"Hm?" A scholarly fellow turned his head as he stepped through the teleportation portal, his mind hurting with a blazing heat.
"What is it?" A beauty beyond words turned around the rage on her face subsiding instantly upon noticing her lover's slight change in expression.
"Something happened back at Baylen's Rest. The formation cracked, but didn't shatter." Raising his hand, he held it over his eyes, trying to assuage his immense head ache.
"Baylen's Rest?" The Jiyue Senior, Lan Suzu, questioned, "Where is that?"
"It's a hidden place, Senior, please understand." Smiling gently, Feng Wuqing parted her lips, though they soon turned into a soured smile, "I hope they are well."
Looking as though she had more to say, Lan Suzu opened her mouth however.
"Daughter!" A shout cruised through the area, the darkness right after the teleportation fading to reveal their surroundings.
A massive hall with tens of different circles on the ground, none of which were as well made as the one they stood on.
Jiyue Sect's Travel Hall.
And the man who stood at the top of the Travel Hall, the Hallmaster Lan Juzu.
"Dad! I broke through!" Her eyes widened with tears!
"Suzu-!" His arms wrapped around her tightly as tears fell from his eyes,"You're safe…!"
He couldn't care less about his face right now, his daughter had returned alive from one of the most dangerous breakthroughs in the beginning realms.
For a moment, the two shared and showed a great intimacy, however, it did not last.
Lan Juzu raised his head from his daughter shoulder and parted, his face a pale stone compared to the emotion it once held.
His daughter was much the same.
People followed into the Travel Hall like water down a stream.
"...Well done on your breakthrough, my beloved daughter." His face was emotionless, his only gesture a large hand on her shoulder.
"Thank you, Father." She cupped her fists.
The Travel Hall was lit with flying lanterns allowing him to clearly see the two who had come through alongside her.
A scholar with clothing a bit tossed and a beauty with lightly bloodied fists.
He had a bitter taste in his mouth, as he sensed nothing but trouble.
"Who are these people you've brought with you, Junior?" He stood now straight as a spear, his back unbent and his eyes glaring down carelessly.
Whispers lit the hall as to their identities.
"Responding to the esteemed Hallmaster," She with a bowed head spoke most respectfully, "Presenting now, Shou Xin and Feng Wuqing, these two saved my life during a crucial moment of my breakthrough when beasts had beset me."
"Junior."
"Yes-"
Slap!
Tssss…
Upon her face, a red mark with five fingers remained.
"How dare you bring such shame upon the sect?! To be saved by outsiders? You are lucky to have completed your breakthrough, nothing more. Now go and take them away, let it not be said that the Jiyue sect is ungrateful." Huffing with great rage, a vein had appeared upon the back of his extended hand.
Silently, she cupped her fists together and escorted them away amid the words of the crowd within the hall.
"The Travelmaster is still just as brutal to her as usual."
"Not even his own daughter can escape his wrathful hand."
"Even on the eve of a breakthrough, does he show any compassion, a villain."
"Heartless."
The two people in question being escorted away were nothing short of confused, yet, they also had their own thoughts in mind.
Outside of the Travel Hall, the world opened up and the two realized they were not in a city somewhere but rather within a mountain range, the entire area covered in clouds turning it into a misty, unforgiving place.
Yet, they were used to such places.
Lanterns lingered in the mist lighting the path and revealing buildings, residences of the various people who lived on the Travel Hall's Mountain, where all teleportation took place.
"...Please do not hold it against my father," Slowly, she took to the head of the group leading them up the mountain, her voice like a flies, "He has many enemies and cannot expose weakness' easily. The further I am from him, the higher the chance his enemies will not look at myself as something to be destroyed but instead used, increasing my chances of living."
One could hear her gritting her teeth even from behind, her fists clenched tightly.
"This pain on my face is not the anger of my father, but the heavy love he carries that forces his hand. I was weak but… now I will be strong." Her aura as an Unchained Expert slowly leaked out, albeit lightly.
It was clear that she was extremely powerful as seen by the fact she could handle the scroll which held the image of a flood dragon amid mountains, yet here she was weak.
Their heart's burned hearing this, who did not want to be stronger especially when faced with the era they lived in and the enemies they faced.
"We are fine to leave right away, as I said before, we are travelling to meet with family in the Fang State Capital," She then continued, "We will tell no one of any of this."
"No no no, please, stay for a while. I would be overjoyed to have you two as guests. Our Sect Tournament is coming around soon, I would treat you two to front seats or I am a bad host!" Lan Suzu smiled like sunflowers though as she glanced at Shou Xin she frowned slightly, "...keep him under control, okay?"
"He is very gentle, don't worry." Smiling gently, Feng Wuqing nodded.
As for the person in question, he had stopped paying any attention for a while now, as he had begun sensing a sharp aura nearby, pointing in all directions like a lotus.
Yet, he didn't have time to look further into it, as they entered a large pavilion at the top of the mountain, beautiful white jade eaves and marble walls.
The entire pagoda and courtyard were made of the same, unilateral color of white jade creating a very icy atmosphere almost like a graveyard.
"Our Jiyue Sect focuses very much on illusions and movement techniques, making us renowned throughout the Fang State for it since the time of my great grandfather," Drawing out her words at a methodic pace she paused before the pagoda's gates, their doors creaking open slowly, "With a history of thousands of years, the Jiyue Sect is an ancient place."
The grandeur of the ancient hall spilled out as one could almost feel the generations who once lived here watching their every step.
Pillars engraved with snakes, birds and clouds, hidden meanings rife within the architecture itself.
"It's beautiful." Feng Wuqing paid respect to the hall with cupped hands.
"It's like standing in the middle of a complex formation?" Shou Xin's eyes sparked, "This is an illusion formation, right?"
Feng Wuqing frowned, "It's bad manners to inquire about a sects affairs."
"It's fine," Lan Suzu shook her head, "It's not like the formation works anymore. It broke in my grandfather's generation during a battle against the Dragon Hand Mountain."
"Dragon Hand Mountain?" Curiosity piqued, he stopped in his tracks, eyes roaming over the pillars.
"Yes, well…" She slowly began to explain, her words carefully chosen.
Dragon Hand Mountain.
The gathering place of Dragon Worshippers, and not te kind who worship the ancient flood dragons who fought the evil true dragons, but rather those who follow beneath the remnants of the evil faction from back then.
Their roots are spread through many realms, and the hidden depths of their strength unknown even to the Exiled Court.
Their disciples roam about the many realms doing tasks and sowing destruction, wreaking havoc and committing atrocities in the name of the old factions which were lost, it is said that many ancient, almost extinct races are among their ranks.
Littered with experts and genius', it's an organization no one wants to go toe to toe with, even the Exiled Court is hesitant.
"Apparently their actual headquarters is a massive moving mountain which can travel between realms, making the rounds around the many realms, they are usually back here around this time every hundred years, it's why we hold the Sect Tournament at this time, to prepare," Lan Suzu clenched her fists, "My grandfather's generation was almost destroyed by them, and now they will come back, but it will be different this time!"
Her eyes burned and were clouded, she could not see the sparking eyes behind her.
"...We should." Feng Wuqing whispered behind her back.
"Mm." He nodded, "I want to investigate some of the area around the mountain first though, there's some sort of sharpness coming from around here. It calls out."
"Then, I will go and check out the strength beneath these mountains." She smiled curtly, as her mind extended out, for a while now she had been sensing some sort of a terrible battle that felt frozen in time hidden away here amid the Illusion Formation.
"What?" Lan Suzu who heard whispering but not words turned around only to find the two smiling at each other, a bitter taste appearing in her mouth as she did so, "Damned happy couples."
One had to understand, due to her position and station in the sect, she had never really met anyone of the opposite sex except for her father, let alone been in a relationship.
Every time she saw a couple, there was a burning jealousy which she hated to feel as it made her feel slimy and gross, but she couldn't help it.
Leading them off to their room, she bid them farwell, as she couldn't stomach it any longer and didn't want to feel this way, so she took distance instead.
After all, she was an Unchained Expert comparable to some Elder's in the Sect, how could she possibly allow herself to look jealous in front of her juniors?!
—
Leaving a fake doll in the room, a figure slipped out of the mansion at the first opportunity, his eyes burning like torches in the fog as he jumped down the mountain like a flood dragon.
"Have you heard of the Cloud Faring Sect closing down?"
"Ah, those bow maniacs. Yes, I heard about it. Their sect leader is apparently raving about some change of Era's or some such craziness."
"Ah! So you don't know it all! He says that the Sword Devil and Spear Dragon are just the first catalysts to a new era of great strife! The old fool is using the new generation to try and hid his own inadequacies in cultivation. It's laughable."
Disciples of the Law Realm discussed in no uncertain, nor hushed terms.
"The formation is still going strong, so why do we even need to guard it anyway? If someone does go in, they'll just get lost for eternity anyway and it's not like we're going in after them either."
"Posterity, young fool, posterity! If you cannot understand this, how will you ever become an Unchained Expert in the future?"
"Che. Unchained isn't much. Our Sect Leader is on the verge of establishing her Dao Body and coalescing her Dao."
"So you think your gonna get to Unchained soon?"
"..."
As they continued their arguments, Shou Xin laughed to himself and passed over them using his Sword Steps.
It wasn't difficult since while they were at a higher realm of Law Expert, the fog naturally seemed to have some concealing features and they weren't paying attention quite at all.
As they had said, the formation was strong, but not because of it's ability to keep outsiders out, but rather because of it's ability to keep anyone who intruded in.
The moment he set foot within the formation, the fog got several times thicker and he felt as though he'd been transported somewhere else, the voices far away now enough to sound like whispers even to his ears.
Swords were pointed at him from all angles!
The edge of sword is the home of the damned, Sword Steps!
His body vanished from the spot, the sense that countless blades were being swung at him felt like an illusion, but the blood dripping from his cheek was clearly not.
The energies all around him were many times more vicious than even Baylen's Rest's Miasma.
The key difference being, the Miasma was ambient it was simply there, however the Sword Qi here was violent and sought out somewhere to sharpen itself.
Without hesitation, he drew up his Sword Domain.
A river appeared at this feet from which countless little swords rose, a slumbering giant staying within the river with barely it's nose peeking the top.
Immediately sensing the sudden shifting of the power coming from Shou Xin, the Sword Dao got excited and attacked with greater fury.
However, Shou Xin's brows furrowed.
The more he survived, the stronger he felt and the more drawn towards the center he became.
It felt as though he was back in the cave at Baylen's Rest.
His eyes were thick with fiery lightning.
Yet, as he took a single step forward, the difficulty increased by several times and he was directly bashed backwards, his feet leaving long drag marks on the earth.
Pf-, Guh….
Holding back the blood from spurting forth, a thin trail fel lfrom the corner of his lips.
His insides felt like they were burning, however clashing his Sanguine Sword Qi with the violent Sword Dao he felt as though all aspects of himself were being sharpened.
In a few minutes, his strength had grown considerably.
However, his mind was shaken.
The bloodline of the Shou acting up at the rise of strength, covering the barely hanging on emotions in an instant leaving him with only two once again.
His hatred fueled his stubbornness and his love fueled his conviction.
He took a step forward.
—
Within the large hall of the Travel Mountain, a figure appeared.
Moonlight adorned her, making a beautiful goddess of a devilishly gorgeous woman.
Yet, the ferocity hidden behind those seemingly languid eyes was unmistakable. A beast with the beauty to rival her own strength.
Violet hair fluttered as she slowly began to copy the moves on the six stone pillars.
They felt familiar, and her mind began to fog and cloud, images seemingly falling off the pillars and dancing around her.
True Dragon.
Ancient Taotie.
The dancing stopped and the creatures scurried back into the pillars, leaving only a Dragon and a Taotie.
The world ender and the world devourer.
Two beings feared through the realms for their immense capacity for destruction and natural strengths.
They circled her, but never looked at her.
Their eyes locked in a fierce exchange of moves unseen to her, as though they were each looking thousands of moves ahead all at once.
Her mind numbed for a moment, but she held fast.
Her bloodline grew restless and a ceaseless hunger reveled within her body, wanting to directly devour not just one, but both.
There was something which told her.
Eat them.
Consume them.
Devour everything.
Feast.
Her eyes rolled back.
Her body grew in strength almost immediately as countless impurities fell away from her Divine Physique leaving a puddle of mud.
She understood.
Wavering willows, Unwavering Worlds, Devouring Touch.
Her hands opened up in either direction, touching the two creatures who did not pay attention to her at all.
Their very beings began to turn transparent, yet they did not react.
Techniques began to flower in her mind, powers rose within her body she had never sensed before and her bloodline burned holes through her skin causing puddles of blood to light the ground.
Infusing the strength of these beings… was difficult.
Her mind was thrown into a fogged place, someplace she was readily familiar with.
The Endless Dao.
A place with not sight, only laws hidden in the endless universe from which the Endless Dao spreads.
She could feels tens of laws shining around her, waiting for her to pick them out.
However, her hands did not move, they had already found what she would take.
She did not bother to find the names of those laws she took, her bloodline changing her mental state.
She directly shattered them within her grasp, the other laws watching this did not react.
The essence of those two laws were infused into her own World Devouring Law as though it was the most natural thing.
When she opened her eyes… everything was returned to normal.
The pillars were inert.
The Taotie was gone and the Dragon vacant.
Her strength… had broken through to the Second Stage of Law Realm.
"It's been seven days."
—
The second step.
Sanguine Sword Body, Law and Qi.
There was nothing that was not harmonious within his body, yet the second step eluded him so.
Shou Xin could sense only two steps ahead, yet he knew there were at least, two hundred or more, yet he was stuck on the second.
A wave of anger rushed him.
Hatred rose like a volcano in full bloom powering his stubbornness whilst his love stood like an unmoving mountain resolving his conviction.
He would take the second step, even if he had to die.
Gritting his teeth, Fukkatsu came out and coiled around him to provide some defence alongside the armour clothing he had received from the tomb in Baylen's Rest.
Over the last seven days, it had always been the same.
His eyes sharpened.
He knew what was to come.
A figure stepped through the mist.
A copy of himself looked right back at him, an amalgamation of his every most base self.
An exact copy.
Well, almost.
The edge of the blade is a sorrowful place, Sword Steps.
Aim for the earth cut the sky, Fukkatsu Kiru.
His figure turned fuzzy.
The Reflection's eyes were savage as it responded to his attacks with it's own, far more efficient and far more ruthless moves.
They had the same strength and looks, but that was as far as came.
The Sword Dao seemed to want to destroy him with an absolutely fair battle.