The Immortal Devil Sect is a paramount powerhouse among powerhouses, although Ximen Wei wanted to join such a powerful sect, he was a bit skeptical mostly because of their weird cultivation practices and their nasty reputation.
Plus, subconsciously, deep down inside his heart, he still had a bit of morals and principles. He did not want to engage in mindless slaughter. However, in order to get stronger and go back to his home, he is willing to severe all these fetters that comes in the form of morals and upbringings, and do whatever it takes to achieve his goal.
Even if he slaughters innocent people and massacres entire settlements, so what? These are not his people, this world is not his home, he's just an outcast, a bystander, someone who isn't supposed to be here. Ximen Wei once again steeled his heart, however, this time, his determination was stronger than ever, and vowed to himself that no matter what he has to do, he will return back to his home and meet up with his beloved ones.
He lifted his head up and looked at Long Gen with his deep, abyss-like eyes. When Long Gen met his gaze, he was shocked inside. What he saw was a gaze devoid of emotion, not even a flicker of emotion... except for a certain fervor and.. and an unswerving obsession that shakes hearts, an obsession that overpowers all other emotions and renders them negligible, almost snuffing them out.
Today, Ximen Wei is joining the Immortal Devil Sect.
Today, is fated to be a day that'll change the course of Ximen Wei's entire life.
In a remote area of the Divine Star Continent, a ruined run-down temple lay in the middle of a lustrous forest. Suddenly, the temple shuddered, disturbing the surrounding fauna, then a sigh could be heard coming from the depths of the temple.
Deep inside the Boundless Ocean that surrounds the five great continent, a gigantic Whale could be seen swimming around. It's size was as big as an entire continent, and countless magical symbols swirled around it. Apparently this huge Whale is a Qi Beast, an animal who by mysterious means acquired Qi and achieved Ascension, becoming an entity who can cultivate and control the Qi of Heaven and Earth. Currently, this Qi Beast was swimming casually, but all of a sudden, it stopped in it's face, and it murmured to itself in an ancient, humanoid voice.
"The time has come... and it won't be too long before they too wake up..."
Up in the starry sky, where the Heavenly Blockade river resides, one of the twelve Xuanwu turtles opened its' eyes, and stared off into the distance, seemingly looking at something... looking at someone... Then it closed it's eyes, going back to it's eternal slumber.
More strange occurrences appeared all over the continents, in fact, strange occurrences appeared in the entirety of the Qi World, in the same time, at the exact same moment! However, except for a few select people, no one noticed these occurrences at all!
Days passed and suddenly, out of nowhere, ten mysterious black robed figures surrounded the Green Lotus City. Although they werent a lot, each one of them emanated fearsome savage auras. Unexpectedly, they didn't attack the moment they arrived, but instead, they arranged themselves into battle formations and stayed in certain positions, waiting for further orders.
The guards atop the city walls wore serious expressions as they looked towards the ten figures who emanated heaven-shaking earth-shattering auras, they were just ordinary people, not qualified in any shape or form to fight against Qi Cultivators, so they retreated back and let the experts take their positions. When the Green Lotus City saw the newcomers, he too wore an ugly expression.
Although they were against only ten people, each one of these ten people is equivalent to a hundred man army, in fact, if each one of them were to be put up against a one hundred man army, they will be able to wipe out the floor with them! And if the situation proved to be too dangerous for them, they would just run and no one can stop them, that's the terror of Qi Cultivators. When up against mortals, they are invincible and the only people who can stop them are other Qi Cultivators!
A heavy, suffocating atmosphere hung over the Green Lotus City, Long Gen looked out the window towards the once flourishing streets of the city with a reminiscing expression, this is probably going to be his last time in this beautiful city because from now on, Green Lotus City will be no more.
"This is the price you guys will pay for offending the Immortal Devil Sect."
He took a deep breath as he stood up from his chair and walked towards Ximen Wei's room, when opened the door, he saw Ximen Wei sitting cross-legged on the mattress, contemplating the new Qi Condensation Manual he just got.
When he noticed Long Gen standing at the door, he opened his eyes, they flickered faintly with a devilish will before going back to their normal deep black color.
Just cultivating this new Earth Grade Qi Condensation Manual for few days changed him profoundly, although he's still in the first level of Qi Trainee, his understanding and control over the natural Qi of Heaven and Earth has improved tremendously, he can store way more Qi than before in his six Extraordinary Meridians and more importantly, his learned new Qi Techniques.
He learnt a defensive Qi Technique that makes his physical body impervious to swords and spears, making it so almost impossible for a mortal to pierce through his skin. He learnt a movement Qi Technique that can make him go as fast as wind, and he learnt an investigative Qi Technique that can improves upon his vision and makes him see so far away.
Plus, during the past couple days, Long Gen helped Ximen Wei with his cultivation a few times, he cleared some of his doubts and gave him lessons about all aspects of Qi Cultivation. Such as the origin of Qi Techniques, the importance of a complete combat system, etc...
Ximen Wei was like a sponge, absorbing every bit of knowledge he can, his path towards the second level of Qi Trainee is clear and according to Long Gen, it was only a matter of time before he can become a full-fledged Level 2 Qi Trainee, which made Ximen Wei excited.
But now, it was not the time to cultivate Qi or contemplate it, after all, a clash between Qi Cultivators is going to happen. Ximen Wei silently got up the mattress, he bowed towards Long Gen, before moving to stand near him.
"Wei'er, you have to leave the city and go to the Tang Mountains, there resides our Immortal Devil Sect, when you get there, show them this medallion, it will be your ticket of entry."
Said Long Gen before handing Ximen Wei a medallion, on both sides it depicted a one-horned Devil with a forked tongue. When Ximen Wei looked at it, he had a feeling that this devil is multifarious and ever-changing.
"The Devil..." - murmured Ximen Wei.
"Yes, that's the Devil, our Immortal Devil Sect's patriarch."
Ximen Wei nodded before bowing once again to Long Gen, he was so grateful for the opportunity provided to him, if it were not for him, Ximen Wei would still be struggling in the now empty streets of Green Lotus City.
Long Gen patted his shoulders and said in an energetic tone.
"It's time to go now my little friend, someone will escort you to outside the city. I'll have to take care of some business here before going back to the sect. Don't die on the way there, okay?"
"Okay." - nodded Ximen Wei.
A middle-aged man wearing a black robe came into the room, he had a goatie and was wearing a scarf that looked very out of the place. He looked at Ximen Wei with a friendly expression before saying:
"You're Ximen Wei right? I'm Luo Tingfeng, and I'll be your escort."
When Ximen Wei looked at this Luo Tingfeng, he thought back to the Luo gang that got raided first. He had a inkling that this Luo Guy and the Luo gang were related in some way or another.
'Strange, I thought the Luo gang leader fell when the Criminal District got raided..'
Apparently, Luo Tingfeng is the true gang leader of the Luo gang, and not only he's a gang leader, but he's one of the Overlords of the Green Lotus City Criminal District, an esteemed Rank 1 Qi Expert, and the Level 2 Qi Trainee who fell in battle is just one of his goons.
By the time Ximen Wei made it to the outskirts of the city, the ten black robed cultivators outside the city walls opened their eyes and let out heaven-shaking, earth-shaking auras.
They stood up from their cross-legged positions and unsheathed their weapons, one of them was a Rank 2 Qi Expert with an ancient wooden bow. He looked towards the city walls, his gaze seemingly piercing through them and landing on the Green Lotus City Lord who lay in his mansion.
He pulled the string, and an ethereal arrow appeared out of nowhere, swirling around that arrow was a small vortex that seemed to suck up all the energy of Heaven and Earth, powering it up to unprecedented degrees.
When the Green Lotus City Lord sensed what was happened, he immediately activated the spell formation that protects the city, making the protection dome shine with all sorts of colors.
The Rank 2 black-robed Qi Expert squinted his eyes, and aimed his bow in a different place... He took a deep breath and... released the arrow!
A loud droning sound echoed out as the arrow transformed into a prismatic beam of light that shot towards the city walls, leaving behind a path of destruction that threw nature into turmoil. The spell formation shone with brilliant colors as it did it's best to defend against the incoming attack.
BOOM!
A loud, deafening noise akin to thunder rang out. Ximen Wei's face paled as blood oozed out of his ears, but thankfully, Luo Tingfeng waved his sleeve, protecting him from the shockwaves of the attack.
The entire city shook violently as cracks spread across the spell formation, the walls crumbled to dust and rubble, unable to stand up against the arrow's attack. Cries of horror and panic rose up from the mortals hiding in their shelters.
The bow wielding man nodded in approval before gesturing to his men to attack. Simultaneously, the Green Lotus City's Qi Cultivators emerged and charged towards the black robed figures.
Instantly, both sides engaged in a ferocious fight that shook the heavens. The weakest was a Level 3 Qi Trainee and the strongest was a majestic and illustrious Rank 2 Qi Expert. The sky shone with rainbow colors as Qi Techniques and Magical Techniques were unleashed.
The Green Lotus City Lord was waving his sword madly, each sword slash of his was savage and domineering, making it hard for the black-robed Rank 2 Qi Expert to evade and make distance. The fight between these two figures was shocking to the extreme, one minute didn't even pass before the surround terrain was damaged so badly to the level where it was unrecognizable.
The fight between the Rank 1s was kind of balance, the Immortal Devil Sect took the upper hand because of their Qi Techniques and Magical Techniques but overall, the difference was negligible.
However, what was the most shocking was the fight between the Level 3s.
The Immortal Devil Sect dispatched only 2 Level 3 Qi Trainees, and currently they were up against 5 Green Lotus City Level 3 Qi Trainees. However, the Immortal Devil Sect Qi Trainees were brutal and savage to the extreme.
They were only 14 year old kids who emanated savage and brutal auras, they reeked of blood and they fought barbarically, not even batting an eye to the injuries they sustained. And not only that, but they seemed to be gaining the upper hand! They were slowly overpowering their enemies, which made the Green Lotus City cultivators, despite having more numbers, feel terror well up in their hands.
They could not even imagine what kind of cruel training these two 14 year old kids went through to become like this.
Despite the battlefield being occupied by only 23 men, it's magnitude was several times above a battlefield fought by a thousand mortals.
Fortunately, this clash gave Ximen Wei the right opportunity to slip between the cracks and escape the city. He grew ever closer to the exit, the hole made by the black robed man's arrow.
When Ximen Wei and Luo Tingfeng were near the exit, Luo Tingfeng turned around and said.
"This is as far as I can accompany you. From now on you'll have to rely on yourself to get to the Immortal Devil Sect, I have to join my fellas and give them a hand. We shall meet again in the future."
Then he turned into a prismatic beam of light that shot towards the battlefield, and apparently, he's not the only one who is heading to the battlefield.
Multiple sinister auras rose up from within' the city as the Criminal District's Overlords and Long Gen transformed into beams of light that shot towards the battlefield. But before they could make it, the spell formation shone colorfully as it emanated a suffocating pressure that weakened the Immortal Devil Sect Cultivators, even Ximen Wei was no exception. And not only that, but the Green Lotus City Cultivators seemed enlivened and brimmed with energy.
Apparently, this pressure is akin to the Qi Techniques Enfeeble and Strengthen at the same time! It debuffs the enemies and buffs the allies.
Ximen Wei looked up and gritted his teeth, thanks to the spell formation, his battle prowess provided by his cultivation base is now gone, and he's now as weak as a ten year old boy. Despite that, he bore through and made his way towards the exit.
He's now only ten meters away, however, before he could take another step further. He abruptly stopped in place, face pale and sweat streaming down his face.
A pair of eyes was staring down at Ximen Wei from the shadows, it was a Level 2 Qi Trainee hiding here!
Since Level 2 Qi Trainees could not participate in the current battle, they stayed behind the lines and assumed the position of guards in the shadows, ready to strike down anyone who is trying to exit or enter the city.
Apparently, this Level 2 Qi Trainee did not even care whether Ximen Wei is a ten year old child or not. He unsheathed his iron sword and took a step forward, emerging from the shadows.
The scant light of the sun shone on him, allowing Ximen Wei to see his face. Instantly, his expression fell as he realized who this is.
It was the Level 2 Qi Trainee from the Song family, the red-haired young man!
"Halt!" - Yelled the red-haired young man, from the tone of his voice Ximen Wei could tell that he was not in a good mood. He could not blame the guy, after all, "someone" slaughtered countless of his guards, seriously injured one of his Level 1 Qi Trainees and escaped the secret dungeon of his family.
Ximen Wei's mind was working as fast as it can, he does not know what to do in this situation, should he stop and deliver himself to the red-haired Cultivator? Or make a run for it?
If he picked the first option, he's going to perish for sure, this man looks like he's going to strike him down no matter what. And if he picked the second option.. Well.. Even if he was in his peak condition and had his Level 1 Cultivation Base, he's not a match to a young Level 2 Qi Trainee, whether that'd be in terms of battle prowess or speed.
Would he resign to his fate? Or strive for the slightest chance of survival?
The choice was obvious to Ximen Wei, his expression turned savage as he made a run for it. The young man's expression turned ugly, he seemed very offended, so he followed suit.
However, fortunately for Ximen Wei, the red haired young man did not use his cultivation base to chase. Apparently, unlike the unscrupulous Old Mao, it seemed beneath his status to use his powers to catch a mere 10 year old mortal child.
On the battlefield, Long Gen was entangled with another Rank 2 Qi Expert. Apparently this Rank 2 Qi Expert is one of the reinforcements from Western Wen, he emanated a righteous and sagely aura as he fought heroically against Long Gen, who emanated a fiendish and devilish will.
To the onlookers, it seemed as if the Western Wen Cultivator was an Immortal battling it with the Devil, righteous versus evil, the fight was between two polar opposites.
Long Gen fought madly, veins bulged all over his muscles as he threw punches that threatened to eclipse the heavens, his eyes shone with a tinge of devilish red as the outline of a horn could be seen protruding out of his forehead.
On the other side, the Western Wen Cultivator wore a white robe that fluttered alongside the wind, he waved his sleeve as he unleashed countless Magical Techniques that seemed out of a fantasy novel. Each one of these Magical Techniques brimmed with Immortal power that struck anyone who've seen it.
The fight between these two was unprecedented, and the main focus of the battlefield.
Ximen Wei finally made the 10 meters, behind him was the red-haired Cultivator, who was looking at Ximen Wei with derision and scorn. If he want to, he can catch Ximen Wei any time he wants, and if he wants to, he can kill him as easily as slipping over his hand. However, due to various reasons, he chose not to.
When Ximen Wei finally made it out, he looked towards the battlefield that shone with dazzling colors, and increased his speed. However, the same could not be said for the red-haired Cultivator, he lurched to a stop and wore a contemplating expression.
Although Ximen Wei does not know what he's getting himself into, the red-haired young man knows. Just the shockwaves of a battle between two Rank 1 Qi Experts can easily turn Level 1 and Level 2 Qi Trainees into dust, let alone the shockwaves between two Rank 2 Qi Experts. After thinking about it carefully, the red-haired young man decided not to take the risk, however, before turning around to leave, he pulled out a talisman from his sleeve, imbued with some of his Qi before sending it flying towards Ximen Wei.
Ximen Wei could not dodge the unexpected attack, when it stroke it, he coughed a mouthful of blood before falling over. Thankfully, it wasn't a hurtful attack, but it was a tracking talisman.
Wherever Ximen Wei goes, the red-haired Cultivator will be able to track him.
The red-haired Cultivator's eyes shone sinisterly as he turned around and left, he does not wish to chase down a ten year old child. After all, that's beneath his status.
On the other hand, Ximen Wei did not care, in fact, when he saw that the red-haired Cultivator stopped chasing him, he beamed with joys as he got up to his feet and started heading towards the forest near the Green Lotus City.
Also known as the Desolate Astral Forest..