Splash
Water rose through the air as Zhou Yun dove into the large pool that his father had set aside just for this occasions. He didn't even bother to take off his clothes since they were caked in impurities. The water that was once clear was now turning black.
Zhou Yun quickly cleaned off all the impurities. Getting out he quickly walked to another bath, getting undressed he slowly sunk into the hot water. He felt his muscles loosen as the water washed over him. He sunk even deeper into the water until only his nose was above the water. Once Zhou Yun felt his body completely relax did he raise himself out of the water.
Zhou Yun looked at his hands as he kept opening and closing them. As he repeated this process he felt that he was stronger then he was earlier today. In fact when he had been walking to the baths is training outfit had felt lighter.
However a thought had entered into his mind. 'Father said that since I have a lightning body it will be harder for me to cleanse my body but yet it was far easier then I thought.' thought Zhou Yun.
Finally he could no longer take it and wanted to test something. He walked toward the middle of the bath which was the deepest part stopping a right in the middle of his chest. Clearing his mind Zhou Yun began to practice the stances of Dawning Stars.
As Zhou Yun began to draw in yuan qi he felt that it was nearly thirty percent less then when he did it at dawn. However this time Zhou Yun wasn't using the yuan qi to attempt to break through, instead he was guiding it back through his blood stream. Using his mind as a spear head he drove the yuan qi deeper into his body. Until finally Zhou Yun found what he was looking for in his blood stream.
Zhou Yun was staring at something that looked like dull crystals, these crystals had lighting that occasionally crackled with lighting. Thinking for a moment Zhou Yun sent the full might of the yuan qi behind him straight ahead into one of the crystals but just as the yuan qi got near it it seemed to be like a rock in a river causing the yuan qi to go on either side of the crystal without even touching it.
An hour passed and with no progress being made Zhou Yun stopped drawing in yuan qi as he returned back to the shallow end of the pool. He sat down with a sigh "I guess what father said was indeed true and that I would need to find a lightning essence to clear out the lightning impurities.'
Zhou Yun could only sigh in resignation as to be able to find a lightning essence was already incredibly difficult not mention in order to be able to absorb one was even more difficult. As the highly volatile energy from it could easily turn any one to smoking ashes.
After a little while Zhou Yun finally got out of the bath and he returned to his room. Before laying he begun to feel a slight excitement as he remembered that his father said that he was going to take him to select a weapon tomorrow. With this thought he lied down and drift into a deep sleep.
Light crept into the room through the cracks in the curtains and landed softly on Zhou Yun's face. Stirring Zhou Yun turned over intending to sleep a little more but his eyes snapped open and he jumped out bed and began to put on his training outfit. Once it was on he began to run to the training ground and just like before when he stepped out the door he felt that crushing weight again.
This time though it was different since he had broken through to the blood cleansing stage his body is stronger due to a far richer blood pumped into his muscles and organs. However even though he was stronger the weight did slow him down enough to make him feel like he was training.
A short amount of time passed before he arrived at the training ground that he used yesterday. When he arrived at the center of training ground Zhou Yun closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he squatted into the beginning stance of the cultivation stance.
As yuan qi flooded into Zhou Yun he did not guide it into his blood stream like he did last time instead he guided it into bones. As he was guiding the yuan qi over his bones that it felt as if he washing them which brought with it a scorching amount of heat that was licking his bones and made it unbearable. Zhou Yun however did not stop as the heat continued to wash over his bones for he knew that the reason it was so hot was that it was strengthening his bones like how heat does metal.
As each heat wave came more and more impurities were forced out of his body until finally his bones that were dull white were now a pearl white and gave off a slight luster. Once Zhou Yun was done he opened his eyes seeing his body being covered once again in a thick disgusting black substance inside the substance was tiny specks that were dull white.
Zhou Yun felt his training outfit once again grow lighter after he broke through. "The bone strengthening stage! Now my bones should be as strong as steel." thought Zhou Yun as he walked over to a nearby tree that was nearly two meters in diameter. Once in front of the Zhou Yun cocked back his arm before swinging it forward with all his might.
The loud sound of wood breaking echoed through the air as the once whole tree was now left broken in half. Zhou Yun quickly dodged as the tree came crashing down at the exact spot where he had been standing.
Zhou Yun rose from the ground and brushed the dirt of his outfit. He looked at his hand and even though the skin had broken a bit there was no other damage done to it. He couldn't help but smile at the results, however this quickly changed as his nose was suddenly assaulted by the impurities that had dried up on his body released its unbearable stench.
"This is the part I hate most of all." thought Zhou Yun as he went straight to the previous baths that he had used last night. After he was finished bathing he began to look for his father so that they can select a weapon. Before his search could start he was intercepted by a servant.
"Young Master, Your father would like for you to run into town and pick up a package for him from Master Long Ju." said the servant as he handed a storage ring to Zhou Yun.
"Did he say what was in the package?" said Zhou Yun as he slide the ring onto his finger.
"No. All he said was for you not to be nosy." said the servant as he turned around and walked away. Just before he rounded the corner the servant turned around. "I forgot for a second but there is already a carriage at the entrance to take you into town." said the servant. After saying this did the servant truly leave this time.
"Nosy? I call it a innocent curiosity after all I'm physically just a child, sometimes I should act like a child." muttered Zhou Yun as he began to walk toward the entrance of the family home. When he finally arrived at the entrance there was a white carriage that had the Zhou family crest on its side. Pulling the carriage were two very large green cats that were nearly three meters long and a meter and half tall.
This animal was known every where as a the leering panther due to them having a special eye technique that paralyzes its prey when they looked directly into its eyes. The leering panther was also known for its extraordinary stamina that allowed it to run nearly a thousand kilometers before needing to take a swift break after which it can run another thousand kilometers. They were also known to be easily tamed, these facts made them excellent mounts.
The driver of the carriage was a bald middle aged man who had a three scars running from the crown of his head to the side of the neck giving him a menacing look. This man was known Fang Si and he was the captain of the guard that protected the Zhou family. Fang Si looked at Zhou Yun and revealed a kind smile that was a far contrast of his previous look.
"Young Master its only been two days and yet you have already broken through to the bone strengthening stage." said Fang Si with a loud voice that was filled with pride. To him Zhou Yun wasn't a ward that he needed to protect because he was paid to, but instead was closer to a nephew. "It seems the Zhou family is blessed with an outstanding genius."
"You praise me to much Uncle Fang." said Zhou Yun with a light smile as he climbed inside the carriage. Usual he would have sat next to Fang Si but since he was going into to town on business then he would do so as a young master representing the Zhou Clan. A moment passed before the carriage began to move, once they left the family gates the pass of the carriage went from a slow walk to a casual trot.
The Zhou clan lived on the outskirts of Fire Faith City, a city that was about thirty minutes away and had around five hundred thousand residents. This city was known across the whole planet as a place where you can get anything you need. As well as it being on the edge of a forest where many resources could be found made it even more of a prized city.
From the little bit of history that he knew about his father and his connection with Fire Faith city. Was that some time ago his father had saved the city lord and city from an extremely notorious bandit group that had laid siege to the city. As such the city lord had felt it was only right to reward land and riches to him.
According to his father though was that he intentionally intended to refuse but his mother had convinced him other wise and so they decided to settle down here. Within that time the family had built up an impressive reputation as outstanding divine smiths allowing them to build up wealth and power that rivaled the oldest and most powerful family in the city all in the span of twenty years.
Zhou Yun quickly grew bored of staring out the window and seeing nothing but passing trees. Closing his eyes he began to clear his mind putting all thoughts behind him. Unfortunately before he could meditate long several voices drifted from the outside demanding identification tokens.
"What's is your reason in coming here." said a random voice.
"I am Fang Si and we are from the Zhou Clan. I am escorting the young master to see master Long Ju." replied Fang Si in a annoyed voice.
Zhou Yun could not blame him for being annoyed, after all the only one allowed to drive the family carriage was Fang Si. With that being the case if you saw the Zhou carriage but no Fang Si then it was most likely a fact and every guard was made aware of this fact.
"Forgive me master Fang Si but there have been people sneaking into the city disguised as nobles. So now we have to inspect all carriages to avoid future trouble. As such we need to see the inside of the carriage." said another voice.
Before Fang Si could reply the door to the carriage was thrown open. Zhou Yun looked at the guard that had been rude with his smokey grey eyes that once had a warm look were now instead ice cold. The guard stood there as if it was impossible to move and Zhou Yun could have sworn that if they stood there looking at each other much longer that the guard would break out in a cold sweat. "If you are done inspecting the inside of my carriage then close the door and let us through." said Zhou Yun coldly.
"Y-yes please forgive my abruptness." said the guard as he closed the door gently.
"You may go forward now." said the random voice from before.
As they lurched forward Zhou Yun looked out the window again and saw ten guards posted on each side of a door that rose twenty meters in the air. He couldn't help but wonder what was happening to cause such a change that needed the city lord to go to such extents.
The gate that they had passed through was by the market district with the better shops situated closer to the entrance for convince, and Long Ju was a renowned divine smith that many people from all round came to look for as such his workshop was close by.
It didn't take long for them to arrive in front of red building where the sound of metal being hammered rang out. Zhou Yun quickly got out of the carriage and walked inside, greeting him was a large welcoming hall that had chairs and tables along the walls. Half of the tables were full of people who had placed orders and were now waiting.
Zhou Yun walked up to the counter where there was a young woman waiting. "May I help you sir?' said the woman with a lovely smile.
"I'm here to see master Long Ju." replied Zhou Yun with a smile on his face as well.
"Please wait a moment while I go get him?' said the woman as she quickly disappeared behind a door.
It wasn't long before she came back with an old man following behind her. This old man had a long beard that was tucked inside his belt. His face was covered with black marks and what really stood out about him was his hands that was so large that Zhou Yun was certain they could easily grab is whole entire head inside his palm. This person was no other then Long Ju.
"Master Long Ju I deeply apologize from pulling you away from work." said Zhou Yun as he bowed to Long Ju
"There is no need to apologize I had just finish what I was." said Long Ju as he waved his hand through the air. "Now let me see your storage ring so I can put the package in it."
Zhou Yun gave Long Ju the spacial ring that he had recieved from the servant before leaving. Once the ring was in his hand Long Ju turned around and disappeared in the same direction that he came. Five minutes passed before he finally returned, he handed Zhou Yun back his storage ring with out saying another word. Just as Long Ju was about to turn around and leave a voice came from behind Zhou Yun.
"Long Ju the Master would like for us to discuss what we talked about last time we were here." said Fang Si who had been quiet until now.
Long Ju remained silent but nodded his head as he waved for Fang Si to follow him. "Young Master this will take some time so go out and wander around. I will find you once we are done." said Fang Si as he followed Long Ju.
Zhou Yun sighed in disappointment as he did not think that this would become an all day excursion. "This would be a lot better if I could look at the package I just picked up." thought Zhou Yun as he touched his storage ring.
Zhou Yun stood there for a moment trying to decide on what to do before he felt hunger creep up on him. With that sign, what Zhou Yun was going to do was now decided. He began to walk to his favorite place to eat.
Thankfully the place he was going was not far and could be reached on foot. As he was walking Zhou Yun decided he would take a look at several of the stalls that had been situated on either side of the streets. Some of them were selling weapons that they had managed to find, others were selling herbs that they couldn't get a good price for from a shop. Others were selling Martial techniques which were arts that allowed one to execute attacks movement speeds or a support ability.
Since Zhou Yun was hopping from stall to stall it took much longer to arrive at the restaurant then usual. As he was walking to the door of the busy restaurant a group of consisting of five individuals were walking out.
Leading this group was a fourteen year old male-youth who had good looks, black hair and was consider very tall for his age standing almost two meters. This youth was known as Shi Gan and his father was the city lord. With this fact he has grown up to be an arrogant brat who would he use force to get what he wants.
Clinging to his arm was a beautiful girl with long black hair, thin lips and brown eyes. On her face was a smile that even Zhou Yun could not help but describe as stunning. This girl's is known Li Qingzhao, her family ran a very successful merchant group that was known even on other planets.
When the group saw Zhou Yun the came to a halt and looked at him, there was even hostility in the eyes of Li Qingzhao and Shi Gan. Seeing the look in their eyes Zhou Yun couldn't help but laugh inwardly as he knew the reason for their hostility.
Li Qingzhao hated Zhou Yun for no reason other then he had turned down her family's offer of being engaged. While he did find her to be beautiful Zhou Yun did not want anything to tie him down so early and all that was on his mind was the martial path not marriage. However her once kind and gentle attitude towards him quickly changed to the one that she was know. This change made Zhou Yun even more thankfully that he didn't agree to marry her.
For Shi Gan this topic was a sore point for him. It was a well known fact that he liked Li Qingzhao for a very long time and the fact that he was the second choice had left him some bitter feelings. Since he could not take out it out Li Qingzhao since in the end she did chose him, he decided to take it out on Zhou Yun. Unfortunately Zhou Yun was some one who rarely left his family's house so as timed passed and with no way to vent he could only bottle it up inside.
"Well, well, well if it isn't the young master of the Zhou clan." said Shi Gan as he put on a smile that didn't seem like a smile.
"For a moment there I thought the only word you could speak was well. I'm kind of happy that you are not that stupid." replied Zhou Yun with the same equal smile on his face.
The smile that had been on Shi Gan's face vanished without a trace and the hostility in his eyes grew, just as he was about to open his mouth to snap back Li Qingzhao interrupted him. "There is no reason to get so worked up about a fool who doesn't know whats good for him Shi Gan." said Li Qingzhao as she squeezed his arm. She turned towards Zhou Yun and smiled. "You should apologize to Shi Gan other wise your family will hear from ours." threatened Li Qingzhao with a cold smile.
This threat caused the rest of the group to smile, after all each of them came from a powerful family and with if all of them came together even the Zhou clan will think twice before crossing them.
The smile that had still been on Zhou Yun's face slowly vanished, replaced by a look of complete coldness. He look at each and everyone of them and as his eyes passed over them each of them it caused them to shiver. Finally his eyes rested on Li QIngzhao. "You know I just recently learned something, I'm pretty sure you would find it interesting, if you would like to hear it." said Zhou Yun coldly.
Li Qingzhao rolled her eyes and flicked her hair back. "Oh I'm thought you weren't capable of learning. So I'm very interested in hearing what you learned.'" said Li Qingzhao sarcastically
The smile returned on Zhou Yun's face, "Its that small dogs bark the most, especially the bitch, but in the end that is all it is, all bark." said Zhou Yun as he resumed his walk back inside the restaurant complete ignoring them as he brushed past them.
Li Qingzhao's face flushed red in complete embarrassment, never before as anyone dared to talk to her like that. Yet she knew that she only had her self to blame for this after all she was only giving him a hard time because he had turned her down. Being turned down was a first for her as well, in all her life if she wanted something she got it and there was at one point no male in Fire Faith city who didn't want her either for her looks or for the power that her family had, that was until Zhou Yun though.
Shi Gan was the first to recover from the unexpected sharp response that Zhou Yun said. He turned around quickly and was about to attack Zhou Yun before a thought passed into his head. Fighting inside the city limits were forbidden to all and this was a law his father enforced completely, even his son would not be above punishment. He remembered that a couple of nobles had the thought that the city lord would not do anything to them because of their position, needless to say is that now they are no longer alive.
Calming himself down Shi Gan looked at the back of Zhou Yun. "In three months my father is hosting a tournament for those below the repeater realm. I will see you there." challenged Shi Gan.
Zhou Yun didn't say a word nor did he look back as the door to the restraunt closed behind him.