianhong stood to the side and watched in silence but... the city-lord was smiling from ear to ear when he witnessed Lin's calm and collected attitude during his first-lesson of how to control his fire-intent... the white-sovereign mercenary was feeling even more happiness after seeing the awkward expression on Xiao Yan's face after having his true aim and goal being ruined and countered by the boy's accumulations... now the goatee-man is thrown off-balance after he failed to leave his future disciple with a good "first-impression" by making the image of "grandeur" and "greatness" that he intended to reveal in front of the kid however... this cyan-warlord mercenary ended-up losing some of his prestige in this gamble! now Xiao Yan is wishing if he didn’t all of these theatrics to begin with... all he gained from these actions is losing some face in front of his first student and in front of sovereign Jianhong.

“Cough! before I begin teaching you anything about fire-intent, little-Lin... you need to understand the concept of weapon-intent first, and what makes that energy a lot similar to spirit-energy yet vastly different in application. Intent... or weapon-intent—like many prefers to call it in in the spirit-world—comes from our deepest desires, fears, agony, and passion... etc. That’s why it’s normally-common and reasonably-acceptable to find a spirit-cultivator who’s completely lacking in natural-affinity towards a certain element and the most basic-amount of comprehension-ability, latent-potential, and dormant-talent to cultivate that element after being capable of reaching the realm of spirit-tyrant... possessing weapon-intent of the same affinity itself which they keep failing to have the ability to use within the system of spirit-cultivation!” The goatee-man was speaking so casually while in truth his actions were the complete opposite to his casual words... the cyan-armored man was covering his arms and legs with greenish-blue fire-intent and pressing hard on Lin with punches and kicks from these burning-fists and feet... meanwhile the boy kept feeling the bones on both of his arms and legs groan in pain whenever he deflected, blocked, or received any of these attacks! 'I guess that explains why I got the fire-intent.' The great-sage thought while remembering his first and only death... the experience itself is horrifying... getting burned alive is never a fate that Lin wouldn’t wish for his enemies to experience! it really would've affected his personality within this second life if the boy wasn't blessed with a strong mentality and an extremely level-headed and positive-character, “To gain mastery of weapon-intent you need to learn to truly control it. Reshaping and deforming you fire-intent comes first, the next thing is when you equip it over your body, weapon, or... augment it with other energies within your body and use it to attack, defend, or give support to others if you want! then comes the third-step, the step of materializing your fire-intent and let it unleash the power of the shape that you choose for it however, do remember this... once your fire-intent takes that first shape when it materializes then, the strongest state of your weapon-intent would always remain in that shape... only in that shape could it unleash its full-potential.” Xiao Yan suddenly changed his style of combat and his strikes became incomparably varied and oppressive... his arms and legs got covered in extremely life-like scaly-draconic azure-claws! from the end of this his spine at the tailbone the cyan-warlord mercenary grew a long, spikey, and thick tail with a flail-like spiky meteor-ball at the end... meanwhile from the area of the goatee-man’s shoulder-blades a pair of wide, leathery, and scaly-wings suddenly sprouted into existence... his head elongated then a pair of antler-like horns grew on-top of it while a fearsome set of white, big, and very... very sharp-looking teeth decorates this jaw. Lin sensed the increase in threat from his teacher in this second-form of fire-intent and summoned his energy-armor to help him stop and block the burning hot after-effect that he feels whenever he receives one of these attacks—which is like a clingy and incinerating touch of hell-fire itself—that made the cyan-armored man seem like he really wants to burn the boy’s small body to smoldering-ash... finally Xiao Yan succeeded in receiving the effect that he wanted from his student when the great-sage gave him a much serious gaze once he activated his only protective-measure and ability! “I once witnessed a sword-user when she materialized her sword-intent and this is the second time in my life that I get to witness a weapon-intent that’s in a similar realm, no... teacher Yan certainly has better and deeper attainments in his fire-intent however, teacher Yan's fire-intent seems to be well-suited for large-scale destruction while that woman’s sword-intent did seem more suited for one-on-one fights and would certainly be superior and advantageous in quickly ending these duels.” Lin released a scorching breath from his chest then... spoke his mind while trying to visualize a method where he would be capable of having comparable control of his own two fires of fire-intent. “Polishing-up your advantages while covering your disadvantages that’s what it means to be a master of the art and true craft of cultivation... this rule applies to every dao in existence, to every school of thought, and to every system known to exist within this spirit-world. What is the current state of your glass-heart?” The cyan-warlord mercenary was inwardly cursing how tough the boy's physique is after each exchange they traded yet... the goatee-man did his best to hide how much he did struggle whenever their energies clashed... Xiao Yan is only relying-on his fire-intent while the great-sage is relying-on his light-energy in combination with fire-intent... meanwhile while his sturdy physique and superior physical-strength is passively sieving and alleviating the pressure of the hits and attacks from the cyan-armored man and minimizing them to just a nonsensical-amount of what they’re supposed to be then easily swept-off and away by Lin's monstrous soul-force! not to mention how really advanced the hand-to-hand combat-techniques of that brat are... he’s facing this terrifying-monster of the younger-generation—which is like a nightmarish-beast—that’s about to be "unleashed" into this era by this sovereign Jianhong in a few more years... when it happens certainly this boy would be way... way more stronger than he currently is. “It’s been full of cracks since a long while—which makes me worry a lot—teacher, for a while now I've been feeling like that glass-heart wouldn't be able to hold-on for another month or so! but, I'm helpless and don't know how to prevent it from happening, I don’t even know if preventing that from happening is of any use to me or if it would do me any harm instead.” The great-sage ducked a kick then rolled to the side before reversing his motions and delivering a reversed axe-kick when he was in the position of hand-standing however... Xiao Yan was tricked into blocking overhead with both arms since a guard made by a single would never hold against a strike from the kid... meanwhile Lin sneakily and agilely bent the knee of his striking leg at the last moment then stretched it forwards like lightning to push his teacher on the chest and force him a step back! before the element of surprise wore-off from his slightly surprised teacher the boy used the inertia of his previous action to correct his pose which ended by him landing on his feet where his back is facing his master... then the great-sage quickly leaned his upper-body slightly forward and to the side before planting one foot in the floor and twisted while sending the toes of his other leg into the stomach of his teacher through the small gap of the goatee-man’s guard... this time the cyan-warlord mercenary had to dig the azure-claws of his feet in the floor to stop himself from being sent flying completely.

“Hu-” Before the cyan-armored man got to react or comment on how advanced Lin's cultivation of fire-intent currently is... Xiao Yan heard Mu Jianhong's voice saying : “That’s enough sparring you two better stop playing, or else I'm going to force my way into your game and join this fun, and... I can't really hold back when I'm feeling overexcited.”

“Huff... all these bruises just in fifteen minutes! teacher's fighting-style is really something amazing... huff...” The boy leaned forward and supported his upper-body by holding his knees and just gasped for breath after this "extreme" sparring-match was called to a stop by the city-lord yet... his words merely caused this cyan-warlord to feel ashamed of himself after hearing the kid praise him instead of giving himself a pat on the back after being able to "survive" these fifteen-minutes... not to mention getting-away from this experience with some superficial-bruises! “Little-Lin. listen well, the glass-heart to intent is like a womb to a fetus, sooner or later it needs to be removed from that area but... it’s the other way in this example! the organ itself needs to disappear in-order for the fetus to truly grow and mature however, you must never... ever try and manipulate the time of "shedding" at all because it’s a really, really dangerous and foolish thing to do. Many of those who tried to do that stupid action ended-up with extreme heart-demons until the moment they died.” After removing his battle-attire the azure-fire-dragon with a single thought... Xiao Yan gestured for the great-sage to sit and began to teach him about weapon-intent. “Yes teacher Yan. I understand the danger and imagine the risk of these unreasonable actions.” Lin agreed on the risk of such approach then nodded before retrieving some water to drink from his space-ring.

Xiao Yan : “Hmmm!...”

Mu Jianhong : “En.”

Seeing both his master and teacher giving him strange looks when he drank caused the boy to wonder : 'Why are they looking at me like I’m some kind of exotic-monkey that is teaching other monkeys in the zoo about the laws of physics?'

“Did you feel any discomfort at all when that water entered your body?” This time it was the city-lord who asked the great-sage this after the white-sovereign mercenary placed his huge and rough hand on Lin's back and sent a strand of his own dao-energy inside the boy to check his body for any signs of confliction between the different spirit-energies however... the white-haired elder sighed soon afterwards and seemed to be relieved when the vitals of the great-sage were all normal! “This is just normal water that I once gathered from somewhere during my journey, shouldn’t I be drinking enough of it while I’m training?” Lin frowned upon the idea of getting dehydrated... sometimes there would be requirements for him to condition himself during his training-exercise in-order to be able to adapt to extreme environments but... there’s no need to keep pushing himself all the time under these conditions when there’s an alternative method available that could give the same result. “Usually... you shouldn't do such a normal action in here because in here the element of fire is being extensively-accumulated and refined by this formation, it’s just normal water not spirit-water yet the tiniest drop of this normal water being added to the body under these circumstances would be like the spark for all that fire-energy in your surroundings to cause mischief from the inside-out of your physique. Normally you'd suffer some intense pain and an annoying itch that haunts your skin for a few months before going-away, I was really hoping that you’d learn a lesson from this experience however, as it seems there's no need for that lesson in your case... Lin’er is so lucky.” Mu Jianhong smirked when he explained the reason why "normal" people shouldn’t drink water in a similar situation... then the city-lord shrugged helplessly when his attempt to teach the boy a lesson failed... the white-sovereign was feeling slightly annoyed that he had to expose one example of his famous "tough-love" without gaining some "joy" from it! this white-haired man’s version of joy would mostly be himself spectating one of his many disciples experiencing that tough-love and growing stronger from it.

“Cough... little-Lin. Now I want you to focus on your fire-intent and glass-heart, what you need to do next is to seek to gently lure them from inside your chest and let them be revealed outside on your ski-” Xiao Yan tried to guide the great-sage in the fundamentals of weapon-intent but the words of this goatee-man were caught midway in his throat because... he discovered that Lin is already capable of revealing his glass-heart in a heartbeat... witnessing that invisible glass-heart that’s barely able to maintain its form and stay whole or falling apart in a crumbling-heap within the kid's chest like a house of cards! there’s also a lot of parts and pieces missing from it which is a great shock to this cyan-warlord mercenary because... after all... he himself only reached similar attainments in weapon-intent when he was already well past the age of thirty-five.

“Cough...” Mu Jianhong coughed to awaken this day-dreaming brat—Xiao Yan—who’s embarrassing himself by falling in a daze right in front of his student.

“Uh! n-now release your imagination and seek every single emotion within your heart and chest and guide them all towards the inside of your glass-heart, and remember... no-matter what happens you need to keep all of these feelings of yours inside your glass-heart, and only inside your glass-heart. Even if they start colliding, scuffling, or affecting one another... you just watch from the side while fortifying the vessel itself—which is the glass-heart—with all your will.” Xiao Yan blushed in shame then gave the boy his instructions... the goatee-man is already preparing himself to use his own fire-intent to immediately intervene, assist, or protect the great-sage once anything bad or unexpected yet bad or unexpectedly-bad happens during this test! this test is supposed to expose the latent-potential of the users talent within the system of weapon-intent... the two old men Xiao Yan and Mu Jianhong could already see the two different types of fire inside Lin's glass-heart from the moment it appeared... these two fires seems to be so active and mischievous because they never stopped chasing one another around the boy’s glass-heart. According to the senses of these two men... the red-colored fire is clearly a fire-intent that’s extremely pure in the way it completely belongs to the fire-affinity... meanwhile the gold-colored fire is clearly a variant fire-intent that got birthed after the kid tapped slightly into his spirit-energy and solidified his connection with the element of light.

Mu Jianhong on the other side was currently receiving a few words from the awakened-soul of the replica of the everlasting-stone : “Little-Jian. This little-disciple of yours does have a very strange special-physique, before he took the gate-trial and when I was healing him afterwards... I know what I felt, and I felt it clearly... the boy never had natural-affinity towards the element of wood then, I noticed that this kid’s physique began to consume some of my wood-energy! honestly in the beginning I thought it’s because Lin unlocked some of his acupoints and finally connected his "lesser-circle" of qi-vitality after the bloodshed-phenomenon happened and became a lesser-body-refiner, since wood-energy and qi-vitality are so compatible by nature I thought maybe his body is using my wood-energy to assist the boy have a speedy-recovery. Then during his measurement-test yesterday I was really shocked when I discovered that this kid has somehow unlocked his natural-affinity towards the element of wood however, can’t you see that his attainments in wood-energy are vastly different and better compared to yesterday?”

'Senior Mu. If you’re interested in my last and closed-doors disciple? then, I don't mind lending him to you every now and then. I wouldn’t mind if that’s what you want, after all... I can't find him a better teacher in the southern-continent—besides the Elves—when it comes to wood-energy. Hahaha...' Mu Jianhong crossed his arms and sent back this answer while watching Lin's calm face start getting affected by unknown emotions.

“I better not... from within Lin I sense a certain and immense threat that I really don't understand, and really don’t dare to investigate!” The awakened-soul that occupies one of the only four replicas of the everlasting-stone immediately refused the invitation without hesitation.

“Senior Mu is as cautious as ever but I don't blame you for being on-guard since sometimes when I look towards Lin even I can't help but feel my back tingling from terror and my chest being filled with fear!” Mu Jianhong replied while remembering how he felt when he first intervened to catch the boy once before to stop him from smashing head-first against the ceiling of the trial-tunnel... during that moment when the city-lord took action and acted he almost swears that he sensed it yet very faintly and vaguely... at that time the white-sovereign mercenary felt like there’s a pair of dark eyes staring directly at his back in addition to Hongtian who kept her distance and watched Lin's trial with her pair of beautiful red-eyes without intervening .

“Crack....”

The sound drew Mu Jianhong from his memories and he watched Lin's glass-heart receive another crack.

“There is more?” Xiao Yan was raising an eyebrow at the new addition that arrived inside that glass-heart.

He felt it and seen it inside yet couldn't understand the green-fire because to his senses it wasn't any fire at all.

Both fires be that gold or red whenever these two fires touched the green-fire they would dance like drunkards while their aura would increase in strength.

Finally that green-fire which isn't a fire seemed to have had enough with these two fires who kept munching away at its energy. squeezing itself smaller by a layer or two that green fire birthed a blue drop of water then dived deeper inside it to take cover from the two bullying fires.

Xiao Yan was gawking at the sight while Mu Jianhong and the awakened-soul were feeling their world spinning because that green-fire could never be any more familiar to their senses!

Wood-intent? water-intent? wait... there is more! inside Lin's glass-heart a brown mass appeared and that newcomer was greeted by the red-fire. It surrounded and burned that brown mass for a while yet couldn't take any from it to benefit itself like earlier when it did to the green one. Deciding finally it had enough the red-fire returned to chase the gold one after losing interest in the new toy. However that wasn't the end of it. The blue one took the green one and tunneled the brown mass then after leaving that green one inside the core of that brown mass it covered the whole thing in it's blue.

The red-fire felt like it was cheated out of its territory since it is the original owner and first inhabitant of this domain—glass-heart—and both of the opposing forces blue and red clashed while the gold-fire watched from above and kept circling the globe. Gradually the struggle caused foreign energies to be drawn towards the chaos and dark clouds filled with lightning gave this small world inside Lin's glass-heart a sky.

Xiao Yan and Mu Jianhong were alarmed by the profundities of such sight no matter how much they tried to comprehend them they ended up with splitting headaches. Both of them couldn't believe that such dao truths could come from a kid less than seven.

“Crack....” another crack at the glass-heart was the sign announcing the arrival of a completely different type of energy.

Upon its arrival it heralded a new era when it swallowed any kind or color of energy to come in its way it was domineering, oppressive, and merciless.

A mere glimpse was all it took for the first wave of that energy to dominate that glass heart once and for all.

“Sovereig-”

“Don't ask little Yan.... even I have no idea.” Mu Jianhong didn't have to guess what Xiao Yan was inquiring because the reason couldn't be more obvious! yet he did his best in trying to keep his calm when he answered however. He couldn't keep his mouth shut a second longer before continuing to say : “Keep your senses at their sharpest and watch closely for any sign of Lin losing control and remember if you miss a beat and harm comes to him.... then you might as well die.” Mu Jianhong didn't know why he gave that threat just now. Maybe his worry for Lin made him want to vent especially when there is past tales of cultivators harming themselves badly in this stage of shedding the intent-vessel.

Even Mu Jianhong himself didn't notice how voice sank deeper in a level of ruthlessness which is only heard or presented to the few life-long enemies which he made in his long journey of cultivation.

Under these circumstances Xiao Yan was hoping for that foreign state to wear-off from his only student because he was under unbelievable pressure right now. But he was inwardly wishing for it to last as well! he himself was beyond mesmerized by this phenomenon because it’s intent-oriented which even a sovereign can't comprehend. Not to mention how it deeply touched and affected his own dao of fire-intent just by witnessing it with his eyes.

Still the wait was the worst kind of torment for the spirit-lord! the distracting factor of the magnetically enticing daze of enlightenment after another bewitching his mind kept holding Xiao Yan back from doing his job which hangs on it his entire life.

Finally after a couple minutes the entire glass heart started to fade gradually from Lin's chest and Xiao Yan found himself releasing a stifled breath of mixed emotions of relief and disappointment then he discovered his sweat-soaked clothes and the receding strength from his legs followed by the feeling of his butt slamming against the floor beneath him.

'The effort it took to resist the temptation of accepting these moments of sudden enlightenment which constantly battered his will and almost forced it to surrender. Was simply immense and could only be achieved by a spirit-lord brat who has a strong intent in the realm of materialization.' Jianhong thought while giving the exhausted Xiao Yan a cursory-look.

In fact. Mu Jianhong was a bit wrong with his judgment.

Now if you add the Sovereign who cared not for anything else but his disciple's well-being and safety to the equation Jianhong made then Xiao Yan just went through his toughest yet easiest brushes with the grim-reaper not to mention the great opportunity which fell in with strange luck in his hands.

Cultivators does have this strong yet weird bond and connection with fortuitous-opportunities and chance-encounters where opportunities be they lucky fortunes and spirit-resources or a cultivation-manuals and special-techniques that leads the ones to discover them towards a shortcut in their journey of cultivation and gives them an easy power-up. Rarely would it be a perfect fit with the personal dao of those in luck to discover any fortune yet in this particular moment Xiao Yan's luck has reached a whole new level in having a serial of consecutive glimpses on the boy’s phenomenon of intent which led to a lot of chances for Xiao Yan to gain many enlightenments.

If it wasn't for his trembling feet and shame barrier which would stop him from jumping up and down in joy since his student is still in the vicinity, then Xiao Yan would've cupped his mouth and howled towards the sky before racing time itself to find his wife to give her the news before entering retreat, after coming out from his seclusion certainly husband and wife would celebrate this good news together.

“I believe he is safe now... it’s just so strange! little-Yan... never mention what happened here to anyone. You’re free to go now.” Mu Jianhong spoke after double checking Lin's vital signs he didn't turn his head to look at Xiao Yan when he reminded the man to keep his eyes open and his lips tightly closed.

Still Xiao Yan felt a pure pressure of wild killing intent descend on the room except the small area which Lin was sitting cross-legged.

“Yes sovereign.” Grinning from ear to ear Xiao Yan gave a courtesy bow before turning on his heel to leave after seeing the sovereign nod in absentmindedness. Clearly this white-sovereign is giving almost all his attention to his last disciple right now.

Sighing in surrender Xiao Yan shrugged his shoulder after stifling the last strand of envy from his heart. After all there was a time where he built a future where Lin would grow up under his care with Xiao Yan being his master and father figure in a way to help heal the deep wound which almost tore him apart from Jia after their son Xiao Tu disappeared in beast-mountains.

But as thick and heavy that moment emotionally hit Xiao Yan as fast it was to scatter away and he imagined Jia's smile when he delivers her the good news. One reason for his current endlessly agitated heart is how Xiao Yan clearly felt the call of "law-energy" previously!

Only spirit-kings and emperors can use that massively pure spirit-energy in their techniques, spirit-lords do feel it if their sensory abilities are up to par. However that law-energy would be useless for them because the constitution of the physiques of spirit-lords can't withstand it, they’d be lucky if the result of that high-quality, high-graded, and amazingly-pure law-energy greatly harmed any spirit-lord’s body after forcefully using it once or twice. Death is eighty-percent guaranteed for any spirit-lord who dares to forcefully use law-energy three times in a row and is certain after the fourth attempt.

Yes there’s stories of bygone heroes and legends of the past who could handle one or two more attempts thanks to being blessed with a special-physique or being gifted with a unique talent in the system of body-refinement are confirmed. Truth remains that the end result of stubborn spirit-lords biting more than they could chew or overestimating themselves by attempting to tame that wild law-energy is... death... always death.

To Xiao Yan having any lead to growing stronger means having it easier in finding his lost son alive if possible or avenging his death if some unfortunate accident happened. the mercenaries-guild is treating him good but it will give him an even better treatment if he’s a spirit-king.

Add this status to his relationship with sovereign Jianhong and the sovereign’s last and closed-doors disciple then... and only then would the guild allow him access to the information.

That information is branded within the guild as a blue-rank piece of information and those below blue-king in armor-rank have no right to buy or exchange for it through any method of exchange. As for finding a blue-king mercenary to view it for him? those who dare break the rules are far and few within mercenary-city. Why would anyone take that risk for someone weaker than themselves like him?

Xiao Yan was daydreaming and reminiscing the past mixed with aspirations for the future then a glaring light descended on the long hallway in a blink he didn't even get a chance to witness his own shadow being casted ahead of him before his eyes were momentarily blinded by the intense light. As a natural reaction from a veteran mercenary and spirit-lord his own spirit-energy protected his eyes from the light and his relaxed walk changed into a tight defensive pose before he turned to face the source of this light.

A split second was all it took for Xiao Yan's eyes to adjust and see and there at the end of the long hallway was the same door of the spacious and empty training-room which he left Lin and sovereign Jianhong a minute or so earlier.

“This energy is Lin's! is he breaking through?” Relaxing his hands and squinting his eyes slightly Xiao Yan muttered to himself but no one answered his words.

One second later he heard a soft cough before the door was closed shut in his face and Xiao Yan buried his ebbing curiosity and found his way out on his own.

.........

A few seconds after Xiao Yan left the room.

Lin was still peacefully sitting there legs crossed and eyes closed when suddenly his glass-heart and intent-vessel became visible again.

This time however it seemed to be in a shape that’s a lot worse compared to before and the greyness inside it was practically dominating every types of fire within it and only one fire was still treating this situation like it’s some fun game!

Red, green, brown, blue, black, and purple. All these fires were getting licked by that grey-cloud and losing some of their size after each of these encounters... only the fast and quick ones who’re able to escape long beforehand were kept safe from its bullying.

“Hmmm...” Mu Jianhong's eyes dilated when he saw the ongoing skirmish happening and hesitated whether to stop Lin from continuing his meditation or not.

Finally he decided to keep watch from the side and stay vigilant but his vigilance was a bit short or delayed as it would seem.

Because that skirmish escalated very quickly. First that grey-cloud would shrink in size after stealing the energy from other fires and in the beginning Mu Jianhong felt it’s taking shape and it had some resemblance to a hammer yet it started deforming in shape then gradually fell out of proportion however... Jianhong could've swore that he saw it turn into some ship with a very foreign design before that cluster of grey-clouds changed shape and resembled some grey-colored ocean waves and carried it to bombard every part of this glass-heart... colorful-fires and different types of intent were included in that bombardment!

These helpless fires couldn't find shelter from this bullying but in the backside of that golden-fire which didn't seem to notice the sneak attack from this grey-bully until it was too late. Both intent energies clashed under the worried eyes of Jianhong. On one side these known intents were united against that unknown grey-intent.

With his keen senses Mu Jianhong felt their affinities one by one and all but one was attributed to an unknown element. For example the gold-fire has a very clear and noticeable connection to the element of light, red is fire, green is wood, brown is earth, blue is water, purple is lightning, and black is darkness. Yet that grey energy is foreign and have this certain feeling of maliciousness to it that gave him a sovereign of spirit-energy the cold chills on his back.

His thoughts gave assumptions but honestly he was too scared to even believe himself simply because that said assumption had people achieving it throughout the time by hard work and effort but never through the blessing of pure inherent-talent.

Among the giants of this world and those who stepped into the platform of peak strength such as Mu Jianhong. Talent has no huge effect on their judgment that is why whenever they meet upstarting youngsters their eyes would mostly be able to estimate how far can they climb on the ladder of cultivation with a simple judgment based on areas of expertise and all those on his level would always agree in linking attainments within the system of intent with further, faster, and much better attainments and rank in every system of cultivation that they’re capable of accessing in future.

That being said the mere idea which appeared on Mu Jianhong's head momentarily paralyzed him with excitement.

Then the show was truly over when Lin's cute face suddenly cringed in pain and his face reddened. Because both the solo grey-cloud of intent energy and the united mass of colorful-fires led by the golden-fire clashed right in the middle of the boy's glass-heart.

The intent-vessel which was on the verge of crumbling-down on itself before this event was strained beyond its capabilities and couldn't withstand this collision. The small amount of light-intent that escaped the confinement of the glass-heart and shed a blinding light on a third of the entire floor before Mu Jianhong closed the door and hurried to place both palms on Lin's chest and back then began to check his condition and look for any hidden-threats.

“I was too greedy. Sigh...” Mu Jianhong let out a sigh of relief when he confirmed the state of simple exhaustion after Lin mentally overexerted himself beyond his limits however these words to himself were a self-reminder to Jianhong.

Seeing Lin in his first time harnessing his intent talent and breaking common sense by getting his hand on seven different types of intent energies with apparent ease! then seeing that very notorious energy in the form of intent like never heard or seen before suddenly felt like a bit too much of a glamorous-talent to throw at the face of these geezers really. 'Maybe it would give them the peaceful rest of a heart-attack. Kekeke.' Mu Jianhong thought then couldn't help but smile at the prospect of that idea.

“That was certainly related to chaos-energy in the form of intent. This disciple of yours has the biggest-amount of untapped potential in comparison to all the talents I have seen or heard of and I've seen a lot and heard about a lot more! he is truly... too scary.” Mu Jianhong found the awakened-soul of the everlasting-stone’s replica appearing on his shoulder when it spoke and it was rare for it to appear outside the domain it created within itself because it always would roam the spirit-world in its camouflage-state while being invisible and ethereal.

It kept scanning Lin's body with its reptilian eyes and its skin color would change after each sniff it took from close proximity of his face.

Finally, after hesitating for a second or two and checking everywhere while having a timid look within its "funny-looking" eyes... that chameleon gathered all of its courage then opened its mouth then let its long tongue stretch towards Lin's jugular-vein! once the tip touched the boy's neck it narrowed like a needle and prickled then extracted a drop of his blood before retracting back inside the chameleon's mouth.

Mu Jianhong was watching these actions with excitement, the awakened-soul of this tool is normally apathetic and withdrawn from the affairs of every species. Including himself and those before him who inherited that replica once before this senior Mu has no interest in anything really besides the news about the other three replicas of the everlasting-stone and the accomplishments of their three inheritors compared to its inheritor.

“How is it senior? is it really... heh. I guess I was too greedy, after all something like "that" energy is... sigh.” Mu Jianhong asked eagerly for the result after seeing senior Mu taste Lin's blood only to see the bulging eyes of that chameleon twirl in their sockets while its skin color kept repeating the eight colors of Lin's intent energy before it finally shook its head to deny him the dream which started to formulate in his imagination and to refute some parts of what it previously said as well.

“Not chaos-intent. But... it’s destruction and creation-intent, both are still in the nascent-form, tell me how are you planning to groom this last disciple of yours? our resources wouldn't suffice even if you treat him as an exception and specially remove the restriction for him. Even if you did force your will within the guild, the consequences on the long-term would certainly be disastrous.” Mu the chameleon spoke seriously but Mu the human was just grinning and shaking from excitement because from this senior Mu the sovereign only seemed to hear the first part.

“Ba!”

“Ee!”

“You fool! stop daydreaming already and quit giggling like a maiden in her wedding day, quickly wipe that... disgusting grin off of your face and listen to me you idiot, this is far too much trouble in the making than you toppling that cultivation-alliance from their spot. The kid falling in your hand could turn out to be his most unfortunate outcome. Sigh. What a shame indeed...” That chameleon spat-out its tongue and slapped Mu Jianhong's cheek to pull him out of his fantasies before speaking again to reprimand him afterwards it turned to look at Lin and spoke the last part in a lamenting tone of voice.

“Humph. Who said anything about me breaking any rule or forcing my will? the kid is going to be the excellent example of a true mercenary under my tutelage and care so just you wait and see senior Mu I believe it wouldn't take long for him make it happen. The kid has shown me a character unbefitting to those of similar age but a much more mature and calculative one, as for resources... humph. I'm willing to spend it all for my disciple even if I have to sell some of my dao-essence to the enemy.” Mu Jianhong cared not for the impolite gesture from that chameleon and crossed his arms before giving it his reply.

“That would be very good. If you could raise him to your realm in less than a thousand years then it would be way better because... that opportunity shouldn't be allowed to fall in the hands of the cultivation-alliance under any circumstances and no-matter the price we have to pay for it. Back in the days I used to be just a guardian of this branch in the southern-continent and my only senior was feared by the mightiest within that era. To dare hide that map for all these years is an unforgivable sin but... the steep-price was paid and we need to retrieve those remains.” That chameleon spoke and the mood suddenly turned very heavy in the room.

“I will do my absolute best senior Mu.” Nodding strongly Mu Jianhong carried Lin's unconscious body from the floor gently and gave his answer while smiling when he looked down at the boy in his arms.

The feeling he got holding this boy was the closest it can be to fatherhood according to Mu Jianhong who had accepted many disciples and some of them were younger-looking on the exterior compared to Lin yet the circumstances were different and Mu Jianhong at that time had a different kind of mentality and viewpoint. By the time his character matured his own disciples were already grown-ups and he didn't get to truly enjoy the feeling any elder gets when dealing with young and courageous "sprouts" who’re unaware of the prospect of preparing themselves for the moment they get to finally meet the unknown-future that’s yet to unfold before their eyes.

“I'm still Feeling antsy being near the boy so call me if you need me.” Mu the chameleon suddenly turned invisible and even Mu Jianhong wouldn't be able to detect where it’s gone even though it stayed within the white-tower most of the time or nearby it within mercenary-city.

...........

While Xiao Yan and Mu Jianhong were watching Lin experience his first session meditating on the energy of weapon-intent and exploring his hidden-potential on that aspect.

From their own unique-perspective of inner-sight Lin and Gang were seeing more details inside the glass-heart.

After Xiao Yan told him to direct all his emotions inside that glass-heart and let it loose without trying to control a thing. Lin did just that while focusing on containing all these emotions with his will within that intent-vessel.

His bottled-up emotions from his previous-life and his hopes for humanity to survive the crisis of disintegration-shockwaves.

His aspirations for this life and his passion for knowledge Lin opened his heart wide and dumped all these feelings all at once and "boy oh boy" it felt really good to lose all that "baggage" of excess emotional-weight.

Maybe that was a mistake of some sort because emotions to weapon-intent is like fuel to burning fire.

Too much ignition led to what Mu Jianhong and Xiao Yan saw from outside while from within it was a much too different sight. Lin first discovered that Gang wasn't in his usually relaxed state and kept looking around then suddenly the deadly-sin of wrath crouched down and held his head... obviously in way too much pain.

“What’s wrong? Gang!” The boy asked in worry but the emergence of that grey-cloud of intent-energy pulled his attention towards it just like how a magnet would affect metal-powder and the great-sage stood there gaping his mouth from shock! disintegration-shockwaves? Lin couldn't be more familiar with that "malice" he spent almost the entirety of his previous-life researching that "universe-annihilating" energy... he calculated the damage a single grain of sand from it could cause all the way to a deserts’ worth... this boy knows all about the damaging-effect that might follow if this small-sized grey-cloud was unleashed into the world.

To see it again is a huge shock in itself and to see it within his body and feel how close that unique-energy is to him especially when it felt like it is trying to reach out to him to connect with him on a much deeper level was the greatest shock of them all.

It was tough to achieve but Lin forced this session to a close without reaching back to that grey-cloud of disintegration-shockwaves, honestly the great-sage was too afraid of causing that intent-energy to appear once again in this life and descend on his loved-ones if he did.

His sin-brother is in great pain since it appeared in the glass-heart and before knowing the consequences of accepting it Lin wouldn't dare risk it.

“Brat! why did you stop? it was almost over anyway.” Kai's voice was like a straw that got stretched towards a drowning Lin when he’s in a moment of absolute confusion.

'Senior Kai. What exactly is that grey-colored intent? ever since it appeared I kept feeling my skin crawling with fear. Is what really a weapon-intent?' Lin replied while keeping his eye on every action taken by that grey-cloud.

“Heh. From my point of view, it’s your only weapon-intent, while the rest of them seem like counterfeits of weapon-intent that have your smell on them. Looks like there’s still some things which I missed within you, let's see! hmmm...” Kai had a tinge of amusement in his voice which electrocuted Lin when he remembered how until this moment he didn't reveal the truth about Lily, Ming, Gang, and the existence of the rest of deadly-sins within him to this formidable entity.

'Senior Kai are you sure this gold-fire isn't my primary intent in this glass-heart?' With this question Lin was trying to confirm the truth and hopefully distract this talking-raccoon who could easily manipulate space-time energy.

“Pretty sure so far. Better hurry and fuse your will in that grey-cloud of destruction and creation before things become... well... complicated. Your few years of life are very interesting and makes no sense at all Lin son of Tai the mighty and Tian the beauty. Until you clear this misunderstanding for me, don't be expecting me to help fend or pull you from trouble when you meet it, maybe let Lily offer her aid instead. kekeke...” Kai's presence disappeared after that and Lin knew that this talking-raccoon has somehow skimmed-through his short life and found glaring flaws especially after he mentioned his envious twin-sister at the end.

“Lin.... ugh! we can't keep it under control any further.” Gang finally spoke to awake Lin to the danger of that grey cloud.

'Kai said to fuse my will with it. Does that mean that I have to accept disintegrating-waves as my weapon-intent? that energy huh! it just feels as if fate is mocking me in this life too.' Lin thought and made-up his mind.

“So be it.” Sitting next to Gang. Lin willingly accepted the calls from that grey-cloud of disintegration-shockwaves however... that energy felt so wild and insanely volatile and prone to devastate everything that stands in its path even the rest of intents weren't spared from this fate.

“We need to work together. While I'm Taming it you guys unite to stop it from getting stronger to whom does that gold-fire belong to?" Lin asked when he felt that grey-cloud starting to attempt to change positions with him! with him being the one being controlled by the grey-cloud instead of being in-control, once he noticed that this effect grew stronger when the grey-cloud consumed other intents Lin knew he had to stop it from consuming anymore and getting any stronger than it already is.

“Ming. He’s still affected by the potion of thought-rebirt-”

“Wake him up, do it now! this is an emergency so please hurry. This disintegrating-wave is already attempting to cloud and affect my sanity.”

...........

“Buddy. Hey! lazy-bum, you better wake-up now or I’ll will make you sniff my but-”

“Ei’hoot!”

“Ouch! Frostine... why did you do that for? are you looking for a fight? huh! I’m warning you, I’ve been eating a lot lately and am a lot stronger now.”

“Ah! I fell asleep... when did it happen? how did it go? Gang...” Lin opened his eyes and got-up from his bed after being startled-awake from his sleep then hurried to scan his body using his inner-sight to confirm the current-condition of his glass-heart however... after searching for his glass-heart everywhere in that chest-area he couldn’t find it and was met with a grey-cloud instead... that disintegration-cloud is surrounded by a seven-colored, seven-pointed, star-like formation that’s made by the seven different weapon-intents! these weapon-intents are... light, fire, wood, water, earth, darkness, wind, and lightning-intents! Gang is sitting cross-legged underneath that formation and exhaustion is still clearly evident on his expression however... once the deadly-sin of wrath noticed the arrival of his big-brother he smiled triumphantly.

“Success! it did take us some time to contain it after you stopped its advance on the energies of our intents but, we managed it—somehow—in the end... come check it out. Lin. This disintegration-intent is just amazing! in the beginning I thought it’s just some ordinary cloud of disintegration-shockwaves however, I was wrong... there’s more to it. Unfortunately, these secrets are guarded very closely by that disintegration-effect of that intent.” Gang spoke while Lin was checking the colorful formation which seems very close in design to the first formation he ever seen in this spirit-world... the basic spirit-gathering which Mia personally made a few months earlier.

“The glass-heart?” Lin asked when he couldn't find the previous vessel of his intent anywhere.

“The collision shattered it completely however, it benefitted us more than it benefitted that wicked mass of destructive energy! the fragments of that glass-heart were very useful to us in linking and focusing our intents in this seven-restrictions formation. Thanks to your Mia we could mimic her formation and improve its design... oh! the disintegration-intent seems to react to your presence, it must be recognizing you as its owner now but I wouldn't recommend you to do any experiments with it right now, probably you shouldn’t do so until you recover completely. We were so exhausted both physically and mentally to the degree where you had to continuously sleep for two days.” While Gang was answering Lin's question. The rightful owner of this body walked towards the multi-dimensional seven-pointed star-formation and raised his hand then touched the glass-like surface of the formation.

Once Lin's hand touched the colorful formation that grey-cloud which was static and undisrupted previously experienced a huge change... its outer-layer rippled like waves on a body of liquid then from below these waves a humongous body began to push its way towards the surface while being entirely unaffected by the swirling whirlpools all-around it after its ascent.

“T-this... is!”

“The ark of salvation, the symbol of hope for countless lives in your previous-life, honestly... I find it ironic! yet really expected from someone like you, since "letting-go" was never one of your traits.”

Lin was so shaken by the sight of that ark that’s being carried by the grey disintegration-shockwaves to the degree of having his eyes getting loaded and covered-with unshed tears! Gang stood next to him and gazed upwards at the sight very calmly while answering and didn't raise a single comment on the current emotional state of his big-brother.

“Did it materialize already?” Lin asked while sensing the deep longing from that ark and the surrounding grey-cloud to unite with him without barriers separating the two of them.

“According to my own estimations it’s unlikely. It should be in the stage that Xiao Yan mentioned before, the one about weapon-intent covering the body, weapon, or augmenting other energies! I don’t think it’s at the realm of materializing... yet. Most likely we are close to having that breakthrough, but... just how close? well... I just don't know... yet!” Gang answered with a shrug before continuing : “Time for me to resume my work on soul-force. You don't need to worry yourself about intent, spirit-energy, or anything else. For now please go and fill us with lots of nutritious stuff... I’ve been enduring these extremely annoying bouts of "hunger-bangs" for two days straight now, gluttony has almost exhausted himself to death previously and needs some immediate "replenishments" before he starts making a "fuzz" about being really "empty" for once! had that situation continued for much longer? then, I’d have hijacked this perfect meat-suit of yours to solve this issue, god only knows if I would’ve had enough strength to ever return it without being influenced or overcome by my own greed.” Gang said then vanished from this territory of weapon-intent at the chest-area and ascended towards the soul-world which already began to regain some of its former glory.

“Hoot-Hi’hoot.”

“Guh! you bag of smelly feathers dare step on my face? ouch!... s-stop! I'm going to freeze to death if yo-”

Hearing the voices of two of his beast companions at a scuffle attracted Lin from his momentary-daze and he sighed before lowering his head to mutter a silent prayer for every soul in his previous life.

Opening his eyes Lin recognized the room he is in with the extravagant decorations. It is the same room with his master's huge drawing, gigantic-chandelier, and depictive-drawing at the dome-ceiling that he woke-up in it once before after the gate-trial.

when he got up Lin saw Sun being pushed against the carpet on the floor by the small-sized white-owl who partly froze his buddy and clearly she’s planning to finish the job by making this orange-kitten one of her masterpieces by turning him into the perfect ice cube! yet... the only problem in these plans of Frostine is the unexpected timing of Lin actually waking-up and witnessing her playful-cruelty whenever the ancestral-bird is dealing with his winged-tiger.

“Li-gubhu... shaeve meeh!”

“Hoot!”

“Morning. Frostine. What are you doing to Sun?”

“Hoot’ing.”

Sun tried to seek help from his buddy but Frostine was quick to shut him up by sealing his face in a layer of ice which only gave the cute-looking demonic-beast a chance to speak two very muffled and confusing words before giving his audience a different visage and countenance! When Lin asked her she just shrank her head down and sauntered-away from her "rude-victim" that deserves every bit of this treatment while doing her best to avoid eye-contact with Lin.

“Tsk. You two shouldn't fight. I know that Sun was trying to be mean to me and you acted on my behalf but you need to remember this Frostine, only I can be the judge on both of your actions. We don't bully others and never in any case or under any circumstances are we to bully one another. Understand?” Smiling at Frostine's guilty behavior made Lin feel slightly better and it distracted him somewhat from the matter of his recent discovery. Snatching the white-owl with his hands Lin spoke slowly while looking at her hypnotizing-eyes of blue and black when their foreheads touched.

“Hoot’ay.”

“Good. Now go unseal Sun and apologize! Frostine... admitting being wrong makes you grow more never less, you too Sun! I’m expecting an apology from you too because you've been naughty, if you don't feel like giving me and Frostine an apology? then... it’s alright, just stay in this room until you feel like it, meanwhile the rest of us would be having our meal without you and... having fun sightseeing in the streets of this big, beautiful, and enormous mercenary-city” Lin was enjoying the cute sight of Frostine being uncomfortable in his loving embrace and he let her loose to remove the ice from his red-tiger then he spoke to Sun while walking towards the balcony to check on his remaining beast-companion Shuang.

“Good morning young-master. Where would you like to have your breakfast?” Qiang Chi was meditating in a corner at the balcony but the former-general never really allowed himself become fully immersed in his meditation and let his senses cover the room to monitor the condition of his young-master. Once he discovered signs of Lin waking-up the scarred young-guard didn't hesitate to stop his cultivation despite how useful the environment in the top-floor of the white-tower is... it’s stacked with a great accumulation of concentrated spirit-energy that’s of great purity which enabled Chi to improve his cultivation by a lot within these two days! one second of cultivation in such a perfect environment is equal to a couple of hours of cultivation elsewhere.

“This view isn't bad don't you think?”

“It is young-master. It is indeed. Is there anything that you specifically want today?”

“Chi. I'm not feeling that picky, I’m feeling very hungry but... I don't mind trying something new if it wouldn’t take too long to prepare. Hey little-Shuang did you miss me? good girl, good girl, you’re a good girl. Tell me, did Sun or Frostine bully you? don't be scared to tell me if they do... I can’t tolerate them if they dare do it anyway.”

“If you will excuse me young-master Lin I need to notify the kitchen-staff to make... preparations!”

“En. Well, well, well... looks like someone is ready to apologize! let’s hear it then.”

Once Lin entered the balcony he was met with Qiang Chi's bowing figure and little-Shuang's intimate gestures of licking his face, nudging him gently with her head, and circling his body while knocking on the floor with her shiny new shoes beneath her hoofs.

After Qiang Chi left towards the kitchen in the lower floors, Sun in his kitten-form appeared carrying Frostine who’s perched on-top of his back and stopped in front of Lin.

“I'm sorry buddy. I said something inappropriate about you and because of what I said it caused Frostine to lose her temper on me. Please don't be sad, I hope you can find it within you to forgive me.”

“Apology accepted. This is Shuang and from now on she’s one of us, remember that bullying her is something that I won't allow, tolerate, or neglect! little-Shuang, this is Sun... you two met before in the beasts’ renting-station, this is Frostine... treat both of them with respect and they would be like family to you. Now tell me guys, do you really like it in here?”

Seeing the sight of Sun's ears lowered and his shy voice and Frostine perched on his back while looking up at him with a fanatic-gaze was the distraction Lin needed after recently discovering what type of intent he really has.

Gesturing for Shuang to stop being a stranger Lin held Sun and Frostine closely to her and asked them the final question through a transmittion of his ability of soul-link before infusing the souls of Frostine and Shuang with the ability of soul-candle.

“It’s alright, buddy... senior Mu has the most delicious meat and is a very good company.”

“As long as master is willing to teach me more things to learn, then it’s perfect anywhere we go.”

“Me too! I don't mind if we go anywhere, just make sure to give me some tasty fruits every once in a while, do that and Shuang promises to keep carrying you on her back forever and take you anywhere you want.”

“I guess master is treating you guys very well since there isn’t a single complaint so far.”

Shrugging after hearing the opinions of his beast-companions Lin sat on the recliner and became lost in his thoughts while gazing upon the sky.

Soon Sun and Frostine snuggled in his embrace while Shuang crouched next to his recliner and rested her head on his stomach.

Quietly and cautiously under the strict glare of Qiang Chi himself the servants quickly placed the plates and arranged the huge table discreetly without disturbing this moment of peace and silence for this "little-ancestor" but they couldn't help but sneak a few quick-glances at this cute boy—which more than half the city are currently left wondering about his looks—that mercenary-city almost in its entirety are currently talking about his future-challenges with the demonic-beasts or his great-courage in making fun of sky-queen Hongtian to her face!

..........

Meanwhile in Hongtian's territory.

Things are unusually restless in her domain and her subjects are almost entirely holding their breaths and trying their best not to draw any unwanted attention towards themselves.

Because from that sole summit there’s currently various foreign auras sending their pressure all-around them and when these auras clashed these helpless and weak demonic-beasts felt their vision blur and swim then turn upside-down!

Maybe only these idiotic believers like Lantian who worship queen Hongtian are feeling nothing from these visitors of extremely high social-rank.

“Hongtian. Out of respect for you I’ve left my territory and travelled the longest distance towards your territory to attend your summoning to discuss that "serious" matter of yours! why wouldn't you speak even though brother Qiaoxing and I have arrived quite a while ago?”

“Brother Chenhui. Sister Hongtian surely has her reasons for choosing to keep her silence so far, you just arrived a few minutes ago and you’re already at the limit of your patience! meanwhile I arrived a few hours before you yet I’m still calm, you really never change do you? if you can't stand sitting to enjoy the company of our only sister and share few drinks with the prettiest woman of our race? then, I really pity you "volcanic-king" you’re a person who only enjoy fighting or torturing himself whenever he receives an opportunity to make his monstrously-strong physique even stronger.”

“The three days limit is almost over and seems like my luck isn't that bad because both brother Chenhui and brother Qiaoxing have answered my invitation, having the "shadow-king" and the "volcanic-king" attending to this little-Hongtian makes me feel very happy and grateful, I promise to repay this kindness ten-times over after we succeed.”

Inside Hongtian's red-palace two individuals were sitting in the luxurious and extravagantly-decorated guest-hall.

One of them was draped in a black cloak that covered his entire body and face... his frame is nothing out of the ordinary and that person would be considered very thin and malnourished by the majority of mortal people however... these black-eyes would drive any strong-willed person insane if they dare keep eye-contact with that black-cloaked person for any longer than a few short seconds! the other person is the impatient giant of a man who have the deep voice and rough gestures... this one is wearing nothing but a piece of furry loin-cloth to cover his privates and his bulky muscles were stacked on-top of other even more muscles... from him there’s this natural air of unchecked-brutality and free-wildness that’s being emitted everywhere around him... his rows of shiny white sharp teeth makes his mouth a lot similar to shark’s jaw while on-top of his straight nose and slightly wide nostrils there’s a pair of blue-eyes which are so... so cold and frigid that they might freeze any strong-willed and stop them in their tracks soiling themselves from absolute fear and terror after a mere glance.

Between these two uncommon men there’s an incomparable enchantress in a revealing red-dress and a very lazy and soft attitude who’s oozing extreme beauty and great charm no matter what expression she shows on her face or whenever she gestures and makes any sort of simple or natural movement with any part of her voluptuous body.

“What is it sister? did the cultivation-alliance break their agreement? did the mercenaries go too far and bully your subjects? now that I remember, there has been some news lately of your armies marching north and cutting of the trade-caravans on pearl-road.”

“Was there such a thing? lately there has been lots of things happening everywhere around my territory and in the continent that it makes my head go round and round and makes me so dizzy just trying to figure-out what is what! sigh. How I envy you brother Qiaoxing, after surpassing your lightning-tribulation the restriction that was limiting your intelligence prior was lifted and you managed to cover one of your glaring shortcomings, meanwhile all I got was a boost in physical-strength after escaping death with the skin of my teeth.”

“To all his advantages and disadvantages brother Chenhui. You are selling yourself short since when it comes to endurance and vitality amongst our group of ten kingly-beasts none of us could individually best you, at least five of us are needed to work against you as a team to merely stop you from causing damage! when it comes to completely suppressing you then I wouldn't be a surprised if you managed to take one or two of us down with you forever to the grave even if our group of nine were in proper formation while opposing the serious you.”

“I agree with brother Qiaoxing on his opinion of you brother Chenhui, rare and few are those within equal or in lower realms than myself who could give me this feeling of being intimidated while being near them however, this queen didn't request for both of you to leave your territories and come join me just so that we can exchange pleasantries! actually... my aim is simple, while my requirements are minor. Simply nominate to this queen the finest youngsters within your dominions, lend them to me and come join me to watch if you want, all I request from them is that they try and win a single fight against the last and closed-doors disciple of Mu Jianhong the city-lord of mercenary-city! the lives of these youngsters wouldn't be endangered in any way, their reward would be the best this queen could offer, except defiling my body... I’m also willing to offer both of you anything that I own. If you’re okay with these conditions? then, choose your representatives carefully then come meet me before the next full-moon, bring as many as you like, the more the merrier since there’s no limit to how many times our juniors could challenge that human junior.”

The conversation was redirected towards the main topic by Hongtian and her fellow kingly-brothers were shocked by how much their gorgeous sister is willing to sacrifice this time.

“Huh! all this effort just for a brat?” Chenhui the volcanic-king uttered while his blue-eyes were gaping wide in shock and utter disbelief.

“Sister. Are you sure it’s worth the price? beside your impeccable charm and beauty your wealth comes in third or probably second-place amongst the ten of us. I myself can innovate and improve my territory's situation somehow with time. However brother Chenhui's territory is an entirely different situation since his subjects are barely hanging and getting their minimum amount of resources from the courageous few who dare venture into their dangerous territory. Even after struggling to get rid of the intruders they suffer no less damage themselves on the long term. Hongtian, I admit that you’re very wealthy but, not even the royal-treasury could quench the prolonged thirst of brother’s territory... it’s morbid and its harsh climate and conditions makes the lives of his subjects very rough and difficult.”

“Thank you brother Qiaoxing. I know the price that I'm offering and this queen is still very willing to make that exchange, you’re going to see it for yourselves and know why once you join me to visit mercenary-city soon.” When Hongtian spoke the last part her red-eyes had a gleam of mischievousness when she remembered how that little-brat dared to say such an embarrassing thing in front of a crowd full of kings, emperors, and spirit-sovereign!

Chenhui was enlightened by the hint Qiaoxing mentioned and made-up his mind to bring and introduce the finest among the juniors of his territory then win the match for his sister before returning to his territory with enough resources to help his underlings grow much stronger.

Meanwhile Qiaoxing's black-eyes squinted slightly underneath the cover of his hooded-cloak when he saw the lackluster attitude from his sister when faced with losing so much of her resources possibly all of it! his curiosity for Mu Jianhong's last and closed-doors disciple was suddenly intensified and this member of the ten kingly-beasts became interested in Lin however... this one isn't someone like sky-queen Hongtian who’s famous of her dazzling-beauty, superior attainments in both the human and beast-paths, and ability to transcend realms to fight much stronger foes with ease and overcome them at a small price or... like volcanic-king Chenhui who’s famous for his immortal-like fighting-style, savagery, cruelty to his enemies, and his almost endless amount of power and strength... shadow-king Qiaoxing is a character that’s famous for its wicked-methods, extreme-intellect, and deep-foundations simply because... there’s always been this "shroud of mystery" surrounding this kingly-beast... plus his wide web of connections compared to the rest of kings and the single queen. Even the royal-clan of beasts seek his council, hear his advice and never... never disregard his opinion! he’s clearly regarded highly by them since the royal-clan especially honored this king with the unique title of "crown-tutor" right after he successfully underwent his lightning-tribulation and broke-through by entering the realm of primordial-beast.

“Now it’s time to handle the matter of trade, who should I delegate that matter to? Lantian is out of the question of course!... now that I remember there’s that green-dove, what was her name again? wind? no that's not it... falling leaf? still not it... leaf in the wind?...”

While standing in her garden and watching her two kingly-brothers split and go in two different directions then gradually moving further and further away until they disappeared from her territory... sky-queen Hongtian stood alone in the garden and was seductively biting her lower-lip while softly muttering to herself... clearly deliberating her plans and how to approach this matter from the right direction.

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

Back in mercenary-city Lin was having his first meal ever where three demonic-beasts and a human are naturally sharing the same table while Hongtian was giving temporary farewells to two of her fellow kingly-beasts.

“Lin'er. Hurry and join me when you’re done. Today let me teach you about the ways of becoming a true mercenary.” This message rang loud and clear in the head of Lin when he was almost done and about to announce that he’s full.

“Yes master Jianhong. I’ll be right there, just give me a moment.”

After extending his hand to pat the heads of his friends one by one, Lin got-up from his chair and wiped his mouth clean in the napkin and folded then placed it on the table before turning to leave. His direction this time wasn't the same spacious-room that’s inscribed with the formation that attracts and concentrates fire-energy but another room that’s located nearby his own and close-by the circular stairs which lead downwards. Just by following the faint aura of his master Lin was able to pinpoint the exact location of the white-haired elder.

“Creak...”

“Ara! isn't that my cute junior-disciple brother Lin? come here you! how could you neglect your big-sister? just how could you? didn't we agree that you would come visit me? it has been more than three days since we met yet... you, you never visited big-sister Mingxia. Should I lock you in my room and treat you as my pillow for a few days? maybe I shou-”

“Mingxia. Let go of him already, it’s time for Lin’er to undergo his test.”

Just when the door of the essence-hall was about to open Lin got snatched from behind by his senior-disciple sister Yi Mingxia and was squeezed by her in a lovely embrace and the woman complained to no end while pushing the door.

Luckily his master came to the rescue and her hugging arms slowly let go.

“Tsk. Stingy old man if you dare make my little-brother disheartened by giving him some harsh test then this Mingxia will never forgive you,” However Lin was shocked by how this second-disciple fearlessly confronted her master and threatened him while giving the city-lord a glare! this woman even dared to point one of her slender fingers at her master’s nose... Lin was amazed when he noticed some hesitation within the eyes of Mu Jianhong and the white-sovereign mercenary even gulping faintly on his saliva before nodding once. When Mingxia saw her master's clear sign of assent and surrender to her demands she quickly converted to her previous-attitude and changed from being dead-serious like some secretary in an office who’s throwing commands at one of her lazy underlings... into some smiling next-door big-sister who’s feeling joy and contentment for some unknown reason before she turned to look towards Lin that frightening woman even patted the wide shoulder of her master twice! “Alright little-brother, big-sister needs you to be strong and manly now, otherwise you're going make all of us big-brothers and sister feel disappointed in you if you don't give it your absolute best! besides... if you do splendidly in your tests? then, this big sister will reward you with anything that you request from me, anything at all. Hopefully you cute little thing wouldn't make it hard for me once you succeed... alright! you’re good to go.” Then this white-sovereign kneeled in front of the boy and began to do her best to make the great-sage look better by fixing his creased-clothes messed-up hair—which are this way after this "hurricane" Mingxia hit him—honestly this Yi Mingxia is acting a lot like his mother right now... whenever Tian became anxious or nervous about anything she would be the same like Mingxia and speak too much! her way of encouraging him sounded like this woman isn't really encouraging him... it seemed like she’s trying to boost her confidence while trusting the judgment and choice of her master Jianhong instead.

“Heh. Big-sister Mingxia if you’re not feeling confident in my abilities? then, we can always have a bet! I won’t demand much just... give me one "core of a flaming-ore" when I succe-”

“Hell no! master, I changed my mind, just... give him the nastiest test out there.” Cutting Lin's words with a shout Yi Mingxia glared at her naughty junior-disciple brother of hers and got-up on her feet then entered the essence-hall while huffing and puffing from frustration after witnessing how that boy is still attempting to con her of her fortunes despite how genuinely she was feeling very worried about him earlier. 'Here I was planning to match the brat with a beauty of my own linage. He’s... just too hard to influence, maybe I'm rushing things a bit too soon! I should just wait and see how he manages to overcome Hongtian's challenge first, if he’s just like how master described him to big-brother Zi Yun yesterday while using the word "frightening"? then, I won’t allow him to spread his "seeds" anywhere outside my "fertile" land.' Turning to look back before the door of the essence-hall closed behind her, Yi Mingxia had a very cunning smile at the corner of her lips when she looked at her master—and father figure—take Lin down the stairs towards the location where their guild members undergo their tests.

..........

Deep within mercenary tower below the reception hall at the ground floor. There at the fifth underground-floor lies the location mercenaries brave the difficulties of their tests be these newcomer spirit-disciples who’re aiming to take the test of dark-steel mercenaries and claiming their first-armor or already dark-steel mercenaries aiming to upgrade their rank to silver- mercenaries and wear the deep-silver armor or silver-mercenaries aspiring to don the heavy-gold armor.

The sixth underground-floor is for the minority seeking the crystal-green armor while seventh underground-floor is for the cyan-warlord armor test. Eighth underground-floor is for the blue-king armor and the ninth-underground floor is for the purple-emperor armor while the white-sovereign armor has no test at all! just the ability to reach that realm in itself is the hardest test and toughest blockade that any cultivator would ever face in their entire life!

“Greetings sovereign.” the two spirit-tyrants in heavy-gold armor hurried to their knees once Mu Jianhong brought Lin with him.

“Arise. My disciple wishes to challenge the first-test, according to the rules he’s entitled to undergo the test but denied the reward of the dark-steel armor until he’s in the realm of spirit-disciple. Here’s the entry-fees.” All Mu Jianhong did after mentioning his intentions of making this sudden and unexpected-visit was to... retrieve nine low-grade spirit-crystals and push them into the hand of one of the shocked guards!

“Y-yes... of course! right away, right away. Sovereign please just allow us a moment to recharge the formation.” These two guards were clearly feeling so nervous outwardly yet inwardly both of them were feeling their chests swell-with pride and anticipation! they quickly placed the nine spirit-crystals in the nodes and operated the formation and left it at stand-by. Like countless others who’re living within mercenary-city they’re both curious about this last and closed-doors disciple of their sovereign, city-lord, and ruler.

Now their luck has really outdone itself when it brought this rising star to their hands because... not only do they get to see the boy in person but also they get to witness him being tested.

'Just what kind of mercenary is he?'

Both guards kept asking themselves the same question whenever their eyes met and they exchanged eye-contact.

“Lin'er. I know that you like to experience new things and that’s exactly why I decided to allow you to challenge this test before Hongtian's challenge so, listen well now... this is a formation at work and none of it is real but, it still can hurt and affect you both physically and mentally! if you lower your guard during the test? then, you might spend a lot of time unconscious in bed. Every mercenary within my guild—including myself—have once faced this test at some point of their life, now that you understand the importance of such a trial then go, once you cross that mark over there you're going to be within the boundaries and effect of this formation.” Smiling in nostalgia while remembering how many of his disciples did Jianhong personally witness when they took this first step in their road of becoming mercenaries... sadly only a few faces came-up into memory! the obvious reason is the high-standards Jianhong has and those of his disciples—who were originally human—were all spirit-lords mostly or... in some rare-exceptions a few were spirit-tyrants yet their unique-talent still managed to catch the eye of Mu Jianhong anyway. Few among them weren't human to begin with and when they undergone their tests it’s after their success in cultivating for centuries or millenniums before finally their dreams of getting reborn in the shape of a human-being were accomplished... of course on the exterior their age might appear to be a few years old after the "reformation" of their physiques is complete but... their true "dao-age" would be much... much more older and different... all of them are unlike Lin who’s ignorant about the dao itself and true to both of his bone and dao-age! at least to some point... since the boy looks older than his bone-age and behaves like someone who’s a... decade or two older.

“Then I'm off, master... wish me luck!” After saying that Lin dashed towards the area his master mentioned with excitement for the novel experience that he’s about to face... just the mere thought kept tickling his mind.

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

“Well. This was unexpected.”

Once Lin crossed the simple line on the floor he found himself in a room inlaid with square-tiles. Black and white tiles they’re like a patch of chess covering the floor, walls, and didn't even spare the ceiling above his head. Lin was currently stepping on both a black and a white tile with his feet and both tiles began to slightly vibrate beneath him with clear increase in vibrancy.

“Sieve sands of worry, calm my soul away.”

“Huh! what was that? Gang, is that you?”

“What was what? I said nothing! by the way, how are you going deal with this test? These shaking tiles gives me a bad fee-”

“Bad what? hey... Gang! where did he go? I can't feel him anymore, despite how good of an end that would be for all sins, well... kind-of, at least Lily deserves it... because she always misbehave and... she made me cross a lot of lines. What is happe-... ning-... to me!”

“Mend wounds of time, unbind space... let it to go free.”

Lin heard a sound and thought Gang was the speaker but before he got his answer from the tough-guy, poof-he's gone! natural response from Lin is to scan himself from soul-world to body through inner-sight then dantian-space to look for the third one he met of his seven-deadly sins yet... there’s nothing there at all. That judging by his miniscule-amount of life-experience shouldn't happen at all even in-case Gang, Ming, or any of the seven are getting—somehow—affected by a factor other than his own will and losing basic control of motion or communication! because... if it did happen? then... their bodies—which are originally made from half his primordial-soul—can't just disappear... it should exist within the soul-world in a comatose-state after fainting like when it happened to Ming before when the boy drank the potion of thought-rebirth.

Realizing the possibility of having one of his dreams actually coming true just like that Lin was indeed tempted... once that feeling of temptation was birthed in his heart he felt some discomfort being birthed on the other side... the great-sage clearly felt how that grey-cloud and the ark of salvation within this disintegration-intent stirring as if demanding for a chance to be released from this seven-restrictions formation! then memories of all his time spent with Lily, Ming, and Gang came gushing-out and Lin kept standing there and smiling like a complete fool before dizziness clouded his thoughts and took his consciousness away towards an area of bleak blankness... then he heard the same voice once again for the second time and it was a lot clearer this time.

'Is it a poem?' Lin waited and waited in that empty place in a strange state of being "peacefully-dazed" for that voice to continue to speak.

he was unburdened by anything and caring for nothing but a continuation of that voice.

“Push seeds into darkness, hide this hope... cover it with my fragile soil.”

“Guide my sprout into light, shower it with love and pray... may it never spoil.”

“Only for the dao, only for the dao... only for the dao.”

“That’s why we toil.”

“Sigh.”

Then the voice was on again with more phrases but following that sigh Lin found himself setting cross-legged facing a skinny, hunch-backed, and extremely old elder and there was this small table that’s covered with black and white squares in-between them and on both of his and the elder's right-hand side there’s an ornately-decorated pot that’s filled with a mixture of both black and white stones.

“Let's play a game Lin.”

“You know my name?”

“I do know many of your... little-secrets, even those which you didn't mention to your friends ever before like... the existence of the ring of origin on your hand, and the six little-ones who live somewhere very secretive and secluded within your soul, plus... the one in the north! "Karma" that’s your answer... can we play the game first then ask questions later? please!”

“Then at least explain the rules senior.”

Hearing the elder mention his name drew Lin's urge to ask and interrupt which isn't his style since usually he would keep his silence and gather information first but it seems like the disappearance of Gang had somehow affected his way of thinking or maybe this place is the one affecting him or that strange elder! then the answer he got from that elder made him feel completely invisible and all his secrets exposed to this old man.

“Play the stones in the pot next to you with me. You can place one stone on any square of your choice and the game ends when there is not a single square empty.”

“Is there a winner in this game?”

“You'll see in the end.”

*Tak...*

“Your turn.”

The elder snatched a stone from the pot with his shivering fingers and explained the rules while turning that stone in his fingers slowly. Then he smiled widely to show Lin his teeth-less gums when Lin gave him another question which isn't going to be answered. Smacking that white stone over a black square at a corner to his left the elder raised his eyes to look at Lin before telling him to play.

*Tak...*

“Senior please go ahead it is your turn.”

*Tak... tak... tak... Takk*

In the beginning Lin didn't notice it when he played that strange game but after a couple turns he started to hear it clearer. The sound of each stone when it touched the table would linger and echo with a breath-taking tune that truly affected Lin emotionally! for some reason the words from this old man’s poem that he recited previously kept repeating within his head.

“Mercenary. What are your thoughts on that... title?”

Once Lin started to struggle with control over himself... that elder slapped another stone on the table with a slightly stronger force—which caused a louder sound and bigger effect on the boy since it brought him back to attention—before asking him.

“Hired to help. Always facing risk, if there’s no risk? then, it’s better expect it to happen all the time, because... at some point it always happens. A suicide-job for both the weak and the inflexible! to summarize my opinion then it would be : "Make more muscle to spare while keeping the brain always working, that’s if you’re a mercenary who’s planning to take more missions or live to see the future" honestly, it’s my least-preferable line of work, right now... and forever.” Lin answered then took his turn in playing and the elder continued to play in silence for a while afterwards.

“Being the hired-weapon for others doesn't make you uncomfortable? then, what if you’re being hired by a person who contradicts your most basic-principles with the mission they request? the reward is something you greatly seek with passion, things led to another and you’re faced with a fork in the road... one path preserves your principles and maintains your moral-integrity is kept high, while the other path begins after you personally step on all these ties of morality, principles, and friendship.” The elder hit the stone over the table this time with so much force that Lin felt like the old man's thin and frail arm might just fall-off!

“Losing respect of an employee that I never respected in the first place isn't a trouble for me at all however, the loss of my mercenary-guild suffers would be much worse, the reputation—which countless before me exchanged for its pristine with their very lives—indeed it’s an unfair exchange, the loss would be severe for my fellow mercenaries but... a loss in reputation is just that... lost reputation could always be earned back, meanwhile sometimes it means all hope of a better future is lost once a certain party lowers its head! even if they're only going to do it once.” Lin said then started playing after giving his opinion on the hypothetical issue... quickly afterwards the earlier poem kept repeating over and over within his head.

“Lin son of Tai the mighty and Tian the beauty huh! it was fun playing with you.”

Suddenly Lin woke up from his daydreams caused mainly by the ongoing sound of stones hitting the table and him enjoying the sense of immersion and peace that poem gave his mind. The pot to his right is empty and the table filled with contradicting or similar colors of round stones and squares beneath them. The elder was looking straight at Lin with a smile that appreciated this upstarting junior which one of his own juniors managed to recruit.

“Likewise senior. How did I do in the game?” Lin hurried to cub his fist while asking about the game then he looked at the sight of the table covered in black and white stones .

“I wonder. To know that you need to walk your road and hopefully figure it out before the end, right now you’re still behind the start-line! take that with you and... remember that right or wrong doesn't matter as long as your heart is in the right place and stay true to yourself. The mission is seeking the dao anyway, nothing more... nothing less.”

“Eh-” Lin’s visit to that strange elder in that place that’s many times weirder stranger reached its end when that old man finished his words and waved his hand dismissively.

..........

Back out in the area he left his master and the couple guards.

Lin just stood there holding within his one of his hands a piece of rolled-leather.

“He really did kick me out-”

“Lin'er how did it go?” Before the boy got to fully realize or admire the oddity of his test Mu Jianhong quickly arrived next to him and kept scanning him from top to bottom checking for any injuries or symptoms of severe mental-exhaustion.

“Nothing dangerous master I met an elder and we played some kind of a board-game then he sent me out with this!” raising the piece of rolled-up leather Lin summarized the encounter to his master.

'Gang, hey... wake-up already, you missed everything!' Lin found Gang laying face-down on the clear water of his soul-world. After sighing a sigh of true relief the boy gave his soul-clone—that’s supposed to be the tough-guy—a few nudges to wake him up with a wide smile on his face.

“Ancestor Mu! come with me. The two of you better keep your mouths shut in the future and don't force my hand or I swear to make you watch as I tear apart everything you love or consider dear.” Lin's words were no different from a thunderbolt striking Mu Jianhong's head once they entered his ears. After raising his last disciple—despite knowing how the kid doesn’t like it when he’s treated like a little child—the city-lord turned to look towards the two spirit-tyrants who’re guarding this testing-formation and glared at them while warning them with a stern voice that’s colder than the arctic itself and more frightening than the abyss! leaving the two gold-mercenaries behind him practically shaking in their boots... Mu Jianhong returned to his residence with Lin hugged carefully towards his chest as if he’s the most precious thing in existence.

.........

“Humph. Master Jianhong. We already talked about this! tsk, someone isn’t keeping his word.”

Lin squirmed in his master's arms and frowned when he couldn't escape. Crossing his arms the great-sage pouted while looking away and muttered these word.

“I know, I know, but... your master just had to do it! because, because, because... he just couldn't help himself.” Mu Jianhong was no different from a kind grandfather who’s coaxing his grandchild and terribly enjoying the moment.

“Tsk. Master is a liar! I’m going to tell sister Mingxia all about it, humph.”

“No! not the brat.”

“Hehehe...”

“Enough joking around now, let me see which part of the map did ancestor Mu give you”

Mu Jianhong sat-down on his prayer-mat then released Lin from his embrace... on his face—which was smiling joyfully, widely, and without care just a moment earlier—there’s now this sad, nostalgic, yet somehow excited and anticipating-smile!

“Map! how come you already know what I got?”

Lin didn't linger long on the transgression of his master since it already happened and only took the exact amount of time a sovereign would take to go from that underground floor to the tower's top floor. While asking his master he started to roll open the gift he got.

“That elder you met earlier is not an ordinary person and he doesn't meet with ordinary people. Ancestor Mu always gives the chosen few who pass his evaluation all sorts of gifts, just like you I once had the honor of meeting him long, long ago. My prize was like yours a piece of leather and you can guess the rest. Here take a look.”

Mu Jianhong said that while looking at the map in the hands of his disciple then the city-lord retrieved his own map from his space-ring and gave it to Lin so that he could take a look.

Lin quickly unfurled the other map then tried to match the two maps in his head.

“There’s no match between both of them.”

“Why are you so certain?”

“The layout of the terrain itself, do you see this part here?”

Mu Jianhong : “Uh-huh. So?”

Lin : “Also there, there, and there. Don’t you get it still? master! are you teasing me? humph.” The boy squinted his eyes while trying to see if this white-sovereign is paying him back since he teased the old man just earlier... he’s being serious here! certainly this leader of all mercenaries within the southern-continent could read a map... right.

“I’m not! I swear it, Lin’er is scary, you shouldn’t be fierce with your poor master.” The city-lord was feeling amused by the attitude of his cute disciple and began to flail his hands in the air.

“These are clear indications that tectonic-plates are folded beneath the crust.”

“Tectonic-plates! crust! what?” The white-haired elder frowned and cringed.

“Um... imagine a very, very thick layer of earth itself! mud, sand, soil, stones, rocks, hills, and mountains... practically every and anything that earth could contain below and above the surface is in this aforementioned layer then, it gets pressed from the side by another layer when an earthquake happens. Mostly it causes a chain of mountains to form down in the middle in-betwe-” Lin was immediately in his sage-persona and teaching his own master some geology.

“Ah! I get it now.” Mu Jianhong suddenly felt enlightened and hammered his open hand with fist.

“Good that you do master. Anyway, these mountain-chains have similar indications of being formed when tectonic-plates grind against one another at great depth below sea-level, meanwhile the ones in this map have signs of forming after a tectonic-plate got forcefully pushed below another however... it didn’t happen completely since this stretch of plateaus on the other side of the mountain-chains doesn’t have much of the rough terrain that’s on this side! now that I explained my point of view, what do I do with this map? master, sweet master... do you happen to have a map of spirit-world?”

“Keep them both for now and I’ll tell you what to do with them when the time is right, and... I do have such a map. But the only other map that I’m going to give you is a map of my mercenary-city, take one step outside its walls and I’m spanking your buttocks, I believe Mingxia would love to join me.” The white-sovereign mercenary warned the boy while smirking when he noticed the kid flinch at the mention of spanking then shiver when he got threatened of being "gang-spanked" by two spirit-sovereigns.

“Okay! there’s no need for you to be so cruel and serious about it, anything else that I should be "careful" about not doing?” The great-sage rolled his eyes at this city-lord and politely demanded to be excused.

“Lin’er should just go cultivate, don't let the sweet and lovely companionship of your beloved-master delay you from becoming stronger! Hongtian is going to try and do everything within her power just to get her hands on you, the only thing that’s preventing her from getting what she wants is yourself and... that single loss.” The white-haired elder ruffled Lin’s black-hair and encouraged him to improve his abilities.

“No pressure huh!” Lin gave his master a calm smile then a tight hug before leaving Mu Jianhong in that room... the boy moved towards his room slowly and calmly... the two maps and his encounter with that ancestor Mu weren't among his worries at all... he was muttering something to himself... the great-sage was repeating ancestor Mu’s poem over and over!