Leaving

After the New Year had gone by, three youths were dressed and ready to meet up. Saying farewell to their family, they each met at the front gate of Blackcloud city at dawn. When they met, the three youths headed off for a single direction, going on ahead through a long journey in which they may not ever return.

They went ahead on foot, walking ahead for a day. One day went by, as did another, and another came by. A week passed in the blink of an eye, before soon enough; a month had passed since they left their hometown.

The three youths entered a small inn and sat down at a table. A steward who was dressed in simple clothes rubbed his hands and had a rag on his shoulder, walking up to their table.

"Sirs, what would you like today?" he asked. A youth in blue replied in a single sentence, "Give us all the recommended dishes."

"Yes, yes, I will go now." the steward nodded, heading off to the kitchen. The three youths were dressed in fine clothing. During their journey, they had bought new sets of clothing that weren't so eyecatching, so that they wouldn't bring unnecessary trouble to themselves.

As more than a month had passed, they entered town and found an inn to gather information. The best place in a town to gather information was naturally an inn, many people would come and go, talking and discussing matters in a loud voice as if intentionally letting everyone know.

A brothel was also a good place, but naturally, the youths wouldn't visit such a place. Pouring tea for themselves, they perked their ears to listen to the ongoing chatter. "Did you hear? The Flame Marquess' Grotto will open soon."

"The Flame Marquess? You mean that 'Flame Marquess'? The one who became a living legend and opened up his own Mini World on his deathbed?"

"Who else could it be? It's been over a thousand years since his death, every a hundred years, the Flame Marquess' Grotto would open up for everyone below the Baron Realm to enter, many kinds of treasure is sure to be left even after all this time."

"It's as if the grotto is used to train the younger generation."

Yan Lenglei heard this conversation that was happening just a few meters away. It seemed like the two middle-aged men would continue on the topic. "With the Flame Marquess' Grotto opening, many Ninth Grade sects have publicly announced that their disciples will enter."

"Oh? Which sects?"

"The Divine Dao Mountain, the Sacred Sword Sect, and the Flame Mantra Sect are only a few amongst those that are coming. Dozens of sects have announced this, so I can't be wrong. I wonder who can shine amongst the many disciples this time."

With this, Yan Lenglei and his group no longer needed to listen in on other conversations. Just this information alone was enough for them. Soon, their meal was done preparing and filled up the table.

Leaving behind a silver tael on the table, Long He Yu requested three rooms for the night. After receiving the room keys, they each went into their rooms to prepare for the opening of the grotto.

They didn't need any treasures, instead, they would enter to see all the disciples who will enter, and look for anything interesting. They didn't know how long there was left until the grotto would open. But it wouldn't be hard to tell, once a powerful aura was felt, it would signal the opening.

******

Sitting inside a room inside an inn, Yan Lenglei suddenly opened his eyes. Standing up, he left the room as Mo Jidong and Long He Yu both stepped out at the same time. Heading downstairs, they left the inn directly, heading off in the direction of the powerful Spiritual Qi they felt during that brief moment.

Buying some horses, they jumped on and left the town right away, traveling through the day and night without rest. After three days, they found that they were getting close, and left the horses behind.

Going ahead, many people were already gathering around the Flame Marquess' Grotto even where they were at. Many young people around their age in matching clothing, which naturally meant that they were members of sects.

There were also elders who held great strength, leading the disciples and preventing them from fighting before the opening. Yan Lenglei and his group pushed through the crowd unhindered and stood in a corner that wouldn't bring them any attention.

Looking around, they saw thousands of disciples from various sects. There were over twenty sects, each lead by two elders of the Viscount Realm, while more powerful disciples stood behind the elders.

It was easy to tell which ones were the more powerful ones. They stood out just by being there. Many other disciples stood behind them, while they also each had powerful auras surrounding them.

Scanning the crowd, Yan Lenglei's eyes landed on a single youth who was dressed in a golden robe. His clothes were extremely eyecatching, but no traces of Spiritual Qi was surrounding him. Obviously, he was hiding his true strength, while sitting down in silence.

The youth didn't have anyone else around him, only a short little maid was standing behind him. "Interesting." Yan Lenglei thought.

Sitting down, he closed his eyes as he awaited the opening of the grotto. After a few hours, many more large groups arrived outside the grotto. After a while, even those from the Divine Dao Mountain arrived. Of course, they were far away, and even if they noticed Yan Lenglei, nobody would recognize them.

An entire day later, a clear sign of the Flame Marquess' Grotto opening was sensed. Yan Lenglei uncrossed his legs and opened his eyes, standing up to watch the opening of the Mini World.

For cultivators, once they have reached the Duke Realm, they would be powerful enough to open a Mini World. There were infinite possibilities in a Mini World. From ten moons to large oceans and endless volcanic eruptions, anything could happen inside a Mini World. It was all up to the creator.

As the grotto opened up, everyone moved and prepared to set off. The elders of each sect moved back, while the disciples were all lead by their most powerful peers. Standing amongst the thousands of youths, Yan Lenglei's group didn't stand out.

After all, there were many sects, as well as rogue cultivators who didn't belong to any sects or factions. Amongst them, very few were powerful, only coming to test their luck. There was also another rule in order to enter the grotto. Besides the fact that only those below the Baron Realm could enter, they must all be below thirty years old.

Anyone over this age was deemed useless and untalented. It was a waste of time to enter the Mini World. Only the younger generation that was worth training. Soon, a large portal appeared in the sky where the grotto lied.

Many rogue cultivators immediately jumped inside, while the disciples from respectful sects entered afterward. Yan Lenglei, Mo Jidong, and Long He Yu didn't enter immediately, they waited until almost everyone entered before hiding themselves amongst the crowd to enter.

Whoosh!

Stepping foot into the grotto, they felt a strange sensation filling their entire bodies before they were sent to another location. On the other side, Yan Lenglei looked around, noticing that he was separated from Mo Jidong and Long He Yu.

"No matter." he thought. Other disciples from various sects were only dozens of meters away from him. Yan Lenglei had a good grasp of his location before he started walking off on his own.

******

In a faraway place within the Mini World, there was a sword that was embedded into the ground. A metallic sound rung across in an area of over two Li around the sword was heard. The sound came from multiple groups fighting it out over the right to be able to pull out the sword.

Many young people fought against one another, separating into groups. Many of them died quickly under the onslaught, as blood ran like rivers across the battlefield. Near that location, there were two groups facing each other.

One group was lead by a young man in red clothing. He was obviously the leader of the group and was the most powerful of the many disciples behind him. The looks on their faces were ugly, many were wounded as they faced their opponents.

The young man leading them was at the Sixth stage of the Noble Realm. Those who were still alive were the elites who were also in the Noble Realm. Their opponents were all dressed in blue.

Both sides had similar strength, as their leaders were both of the same stage, and so were the other disciples. Both sides wielded swords, pointing it at their opponents. In the blink of an eye, the head disciple of both sides turned into phantoms and met each other in the center.

Ding! Clink!

Their blades met, as both of them tried to kill each other as fast as they could. The disciples behind them followed and charged at the enemy. In an instant, a small battlefield that involved two conflicting sides was created.

After a while, both sides suffered great losses. Both head disciples had their hair shriveled up and loose with wounds across their bodies. Their clothes were stuck inside their wounds, as well as sweat.

As both sides were about to fall, a figure suddenly appeared behind the sword that was embedded deep into the ground. Silence filled the battlefield, as everyone who had been fighting the entire time all glanced at the figure.

It was a young man, dressed in black. He was quite handsome, as he put his hand on the hilt of the sword. With his right hand on the sword, he slowly pulled it out of the ground, as golden light shone across the entire battlefield.

Soon enough, the entirety of the sword was pulled out of the ground. The sword was incredibly dazzling, as a powerful aura was being given off of it. Obviously, it was a powerful Spiritual Tool.

The youth held the sword and pointed it ahead. A powerful aura surged from his entire body, as his Seventh stage Noble Realm cultivation base was revealed. With the sword in his hand, his strength was much greater than the average person at his level.

Those that were watching this all happen turned hideous in an instant. They had been fighting for their lives the entire time, with many of their friends and fellow disciples dying before their eyes. Now, some unknown youth took advantage of this and got ahead of them.

They all stopped fighting immediately. Instead, they all stared at the young man who held the sword in his hand and pointed their weapons at him. It seemed like the young man would be fighting against all of them at once.

He had nobody to blame but himself, for taking advantage of their battle to 'steal' the sword.

The same thing was happening across a few other locations throughout the entire Mini World. Many powerful youths took the powerful treasures that were left behind in the Flame Marquess' Grotto in front of many disciples, showing no fear.

Meanwhile, Mo Jidong was on his own. When he had realized, he was on his own in the Mini World. He looked around without bothering anyone, as he wandered around in search of anything interesting.

Those who noticed him saw his cultivation base at the Awakening Realm and ignored him. It was beneath them who were at the Noble Realm to pick a fight with one at the Awakening Realm.

Walking around for a while, he found a location filled with many people fighting it out. Looking around, he saw a set of runes engraved on a large mountain. Amongst the fighting disciples, there were those who were sitting down cross-legged and trying to comprehend the engravings on the mountain.

Mo Jidong approached, walking through the center of the battlefield. Someone who noticed him charged with his sword in hand. The person was of the early Noble Realm and was happy as he saw weak prey.

As his sword came down, Mo Jidong moved aside and punched him in the stomach.

Bang!

The person who attacked him suffered multiple bone fractures in an instant, coughing out a mouthful of blood, as he was sent flying dozens of meters away. There were many people fighting currently, so nobody noticed what had just happened.

Mo Jidong continued walking forward, pounding anyone who approached him to the ground.