Breakfast at the Crimson Horizon Sect was a simple afair, a grain porridge seasoned with small amounts of spiritual herbs and a drizzle of honey. Served along side it were small portions of weak liquor fermented from Jade Spirit Rice imported from the south and locally sourced fruits. The beverage was something of a closely guarded secret, as the method used extracted and concentrated the rice's spiritual essence far more than simply cooking it. Every sip flooded Nu-Long's body with rich powerful energy, it was a shame that the servings were so small. He didn't doubt that he could form a core if he drank a barrell or two of the stuff.

The first thing he noticed was how quickly every one ate, they shoved spoon after spoon of porridge into their mouths like ravenous wolves. Many even managed to eat thirds or fourths, he didn't think much overly until he saw Daiyu drinking down entire bowls in seconds. Clearly there was something he didn't understand going on here, so he decided to join them slurping down porridge like a mad man.

A gong rang out and every one piled up their dishes before sitting down cross legged with their eyes closed. He stared on in confusion, a few members seemed to have gone red in the face as if they were undergoing immense effort. Another person began to drip with sweat, his face twisted like he was suffering from constipation

"What's going on" he quietly whispered to the little ball of fluff that was happily perched on his shoulder.

"They're circulating their energy in order to absorb the spiritual essence from the food they consumed" Yuki explained while snobbishly holding her nose in the air.

With a quirked brow he fixed the fox with a questioning look, "don't waste your time little dragon, you should already know better" she quipped in a mocking tone.

Her words were true enough, he didn't have to lift a finger. His new body sucked up the spiritual essence like a man lost in the desert that had stumbled onto an oasis.

After breakfast everyone shuffled out into the courtyard, breaking off into their respective cliques. Before he had a chance to figure out what he was supposed to do a hand snatched the back of his robe. Slowly he turned his head to see Daiyu's predatory smile, her eyes like two pools of dark liquid amber that flashed with excitement.

"You're with me today handsome, boss man said so" she snickered with a tone that danced between seductive and sadistic.

"Why me" Nu-Long silently lamented as the beast of a woman began to drag him away, he could hear Yuki's mocking laughter as she snuck off to laze about.

Nu-Long found himself in the last place he wanted to be, alone with Daiyu. She had dragged him to a room off of the main hall, as he walked he notice the the floor sudden had a slight gibe to it. Looking down he saws that the floor was covered in a mat of what appeared to be tightly bound reeds.  At the center lay a circle, Daiyu stuck him on one side before walking to the other, leaving the pair a good ten feet apart.

"Before we can truly begin to train you, we need to know where you stand, now attack me" the sudden seriousness in her tone and loss of playful demeanor caused Nu-Long to swallow nervously.

He stood there eyeing his opponent, she was a good head an a half taller than him and wielded her ten foot long double crescent spear with practiced ease. Unlike the seemingly gentle but powerful Shen Wu, the woman before him gave off an air of feral brutality. Yet there she stood, slightly leaning against the shaft of her Fang Tian Ji, with out the faintest trace of her underlying nature.

"Is that Guandao just for show" she questioned with a tone bordering on annoyed.

"I-I-I've never really fought with a weapon before" he replied with a slight stutter, the extent of his combat raining had largely been wrestling with other boys in the clan.

"Well, there's a first time for everything" she barked while launching herself forward. 

Nu-Long clumsily brought his weapon to bare, stepping off to the side with a poorly timed swing. With ease Daiyu intercepted his poorly timed attack, the shafts of their weapons colliding with an audible thwak. Painful vibrations ran up Nu Long' s arms that rattled his bones, a grimace split his face and he tried to create space between them. Using her spear shaft Daiyu vaulted towards her opponent, twisting her body to deliver a powerful spin kick as she sailed through the air.

Nu-Long almost intercepted the first kick which turned out to be a feint, tucking in her leg before catching him with the heel of her other foot. The impact sent him crashing to the ground, the world spinning slightly as he stood back up.

"Huh" she questioned with a furrowed brow, " you're a lot sturdier than you look" she chuckled softly.

With a frustrated groan he griped the shaft of his unwieldy weapon, bringing in down in an over head chop. Daiyu nimbly hopped back using the balls of her feet before thrusting her spear towards Nu-Long's weapon before he could recover. She trapped the blade of his Guandao between the spear and crescent of her Fang Tian Jian, locking down his weapon with her greater strength and leverage.

"The Guandao can be a devastating weapon, even a versatile one if used correctly, but it lacks in terms of defense. If your attacks are poorly timed or over committed it leaves you open to your enemy, also don't forget it has a spear point" she lectured before letting his weapon go free.

Nu Long looked at at the end of his weapon, he had never thought of the strange pyramid shaped spike at the end of his weapon as a spear point. Then again he hadn't really thought much about the weapon at all, so much had happened to him over the past few days he hadn't even had the time to process it yet. 

Experimentally he changed around they way he held the weapon, looking for something that felt right. He couldn't just hold in the middle as the weapon was weighted towards the head. After some time he found the by gripping it three quarters up the shaft towards the head with his lead hand and a quarter down from the middle seemed to give him the most control. He took a few test swings at the air and discover that though his reach was shorter, his accuracy had dramatically increased.

With a smile he faced Daiyu, rear hand near his hip with the lead hand at chest level presented the saber blade in line with his opponents head. In Daiyu's case though it was levelled towards her chest due to their height difference. He stepped forward with his lead foot to close the distance, keeping his guard up before unleashing a quick chop careful not to over extend his arms or put too much strength behind it.

Daiyu smiled as she parried his attack before returning the favor with one of her own. Wielding her spear like a quarter staff she struck out with the lower end of the shaft. With his weapon still in line with the center of his body he was able to step back with his lead foot, bringing up the spiked end of his Guandao their weapons collided with a crack.

A smile formed on Nu Long's face, he had only copied her move but it had worked.

"That's enough for now, let's start with your foot work" she ordered before dropping into a stance.

Nu-Long did his best to copy her, legs equivalently spaced, both feet facing forward, knees slightly bent. Then she made him walk, careful precise short steps, right food always in the lead. The strange movements were alien to his body, less of a true step more of a shuffle. After some time she had him add quick downward cut to each step. Then she had him alternating hand positions and elevations, holding the bladed over his left shoulder while jabbing towards an invisible opponents mid section.

Daiyu took joy in watching the boy as he worked through the paces, he never questioned the why of things. Never argued with her about preconceived notions born from a lack of experience. He was like a blank canvas readily accepting the touch of a painters brush. The fact that he seemed to learn quickly certainly helped the little rascal, while he needed to learn how to walk, it wouldn't be long before he could fly. 

Sweat began to form on Nu Long's brow as he worked through the repetitive motions. Slowly but surely his feet became more and more responsive to his movements, shifting easily between ball and heel as needed. He could almost glide along as he walked, but it some how felt wrong, like his movements lacked substance. There was an odd ephemeral quality to them, a frown began to form on his face just before the mid day gong rung.

"Alright let's go" Daiyu called out tossing a cloth over so Nu Long could wipe off his face. 

As they walked a heavy silence hung in the air as Nu Long continued to brood, unable to shake the feeling of wrongness from before.

" Something bothering you" she questioned noticing her junior's troubled expression

Though not quite sure, he explained his feelings, describing them as well as he could considering his lack of experience.

A light giggle escaped her plush lips,"it simply means that you are incompatible with that technique. No surprise really considering that I was teaching you from the Xia Dynasty's Infantryman's Primer for Spearmanship. The point of today was to see if you could learn to move your body correctly, don't worry about it Big Sis has the perfect technique just for you." she explained back to her lighthearted and overbearing self.

Mid day was the time in which all the crazies of the Crimson Horizon Sect were dragged out of the wood work, here and there they gathered around the dueling pits. Bets were exchanged over heated discussions about this or that fighter, it was a cacophonous discordant time. A time for old grudges to be settled and new feuds to be born from the lamentations of those defeated. It was wild and it was glorious.

Young initiates could be seen moving about carrying pots that emanated a heady fragrance from their ceramic confines. Again and again cups were filled, according to some unspoken rule to which Nu Long was ignorant. Though it soon became clear, only the strong, were allowed to partake of the Sect's secret liquor out side of preordained meals. As soon as Daiyu was spotted one of the initiates rushed over, a bandolier of pots slung over his shoulder, and passed her six of the sacred vessels. Nu Long frowned as the youth then turned to him and placed a string of two pots into his hand.

"It's because of the other day, word got around that you're about as strong as Tian already, too bad you don't have the skills to match" she explained, able to read the mood from his expression.

"Every one who has entered the first stage of cultivation gets a daily ration of wine at mid day according to their rank. After that, you get a cup for every match you win, you can even bet your rations but I wouldn't suggest it" she continued before popping the top off of one the pots.

Nu Long nodded along like he perfectly understood everything she was saying, which he didn't. Still it was important to show he was listening right.

Dong Ho couldn't help but grumble as he pushed open the gates of the Crimson Horizon Sect, he had just come back from an escort mission that had left him with a bruised ego. The mission it's self had gone off with out a hitch, but the damn bitch who's cargo he was guarding relentlessly mocked his short pudgy body. Who was she, a merchant, to mock him, a sixteen year old at the peak of Flesh Forging. Unlike that trollop he, Dong Ho, was destined for greatness. 

A wicked smile crossed hip lips when he spotted a young disciple along side Daiyu who he had never seen before "easy pickings" he thought as he strode across the courtyard.

At the behest of Daiyu, Nu Long was busy watching a number of matches, he didn't even notice the fat faced young man who hungrily stared his way. Already having downed one pot of wine he was busily gulping down the second when something suddenly slammed into his side causing him to spill half of the precious liquid. Nu long looked up to see the rotund face of a young man with more jowls than common sense. The bastard had deliberately bumped one of the young initiates so the young kid collided with him.

"Watch where you're going brat" Dong Ho scolded the young boy who nodded his head profusely while shaking with fear.

Looking at the two disciples the boy was scared that the man he had been shoved into would blame him for the spilled liquor. 

A tired sigh escaped Nu Long's lips as he stood up and downed the last of the sacred liquor and walked past the frightened kid, ruffling the kid's hair as he passed before coming face to face with the pudgy punk.

A fierce emerald gaze seemed bore into Dong Ho's brown eyes before the young man spoke with an authoritative tone "it is you who should be apologizing".

Were it not for the fact that the young man was even younger than him, Dong Ho might have taken his words more seriously. Though drunk upon the power of his relatively meagre status Dong Ho fixed the young man with a mocking grin.

"Why should I apologize to some brat who can't even watch where he is going" Dong Ho replied with an arrogant tone.

"Because your a fat pig with no grace, bumbling about here and there, knocking over things you cant see past your burgeoning belly" Nu Long replied with a wicked grin.

Dong Ho's demeanor darkened as his face twisted into an enraged scowl "fight me with your fists coward, not your words" he venomously spat.

"With fists" Nu Long thought gleefully as he took on a predatory grin, he doubted he could stand up to any one here with a weapon. Fists however, well he was sure he could dish out as good as he got.

"Lets make a bet, how about tomorrows wine rations" Nu Long replied, his tone slippery like than of a snakes.

"Is this kid an idiot" Dong Ho thought as he greedily imagined the extra wine ration he would receive tomorrow, " you're on, brat".

"Alright boys make way, we've got a new match, Dong Ho versus the new blood" Daiyu called out as they walked towards the dueling ring.

Nu Long was the first to step up to the ring, planting his Guandao outside the ring much to Dong Ho's Confusion. He rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles, his draconic nature making his blood boil with excitement.

"Your saber" Daiyu barked at the pudgy youth with her hand out stretched, "you said it your self, fists only" she added in a teasing tone.

Dong Ho glared at his opponent " me and my big mouth he thought" he thought with a griamace. "Still, he's just a new blood, shouldn't be too much of a challenge" he mentally reassured himself.

Daiyu waited until most of the betting had commenced before adding her four remaining liquor pots to the pile "Nu Long" she stated with a wicked grin that caused every one to groan.

Daiyu, Demon of the Arena, almost never lost a match, but she had never lost a bet. Many men suddenly hoped that today would be the first time she was wrong.

" Match start" Daiyu called out sharply, standing there gallantly with her arms folded under her ample bosom.

Dong Ho never planned to give his opponent a chance, as soon as the word came he dashed across the ring. At the last moment he dropped into a wide low stance, with a twist of his hips he sent his right fist screaming forth. Concentrating all his power into a miniscule point, with the strength and speed of a spear his fist thrust into Nu Long's abdomen. 

A gloating expression filled Dong Ho's flabby face, he had taken out many an enemy with his Spear Fist. Even managing to kill a few fully grown men with a single punch. His gloating expression quickly melted away as he realized his opponent was still standing, and like an amateur Dong Ho had left his fist extended.

Nu Long watched as the flying fat man thew him self across the ring like an overly flabby bull in a stampede. He couldn't help but wonder how strong his enemy was, so he simply stood there. He had survived a hit from Lord Jiéshí after all, even if it had shattered his bones into powder. Breathing deep he suffused his body with spiritual energy, reinforcing it, just before the fist dug into his flesh. He slid two steps back from the impact, but felt only a mild pain.

Dong Ho gulped as he tried to pull back and threw two quick punches into Nu Long's face. Which the young man simply brushed off without a care.

Nu Long didn't have any special training or fancy techniques, but he had been wrestling the other boys of his clan since he was old enough to walk. Stepping inside of his opponents guard, Nu Long dropped his center of gravity by lowering his hips beneath his opponent's. Seizing ahold of Dong Ho's trousers he hefted the pudgy young man in the air, rotated his hips, and slammed him into the hard frozen earth. Dong Ho wheezed as the air was suddenly knocked out of his lungs, before he could recover Nu Long was on him.

Like a spider spider caught in a web Dong Ho uselessly struggled and cried out as he found him self flipped onto his stomach. Then again onto his back, with Nu Long's arms coiled around his neck like a python. The more he struggled, the quicker he seemed to tire, burning through his precious oxygen like a nobleman burning wealth at an auction. Soon spots filled his vision, then like a boned fish Dong Ho fell limp.

Everyone looked on with a sense of confused bemusement, very few cultivators practiced wrestling techniques. So watching the new comer choke Dong Ho into unconsciousness was a rather amusing sight. Still those who had lost their bets were forced to swallow a bitter pill, Daiyu how ever happily walked away with eight pots plus her original four thanks to the odds.

"For you" Daiyu chuckled as she handed Nu Long four jars of liquor from her winnings. Dong Ho thought he was special because he was at the peak of Flesh Forging at sixteen, but as far as she was concerned. Nu Long who was on par with a cultivator at Mid Blood tempering, was a talent worth supporting. He no doubt would have a great future a head of him.

"Thanks Big Sis" Nu Long replied shyly, his face flushing a deep red, seeing their interaction the men called out teasing good natured jeers.

After the dueling was over everyone was rounded up and ushered off to another courtyard to undergo the dreaded Body Forging of the Nine Hells. 

Nu Long panted as he ran lap after lap around the courtyard, his body weighed down by a strange set of stone bracers and anklets. They were connected to a pair of rocks that marked the starting point by threads of spiritual essence, each time one passed between them the bracers and anklets would increase in weight. The first ten laps had proven easy enough, the ten after that only moderately difficult, by the time he passed thirty laps he was struggling hard. 

With a grimace Nu Long tried to shut everything out, the noise of the other disciples, the searing pain in his arms and legs. In through the nose, out through the mouth, each breath barely managing to keep his muscles going under the strain. At lap forty five he suddenly collapsed and his restraints  came loose. He could see why this was the first of the so called Nine Hells.

Next he was dragged off and forced into a horse stance, he could barely focus as a dozen or so disciples wailed on him with wooden rods and thin reeds. All he could do is grit his teeth in rage, while trying to maintain his strange breathing technique. Once his breathing stabilized the sharp sting of the reeds and the dull aches of the wooden rods lessened significantly. He wasn't sure for how long they wailed away at him, many of his attackers had exhausted themselves before his body finally collapsed into the dirt.

Once he recovered he found him self standing in a weird contraption that consisted of four groved metal pillars placed in a rectangular shape. About half way down the groves stopped though for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. Then the first metal plate was fitted into the grooves and dropped, without out much of a choice he put his hands up and caught the plate.

"Shit" he grumbled, he could see where this was going as they dropped another plate into the grooves.

One after another they dropped plates down the groves until his body could no longer handle the weight and his knees buckled. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he figured out why the grooves stopped the large heavy plate at about where his shoulders had once been.

The fourth of the Nine Hells had proved to be less physically strenuous, if you were lucky any ways. Nu Long found his self running around like a decapitated chicken as his fellow disciples pitched heavy metal balls at him. He could only stare in wonder as he spotted Daiyu, who didn't waste any effort dodging the projectiles, she merely punched the hundred pound balls into sub mission. Seeing how fast some of the balls were traveling he doubted he could intercept one as he was now.

Round five was delightfully nick named the Hell of Fried Shrimp and Frozen Chicken. First Nu Long found himself crushed under the weight of a water fall that ran thick with frozen slush, even for a mountain man like him this was a little too much cold. Once he was good and blue in the face they tossed him into a near boiling hot spring which caused him to scream in pain. After he was a nice rosy red color they chucked him back into the water fall, the cycle continued back and forth until he finally passed out from the pain. Then they slipped a healing pill down his throat and sent him on his merry way.

With a weary grumble he stumbled off to find him self seated at a table, he couldn't help but look around when a large rotund man in a chef's jacket approached. 

"Welcome to Hell's Kitchen boy" the rotund man laughed before slamming down a plate in front of his face.

What lay before Nu Long was a massive plate of roasted, stewed, and braised meats. Like a ravenous beast he began to tear into the cooking, each bite filling his mouth with flavours that ranged from pleasantly sweet to searing hot. He didn't care, each bit of the Demon Beast filled filled his body with rich invigorating spiritual essence. Something snapped inside of him like the breaking of a flood gate, unknowingly his eyes pupils stretched becoming like those of a serpent. His teeth became razor sharp fangs, he tore through cartilage and chomped through bones.

"More" he growled with the tone of a feral beast.

With a shrug the great Demon Chef of Hell's Kitchen began throwing everything he had at the young boy. Ribs braised in sauces so hot he had seen them kill a mortal man with a single bite, vile fermented cabbages whose stench could vacate a village. With each dish the boy eviscerated the Demon Chef only smiled wider, he had finally found the one, the perfect guinea pig on which to test his most cruel creations.

More and More Nu Long devoured, until finally he felt it, his body felt full, not in the sense of hunger but of energy. It felt like all of the spiritual essence that he had been colleting was trying to expand past the confines of his body, he was positively bursting with energy. 

Knowledge passed on through the ancient lineages of dragons, carried in their very souls, told him all that needed to be done.  Spread across the sea of his soul were the fragments of laws he had inherited from Sovereign Void Tyrant, though he could not grasp them as of yet he did not need to. One after another he willed them into the center of his spiritual sea, each one fitting together like pieces of a puzzle. Slowly he knitted them together, a bit of gravity here a bit of time there, until they formed a hollow core. After which he bean flooding the spiritual essence into the core through the imperfections in it's surface.

At first it was like a lifeless cold dead husk, a small grey orb floating amidst a starry night sky. He could not help but marvel at the strangeness of his soul space, but the husk did not stay life less for long. What had started as a forceful injection of spiritual essence became a great vortex sucking his soul space dry until as the strange core began to rotate. 

As the laws that formed his core awakened, it slowly began to glow faintly at first. Until the last drop of spiritual essence was devoured, with a flash his core ignited into a dark star. Its very existence seemed to ready to devour existence it's self, radiating a black-purple light that obscured the starry night of his soul space.

Unbeknownst to Nu Long his outer body was undergoing changes of its own, his body had become coated in a layer of thick black scales. People looked on in confusion as the ravenous boy had suddenly stopped eating only to turn into some kind of weird statue. Though no one spoke much on the matter, the world of cultivation was as wide as it was mysterious. 

When Nu Long awoke from his trance an audible cracking filled the air, bit by bit the scales began to shed from his body. As he stood up and dusted away the last of his old skin he could see the sun hanging low in the sky, the sky was awash in beautiful hues of pink, purple, and orange. It was a a wonderful sight to behold, one that marked his first real step on his journey on his path as a cultivator.

Yuki looked on in amusement, was she watching the birth of a future Sovereign, or yet another unfortunate soul who would fall as so many had before.