After the bout between Tang Bai and Silver, the referee had announced the final top ten of the group. Each battle proceeded with ease, yet, it lacked the same enthusiasm between the prior fight before the final round. Reasons as to why, Silver had surrendered and was ranked tenth on the top ten board. Not only that, he had left right after their rankings had been finalized.
Surprisingly, Long Zhen gained some attention, placing himself as number one on the tournament rankings. If Silver hadn't publicly train Tang Bai, Long Zhen would of never broke through his bottleneck at the first level of the Spear Intent, Piercing, so quickly. As the final round had ended, everyone had dispersed and returned to their homes. Many sects attempted to locate the five masked individuals after the tournament, but to no avail.
Some secret and powerful sects who were impressed by Silver's performance tried locating him too. Sadly, none of them could find Silver and the four divine marked individuals. It was as if they only existed during the tournament and nowhere else within Wok City. Of course, they would never think to find these five powerful geniuses in a small sect within the city.
Three days had come to pass, Fu Arus and the five teens were ready to pack up their belongings and head back to Windfall Village. However, before they could get going, they could hear numerous voices chatting amongst each other outside of the main hall of the Crane Clan.
Walking out of the courtyard, they could see 5 groups, 2 individuals in each, chatting with the Crane Clan's patriarch, Xin Yanhua. Once these 5 groups heard the oncoming footsteps, they turned their heads to look at the Fu Arus and five teenagers waltzing out of the main hall.
"Old Bear, these are…"
Before Xin Yanhua could finish, one of the 5 groups of two coldly spoke out:
"We've come to ask if the four divine star marked individuals would accept our invitation. Hurry now, we don't have much time."
The man who interrupted Xin Yanhua came into view. They could see his belly jutting out like a pregnant woman on her final stages of pregnancy, barely jiggling and somewhat firm. His fat face complimented his torso, as he glared at them with condescending eyes. Sadly, no one could tell very well as it appeared like he was squinting with the amount of fat on his face.
"I don't enjoy wasting my time with useless pleasantry."
"Hmph! How dare you be rude to my brother!" shouted Fu Arus circulating his qi. An image of the Big Dipper Bear, over 8 meters tall, emerged behind him as a merciless intent engulfed the disrespectful fat faced man. With just his killing intent alone, Fu Arus intent smashed against the fat faced man, flinging him across the courtyard.
"Begone from here! And tell your sect leader if he has any problems, he can speak to Demon Bear Arus!"
"Y-y-o-uuuu!" stuttered the arrogant fat faced man, staggering to get up.
Fear engulfed the deepest part of his heart, as he suddenly remembered why the patriarch told him to be immensely respectful to the guest within the Crane Clan. After becoming an elder of a powerful sect for many years, he thought it was below him to be respectful towards the younger generation and a small-time clan.
It seems the fat faced man regretted ignoring his patriarchs warning, but now he caused himself immense grief. If there were medicines for regrets, he would take them right now.
Standing up, swallowing his shame in his throat, he urged his companion to turn around and head back to the sect. He wouldn't dare duke it with the infamous Demon Bear Arus. It was once known that Fu Arus slaughter 100,000 enemies by himself, trying to gain time for more support during the war years ago. Who would go against a madman like him!? Even his patriarch mentioned Demon Bear Arus as one of the individuals he wouldn't dare cross paths with.
Knowing this, once the fat faced man has given the sect's patriarch this news, he would be demoted for his insolent actions. The companion that journeyed with him shook his head in disappointment. The fat faced man didn't even know that he was being secretly evaluated by his partner.
'A waste of resources can't even see through the heavens while ignoring the brightest star' the old man thought inwardly as he followed the once arrogant, now gloomy, envoy.
Turning around, they both left in disappointment.
"I'm sorry for the small inconvenience," continued Fu Arus, smiling at the rest of the group as he retracted his cultivation level.
If the four groups did not see his cultivation, they would have thought he was just an insignificant chief with four lovely treasures. Luckily, their patriarchs already informed who Fu Arus was. Such a powerful man stood before them, especially since his history was already imbedded in the last war. With his last-ditch effort to gain time, killing over 100,000 enemies, this allowed the North Star imperials to take a firm grip onto the current Ethereal Expanse.
They wouldn't dare to look down on him, even if he seemed like an old and ordinary mortal. Not only him, even Xin Yunhua couldn't be underestimated nor the others who accompanied them during the war. Everyone who survived the war and obtain high achievement were actually monstrous geniuses that could not be compared to the current generation.
Soon, the awkward atmosphere diminished once a young man took a step towards them, cupping their hands.
"I am Zhi Zan, a personal disciple of our great Patriarch Kai and the Drifting Leaves Sect! Fierce, bold and strong! Coming and going as we please. As of now, we hold the current number one ranking of all sects within the Ethereal Expanse. Child of the Azure Dragon, we would like to invite you to join our ranks!
What do you say?
Everything you need will be given to you, but you must be able to keep your rank in the top three as time goes on. We only give such treasured resources to the elites of elites. Are you a dung beetle ready to be stepped on or a heavenly dragon smiting those who harms you and your precious ones?" asked Zhi Zan, keeping his eyes firmly rooted on Long Zhen.
Although the way he spoke seemed clever and tempting, he truly meant what he said, as he was told the exact phrase back then. With his strong determination and excellent talents, rising to the personal disciple, beating those around him in one fell swoop. He was ranked 2 out of 50 in the Drifting Leaves Sect's personal disciple rankings.
"Do you have powerful spear arts?" inquired Long Zhen, tempted with how Drifting Leaves Sect functioned. He could clearly tell it was highly competitive, something that could ignite the fire within his heart.
"Spear Arts? We have tons of them for you!" approved Zhi Zan nodding his head to Long Zhen's question. Although not many disciple's studied spear arts in their sect but their patriarch and great elder did. Both had already reached the highest level, One with the Spear.
"Then I will go," Long Zhen finally agreed.
"Let's go! Farewell Chief Arus, your reputation will indeed skyrocket once more in this generation," exclaimed Zhi Zan, quickly taking Long Zhen away. For them, there was a long and arduous journey to the Drifting Leaves Sect. Only one could be invited by their sect, or at best, fatefully find their hidden sect.
"Hahaha, it seems we all came for a certain individual! I'll go next," a buff and humongous middle-age man announced. He turned his head to the left, walking to a seemingly chubby teenager.
"I am Hong Gang of the Spirit Gourd Sect. We are the best in fist, kicks and body training arts! We eat until--"
"You had me at eat, let's go!" agreed Fey Luden without missing a beat. His whole life involves food and if he can eat many scrumptious meals while cultivating, nothing would change his mind.
"I like this boy!" marveled Hong Gang, not at all surprised on how fast the boy reacted.
They truly did eat to gain this massive and muscular body due to an external body cultivation method. Nearly a 75% of the sect was filled with foodies. Most of them even learned the Art of Cooking, garnering attention from the noble clans within North Star Kingdom, North Star Imperial City. Those who study the Art of Cooking would usually end up becoming a personal chef of the noble clans, especially those within the Spirit Gourd Sect.
Grabbing his small bag, loaded with food, drinks and snacks, Fey Luden followed Hong Gang and his companions to their sect.
"I am Hua Yaling, a personal disciple at Great Willow Sect," announce Hua Yaling, a stunning beauty in a slight loose robe. However, it could not hide her hourglass body as she sashayed towards a seemingly adorable girl.
"Although we are only an all-female sect, our techniques are quite renowned throughout the Ethereal Expanse," said Hua Yaling, tapping Yan Li's forehead.
"How about it?"
" Mmm... Yes!"smiled Yan Li, happily following Hua Yaling and her companion without a care.
No one knew what Hua Yaling sent her, but it seemed to really attract Yan Li's attention. Although, she was known as a troublemaker like Silver, she did enjoy reading. If someone took her book or somehow damaged it by even a scratch, her temper could even make the king of hell hide fearfully in a pitch, black corner.
"Yes, I will join your Long River Sect," Fu Wonton glumly announced to the last group. He was already aware of their intent as the envoy eyes kept their focus onto him.
"I already know of you and your skills, youthful as you look, the age in your eyes can't lie to me."
"Ah . . . yes. I am personal disciple Mu Bo, in charge of taking you to our Long River Sect," Mu Bo responded, a bit surprised.
Their Long River sect was shrouded in an actual foggy mystery, unable to be found no matter how powerful the expert was. It was even rarer for anyone to gain their interest, yet there an even smaller percentage of individuals who could discern their true age with a glimpse.
Fu Wonton was quite keen compared to the other 3 who had left already.
"I'll try to visit you father, hope no one misses me too much," yawned Fu Wonton, lazily following Mu Bo and his companion.
"Only fools could sleep and dream every night, but wise fools can sleep and enjoy the dreams they made come true every day."
"Hmph . . .Stay safe son," sighed Fu Arus glaring at the back of his son. If one looked closely, the right corner of Fu Arus right eye showed a slight twitch from irritation.
"I truly hope you can become a great cultivator, just like that sharp tongue of yours."
"Yea, yea," Fu Wonton chirped, waving his left hand in farewell.
After everyone had left, it was just Xin Yanhua, Fu Arus, and Silver alone in the seemingly larger courtyard. Fu Arus gave a heavy and audible sigh after he no longer could see his son's silhouette. He then turned around, looking at the last person out of the group, Silver.
Before he could sound out his words, a mysterious yet powerful aura appeared near them.
Both Fu Arus and Xin Yanhua hurriedly let out their cultivation, staring at a lonesome man standing by the entrance of the Crane's Clan main hall.
This lonesome 2.1-meter-tall man appeared young, yet devilishly handsome with long void-black hair reaching his buttocks. His clothes were black and fitted, visibly outlining his perfectly toned body as he continued to walk closer to them. The haziness of his appearance began to clear up as a noticeable violet streak of long, braided hair hung on the left side of his proportionate face.
He smiled warmly with his pearly white teeth, perfect jawline as his gaze seem to be focused on Silver the whole time.
However, Silver was bewildered by the devilishly handsome man's completely black eyes. He could see twinkling lights in those abyss-like eyes, replicating the exact view of the starry night sky. A shudder of excitement could be felt in his stoic heart, as he continued to gaze into the miniature starry night eyes of the devilishly handsome man.
"Who might you be, Senior?" inquired Fu Arus in high alert.