Hai'an Xian Prefecture, Chonglong Country--
A fur-clothed youth, leaning straight outside the window of the Luxurious Carriage, was looking at the bustling street with widening eyes. Grumbling as he says, "As expected of the Capital City, even Yunyuan City, where I was inbred was not even comparable...Unbelievable!"
"Young Master, Chonglong City is the Capital City...Of course, it's natural for our Yunyuan City, which located far east could not compare here." As though someone heard him, a voice sounded beside him.
The fur-clothed youth smiled when he heard that. Besides him was a white beard man on a white robe. His hair was full of white, but despite that, it could not hide his heroic ambiance. However, judging from his looks, he was definitely a sexagenarian.
The Fur-clothed youth rubbed his nose and said, "Uncle Qin, now that we reached the Capital City, we should find something to eat first. It's been a month-long journey, I miss the delicacies inns offered."
"But Young Master," Uncle Qin hesitates, "the examination...."
"Old Qin!" The Fur-clothed youth immediately interrupted, "The examination starts three days later and the registration has been going on for five days now, and there are two more days for it to be officially closed. We have lots of time, that can wait. For now, we should book an inn and have a taste of the delicacies the inns of the Capital can offer us."
Hearing the fur-clothed youth, Old Qin furrowed his eyebrows. Indeed, the Martial Arts Sect would open their recruitment three days later, and they have lots of time to prepare. The registration for the examination has started five days ago. And it will continue for seven days, and they have two more days for the registration. His Young Master suggestion wasn't that bad. After all, it has been years since he visited the Capital City.
"Since Young Master said so, we should head there then...It's been years since I visited the Capital City, I had tons of things I miss." Old Qin laughed. "Young Master, I know an inn that offered the best delicacies here. How about I take the lead?"
"Oh." The Fur-clothed youth smiled, "That's great! Old Qin, since you have been here before, you should introduce me to the places here."
"About that...."
"Old Qin, I know, I know. I mean after the registration." The Fur-clothed youth grinned when he saw Old Qin's hesitant face.
...
The carriage drove for more than five minutes, heading straight to Moonlight Street before stopping. The Fur-clothed youth and Old Qin stepped out after they paid the expenses of traveling.
After the fur-clothed youth stepped outside the carriage, a gush of fresh winds caressed his skin. Breathing deeply, he clenched his fists as he thought inwardly, "This is the start of my Martial Arts Journey!"
"Young Master?" Elder Qin stared at his absent-minded Young Master and blurted out, "Is there something wrong? Let's go."
"Nothing," the Fur-clothed youth snapped out. He smiled, "Let's go then..."
Old Qin and the Fur-clothed youth strolled towards the western area of Moonlight Street and made a shift towards a hidden alley, heading straight.
Minutes later, they arrived in a bustling street full of pedestrians as well as mercenaries.
"Old Qin, so that hidden alley was a connection and a shortcut path towards the Crescent Street from Moonlight Street," Qing Yun laughed by the side.
Old Qin had a smile atop his face as he said, "Young Master is truly knowledgeable. That Hidden Alley is something civilians living for long inside the Capital City knew about. Only those unfamiliar from the former capital did not know about."
He paused and looked at Qing Yun, "Young Master, let's go to the Phoenix Inn."
The Fur-clothes youth smiled as he followed behind Old Qin. They saunter for several minutes before arriving at the front of Phoenix Inn.
From the outside, The Fur-clothed youth was amazed to see such a luxurious and extravagant Inn! Such thing, the best Inn of Yunyuan City could not even compare!
Old Qin and the fur-clothed youth entered the Phoenix Inn and were immediately greeted by the waitperson.
After sitting and ordering quite a few dishes, Old Qin and the fur-clothed youth settled near the window.
Seeing Old Qin was doing something, the fur-clothed youth swept his gaze to see people looking at him and murmuring. From their voices, the words that came from their mouth was not a decent one.
"Hey man! Look at that person, isn't he looks like the Qing Yun of Yunyuan City's Qing Clan?"
"It is really him! That genius whom the Martial Arts Palace thought highly of."
"Humph, so what? That was in the past. Even if there are 10 Qing Yun's here, he can't change his fate of being fated as a mortal."
"Shhh... Even though Qing Yun couldn't produce Inner Strength in his entire life...he would be a monster of the external realm! All of you, you better watch your mouth. When Qing Yun reached Martial Master sooner or later, he might take action against you."
The Phoenix Inn bustle with great commotion. The fur-clothed youth, Qing Yun, merely sighed at their comments.
"Forget it, this is my fate...but I'll never believe with my talent, I can't produce inner strength," thought Qing Yun silently.
Suddenly, a muffle scent drifted towards their seat. The smell was very tempting. Qing Yun, tongue-tied, stared at the waiter delivering the delicacies on their table. Soon, the food was placed on their table and Qing Yun cut a small piece of Golden Horned Sheep Lesser Beast, one of the delicacies they ordered and tasted its flavor.
"Good food," Qing Yun's eyes brightened. To appear not country bumpkin, Qing Yun relaxed and calm his nerves.
He slices another piece of meat, but this time he sliced a far larger piece and chewed it. Having such an experience, Qing Yun suddenly remembered the past.
His father, as the patriarch of a large clan, was very strict about his requirements. As his son, Qing Yun suffered from an early age only to attempt training every day. That onward, he was recognized as a Genius at birth. Having twice the strength as ordinary children at his age back then, there was no way he could not be noticed by the ruler of Hai'an Xian Prefecture, Martial Arts Palace!
Especially at the time of the lurking Fiends and Demons, Qing Yun's worth doubled that of a genius, hence an outer elder of Martial Arts Pavillion especially took a visit towards Yunyuan City just to inspect his innate talent. But unfortunately, the result left everybody dumbstruck.
Qing Yun, who was recognized as Genius, was an inborn mortal. His internal roots as well as Meridians were mostly clogged and blocked, preventing him from attaining Internal Realm after the External Realm on his entire life!
That happened when he was eleven years old, precisely three years ago. His father, the patriarch, despite a huge blow to his part he never blames his son for his shortcoming, and he instead comforted him to attain the peak a mortal can achieve...Hence, Qing Yun sighted the Martial Grandmaster Realm, the pinnacle stage of External Realm!
His journey to the Capital City was to study within the Martial Arts Sect, the subsidiary branch of Martial Arts Palace. Although he can't learn powerful martial arts and the most mysterious Dharma Arts, Qing Yun still wanted to make his parents proud of having a son like him.
Qing Yun and Old Qin, the beginning towards the end of their meal, the whispering amongst the crowd cease as time passed. Chit-chatting and talking someone's back was something they never do usually. Because of the threat of Fiends and Demons, humans learn to treasure their kinds and be kind to each other. But despite that, there was still some that never thought the same thing...
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The Martial Arts Sect was located at the heart of the Capital City. It looks majestic and towering when stared at from afar. Guards, wearing an embroidered white-tiger pattern, were stationed outside the gate.
Currently, outside the Martial Arts Sect was packed with countless youngsters hoping to join the Martial Arts Sect. Some of them were very talented. However, to immediately become an official disciple of Martial Arts Palace one needs to gain fame and considerable strength within the Martial Arts School. However, for monstrous genius and genius among ordinary genius, they were directly recruited to the main sect and be able to study Dharma Arts.
Qing Yun was one of those former geniuses. But since he was tested only to become a mortal, the sect has not bothered to nurture him. Nurturing costs lots of resources. Hence, since Qing Yun lost his value, the sect didn't dare to waste their limited resources for a future powerhouse capable of fending off the fiends and demons!
To Qing Yun, this was slapping his face and mocking him. But he never has the slightest thought of hating the sect. He knew that the threat of Fiends and Demons were increasingly alarming. Sooner or later, there was a possibility for humanity to be wiped out completely from history. Millions of Mortals were dying every year...Qing Yun's eyes, suddenly, flash with sadness when he arrived at such a conclusion.
He shook his head when Old Qin's voice drifted to his ears.
"Young Master. Young Master?"
"Oh, Old Qin. I just thought of something. I'll go now and register my name." Qing Yun laughed as he saunters towards the gate where the registration was held.
Old Qin sighed. His Young Master was like this...ever since he lost someone important to him, he becomes even more hardworking towards the audacious path of martial arts even with his fate as a mortal.
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