Just looking for feedback on a novel idea, there are a few chapters currently written. I'll also be posting on RRL and Webnovel.com https://www.webnovel.com/book/12144951405995205/Bearer-of-the-Red-Lotus https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/16188/bearer-of-the-red-lotus Synopsis: Calamity befalls the world again The two who stood before them Fade into the rivers of time Fate is destined to stand A world that has been sundered Remnants that scatter in the wind Calamity befalls the world again Genre: Cultivation, Adventure, Mystery Schedule: 1 chapter a day Table of Contents (NU Forums): Ch.1: Bearer of the Red Lotus Ch.2: Bearer of the Red Lotus Ch.3: Bearer of the Red Lotus Ch.4: Bearer of the Red Lotus Ch.5: Bearer of the Red Lotus Ch.6: Bearer of the Red Lotus Ch.7: Bearer of the Red Lotus Ch.8: Bearer of the Red Lotus Ch.9: Bearer of the Red Lotus
Chapter 1: Calamity Spoiler Clouds gathered in the sky as the rain started to cascade across the land. Each heavy drop dyed the land in a dreadful solemness, the darkness of the clouds deepening with the formation of puddles. Looking closer the clouds covered all of the lands with the exception of one area. At the center of the land was a range with mountains littered all around closely clustered to one another. In the areas with gaps were strange valleys and other natural formations. Flying at the edge of this mountain range was an immortal man dressed in immaculate white robes. Embroidered on the black was a swirling black line. He laid back while stroking his white goatee and staring down at the mountain. "Ill omens are upon us once again." The immortal seemingly chuckled as he looked down upon the mountain. The clouds fully gathered started to rumble and with that, the first thunderclap roared from the heavens. A terrifying 9 colored light emanated from the heavens, as it spread across the realm. The immortal man looked towards the bottom of the mountain, as he was greeted by a pair of cold eyes. Sitting in meditation was an emancipated dead man, his eyes were deep pools of mystery and obscurity that saw through the flying immortal. "Hehe." The dead man chuckled as he looked towards the heavens. His disturbing laughter echoed like death throes as the 9 colored light descended into an array of lightning bolts onto the dead man. The 9 colored light streamed along the corpse, the intense energies disintegrated the grass and foliage around him. But the corpse remained intact as the light shot into his glabella. As the stream of light settled on the corpse, the clouds faded away and all that remained hanging in the sky was an ominous bloody moon. "The illest omen of all, a bearer of the red lotus." The immortal proclaimed with a sinister tone. *********** On a strange mountainous area, a handsome young man was walking along a mountain path. He had long flowing black hair and deep black eyes that shined like an abyss. He was wearing black robes and was holding a bamboo umbrella with a bit of pink. Each of his steps was precise and controlled, extremely light and fast. He ran across the mountain path like a panther. After a few more minutes of running, he stopped in front of a village. He sealed his umbrella, before walking closer to the village. He saw a few children running across the village, it was like a small bustling city. The houses were crude, but well designed at the edge, but as one approached the center the quality increased. Near the center was a pagoda, along it was a coiling dragon. A strange aura was gathering along it, and two masked men stood guard. The young man's eyes flashed with a curious glint, as he walked across the village. Various villagers walking about looked at the young man with fleeting glances. "You there, you must be new!" A voice shouted towards the young man as he was walking. His gaze landed on an old man sitting in front of a small inn. It was rustic and homely built of wood and stone. "Why I am, is this your home?" The young man said with a smile spread across his face. An amicable air seemed to surround him. "Indeed, this is my home and my inn. You must be a wanderer if you need a place to stay we have great prices." The old man smiled, as he motioned his hand for a handshake. "I'll take you up on that offer." the young man said as he shook the old man's hand. Then he reached into his robe and handed him a gold piece. The old man motioned for the young man to follow him. "So where'd you come from?" The old man asked as they walked across the inn, dodging the tables and chairs. "I come from the western lands, but I just wander aimlessly. What about you?" The young man asked "Me? Homegrown, although I had a phase like you. I wandered around the mountains, with my home being the open sky. The sights, the sounds, the smells, they were all amazing." The old man as his eyes shined with reminiscence. "But I am not young anymore, and it's too dangerous these days. With all those wandering beasts, and devil worshippers. What can a mortal do to survive?" The old man sighed. "It is indeed hard, I've had a few close encounters. How is this village doing?" The young man asked with a solemn tone. "Great, ever since Lord Gulan appeared, we haven't had any beast attacks." The old man said. "I haven't properly introduced myself, I am Nie Lan. Most people call me Old Lan." Old Lan said "Mhm, I am called Ye Yuyan….no nicknames or titles." Ye Yuyan said kindly back. "Well, this will be your room. Dinner is at 6 pm, and we serve drinks till 2 am. Feel free to come down, my wife makes the best wine in the village. The three bitter blossoms, the best around. " Old Lan said, as he pointed to a room on the second floor. The room was small, and only had a chest and a desk. There was a small bed at the corner of the room, and a small window. "Hmm….this will do nicely, thank you." Ye Yuyan said as he moved over to the desk. Old Lan taking a hint locked the door and walked down the stairs. Ye Yuyan sat at the desk and reached into his robes. He removed three scrolls and laid them out in front of him. He opened a cabinet to the desk and took out a quill and an inkwell. He reached into his robe and took out a black runic dagger. He cut his left palm and dripped a drop of blood into the inkwell. The red drop of blood seemed to tinge the ink. A searing smoke came from the well, and a malevolent demon face appeared. Soon after it faded, and the ink was a deep red. Ye Yuyan dipped the quill in the inkwell and started to write on the scroll. His elegant calligraphy moved with grace and speed. He wrote a few words and then engraved intricate runes in a circle. In the center of the circle was a strange demonic face, a fat oiled man with fangs and horns. "A Devil worshipper with a Fiend pact…." Ye Yuyan smirked as he sealed up the scroll. Then he put it in his robes and stood up. He walked down to the first floor of the inn, the inn was filled up now. A few rowdy young men drank and danced in a bustle around the inn. Ye Yuyan passed each of them and approached the bar. "Waiter, 3 Bitter Blossoms Wine please." Ye Yuyan asked the kindly middle-aged man on the other side of the bar. He looked over at Ye Yuyan's graceful bearing, he assumed him to be a prodigious young master. He moved quickly and gave him a ceramic cup, as he poured the wine. Ye Yuyan took the cup and downed it quickly, it had a bitter and burning taste. It burned his throat as it moved to rest on his stomach. He released a calm exhaling sigh, then he looked to the corner of the first floor. He saw Old Lan holding a wine cup as he filled it with a smile. Sitting down in front of him was a young man. He was wearing sun embroidered golden attire and had golden hair and golden sword brows. He had a domineering aura about him, and near him were two black cloaked men. They emanated a powerful bloodlust as they casually stood at his side. "Old Lan, your wife really makes the finest wine!" The young man laughed as he downed the wine. "Thank you for the compliments, Young Master Li Nan." Old Lan said with a courteous ingratiating tone. "I'll have to talk to Lord Gulan to collect more. After all, you must be making a lot off this wine." Li Nan laughed boisterously. "Uhh...but si-si sire, we are paying all that we can to his Lord…." Old Lan reluctantly stuttered, his fear made him spill a bit of the wine on Li Nan's robes. Li Nan's face boiled with fury at that moment. "You filthy peasant, to dare soil my clothes! Make it triple the payment, no negotiations. Or else your little inn will become a tavern." Li Nan rebuked with a cold voice "But sire we cannot afford that…." Old Lan begged. "Well, then you can't afford your life! Guards detain this man!" Li Nan barked out in a domineering fashion. The two bloodthirsty guards quickly moved, both jumping at Old Lan as they extended their demonic palms out. Their hands looked like wolf claws, Old Lan shrunk back in fear as they attacked his throat. As Old Lan fell back, a gust of wind traveled at a high speed. It went past Old Lan and collided with the guards, whose bodies flew back and hit a wall. All of a sudden their bodies started to shine with a black light, as they flailed in pain. Li Nan looked stunned as he turned towards the source of the wind. Then his eyes landed on Ye Yuyan, who in his hands held an empty scroll. The black light from the guards seemed attracted to it. The scroll consumed the baleful aura and seemed to start drawing. It drew the face of two ugly horned demons. Ye Yuyan sealed the scroll and put it in his robes. Then his cold gaze landed on Li Nan, and he started to smirk. 'I sense no demonic presence on him.' Ye Yuyan thought as he coldly assessed Li Nan. "Wh….wh….what are you doing? This is the village of Lord Gulan, no exorcists are allowed." Li Nan stuttered out. "Heh, who said I was an exorcist?" Ye Yuyan laughed as his eyes shined blood red. A strange aura came from his body, everyone in the inn who looked at Ye Yuyan seemed to be hypnotized. A few started to fall down out of exhausted, and slowly everyone passed out. Li Nan tried to resist, but the urge to sleep was too powerful. His body slumped over the table and fell down to the ground. The only person left standing in the inn was Ye Yuyan. His eyes returned to its normal black color.
Chapter 2: Beastman Spoiler A few hours later, a few of the people in the tavern awoke. Old Lan's body swayed as he struggled to stand up from his nap. He looked around and noticed others struggling to stand up. He stood there dazed until the doors to the inn flew open. A strange demonic black gas flooded into the inn. Old Lan felt his body tense up and start trembling in fear. He was barely able to stand, as two cyan vertical slit eyes gazed at him. He felt as if he was in a frozen abyss. "This aura…. hiss." A voice hissed as the face of a fat horned man appeared. His oily grimy face lit up with a hideous toothy smile as he walked up to Old Lan. Each of his steps made Old Lan tremble increasingly. "You what happened here?" The Fat man said as Old Lan felt to the ground before him. "Lo...Lo…. Lord Gulan! Oh, please forgive me, Young Master Li Nan was kidnapped by an exorcist." Old Lan begged as he kowtowed before Gulan. "An Exorcist? Then what is this aura?" Gulan asked as he scrutinized Old Lan. He could feel a lingering sense of a terrifying entity that passed through here. "I...I... I don't know, sir. Please just let me go!" Old Lan begged as tears flooded down his eyes. The surrounding inn patrons saw his loud sobs and begging. "Hmph, you helped this man. Did you think I would let you off?" Lord Gulan rebuked as he grabbed Old Lan's head with one arm, and raised him by the head. "Give a chance sir, please!" Old Lan sobbed as his body was raised. "At least in death, you will make yourself useful." Lord Gulan chuckled, as his hand became a blue-furred gigantic claw. The fur of the hand stabbed into Old Lan's brain, his body started twitching and convulsing. "ARGHHHH!" Old Lan screamed in agony, as the villagers watched in fear. A few ran out of the inn in a hurry. Lord Gulan's eyes went into the back of his head, all that was left was the white of his eyes; and a strange demonic glint. The fur retracted from Old Lan's body, which slumped onto the ground headless. "Hmph, it seems your death was deserved. But that name Ye Yuyan…. why does that name feel familiar?" Lord Gulan muttered under his breath as he stared at Old Lan's corpse. Around him the villagers edged back, filled with fear. Lord Gulan dropped Old Lan's bloody headless corpse onto the ground. Then the corpse started to shake extremely fast. A black essence emerged from Old Lan's body, it formed into 2 shadowy cloaked figures. They looked exactly like the guards for Li Nan, but their bloodlust was hidden. "Find him!" Lord Gulan coldly instructed the two cloaked figures nodded and disappeared. By this point, the villagers had already fled to their homes. Lord Gulan was alone in the Inn, he walked up to the second floor. Then he entered Ye Yuyan's room, on the desk was a rolled-up scroll. Lord Gulan reached out and levitated the scroll towards him, then he slowly unfurled the scroll up. He stared at the scroll and saw an intricately carved spell circle, and at the center was his own face. "Damn it, he's definitely an exorcist, he could screw up the offering ritual for tonight. What can I do…...?" Lord Gulan said as he furled the scroll back up and angrily slammed on the desk. "I have to contact him, I need more Cloaks of Hell; and Fiend energy." Lord Gulan mumbled as he left the inn. **************************** At that moment, Li Nan's body had just hit the cold ground in the forest. They were inside a small cave along the mountain, Ye Yuyan was coldly looking over at Li Nan's asleep body. As Li Nan inhaled, a large amount of green energy would gather near him. When he exhaled it would be pushed away, and it would disappear. "To think that old man got a human with a Nature Spirit Physique. It may be low grade, but any Fiend would easily trade for it. He most likely has been trading his son's blood essence for power from this fiend." Ye Yuyan analyzed as his eyes saw through the mysteries behind Li Nan. "I felt a strong demonic energy coming from this place with good reason. I can't stay too long, I need to wrap up matters soon." Ye Yuyan said dreadfully as he thought about his pressing matters. Ye Yuyan walked over to Li Nan, as he created a myriad of high-speed hand seals. Each of the seals landed on top of Li Nan's body. They would create an intricate set of lines and symbols along his body. With each hand seal, the lines would elongate along his body. After doing 1000 hand seals, Ye Yuyan clasped his hands together and released a low shout. "Hah!" As he shouted, Li Nan's body started to convulse in pain. The symbols and lines along his body seemed to peel off, and start levitating in front of Ye Yuyan. Li Nan's eyes flashed open as he started to scream without reserve. "ARGHHHH!!!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, as the symbols kept peeling. They seemed to have a green tint to them, although it was unnoticeable. After all the symbols and lines peeled off, Li Nan's screams died down. Then his breathing stopped, and soon after he was completely dead. "Recombine!" Ye Yuyan shouted as the symbols and lines swirled around into a vortex. The vortex started to slowly recombine until it was the size of Ye Yuyan's palm. The black almost completely disappeared, it seemed to be a vortex of green energy. "1% Natural Essence…. this physique is rather weak. His contractor could only have moved up a rank using this. The fiend can't be over mid-ranked, making Gulan not too powerful…." Ye Yuyan analyzed as he fiddled with the natural energy in his palm. A Fiend would avoid using natural essence, as that was a power of humans. They risk contaminating their growth, and any mid-ranked fiend can ultimately become high ranked, making Nature Essence unnecessary. Only low ranked Fiends take such desperate measures to upgrade themselves. "The world has many paths to power. But to combine paths without careful consideration, that would be a dangerous move." He took out another scroll and placed his palm and the natural energy on it. The scroll seemed to burn on a picture, it looked like an azure tree stub, but there seemed to be primordial quality to the tree stub. He put the scroll away, as he then looked outside the cave. Standing there were two Hell Cloaked Shadow Warriors. They stared Ye Yuyan down as he put the scroll away. "That was rather fast, Gulan should be contacting this Fiend by now." Ye Yuyan said as his eyes shined with anticipation. "Grrrr!" The Hell Warriors growled as the sprung at Ye Yuyan. He smirked as made his hand into a fist, as the hell soldiers entered the cave. A huge amount of seals flew around them, as they flew onto their skin and their bodies exploded into shadow mist. "What a weak distraction, by now he should be setting up a summoning ritual." Ye Yuyan's eyes landed on the village, he could see it from the cave. He could hear a multitude of screams, he knew exactly what he was. "Blood, mortal blood as it pools; a Fiendish desire of the soul. Let it flow, into lakes, into rivers, and into oceans." Ye Yuyan chanted with a fiendish smirk, he could see a strange blood-red spell circle surround the village. A few villagers tried to escape the city, but they would be cut down by Hell Warriors. Their black cloaks seemed to be tinged with the embers of black flames. Whenever cut down, a villager's blood would be burned away. The Hell Warriors would get larger, and their embers will grow. "Hehehe, yes good, grow just keep growing." Ye Yuyan's started to laugh as a strange aura came from his body, a powerful demonic bloodlust that warped around him. His eyes became red blood moons, as they watched the slaughter in the village. Gulan was standing inside his tower as he was drawing in blood a spell circle. A strange shadowy figure was developing as the circle was getting increasingly completed. "Fiend Lord IIlathar, hear my call; a visitor from another land. One that threatens us all, please grant me power; so that he may fall." Gulan chanted as the shadow materialized, a blue horned beast seemed to jump out at him. His body started to convulse and increase in size. His entire frame became immensely large, and even the tower broke apart as it was unable to accommodate him. Soon he was a gigantic 100-meter beast. The entire village went silent, every hut, shack, and every home was completely desolate. The flickering of black flames, contrasted with the flowing blood. A full moon illuminated the carnage, as a massive blue furred beastman roared into the skies. "ARGGGGH!!!" The yellow beating eyes of the beastman turned towards the mountain. It landed on Ye Yuyan's form, his blood red eyes met the gaze of the beastman. Ye Yuyan reached into his robe and removed a black dagger. He held his dagger like a sword and pointed it towards the blue demon. His red eyes seemed filled with aggression as they stared down the demon. "Come!" Ye Yuyan laughed as a runic pattern flashed on his dagger.
Chapter 3: Lotus Form Spoiler "GRRR!" The Blue Demon roared, as an icy mist radiated from it. The surroundings of the mountain started to die from the freezing mist. The Beast opened its mouth, and shout out a piercing icy beam at Ye Yuyan. Ye Yuyan seeing the beam coming closer, raised his dagger, and sliced across. The icy beam seemed to be sliced from afar, as it went past Ye Yuyan in two different directions. On Ye Yuyan's dagger was a little bit of frost, that was only on the tip. Looking at the frost, Ye Yuyan brows were furrowed. 'Illathar, Evil Form: Abyssal Minotaur, Slaughter Qi: Frost, Origin Force: Mid Ranked Fiend.' Ye Yuyan analyzed from the frost on his dagger. The dagger runes started to shine, and the frost dissolved entirely. In this world, there exist myriad paths of cultivation. One such path with the fiendish path, it is a triple fold path. One cultivates the body through their innate evil form, they cultivate their magic through their slaughter qi, and they cultivate their origin force through authority. Each path has different requirements and ultimately grants different powers. Humans have access to some of these paths, and a few of their own. But the mixing of various paths is quite dangerous unless one is a special existence. "Damn exorcist, where is my offering?" Illathar growled as his blue fur seemed to stand up. "Oh, you mean this?" Ye Yuyan said as he removed a scroll, on it was an old tree stump. With the sight of the scroll, Illathar's body shook with rage. It knew exactly what Ye Yuyan had done to Li Nan. "Kill him, Hell Warriors!" Illathar commanded, the hundred shadow warriors cloaked in black flames turned their attention towards Ye Yuyan. They rushed out of the village at very fast speeds, and moments approached the cave Ye Yuyan was waiting at. Ye Yuyan's eyes narrowed into intense blood red slits, as the Hell warriors approached. He jumped forward with his dagger as a warrior approached. It reached out with its claws inundated with black flames. Ye Yuyan's dagger shined with a white light and runes, as he slashed down on the claw. The black flames extinguished as he cut off the claw. Then with one swift motion, he decapitated the hell warrior. He moved to the next one, the hell warrior made a blade from the flames. Then swung down at Ye Yuyan's incoming dagger. Ye Yuyan sliced the flame blade, then turned and kicked the warrior. Then proceeding to stab it in the throat. With increasing speed, he cut down more hell warriors. While also descending the mountain, as he neared the village. He was cornered by a squadron of 12 hell warriors, the screeched as they each formed various weapons from the black flames. A giant ax-wielding hell warrior, slashed down on Ye Yuyan as he approached the village. Ye Yuyan was quick to dodge as the ground exploded into black embers. Then as he dodged back he noticed 6 incoming arrows. He spun his dagger in a swift motion cutting all the arrows while retreating. 'A squadron of hell warriors.' Ye Yuyan thought as he looked around, trying to determine the formation. '6 arrows, they have 6 longbow users.' Ye Yuyan introspective as he looked around and noticed the 6 longbow users hidden in the trees. He looked in front of him and saw 4 long swords users, hiding behind the 2 ax-wielding warriors. "I don't have the time for this…. I need to end this quick." Ye Yuyan said as he gritted his teeth. He took his dagger and stabbed it into his shoulder until it was fully inside his shoulder. His blood dripped out onto the grass like morning dew. His already bloody eyes seemed to become demonic, a powerful bloodlust came from his body. It completely eclipsed the bloodlust of the hell warriors. Ye Yuyan ripped out the dagger, and it started to elongate. The dagger became a very long dual edged katana. He raised it and pointed it towards the squadron. The moonlight shimmered off the blade like a holy light, the sword seemed to howl with a murderous lust. "By my blood, Ye of the bloodline; Lotus Form: Blooming!" Ye Yuyan chanted as he swung his sword in a crescent cut. Along the path of his sword, was a red line which started to expand. It seemed like a whole new world was cut open, a blood red world of slaughter. Everything around him started to collapse, and every shadow warrior disintegrated. Everything within 30 meters of Ye Yuyan was annihilated. Illathar's gaze turned onto the red singularity that appeared, then he saw Ye Yuyan. He was wielding a blood red katana, his eyes were filled with intense malice, and blooming behind him was a blood red lotus. The lotus was partially opened, and coiled around the stamen of the lotus was a black viper inundated with black flames. "You…. what are you?" Illathar asked in complete and utter terror, he recognized that lotus. Ye Yuyan gripped his sword harder as he got into a fighting stance. He raised his blade as the lotus behind him released a massive amount of red fog. "Die!" Ye Yuyan roared as he slashed down, the red fog followed his blade as it became a wind blade as big as Illathar, the massive red sword slash cut apart the mountain as he moved closer towards Illathar. Illathar's hands became filled with frost qi, as he reached out to rip apart the sword slash. His frost arms slammed against the sword slash, his massive body was pushed back. His feet cut apart huge swaths of trees and dirt as the sword beam lost force. Illathar barely blocked the sword beam, and the frost on his hand was shattered. Illathar looked at his palms and saw his blue blood dripping. Then he noticed a strange redness to his cuts. "What?" He couldn't help but blurt out as he noticed red mist was seeping into his palms. "You damned thing, I'll kill you!" Illathar roared as the blue mist around him formed into a massive barrage of icicles. He blasted hundreds of icicles at Ye Yuyan. Ye Yuyan coldly looked on as the icicles closed in on him. "Lotus form: Wilting!" The red lotus behind Ye Yuyan fused into his body and expanded to protect him. Then it sealed itself and produced a red mist. The incoming icicles hit into the lotus, unable to puncture it. The red mist would then disperse the frost qi and then increase in its own strength. As soon as the icicles faded, the lotus opened up. "Your frost qi is quite powerful…. Your evil form is also quite strong. You are indeed the perfect choice…." Ye Yuyan said with a supercilious smile, as he stared at Illathar. "What did you just say?" Illathar said in a loud bellow, not masking his fury. "I said you are quite delicious!" Ye Yuyan laughed as he swung his sword. The open red mist seemed to become agitated and rapidly expanded. The mist completely sealed the area around Illathar in a thick red mist. "This is…. slaughter qi! What the hell are you?!?" Illathar roared out, his vision was filled with red mist. The mist started to warp, and he could see screeching faces and devil eyes around him. "You are no exorcist! What the hell kind of thing are you?" Illathar questioned as he released his blue mist to protect him. Around him, Illathar noticed a strange phenomenon, the red mist created a massive 9 leaved lotus around him. He could notice the pattern from this height, and he saw the serpent appear in front of him. On top of the serpent made of black flames, was Ye Yuyan gripping his sword. "You're one of the bearers..." Illathar stuttered out as he took a step back from Ye Yuyan. "You talk too much." Ye Yuyan coldly intoned as the red mist pushed down on Illathar's gigantic form. The serpent beneath Ye Yuyan was even bigger than Illathar, it was around 200 meters long. He was literally and metaphorically looking down on Illathar. "Lotus Form: Cherry Blossoms!" Ye Yuyan said as the mist congealed into thousands of cherry blossoms. The blossoms were like tiny blades made of baleful energy, they sliced at Illathar. Who raised his hands in guard. Illathar's body was sliced up thousands of time, slowly the wounds accumulated. His body was slowly being obliterated by the cherry blossoms. Ye Yuyan sent with each slash of his sword, hundreds of the cherry blossoms. "Arghh! Your Highness, please forgive me!" Illathar begged he knew that soon he would die. "You die today...Blooming Moon!" Ye Yuyan yelled as he sent a final massive slash of Cherry Blossoms. Ye Yuyan made a crescent cut with his sword that stirred the cherry blossoms. The blossoms cut a crescent moon cut across Illathar's body.
Chapter 4: First Revolution Spoiler The demonic light in Illathar's eyes faded, as his massive body collapsed on the ground. His blue blood made the soil into permafrost. The red mist receded into the lotus, as it wilted and disappeared behind Ye Yuyan. The serpent went along with as they fused into his body. Ye Yuyan eyes went back to their regular blue and his sword decreased in size until it was a regular black dagger. Ye Yuyan took the dagger and put it inside his robe, his face looked bloodless and pale under the moonlight. He looked over at the destroyed village, and then he noticed Illathar's gigantic body start to decrease in size. He jumped over to it, just in time to see at the center of the remnants of Illathar's body was Gulan. Along Gulan's chest was a crescent slash, it seemed he died a while ago from the final strike. Ye Yuyan removed a scroll and released a few thousands hand seals onto Gulan's body. Then from his body sprung forward a frost bull demon soul. It was Illathar's a fragment of his fiend soul. In summoning him, Gulan brought a part of Illathar's true soul to the mortal world and fused with it. Illathar's soul fragment must fuse with the host body, for him to get any of the memories of what happened here. Otherwise, Ye Yuyan would never dare reveal his bloodline like that. Anyone who sees the lotus must die! Ye Yuyan took the soul and sealed into inside a scroll. On Gulan's body was a bamboo gourd, Ye Yuyan grabbed it. He unsealed the cork, and slowly analyzed the gourd. "Ah, the sealing gourd." Ye Yuyan said with a smug grin as he looked at the holy symbol on the corner of the gourd. It was a 9-pointed star that had 9 different colors on its edges. This was the symbol of the Verulyim Holy Sacrament, a powerful order that trained Knights, Exorcists, and even Demon Sealers. Ye Yuyan moved quickly to extract the blood of Illathar's decaying Evil Form. He got the blood and put it inside the gourd. The gourd could be used to hold demonic materials and liquids. "With all this destruction, an investigation team from the capital should be here soon." Ye Yuyan said as he looked over at the horizon. "I need to heal my injuries and replenish my blood energy. After that, I can go to the Verulyim kingdom's capital." Ye Yuyan said as he looked off into the east, his eyes flashing with an ominous light. His eyes scanned to the east, and he saw a quick pathway. He jumped forward and moved at high speeds as he scanned across the paths. Where he was currently at is The Desolate Range, a mountain range that separates the eastern and western lands. There were a few untraversable valleys around that were known to house powerful devils, but he made sure to avoid it. At the most center of the range was a mountain that stretched in the firmament, most people would not climb it but instead, go around it. Making traveling from the east to west quite a long journey. There were a few villages on this path, but with the attack of beasts, they are often destroyed. Only villages guarded by the kingdom survived. Ye Yuyan jumped a few miles before he stopped near the top of the last mountain before entering the eastern lands. He approached the mountain and took out his dagger. He cut open a hole into the mountain, a small room for himself. Then he jumped inside it and sealed the hole. He sat down in a meditative stance, as he reached into his robes. He removed three scrolls, the gourd, and his dagger. He unfurled the three scrolls, one was the primordial tree stub. The other two were Illathar's soul fragment, and the last was the baleful energies of the Hell Warriors. He had slain 100 of those elite soldiers and sealed their energy into the scroll. 'Before I enter the capital, I need absorb Illathar's power.' Ye Yuyan calculated as he looked at the scrolls in front of him. Humanity had 3 conventional paths for power before them. Sealing, Chivalry, and the mysterious bloodline path. The first path involves sealing powerful existences within oneself, conventionally that means sealing demons. The second path involves training in weapons and the body, that means tempering the body using the power of various powers. The third path is the bloodline path, little is known about it. Only those with the rarest human bloodlines can cultivate this path. Ye Yuyan planned to join a Verulyim Order to dual cultivate in the Chivalry and Sealing. But to hide his powers, he needs to seal a demon within himself. He undid his hand seals with counter seals in a few moments, and the scrolls released a massive amount of demonic energy. A massive black mist seemed to condense around the room, Ye Yuyan closed his eyes. Then behind him appeared the red lotus, on the stamen was a coiled serpent. The serpent was smaller than last time as if it was about to fade away. The serpent hissed and as if by command the baleful energy rushed into the stamen of the lotus. The serpent started to grow as the baleful energy fused into it. The lotus seemed to be bolstered by it as well, it instantly doubled in size. On one of the leaves, a set of black inscriptions filled about 50% of it. The brilliant cursive inscriptions beautifully flowed on the leaf. Ye Yuyan's then grabbed the alcohol gourd, and he drank Illathar's blood. The blue liquid went down his throat and started to freeze his insides. It traveled along his meridians, freezing it until it settled into his blood. Then it seeped into his marrow, his entire body started to freeze on the inside. Soon after a thin layer of frost developed on Ye Yuyan's skin. He reached out with his hand and unsealed the scroll with primordial tree stub. A strange phenomenon of a massive azure great tree appeared. The tree reached into the heavens and propped up heaven and earth. Its grand majesty released a massive amount of green energy, the energy streamed into Ye Yuyan's body. The blue blood seemed to become stronger as it fused with the green energy. The vitality in Ye Yuyan body skyrocketed, the blue blood started to willingly fuse with Ye Yuyan's body. The red lotus leaf with the black inscriptions started to engrave a set of blue inscriptions. Soon 40% of the leaf was filled with blue and black inscriptions. Yet something felt incomplete about it, Ye Yuyan gritted his teeth as he grabbed the last scroll. He quickly unsealed Illathar's soul fragment, and then he devoured it. His body started to shake, and the ice on his skin dissolved. The blue blood completely fused into his body, and Ye Yuyan forced Illathar's soul into the leaf. Suddenly, the leaf quickly started to engrave, a single snowflake. As the snowflake formed with its intricate pattern, the leaf started to darken. Until it was a solitary frozen blue, with black inscriptions blew. Then when the engraving was done, it seemed that the leaf was perfect. The other 8 leaves were still red, but one of them was blue. A powerful principle seemed to radiate from the leaf. Ye Yuyan's eyes opened as dark eyes gleamed with a frosty glint. His cold stare made him seem like he was eternal ice. He gripped his fist as a powerful frost qi emanated from him. Everything around him in the cave started to freeze until even the walls were completely frozen. For his final task, he reached into his robes and removed another scroll. But this one was unlike the others, it was a tattered black scroll. It looked as though it was one touch away from disintegration. He unfurled the scroll as it flew by itself in front of him, suddenly the strange sound of humming and chanting erupted around the room. On the scroll flashed nomological inscriptions that dance across the scroll. He grabbed the gourd at his waist and threw it at the scroll. The inscriptions shined even brighter as the gourd levitated in front of the scroll. On the gourd, the 9 colored star flashed; as various lights streamed out of the gourd. With a deft hand, Ye Yuyan guided the various lights into the black scroll. The lights flitted together creating a sort of heavenly principle. The dark scroll became colored with a heavenly light as a 9 colored lightning symbol formed. The light started to wane as the colors on the gourd disappeared. The colors disappeared entirely from the gourd and then the black scroll furled on his own. Ye Yuyan grabbing both put them away on his waist and in his robes. "Now I am ready for the capital." He said with a sneering expression.
Chapter 5: Combat Code Spoiler To the east, was a buzzing metropolis. It was surrounded with a large wall and a luscious green forest. The trees all around were massive and seemed to hide the city, but the sounds of people trading gave away their location. At the front of the gate, stood two silver armored men. They each held a lance as they stood guard at a large gate. Along the gate was two coiling golden dragons. Ye Yuyan was walking along the path to the city, as he gripped his pink bamboo umbrella. To his waist was a bamboo gourd with a satchel. His shadowy eyes landed on the massive gate. He slowly walked along the path, behind him were carts filled with hey. Along with various shepherds bringing herds, and caravans of food. They slowly walked together to the gate, Ye Yuyan sidestepped most of them with his agile steps. When he approached the guards, he raised the bamboo gourd. He flashed the holy 9-pointed star on it, and the guards quickly saluted. "We welcome you, Exorcist!" The guard's said as they bowed to Ye Yuyan. They moved to open the gate, as they pushed it open using sheer force. With enough space to enter, Ye Yuyan quickly walked in. "Sire, the Sacrament has recalled all Exorcists. Go to the royal tower for further orders." A guard told Ye Yuyan has he was walking off. "Mm, understood." Ye Yuyan nodded as he turned to look at the magnificent black tower at the center of the city. After he had finished cultivating in the mountains, he started to walk on the path to the Verulyim capital. He had a few encounters with bandits and beasts. But none of them could phase him at this point. On the way he met a few people from a caravan, they gave him some info on the Verulyim kingdom. The kingdom had three orders, The Verulyim Sacrament, The Verulyim Code, and The Verulyim Origin. Each confirmed with the conventional way of training, the code was chivalry, the sacrament was sealing, and the origin was blood. The guards he just saw, were low-level members of the Verulyim Code. Ye Yuyan came here to join the Verulyim Code. One needs to be recruited by the nobility to join the Sacrament most times. But if someone has enough achievements, they might also be recruited by the order. One such way would be to return a sealing symbol to the Order. They are granted to wandering exorcists and are created by Fiend Sealers. Ye Yuyan walked along the stone path, as he dodged the various people. He looked around and saw many adorned in cotton and high-quality threads. A few people wore the finest silk and walked around in groups. Ye Yuyan looked out of place in his black robes, in the eastern lands the standard was medieval wear. Ye Yuyan's oriental wear attracted some attention of the various groups. As Ye Yuyan approached the royal tower, he noticed more guards around. He saw a few wandering knights, and exorcists. Then when he finally reached the tower, he saw an old man in large black armor. On his back, was a massive great sword. His body reeked of blood as if it was imprinted on his being. The old man's eyes flashed open as if he examined Ye Yuyan. "I don't recognize you, who are you?" The old man quizzed as he looked over at Ye Yuyan's satchel. He noticed the holy symbol on the alcohol gourd. Ye Yuyan didn't respond, he closed his eyes. Inside his body, the red lotus bloomed. The single blue leaf released blue essence into Ye Yuyan's body. His eyes flashed with a piercing blue light. The air temperature dropped suddenly, as a blue mist radiated from his body. The old man's eyes narrowed, as he reached for his greatsword. "Totemic power!" The old man laughed as he gripped his great sword defensively. "My name is Ji Shu, I am a wanderer from the eastern lands. I came across a fallen in a village on the Desolate Range. I expelled the devil, and retrieved this gourd from the corpse of the fallen." Ye Yuyan narrated as he carefully probed the old man's responses. Once Ye Yuyan finished talking, he closed his eyes. He re-sealed the red lotus, the blue essence returned to the lotus. As it wilted and sealed, and Ye Yuyan's eyes reopened to their regular shadowy color. Seeing Ye Yuyan deactivate his energy, the old man relaxed. He let go of his grip and motioned to shake Ye Yuyan's hand. "I thank you for your contributions, we of the righteous path must cooperate to protect chivalry!" The old man said amicably as he shook Ye Yuyan's hand. Ye Yuyan responded in turn and shook his hand. "Without honor, what makes us human?" Ye Yuyan responded with a slight smirk, he seemed to radiate the aura of a benevolent immortal. This scene severely contrasted his previous devilishness. "Indeed, virtue is the difference between beasts and humans. I am Qiu Lu, I am the order's True Knight. What would you like as a reward?" Qui Lu said not concealing his appreciation of Ye Yuyan. "I would like to join the Verulyim Code, and uphold honor and chivalry." Ye Yuyan instantly responded as he bowed. "Mm, not often do I see young men of your caliber." Qui Lu said as he stroked his beard. "Enter the tower, and look for Feng Shu. He will show you around, and give you the code." Qui Lu said as he pushed open the gate to the tower with one hand. Ye Yuyan bowed kindly once again, and then he entered the tower. He walked in and looked around to see massive bookshelves everywhere. All over were flying books, and people jumping around to grab them. He looked up and saw on the ceiling was a gigantic spell circle. "Anti-gravity magic circle, formed from the blood of a void serpent…." Ye Yuyan mumbled in awe as he looked around. A void serpent was a high-level beast, one that could threaten powerful demon sealers. "You must be Ji Shu!" A calm voice echoed from behind Ye Yuyan, he turned around slowly and looked over at the source of the sound. He saw a young man, in black Neo Victorian clothes. The young man had along his face, the tattoo of a snake. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Feng Shu. I am the Arbitrator of the Order, appointed by his majesty." Feng Shu said as he did a light bow. 'Arbitrator? Was he appointed to handle the relations between the three orders? If so that is quite a powerful title….' Ye Yuyan calmly analyzed, through this man looked young. Many high-level experts had very long lives and huge vitalities. "Since you have chosen to join the Code, I will let you choose 2 combat codes." Feng Shu said as he snapped his fingers, a 9-pointed star appeared in the air. He directed the star onto Ye Yuyan, and Ye Yuyan grabbed it with his right hand. On his palm appeared the holy symbol. "That symbol will allow you to pick up the books on the first floor. If you want to get to higher floors, you need to accrue achievements." Feng Shu said as he handed Ye Yuyan, a black hardcover book, Ye Yuyan took it and put it in his robes. "For that, you can go to the help desk and get exorcist missions. If you need further instruction, you can talk to Qiu Lu. I wish you the best, newcomer." Feng Shu laughed as the serpent on his face seemed to come to life. Then his body completely disappeared. 'To subjugate a void serpent like that, what a monster.' Ye Yuyan couldn't help but feel dread in his heart, with that spell circle and a subjugated void serpent in this tower. Feng Shu can be anywhere instantly, it's no wonder be became the Arbitrator. 'Well then, they will probably investigate me soon. They shouldn't find any significant info soon.' Ye Yuyan thought as he looked around the room at the flying books. 'Combat Code….' Ye Yuyan mumbled to himself. Combat Code comes in many forms, its purest form is law. Ye Yuyan commands the law of frost, through the inscriptions from Illathar's body. Combat Code is about inscribing weapon laws into one's body to command laws. They come in different grades of 1-9 essences. The first three layers are low-level codes, the second three are mid-level codes, and the last three layers are high-level codes. The more essence a code has the rarer it becomes, with 9 layered code reaching a heavenly domain. That kind of code is only owned by extreme experts and legendary beings. On this floor, the highest-level code was three essences. 'Sword Code, that's what I need to find.' Ye Yuyan thought with a frown, he needs to get strong fast.
Chapter 6: Bloodheart Spoiler Ye Yuyan looked around and quickly read the title of the books that flew past him. He grabbed every sword related book he could see. A hundred titles appeared in front of him, he looked through the ones that caught his attention. Emotion Severing Sword, Seven Kills Sword, Fantasia Sword Art, Blue Moon Sword, Bloodless Blade. Emotion Severing Sword Code- Sever the 7 emotions and 6 desires to cultivate this sword. The final technique, Nirvana Sword. Seven Kills Sword Code- Kill 7 of your closest family, friends, and comrades to cultivate this sword. Use their blood to form a blood sword inside of yourself. Final technique, 49 Executions. Fantasia Sword Code- Devour illusionary beasts, and alter one's body into an eldritch abomination. Final technique, Madness. Blue Lotus Sword Code- Absorb starlight and moonlight to form a blue lotus inside of yourself. Final Technique, Blue lotus Sword Dance. Bloodless Blade- Sacrifice your blood, to increase your physical hardness. Final technique, Blood Congealment. Every title featured various sword stances and final attacks. Ye Yuyan quickly read them and found them to be insufficient. 'I need a versatile sword code that I could improve on then adapt into my fighting style.' He thought to himself, he let go of the books and they went back to flying. Then Ye Yuyan looked up and saw a ragged old scroll flying. Ye Yuyan looked at the scroll with surprise, westerners often used books instead of scrolls. He couldn't help but be curious, about what it was. Ye Yuyan jumped and intercepted the book. He gripped the cover and felt a powerful sword intent flood out. Although Ye Yuyan was a swordsman, he was nowhere near the stage of sword intent. So once the sword intent flooded out, Ye Yuyan's glabella felt like it was being pierced. He couldn't help but smile. "This is the one! No doubt about it." Ye Yuyan hurriedly opened the book, and inside he saw the name of the technique. Heart Sword Code- The core of a man is his heart, the core of a swordsman is his sword. Without a sword and without a heart, you can never be truly complete. Control the heart with your sword, and control the sword with your heart. Final Technique-??? 'What is my heart?' Ye Yuyan mused, he thought of defining events in his life or his various abilities. But no one thing could just define him, how could his heart be so easily captured? 'I don't have the time to be philosophical, I must look for one more book.' Ye Yuyan thought as he shook his head and sighed. He got up and left the sword section, now he needs a defensive code. He zipped around the library, looking through every book he could find. Until he found a well-preserved book in a dustier bookshelf. He grabbed the book, and couldn't help but smile. Illusionary Blue Moon Code- Create a frost moon inside of yourself using heavy frost energy. Summon the moon to guard against attacks. Final Technique, Moon Gazer. "Mm, with these 2 codes I should increase my battle power a lot. According to this handbook, I need to attend Order training in 7 days. I'll go into closed-door training until then." Ye Yuyan said as he read the book Feng Shu gave him. Ye Yuyan went over to the help desk and talked to the old woman manning the station. She looked over the book, and the symbol on his hand. Soon after she gave him the book back, and went back to her own reading. Ye Yuyan couldn't help but wryly smile, she didn't speak to him once explaining anything. It's not that she was required to do that, but he was confused as to what just happened. "Thank you, Senior." Ye Yuyan said with a little curtsy and he walked out of the tower. As he was now a part of the Verulyim Code, he was given a residence in the order halls. With him being younger, he was going to live with the recruits his age. He walked across the city until he stopped a small wooden house with a courtyard. The neighborhood he lived in was very close to the tower, and all around were houses like his. A few had vegetation growing in their courtyard, and others had outdoor forges. His abode was much quainter than the others, it had a simple design and a rustic feel to it. Ye Yuyan went inside and found that the room was rather dusty. It had a single bed, table, and a desk to the corner of the room. In the corner of the room was a broom, Ye Yuyan went over and started sweeping up the room. It took an hour to get rid of the dust, but afterward, the room looked much homelier. Ye Yuyan walked over to his desk and set down the ragged scroll and book. He took a deep breath and examined around the room. 'Is there anything monitoring me?' He thought as he carefully looked around for traces of magic. Finding nothing, he relaxed and took the ragged scroll. He went over to his bed with the scroll and book and sat down with his legs crossed. He opened the book, and reread the Blue Lotus Code. When he finished, he closed his eyes and started to meditate. Taking deep breaths in, his body started to relax. Inside his body, the red lotus bloomed, and blue essence burst into his bloodstream. When he exhaled he would exhale a frosty breath, a blue mist emanated from Ye Yuyan's body. "Illusionary Blue Moon Code!" Inside of Ye Yuyan's body, the 9 Revolutions Prime Lotus was rapidly spinning. A huge amount of blue mist was congealing on top of it, it started to take form. Ye Yuyan's body released a chilling air, that rapidly lowered the room temperature. If a regular mortal came in there, they would be frozen to death in a matter of minutes. After 99 revolutions of the lotus, the blue mist took form. From the mist formed a blue moon but this moon was rather strange as it seemed to ripple like a reflection in the water. On Ye Yuyan's body, the mist pressed against his skin, becoming like a strange frost. On his right arm appeared ice crystals, they rapidly sealed together to form a tight arm guard. Behind him appeared the illusory image of a blue moon that shone down on his body stabilizing the frost guard. "This will be hard to break, now onto the sword code…." Ye Yuyan looked at the ice guard with a happy smirk. He deactivated the frost guard and reached over for the ragged scroll. He reread it, and quickly went back to meditating on its secrets. "My sword is an extension of my heart…." He mumbled as his dagger flew out of his sleeve. It levitated right in front of him, runic patterns shined along it as it started to elongate. It became a dual-edged red katana, with ice crystals along its blade. "Blood Moon, the remnants of a broken dream" His dark eyes glazed over with incredible callousness. "Blood." Ye Yuyan whispered as the scene of blood pooling down the mountain repeated in his my mind. "The heart of my sword is blood." Ye Yuyan said he moved a single finger along the edge of the blade. His blood dripped onto the sword, and it started to hum with power. With Ye Yuyan's declaration, the red lotus fully bloomed. On the second leaf, was engraved another runic pattern. His heart of blood was engraving sword truths on the lotus. The lotus' red color darkened a bit, and 10% seemed to be metallic. With the engraving complete, the lotus resealed itself. Ye Yuyan's eyes flashed open, and he grabbed his sword. In his eyes, he could see strange globs of color throughout the room. His sword seemed to highlight a path, a metallic color. "This is the Sword Force!" Ye Yuyan mumbled in surprise as he looked around the room. He had heard about this state before when a swordsman comprehends a sword truth, he will gain the ability to control the sword force. Which is an esoteric energy force that exists all around him. With control of the sword force, all his attacks would be boosted and he can do all sorts of feats with it. "My heartsword starts with blood but this is not all that my heart is." Ye Yuyan could feel at that moment if he were to strike now with his heart, he could stir the life out of an opponent with a single heartsword strike. Ye Yuyan meditated on the techniques a little longer, then he stood up and looked outside. He had a very good internal clock and realized the 7 days were up. It's like they always say, time passes by quickly while cultivating.
Chapter 7: Group Investigations Spoiler In a courtyard outside of city limits was a small training field. Littered around it were barracks and target dummies. Villagers were peddling along the road bringing various good with them to the city. From the city came various men and women wearing armors. With a very small few dressed in gothic robes, they all seemed to be gathering at the courtyard. Many of the people seemed to be in their young adulthoods, but not all of them were young. A few looked as though they had 1 foot in the grave. One such person was a man in a chared black armor and tattered robes, he had graying facial hair that touched his arm and a bald head. Next to him was a young man in blue cloud robes, his face was filled with solemn power as people parted from his advance. "That's the third prince Han Yi, why would he join the investigations team?" A young man in light armor mumbled. Han Yi entered the courtyard and seated himself near a tree. The wind rustled the leaves as the shadows seemed to dance below him. The old man stood behind Han Yi not making a sound or a movement. As the third prince sat in meditation, a woman dressed in an alluring black dress walked up to him with a demure expression. "My dear prince, what are the duties that lured you here today?" She said with an enchanting voice. Opening one eye the prince looked upon the beautiful visage of the woman in front of him. Her delightful curves well fitted by her tight dress. Yet his calmness never flitted for a moment as he looked towards the barracks. From it emerged 12 men dressed in full black knight armor, each carrying a lance as they walked in a formation. Their carefully guided formation brought them in front of the group in moments as they stood stalwart and intimidating. "You can ask the Assignment Officers over there." The third prince said with a playful tone, the woman in front of him was known to play with weak-hearted men, and he had no intentions of falling for it. "Fine suit yourself." She coyly said as she pouted her lips, she sat down near the prince as she stared at a figure that approached the courtyard. He was a large and stalwart man who wore no shirt, his rippling muscles only partially obscured by the satchel for his greatsword on his back. His serious and calm gaze landed on the various warriors gathered in the courtyard and his intimidating presence scared people out of his way. He made his way near the tree as he sat in front of Han Yi. He took a gourd from the satchel on his waist and put it in front on the ground in front of him. Han Yi looked curiously at the gourd in front of him, before he picked it up and turned it over. On it was a 9 pointed star with 9 different colors along the edges. With that sight, the prince's eyebrows furrowed in doubt. "What happened to Gulan?" Han Yi asked inquisitively "You can ask the man who turned in this gourd. He should be here soon." The stalwart man said as he turned to the entrance into the courtyard. Coming at that moment was a young man with cascading black hair dressed in black robes. Both his hands held a pink bamboo umbrella. His elegant steps attracted attention from the people within the courtyard. "Robes?" "Is he a foreigner?" "Wow, how elegant!" Multiple people whispered among themselves, their soft voices were still heard by Ye Yuyan who stood unperturbed. "It's him? Are you sure, Yunshi?" Han Yi asked without ever taking his gaze on Ye Yuyan. Ye Yuyan's eyes flitted across the Third Prince when he noticed his gaze. Their glances met, the soft yet ethereal eyes of Ye Yuyan met the cold and domineering eyes of the Third Prince. The dichotomy of their characters on full display. Ye Yuyan's mouth moved into a breezy smirk, that soothed the senses with aesthetic beauty. Ye Yuyan's light steps lead him towards the prince. "Is he a foreign guest of the prince?" Someone questioned from Ye Yuyan's motions. But to their surprise, Ye Yuyan crossed past the prince and laid back against the tree. He looked up at the sky with an almost childlike wonder. The prince, old man, warrior, and demoness' eyes gathered onto this young man. "Nature is quite a wonderful affair, isn't it your majesty?" Ye Yuyan said in a jovial manner. "Only through the hands of men is the disorder and ugliness made into a true beauty." Han Yi said dismissively. "I beg to differ, nothing made by the hands of men can equal heaven. Heaven unequaled stands above all." Ye Yuyan rebutted "The paths of Chivalry, Sealing, and Bloodline were made by the men. Our cities and formations were built by men, and aren't these the pinnacle?" Han Yi returned "Heaven unequaled your highness, Heaven is unequaled." Ye Yuyan said with an even tone. "Hmph, how narrow of you." Han Yi snorted "Enough of the chatter." An assignment officer roared, at the front of the triangle formation the man took off his helmet. What was revealed was a middle-aged man with scarlet hair and a curved red goatee. "Knighted Vermillion..." said the tattered old man next to the prince, he cupped his fists in respect. "Knighted Maven!" responded the scarlet man, he cupped his fist back as he turned his attention back to the crowd. "You have been gathered here to do some investigations of the Desolate Range." As he spoke the 11 other officers walked in front of him one by one, each holding a different poster. The posters had various rewards on the bottom with photos of various beasts. One such beast was a serpent with 4 wings, another was a red-eyed minotaur, and various other strange and mystical beasts. "Each of these beasts has emerged from the valleys and attacked the various villages." He said as he pointed out each beast. "It is your duty to slay these beasts and find the root cause of all this. As members of the Order, Sacrament, and even the Verulyim Origin you must uphold the righteous path." The scarlet man said as a warning. "No one is exempt regardless of their standing." He said as his eyes flitted past the Third Prince and his cohorts. "Get into groups of 4, 2 from the Order and 1 from the sacrament are a requirement. Some of these quests have cultivation requirements. You can test your cultivation with any of us otherwise proceed as you please." As soon as he finished talking, various people quickly gathered together in haste. 'It seems groups were formed far before this...' Ye Yuyan thought as he watched them flock like geese. Cliques form quite easily but under life and death conditions they become much stronger. They could have been cooperating together for years and building their own dynamic. Making any attempts to join an established group unrealistic. Ye Yuyan and the people around him gathered near the various posters held by the Assignment officers. The one Ye Yuyan got close to was about a frost demon. This wasn't just a beast, it was a powerful Fiend that escaped from over one of the uncanny valleys. In the desolate range was many mountains and in between, there were forests and plains that the humans lived. On the mountains were a mix of humans and beasts, and within the valleys were powerful demons. In certain valleys existed powerful devils which ruled supreme, they barely if ever left their valleys it was completely unheard of. Ye Yuyan noticed that Han Yi formed a group with the demoness, old man, and warrior. They approached him with the Third Prince at the front. "We never got your name." Han Yi asked as he looked at Ye Yuyan. Even within his words, you could feel the royalty. "It's Ji Shu, may I presumptuously ask to join you?" Ye Yuyan said with a smug expression. "I was going to ask anyway, I've heard that you came from the village we are investigating." Han Yi said with a probing expression. "I was merely passing by." Ye Yuyan said with a calm voice. "Anyhow you can guide us right?" Han Yi said with a smirk. "Of course, anyway I could be of service." Ye Yuyan replied with a concerted manner.
Chapter 8: Augury Spoiler Walking along a dirt road were 5 silhouettes, A man in blue robes, a muscular warrior, a ragged old man, and a seductive demoness. Leading them forward was an alluring man dressed in black robes. He firmly gripped a pink bamboo umbrella as his figure and shadow swayed with the setting sun down the road. "We should soon be approaching the desolate range." Ye Yuyan said without turning around. Han Yi following closely looked around the area, the flatlands of grass had ended a few paces behind them. Now the path was becoming more mountainous and the density of the trees increased as they journeyed further. "What exactly happened at the village?" Han Yi asked as he walked closer to Ye Yuyan. "Well, that's hard to explain because I wasn't there the entire time." Ye Yuyan replied quizzically. "What do you mean?" Han Yi said as his brows furrowed. "I noticed the traces of a ritual and the village was destroyed. There were various hell warriors scattered so I knew a demon has been there. I expelled the energies and hell warriors." Ye Yuyan described as Han Yi listened intently. "That can't be all, as a wandering exorcist you must have had to bring something to enter the order." Han Yi said with a prying voice. "There was one other thing, I found a plain gourd on the corpse of a summoner." Ye Yuyan said plainly as if it were nothing. But at that moment, Han Yi's eyes flashed with suspicion. "You were lucky to make it out alive." The woman behind Han Yi blurted out. "Oh, and you are?" Ye Yuyan replied as his eyes roamed across her body. Her enchanting curves moved with geometric perfection in her tight black dress. "I'm Song Yue, but you can call me Nesilia." She replied as her lips bloomed into a lovely splendorous smile. "Haha, sonny you'd best be careful of her." Knighted Maven laughed out, much to Nesilia's chagrin. "How impudent of you!" She coldly snorted but made no actions beyond that. "Say, kid, I hope you have some fantastic methods. Otherwise, you won't be able to survive with us." Knighted Maven said amicably, he slapped Ye Yuyan on the back. Much to his surprised dismay but Ye Yuyan just wryly smiled and continued talking with him. "I hope so too." Ye Yuyan joked as they approached a crossroad into a forest. "Which way?" Han Yi asked as he scanned the forest. "Wait! Be careful your highness!" Nesilia yelled her eyes were glued to the sky, a group of birds seemed to flee from the forest. She suddenly materialized a chalice which diffused with a white mist. The birds started to caw as they dissipated into a frosty mist. "Neither path your highness." Ye Yuyan responded plainly as he reached into his robes. Han Yi noticing the gesture got guarded, as he squeezed his fists and a little crackle could be heard emerging. Behind him, Knighted Maven's smile never faded and Nesilia raised her chalice in defense. Only the warrior stood still and silent, only watching coldly. Ye Yuyan threw out a scroll which flew in the air and unfurled itself. It was a pristine white scroll that started to hum as the blank page became a vortex. The surroundings seemed to be absorbed into it rapidly. "A sealing scroll!" Nesilia said with surprise as she stared in suspense. The absorbed energies acted like an ink, as the color from the surroundings seemed to fade away. The trees became black and the ground became gray, and slowly the illustration on the scroll completed. Becoming the image of blue-furred beastman with glowing white eyes and a terrifying presence. With the image formed everyone seemed to tense up even more. Even the warrior reached for his greatsword slung on his back. "Yunshi put it down!" Han Yi roared as he noticed chains flash around the warrior's body. Suddenly an oppressive aura seemed to descend in the area. It seemed to clash against the frost demon scroll balancing the demonic energies in the area. 'A demon sealer! What in the world is that sword sealing?' Ye Yuyan almost blurted in surprise, he hadn't felt such an aura in a long time. Yunshi loosened his grip around his greatsword as the energies in the area suddenly calmed. Ye Yuyan raised his hand as the scroll furled itself and flew into his hand. "Don't worry it was merely an illusion." He chuckled as he put the scroll into his robes. "But it hasn't been too long since that demon came through this area, it's energies are so oppressive it created an uncanny area." Ye Yuyan seemingly mumbled to himself. "To think you would have sealing scrolls..." Nesilia said vaguely as she looked at his robes, her chalice had already dissipated. Ye Yuyan's eyes flitted across Nesilia as he noticed her chalice had disappeared. 'A demon sealer, a knighted expert, A seer trained in augury, and even a prince. What a powerful team...' Ye Yuyan thought as he evaluated everyone. Augury was a special type of path, of the 3 paths it was based on Sealing. But it was not a complete path like sealing and was instead cultivated as an auxiliary skill. An auger wouldn't seal demons within themselves but instead, they focused on expelling demonic powers using an arcane focus like a chalice. "Don't you westerners have your own methods of dispelling and sealing demonic energies?" Ye Yuyan asked in a disbelieving tone. "We do and she's the one proficient in them." Knighted Maven chuckled as he pointed to Nesilia. "I do indeed, I brought along everything necessary for augury. But my divination was nowhere near as fast as you." She said in a self-deprecating tone. "Enough of that, where is the frost demon?" Han Yi commanded in a domineering tone. "It should be around 1000 or so paces away." Ye Yuyan said as he looked past the forest, almost as if he could see something in the distance. "But that isn't our only problem, the beasts around here were corrupted by the uncanny valley." He said almost grinning because at that moment a black wolf with ravenous red eyes jumped out of the forest at him. Knighted Maven reached for the sword on his waist ready to slash out. But suddenly Ye Yuyan roared and slammed down his palm. "Ha!" With the expulsion of his breath, his palm slammed down on the beast throwing it back into the forest 10s of meters. In his palm was a bloody light that faded away as quickly as it appeared. "Looks like you aren't a newborn babe. Handle yourself kid, hahaha!" Knighted Maven laughed as he unsheathed his sword. A bull suddenly rushed out of the forest, it's eyes shining with a red demonic light. It charged towards Maven as he slashed down dissecting the beast in one slash. Nesilia's chalice rematerialized in front of her, as a white mist emanated from it. A group of black snakes slithered near her and few tried pouncing. But the white mist took on various forms, becoming a wind blade at one moment then a shield the next. The blades cut apart the snakes and dispelled the dark energies. Yunshi stood still whenever a beast came near him and Han Yi, he would raise his fist and punch it across the forest. Then Maven would slash out killing the beast, Ye Yuyan did the same and used his palms to break the beast's visceral organs. "The beasts just don't seem to end, Ji boy do you have any methods for this?" Maven asked as he was his sword was arm deep inside a bear. "Sadly no, all I could do was dispel the illusion. The keyman for this is her, as long as her Augury finishes the area will be cleaned." Ye Yuyan joked as his palm ripped apart a fox. At that moment Nesilia started chanting and her white mist started to spread across the battlefield. Anywhere it touched the black and grey energies would dissipate. Wherever it past the color would return, as the carnage of the scene became fully realized. Strown around the forest were various frozen corpses, it looked like a frozen hell with no end. "Sadly I can't dispel the slaughter qi, only the remnant authority of this fiend could be removed." Nesilia said with a disappointed tone. "That is enough, we need to get to the village first." Han Yi commanded. "But what about the frost demon, the way it's headed it will end up on the outskirts of the desolate range. With all the villages there, thousands if not more will die." Ye Yuyan asked with concern. "Our priority is the investigation, we wouldn't even be able to fight the thing. It's a real deal fiend and no one here has that kind of strength." Han Yi said ruthlessly "But..." Ye Yuyan started to say "But nothing, we proceed and you will lead us otherwise..." Han Yi said as his fist and body cracked like thunder. Expelling a deep breath Ye Yuyan grabbed his umbrella with both hands and started walking up the mountain. Everyone in the group stayed silent, the originally talkative Maven even went silent. Ye Yuyan walking at the front looked at the horizon, and his lips bloomed into a sardonic smile. His eyes flashed with the image of a struggling frost demon.
Not gonna lie thought it said beaver of the red lotus so I clicked. Still gonna read though since tags.
Chapter 9: Who sent you? Spoiler The group wandered through the mountain following Ye Yuyan. Any fallen beast they came across or uncanny spaces they would defeat and dispel. Knighted Maven occasionally teased Ye Yuyan and Nesilia toyed with me any chance she could get. "Why not share your methods with me." She said with an innocent smile and big begging eyes. "What would you like to know?" Ye Yuyan responded plainly. "Your sealing scrolls, how do you produce them?" She asked keenly, as her eyes landed on his robes. "I'm sorry but I didn't produce these. I only came upon them by luck in the past." He said as he shook his head. "Fine be like that." Nesilia pouted as she walked away from him. Ye Yuyan couldn't help but wryly smile. "Wait that doesn't mean I don't have other things to trade." He said and Nesilia stopped in her tracks and turned back to him. "Really?" She said with a hopeful voice. "Yes, why don't you tell me about your family origin and I will tell you about where I found these scrolls." He asked intently, his eyes threw Nesilia off. "Why do you want to know that..." She asked with a bit apprehension in her voice. "Have you heard of the legend of the bearers?" Ye Yuyan asked mysteriously "Yes, the children of heaven and earth that innovate a school of power." She said astutely "Yes and no, A bearer weeds out the old and comes out with the new. They bring forth their own path to the peak. Making bearers almost invincible in the world and the peak of the world!" Ye Yuyan said "But they are far from children of heaven, as they just like anyone can have their path cut short." Ye Yuyan said shaking his head. "That can't be true, how could a bearer be defeated?" Nesilia said in a disbelieving tone. "It's not that hard, you just need to kill them before they grow." Han Yi coldly responded. "That precisely your highness." Ye Yuyan said as he nodded his head. "But why would anyone kill a bearer? They are the peak of our race!" Knighted Maven said quizzically. "I wouldn't know such matters are far beyond my station." Said Ye Yuyan self depreciatingly "But I have heard a certain tale in the eastern lands." Ye Yuyan said eerily "Legend has it that a bearer was the creator of all the paths of divination. But they died before they could unite all the paths and create the new from the old." "But such is merely an ancient legend, most of the divination paths have dissipated into the rivers of time." "Which makes me only question what kind of background your family has." Ye Yuyan said as a calculating look flashed in his eyes. "What a story, but that is all it merely is." Han Yi said. "You're correct your highness, but there is a hint of truth in every tall tale." Ye Yuyan chuckled. "We're here." Ye Yuyan said as he stopped, in front of them was a completely obliterated village. Strawn everywhere was debris that was intertwined with strong icy energies. All the homes were decimated from the lowest huts to the most finely crafted artisan homes. No corpses or blood remained as if everyone from the village had disappeared. At the center of the village was stone and brick debris with the remnants of a tower. "How horrid!" Nesilia couldn't help but blurt Knighted Maven's normally lackadaisical expression seemed to harden with seriousness. Han Yi looked on coldly and looked at Yunshi and gestured to him. "Open the seal." He said coldly Without a word Yunshi reached for his greatsword, suddenly an unending stream of demonic howls emanated from him. Grabbing the hilt of his sword with one hand, he struck down suddenly. The howls intensified as a greatsword slammed onto the ground, the area around them started to rumble. The howls started coming from underground, like the stamping feet of hundred bulls. It flew towards the village as the sound decreased the further it got. 'Earth auditory! It's an evil spirit class demon, but what kind...' Ye Yuyan thought as he followed the howls with his eyes until they landed on the tower. A blue mist emanated from the ground all around the village as the howling died down. The mist rapidly gathered in the center becoming a heavy blue mist. It looked as though it was about to condense into something terrifying. "Nesilia, move now!" Han Yi intoned with haste, the chalice materialized in front of her as runic incantations flew out of the cup. "Disappear!" She roared as the incantations exploded out of the chalice and landed onto the mist. The mist started to decrease in size with each incantation. 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16.... It kept getting smaller and smaller until the point where it became almost like a point mass. With all the mist condensed down to a small point. "Maven!" Han Yi commanded "Yes, your highness!" He laughed as he unsheathed the sword on his waist. The sword unlike a normal sword was not shining but rather dull and rusted around the edges. It looked as though it was an old butcher's knife rather than an expert's sword. Around Maven stirred a strange aura, Ye Yuyan eyes looked on with surprise as a torrent of sword forces surrounded Maven. 'Such a sword force, he's definitely peak second step!' Ye Yuyan thought with a curious look on his face. The originally white sword forces around Maven suddenly changed color becoming a metallic chrome. Maven struck out with his rusted sword and the sword forces stirred with him shooting out a powerful sword beam. The sword forces struck the point mass splitting it into two, and then stirring more sword forces it caused more slashes. Slowly the point mass got shredded by a current of sharp metallic winds. Maven sheathed his rusty sword as the point mass disintegrated and then faded away into nothingness. 'What is his cultivation code?' Ye Yuyan wondered as he examined the remnant sword forces. It was definitely a powerful code, maybe even a mid-level code. With Chivalrous cultivation, until one gets a totem, they could only stir the worldly energies using their codes. Each code was unique in that it could shape the use of force, sword force in it's purest form is just energy. But with a code, it can become almost anything under the sun and annihilate any enemy. Han Yi's eyes scanned the village before he gestured for Ye Yuyan to continue leading. This process may have seemed tedious, but without purification entering an area where a demon was summoned could get one infected. They wouldn't even realize that they became fallen, that's why humans never ended the desolate valleys. They hurried over to the tower, walking across the remains of the village. Nesilia looked over into a stone cottage out of curiosity when her eyes filled with confusion. Against the wall of the cottage was a shadow of a child next to it was a mother and adjacent to them was an old man on a rocking chair. "Fallen shadows, that's all that remains of the people of this village." Ye Yuyan said as he shook his head. Nesilia felt a little fear build in her heart, a demonic ritual like this wasn't common. Not often were whole villages annihilated and so not many had seen fallen shadows. "How cruel even in death they remain." Knighted Maven said with a serious tone. "Such is the way of the world, cruel and capricious." Han Yi said flatly They reached the tower at the center of all the remnants was the corpse of a fat man in fine silk clothes. His body was laid against a wall, and across his chest was a deep gash. The blood was completely drained from his body, he looked like a dark life charcoal. "Split up and look around the area. Maven checks the cottages, Nesilia goes to the tower remains Yunshi head to the wilderness around us. Ji Shu stays here with me." Han Yi commanded flatly as his eyes focus on the corpse. No one protested the commands as they moved, Maven ran off, Yunshi suddenly jumped on the rooftops and went off, Nesilia started climbing the tower debris, leaving Ye Yuyan and Han Yi together in front of the corpse. Han Yi walked up to the corpse and scanned it slowly as Ye Yuyan stood still to the side. "Do you know who this is?" Han Yi asked probingly "I presume him to be the village elder Gulan." Ye Yuyan replied rapidly "In your report, you said you expelled the devil. Yet the area was still corrupted, so how exactly did you get up to here and get this gourd from the corpse?" Han Yi asked as he showed Ye Yuyan the gourd with a 9 pointed star. "Sire, why would you be aware of such details." Ye Yuyan said as a cold light flashed in his eyes. "Cut the crap, who sent you?" Han Yi roared as his knuckles crackled "I don't know what you're talking about." Ye Yuyan sneered as he reached for his robes. Suddenly Han Yi's eyes flashed with intense electrical powers and he punched out with an exterminating lightning force that lit up the tower with a powerful blue light as it streamed towards Ye Yuyan who stood still with a cold smirk on his face.