Chapter 1 Twin Crescent Immortal Abode

"Hurry fool, when the Emperor gives you a command it's best to not keep him waiting… that is if you value your life!" The two guards continue to run down the hall in quick blurbs. They approach the grand doors and they open suddenly in the center of the throne room was a man clad in jade robes drinking out of a goblet made from a celestial dragon's skull!

"You're late!" barked the Emperor. He threw his goblet at the men and commanded a response "I was told something happened to my son during the recent tournament, tell me now before I lose my patients!" The Emperor placed his hand on his chin and his eyes pierced the hearts of his men. The two took a big gulp before walking forward.

"W-well sir… your son Jin Wu was slain in a gruesome manner!" The one clad in black robes began to sweat beads after delivering such bad news. The one in white straightened up and tried not to look at his comrade.

"Who exactly did this to my son! He must have some sort of background, my son was given the best training we had to offer there is no way he just perished in battle!" he tapped the side of his chair methodically.

"Reports say it was a young immortal by the name of Qin Ming, it was reported that he had attained the status of Xiantian a little over a week before he fought your son. Reports say his foundation is weak due to this sudden breakthrough and that he is coasting on his bloodline sir." the one in white spoke, deciding to lay some heat off his friend.

"I told you that's not possible. His foundation must be sturdy to have taken out my son! He must be a genius, a talented youth in order to pull off a feat like that" the Jade Emperor barked spit flying out of his mouth and a vein on the side of his head starting to protrude.

"W-well you see sir reports say he is the son of an unnamed god due to his use of [Stellar Transformations] and the son of a celestial dragon due to his bestial transformation. Reports also say he has accomplished partial transformation at most!"

"Hm troubling, troubling indeed. I will give each of you a pass. Bring in Akuma, he will deal with this Qin Ming once and for all, bring him here so we may speak." The two guards left and in mere minutes Akuma came into the throne room kowtowing in the presence of his Emperor. "Stand" he commanded.

"Yes my lord" Akuma stood to attention. "My lord, what may you require of me!" his eyes glow red hot, his smile perched up, almost twitching.

"Akuma… you know this Qin Ming correct? I am putting you in charge of a squad of five Xiantian level warriors. You must find and kill Qin Ming and if at all possible retrieve my son's soul from the miniature eight trigrams brazier. Do you understand?" He carved his eyebrow.

"Yes my lord! I will do as you command! If I may be so bold as to ask something of you" Akuma stood tall not batting in the slightest.

"What is it!" he tapped his throne methodically again.

"If you would please allow me to build the team of five it would allow for greater success than a random group of five. I tend to not work well with others I do not trust!" a bead of sweat slowly fell down his cheek. The Jade Emperor waved his hand in an agreeing manner, Akuma bowed and took his leave.

The Academy

Qin Ming sat on top of the roof of his dorm breathing in the fresh air. Even though it had been a few months since the tournament he had not made any significant breakthroughs in the Dao or cultivation. He already had a complete understanding of the divine ability [Three-heads Six-arms]. This was a fairly simple one to understand however. Augus landed next to Qin Ming causing him to open his eyes. "Hm?"

"It's been weeks. Since you've been up here everyone is worried. I'm making sure you haven't lost your touch. If you've gotten weaker you would spoil the fun of fighting you!" Augus placed his hand on Qin Ming's shoulder.

"I'm fine. Tell them they need not worry about me! If you don't mind, I wish to continue meditation." Qin Ming shut his eyes. He removed Augus' arm from his shoulder.

"You don't have to do this alone, whatever is bothering you; we are here for you!" Augus leapt off the building. Tianlong Xun turned her head, she shook her head and met Augus.

"Well… does he seem ok?" Tianlong twiddles her thumbs and gives a crooked smile. Augus sighed and shook his head.

"I honestly do not know. Maybe losing Raya hurt him more than we thought." Augus walked away and for the first time ever with his head down. He tried not looking at anyone directly.

"Enough of this! If he wants to sulk around fine, but he won't treat us like this" Ryu walked right past Tianlong he was perping for his jump. Tianlong grabs his shoulder and shakes her head.

"Let him be, if he wants to he will go back to normal" a glint appeared in her eyes almost like a watery shield laid across them.

Ryu shrugs her arm off of him and turns into a blip. "Ming enough of this! Everyones put up with it enough! Stand up now!" Ryu loudly barked at Qin Ming. He turns his head at Ryu, the look Qin Ming gave caused Ryu to back up. Qin Ming's eyes held deep seeded rage within them. Almost as if thousands of tiny little daggers stabbed Ryu just for looking at him.

In a few moments Ryu disappears and slams his fist into Qin Ming's jaw. In less than a second Qin Ming is sent off a few hundred kilometers in the other direction. Ryu turns into smoke and catches up to Qin Ming. "You don't have to be happy! No one is even asking you too! Stop moping around and do something! It's pathetic looking at you like this. You wanna see Raya again! Join the club and we all cared about her! You think Augus isn't crushed. Get over yourself!"

"What do you know! I-I was powerless to do anything! If only I was strong enough! I could have killed Jin Wu before-" Qin MIng screams like a wailing beast, he grew 30 meters in size, three heads and six arms. He also underwent his partial transformation. He swiped his arm at Ryu.

He put his arms up in an attempt to intercept Qin Ming's attack. With a loud concussive bang Ryu caught it. He coughed up blood but with no time to react he was sent hurtling to the ground at lightning fast. The ground under him tore up and shattered the trees nearby shook and shattered. Ryu turned his eyes to the giant Qin Ming, he crouched turning his legs into springs before blasting off faster than the human eye can see!

Ryu summoned 18 green orbs using the Dao's of Fire and Air, the orbs turn into spears and fly off. Qin Ming easily dodges or blocks each spear, however once they come in contact or within range they suddenly explode. "HAHA you really thought that would work against me! Seems you have lost your edge brother!' Qin Ming laughs uncontrollably.

Through the dust cloud Ryu jumps through, he charges along Qin Ming's beast-like arms. Qin Ming's eyes grow wide "seems anger clouds your judgment!" Ryu dodges Qin Mings attempts to slap him off his arm like a bug. In no time at all Ryu jumps up pulling his fist back charging up that same green orb in his palm. Wind coallaces and pools into his fist, with a solid bang Ryu pokes Qin Ming's massive eye. In the same second a gigantic explosion follows. Qin Ming closes his eyes, swatting his hand widely. Ryu runs his fist through Qin Ming's chest buzzing around Qin Ming like a pestering bee. Ryu sends an onslaught of attacks using his speed to his advantage.

"Grrr enough!" Qin Ming sends his Ki off in every direction. The buleish aura incinerating everything in its path. Ryu's throat clenches and tightens. He tries to fly faster than the aura desperately trying not to get caught like a child who did something they shouldn't have.

Once the aura clears Qin Ming executes his ninth stance [Crashing Tsunami] a veritable wave of pressure and killing intent flood the forest destroying everything it touches. "Not good, can't dodge that one!" Ryu puts his arms up in an attempt to block this attack. The tsunami engulfs Ryu's entire body in an instant. He is tossed around like a ragdoll. A few of his ribs break, his left arm becomes unusable.

Ryu's body explodes, causing just as impactful a blow as the tsunami. Qin Ming cocks his eyes "wait a second! That wasn't Ryu!" It was too late, Ryu was already behind him, he pulled his arm back and sliced into Qin Ming's neck with one decisive blow. Qin Ming could feel his head spin; he lost consciousness in the next few moments. "I'm glad he wasn't thinking straight otherwise he would have noticed the clone had taken my place ages ago!" Ryu catches Qin Ming who has returned to normal. "It seems everyone was right, he isn't in a good state right now…"

Ryu flies back to the academy. He drops Qin Ming once overhead. He storms off to his room, frustrated he punches the wall to his room. What could he possibly do to help his friend?

The next day Qin Ming awakens once more he grabs his head and groans. "Tenko come to me," Chipperly asked. Soon a snowy colored fox leapt onto his lap. He softly places his hand on Tenko's snowy fur. "Seems I have gotten a tad out of control huh? Do you wish to go on an adventure with me, little fox?" Tenko gave a chirpy response "well that settles that then." Qin Ming stood up and if he wanted to grow stronger he couldn't do it here. He was at a bottleneck and needed to experience the real world to make sweeping changes. He stood up and Tenko followed close behind.

Augus noticed Qin Ming leaving "Bother you are finally up! How are you feeling?"

"Better than before at the very least. I am headed out on an adventure, would you wish to accompany me?" Qin Ming gave a sincere smile, he had scared his friends and he had not wanted to see them in pain for his actions.

"Going on an adventure without me?" Ryu put his arms around Augus and Qin Ming. "I feel hurt you wouldn't include me in this!"

"Worry not my friend you can come"

"HAHA hopefully we can find strong opponents! I feel like a caged bird hear"

The three walked to the gates and everyone had been there to see them off. Lei Laoshi strolled up to meet them as they left "be careful my students I fear we have created a few enemies, they will most likely come for you not that you have left the safety of our walls"

Qin Ming bowed respectfully "understood I shall keep a careful eye out for danger!"

"I will make sure he doesn't cause us anymore trouble master" Ryu bowed as well

"Let them come now I won't have to look far for strong foes!" Augus radiated a burning aura that matched his fiery personality.

Tianlong couldn't help but feel her heart shudder at the thought of them leaving to face dangers unknown "you better be careful out there!"

Jiangsu ran over almost out of breath "I'm glad I got here in time! Qin Ming be careful Jin Wu was the son of the Jade Emperor no doubt he will send someone after you be careful and take this!" He handed Qin Ming a low grade storage type treasure "only look inside when danger arises and not a second sooner!"

Qin Ming nodded, Tenko jumped onto his shoulder and the trio left the gates of the academy soon after. In the blink of an eye, the three may not have realized it but the most growth they would experience would happen. Secrets to uncover, mysterious legacies uncovered!

"Where should we go first brothers!"

"I don't care as long as we face strong enemies along the way! Why don't we head to the Jade Empire!"

"That's a terrible idea! Why not dive nose first into a volcano!"

"I have yet to hear you come up with a better idea!"

"Calm down friends please calm down. I will let Tenko decide! He will point us in the right direction" Qin Ming took Tenko off his shoulder "go wherever feels right my friend." Tenko puts his nose to the ground. He inches left then right before committing to going left. The three follow Tenko along this path.

"This fox spirit of yours Qin Ming, how exactly did you find it?"

"It was my time in the marshes, a lot of mid level monsters like to hang around that area. However, Tenko here was being hunted by poachers!" Qin Ming sighed looking back on his previous ventures.

"Hm I should find myself a diremonster as well! Hopefully one strong enough to venture with!"

"HAHA I already have my eyes set on one beast in particular!" Augus belly ached. "Its strong enough to entertain me and will help me in the Dao!"

Tenko suddenly stopped in front of a cave that poured a dark miasma out of it. Qin Ming could feel the hairs on his neck stand still. "I sense a strong presence within!'' In the next moment Augus turned into a blip, a loud bang followed behind as he left a trail of fire underneath him.

"Augus wait we don't know what's inside!"

"Qin Ming, what a fool do you wish to let him have all the fun!" Ryu vanished in the next second running in after him.

"Gah they will be the death of me! Tenko get into my ring. I'll let you know when it's safe to come out" with a wave of his hand he let Tenko into his storage treasure. He followed behind the group catching up not long after.

"What took you so long, slowpoke!"

Qin Ming gave a side eye and continued down the cave. His eyes darted along the walls and he noticed something interesting, the walls were covered in runes. "What could this mean"

"You say something?"

"It's nothing, let's continue!" After a few more moments traveling down the long cavernous path, it leads to three forking paths. "This seems too convenient, however it seems we have gone too far and must play whatever game we have fallen into." Qin Ming heads down the path closest to him as do the others.

Once Qin Ming stepped into the path it was shut behind him, he called out to his friends but to no avail. With a wave of his hand the Icedawn pearl appears out of nowhere, "what do you make of this situation?"

"These runes I've seen them before, but where… wait a minute they are detection runes! This is someone's base, and it's still active judging by how freshly they were placed!"

There was a tight knot in his heart, he started to chew on his nails. "I was right, it did seem a little too fitting!" nothing he could do about it now he continued to venture forth. Luck has a funny way of showing itself. Had they reached the end they would surely find something worth all the trouble but like this? It was hard to say, they don't even know who trapped them within. "I doubt you know who owns this cave right?" she shook her head, she had been dead for sometime now in her age she had never heard of something like this.

"Alright Tenko I hope you haven't led us into a death trap. Be safe my brothers and run away if you absolutely must!" Qin Ming kept down the tunnel at the same pace for what felt like years. After some more time later he sat down, "all this running and for what! A break to eat couldn't hurt?"

He waved his hand and a flank of meat from the diremonsters he'd slain previously appeared in his hand, he also let Tenko out. He cut off a few bits and fed it to him. "What do you think bud?" he chuckled and took large bites. He tapped Tenko's fluffy head and sighed. "I wonder how the others are doing."

Qin Ming stood up after a few hours bringing Tenko back into his ring. He dusted his robes off of any ruffage he'd gathered. He continued down the path in a much slower manner than before. After all, if it was an endless hallway it's not like moving down it any faster would matter. "Maybe I'm stuck in a Bewilderment formation? If I am then all I have to do is break the formation!" as always this was much easier said than done. He sat down once more in lotus position and began to meditate on the runes and cave as a whole.

After closer inspection he really couldn't tell if he was in a formation or not! He had simply no insight in nor a talent in formations. "Well now what? How would Augus solve this problem? Knowing that brute he would… well brute force it." Qin Ming underwent partial transformation while also activinting [Stellar Transformations] and [Three-heads Six-arms] in tandem with each other. He took out the Dorje Thunderbolt releasing its full power. He takes a deep breath in.

Slash!! Stab!! Slash!!

Three successive strikes with all the power he could muster and nothing, not even a budge. He returned to normal and continued down. "Just what the hell am I supposed to be doing right now!" with a long groan, Qin Ming continued down the path like normal. He put his divine power into his eyes trying to see through the formation or past the tunnel and nothing. It just appeared to be a regular tunnel.

He places his hand on the wall trying to gain some sort of insight into what he'd actually been dealing with. "Ack what the hell is this" a needle stabbed into his thumb. His blood leaked onto the needle. The walls began to glow in a crimson color. Then the walls returned to normal, a door opened up in front of Qin Ming with no other choice he stepped forward. Just what sort of game was being played now.

Once he stepped into the door he was transported to a wide open field. Strips of golden wheat as far as the eye could see and untop of a hill there was a quaint cottage yet for some reason the same dark miasma leaked out of the cottage as well. Qin Ming leapt up to the cottage and pushed the door open. On the desk there were a few scrolls he picked one up and read it. This particular scroll went into the history and construction of the cottage. He quickly scanned the scrolls to find a name. 'Daoist Northstar' Qin Ming rolled Daoist Northstar's name around his tongue wondering if he saw him from somewhere. "Icedawn do you recognize this name?" a few moments past and no response.

He pulled out the Icedawn Pearl and the Dao that is usually emanated had disappeared. It became apparent this cottage was Northstar's meditation room. This completely blocked out every outside interference, the Dao included! Who was this Daoist Northstar? Qin Ming picked up the next scroll, and the next until every single one had been read! Qin Ming had learned that the cave was named the Cave of Trials. He had also learned he was right about the tunnel, but why did it require blood for the formation to be broken? "If I had to guess I would say the reason the runes had been placed recently, was no doubt that others had taken into the cave as shelter and placed them down because they had been chased." What could have happened to the others was beyond him, the cave seems safe for the most part.

Once he opened the door dark clouds rose over head. Qin Ming's spine began to shudder. This dark presence that washed over him made his skin crawl in disgust. He instantly executed his [Three-heads Six-arms] technique as this drained no energy to unleash! His many heads scanned the area for over 100 kilometers. A jade golem sprouting out of the ground catches Qin Ming's eyes. He turned around swiftly and Qin Ming's mere glance was enough to completely vaporize it. From the golems ash two more appeared, this took a blink. This process continued till there were thousands that required full on palm strikes or kicks to destroy. Even though there were tens of thousands of golems the blows they dealt were not anything special at all. They simply couldn't damage Qin Ming in the slightest. Thousands into millions, in fact he only really needed to try around the billions of golems. Once the trillionth golem was made they all formed one massive entity.

Qin Ming felt his heart clench, he was tired, and almost out of energy he simply couldn't keep going at 100 percent like this anymore. "Grr Daoist Northstar throw everything you got! You won't break me! I will slay every golem you got till there's nothing left to slay!"

Something snapped inside Qin Ming, he turned into a wild rampaging monster sending millions of palm blows into the massive golem faster than even he could think!. It wasn't like the added size made it any slower! No, in fact it was faster than ever. Qin Ming charged at the golem full speed, in a blink of an eye the golem had been completely sliced in half. "HAHA I DID IT!" Qin Ming roared in victory! The sound of gravel and stone moving had been no coincidence; the golem, like clockwork, developed into two perfect clones. His face of utter joy turned ugly his eyes turned bloodshot. Few strands of his hair turned gray, his teeth had started to grind like millstones. "Impossible, this is impossible!"

Qin Ming turned into streaks of light evading each of their attacks as best he could. If he had to guess each strike would instantly kill him! He couldn't dodge forever, nor could he make an attack without the other finishing him off. "What do I do! Think, there must be some way to beat it!" He amped every part of his body with the Dao of Lighting in his best attempts to get faster. This was reckless but he decided to do it as he saw Icedawn take such a risk. This was the edge he needed to only be slightly faster than the two. He would make quick attacks then flee. Rinse and repeat this process till the first one is grinded into dust. The second one fell not too long after.

Qin Ming didn't dare drop his guard, he knew what was coming next. Sure enough four golems appeared and began to send blow after blow onslaught after onslaught. His evasion simply wasn't enough. The golem had finally caught him, Qin Ming graciously accepted his fate. He didn't blame Tenko for bringing him here, he blamed himself for being too weak to win!

"Congratulations young Daoist! You have successfully completed Master Northstar's trials!"

Qin Ming slowly opened his eyes and what he saw was a monkey roughly the same size as an average adult fully clad in robes. He blinked and inspected his body "am-am I dead?"

"No, the opposite in fact!" the monkey chuckled a little.

"Trials? What trials? The golems were merely a test!" Qin Ming felt his heart pull him in every direction, but at least he lived to see another day! "What was the point? Also what do I refer to you as?"

"Master Northstar had built the Cave of Trials to sort the weak from the strong! Lucky for you Master made your trial much easier since you haven't progressed much in your path to Immortality! Be glad young Daoist, you are now an apprentice to Master Northstar. You may calm me, Subtle Ocean!

"What about my friends that had entered with me?" Qin Ming asked hesitantly.

Subtle Ocean waves his hand and shows him where they are "still stuck in the infinite tunnel, they had failed to pique Master's interest and were doomed to starve! I can let them out if you desire?"

Qin Ming nodded his head, Sublet Ocean sighed and with a wave of his hand they were sent back to the beginning. "Could you please explain to me what is happening Daoist Subtle Ocean?"

He waved his hand "in due time follow me" with little choice Qin Ming followed. He was led down a long corridor into the main hall. There were three massive prayer mats that were too big for a regular human. Being further led down to a door that simply had the word 'trials' on it. "This is where you will do most of your training, as a Xiantian level immortal you will have three attempts at the nine trials. If you are able to complete said trial, you will be granted access into the treasure room." they continued into said treasure room that Qin Ming was only able to enter into due to him being led by Subtle Ocean.

Once he entered, he could feel his heart shake with each boom of power ripples that emanate from the truly supreme treasure items. He noticed that even the basic items were of a truly top grade. "If you wish to take one item suitable for a Basic Mortal you may, these are comparable to most treasures suitable for Xiantian level immortals that you could find in random dungeons." Subtle Ocean handed Qin Ming a manual describing all the items he was able to pick up.

He scanned through the book, nothing really piqued his interest too much. After all, the Dorje Thunderbolt was an insanely high ranked weapon that was usable throughout every level of cultivation. What he was really looking for was something to help him in the Dao, whether they be manuals or divine abilities. However his eyes passed over something quite interesting! High grade elements. Although he'd been extremely powerful in regards to lightning he had still been using a basic form of lightning that would be common in thunderstorms. Truly the weakest available to him. It seems as though Master Northstar had a knack for collecting rare elements.

Take fire for example, there were several different levels in power. Augus was able to unlock cerulean colored flames, these were fairly high classed which Northstar named them: Wildfire, Skyfire, Goldfire, and Worldfire. The cerulean flames ranked at about low to mid rank Skyfire. What Northstar offered to Qin Ming was a lantern that could spit out supreme grade Skyfire, if he so wished he could absorb it and cultivate this stronger fire in his dantian. Northstar had treasures for almost every basic element. Fire, water, air, metal, wood, and lightning. He scanned this section of treasures in hopes to find one usable for him in either ice or lightning.

Then his eyes caught him on something special. A jade gourd with supreme Skybolts trapped inside. The intended use was to unleash one fatal blow against his enemy, but Qin Ming figured he could get more out of simply nourishing this grade of lighting in his body. "Daoist Subtle Ocean I have made my choice, I would like the Lightning Gord" Subtle Ocean nodded and waved his hand, the jade gord floated from off the shelf and into Qin Ming's hands.

Subtle Ocean smiled and handed him a jade talisman "this is the key that will grant you access into the Twin Crescent Immortal Abode, for now all you have access to is the cottage and the Room of Trials. Once you bind the talisman you will be granted full access to the entire minor world."

Qin Ming bowed respectfully and took his leave. Once he left the manor he was teleported to the cave entrance. He gave a hearty laugh, It seems Tenko really did bring good fortune. "It's glad to see you made it out safely brothers, I was going mad running down that tunnel! Qin Ming greeted his friends.

"It was a real pain but at least running gave me time to think, I'd even made progress into the Dao of Fire!"

"I found an azure colored egg whilst running down, I wonder what is inside?" Ryu held out his egg and showed it to everyone!

"I'm glad this trip was fortunate for us and wasn't a waste of time!" The three began to walk off in the opposite direction only fate could see where this journey had ended.