The trio's gaze turned upward when a black shadow descended from the sky.
Its speed slowed down until it was about several feet high in the air, which revealed the figure of a male.
A young man stood upright, floating in the air with light blonde hair which wasn't long like most cultivators but cut short at neck length.
Yet, his golden locks were curly and moved slightly in the wind.
He had one of his curved eyebrows raised along with a slightly pointed nose and small pink lips which added a wondrous charm to his facial features.
Just this face alone already screamed the words 'handsome to the extreme' and the surrounding aura was one that almost materialized to scream superiority and aloofness. His feat of just standing in the air was enough to let others know of his noble bearing.
His dark blue eyes seemed as if it contained an endless amount of blazing heat and extreme sharpness within and currently, those eyes seemed to be glowing. And yet, the look in them also held some amusement.
This man was definitely not simple.
Looking at the male standing on air as if land, a myriad of emotions flooded into the trio as if it were choking them.
The most prominent of them all presently was shock.
Yes, shock!
Shock from seeing someone standing on air as if it were nothing.
How could someone be flying on air? Was he using some special technique or a magical treasure to accomplish it?
At the Qi Spirit realm, it was basically impossible for cultivators to fly. At least, that was what Tian Long thought.
Or was it possible for cultivators to actually defy the laws of gravity and take to the skies?
He wouldn't know as, ultimately, he was still a country bumpkin who had just step foot on his cultivation journey for a short year.
That, however, didn't stop him from being wary of the flying male.
Tian Long narrowed his eyes greatly as he scrutinized the newcomers' appearance. However, the flying youth turned his gaze to him as soon as he did.
Tian Long's vision blurred slightly as he felt as if his eyes were burning. He winced in pain and hurriedly lowered his gaze as fear clouded his mind while cold sweat had amassed on his forehead.
Staring into those glowing eyes, Tian Long felt like he was staring at an ancient, blazing beast. Not only did his eyes burn, he felt plain, like he had been stripped naked.
Contrary to his heating optics nerves, his blood had gone cold as the threat of death enveloped him.
His instincts were telling him that this man was extremely dangerous. It was a feeling he had never felt before, the feeling that this man could kill him as easily as he himself could slaughter a chicken.
Thinking back to the beast earlier. Now he seemed to have realized it. That beast was running away as fast as possible, definitely running away from this man. Those two beams of light were certainly from him.
He was so powerful, and yet, he looked as young as he was. How was that possible?
Tian Long turned deathly pale as fear directly overwhelmed his shock.
In contrast, when Mei Ling came face to face with his gaze, she had an entirely different reaction from Tian Long. As if under a chemical reaction, her face turned crimson red, as if it would drip blood from it.
She quickly lowered her head, safely averting her eyes from his gaze.
"Ha…. T-those…. Those eyes. W-why a-re they so hot?" This was the first time she had felt something like this before.
When peering into those dazzling blue eyes, it was almost like a spark was lit up deep within her soul and flourishing heat slowly rose.
Her chest heaved slightly while she excluded slight pants as if she were going breathless. Rou'er, Tian Long's first companion, was no exception as well.
Seeing this scene, a flickering flame of rage seemed to burn within Tian Long. In a moment of hotheadedness, the fear within his heart was momentarily overpowered.
"Who…. Who are you?" Still, his voice came out in a tone more cautious, feeble and less demanding than he would have wanted it to. Nevertheless, it still caught the flying youths' attention, causing the latter's eyebrows to furrow slightly.
There was silence for a few seconds. It slowly passed from single digits to the double digits before entering a whole minute, and yet, the young man remained silent.
"Dantian origin phase, Gene forging 70% completion with Primitive blood essence and a Qi Spirit second stage entry realm. Proceeded with nothing more than Elementary and primitive gene refining essences. Foundation is weak. Hmm.... A forced breakthrough ..... Not interesting".
The youth shook his head slightly. The slight amusement within his eyes faded without a trace, leaving only disinterest before indifference, as if he weren't even looking at people to begin with.
He slowly stretched out his right arm and his palm opened.
Tian Long's body deflated like a balloon and his face was filled with utmost horror.
"How..... How can you tell our cultivation realms so precisely? T-this… this is impossible!" Tian Long exclaimed in disbelief.
But when he saw the opened palm, his fear skyrocketed to new heights.
Was this youth planning on eradicating them right now? With his current condition, he wouldn't even have the strength to resist. He was completely outmatched.
No, it's better to say that even if he were at his peak, the only fate waiting for him was to be pinched to death within this man's fingers. The strength of this youth was just that terrifying.
Even Mei Ling and Rou'er winced and closed their eyes.
Fortunately, it seemed like they were thinking too much. A ripple suddenly spread from his palm and the half split corpse of the beast trembled slightly before a fist sized object flew up from the corpse.
Tian Long's eyes widened with disbelief.
It flew straight to his palm and the young man caught the object with ease. He turned around without saying another word and flew into the sky, gradually disappearing.
Silence returned.
The wreckage of the whole area was the only thing to tell that something unbelievable had actually happened here.
Standing in the place the young man just left were Tian Long, Rou'er and Mei Ling, who all breathed out sighs of relief as if they had just narrowly escaped death.
And the truth was just as they thought, although not at the hands of the young man, but someone else.
Mei Ling looked in the distance towards the bodies of the Yang father and son duo, her heart rolled with complex emotions. When that beast had attacked earlier, everyone else fled.
The Yang family guards, Yang Bowen and Yang Cai. However, Yang Cai and his father had been sliced in half by that beam of light amidst their escape. Currently, they couldn't be any more dead.
The only reason why they hadn't run like the others was because Tian Long was heavily injured and couldn't move even if he wanted to, while her and Rou'er cultivation was too low to react.
Currently, only three of them were here now. The leader of the whole raid on her clan and his son whom she so desperately wished to see suffer had already died in front of her, leaving her with a very bitter feeling within. Judging by the way the beam had moved forward, it was highly likely that the beam didn't intend to hit them.
It was most probably an accident.
At the moment, her mind was blank as she didn't know what to do. She couldn't return to her clan that was already destroyed now, could she?
Her mind went back to the image of the perfect figure floating on air. He looked just as young as herself, yet his strength was able to kill the ones she considered as powerful enemies quickly when he didn't even intend to.
If she had such strength, such power, maybe... Things would have been different. Moreover, if he had not shown up, they would have died today for sure. Well.... Perhaps she wouldn't die immediately, but she would certainly be kept as a sex slave and toyed with until her death.
Thinking up to here, she shuddered involuntarily. She had just narrowly escaped a fate worse than death.
Meanwhile, Tian Long's eyes were burning with rage.
His fists were tightly clenched as he looked at the direction where that young man had flown away.
Twice!
Since a year ago, when he first obtained the Soul Records by chance, this was the first time he had ever suffered a loss.
No! He didn't suffer a loss, he suffered two losses.
Today, he had been hunted down and cornered from all sides by Yang Bowen and his son like a rat. If not for the circumstances, he would have most likely died.
The feeling left a bitter taste in his mouth.
At that moment, something seemed to appear in his line of sight.
[Optional Quest Failed: Successfully rescue Mei Ling from Yang Cai before her virginity is taken away]
[Penalty: -30 Soul Orbs]
[Main Quest Failed: Kill Yang Cai]
[Penalty: 600 soul Orbs/ Records Space locked for the next two weeks]
[Optional Quest Failed: Kill Yang Bowen]
[Penalty: None]
[Main Quest Complete]
Escape the Moon Wind Town with Mei Ling]
[Rewards: 100 soul Orbs]
[Warning: Due to the use of a forbidden skill, your lifespan has been overdrawn, and your potential has declined. You will not be able to use the system to upgrade your potential for another three months]
[You are currently gravely injured. Suggesting medical treatment as soon as possible. Estimating time of death to be in 03:16:48]
[Your lifespan has been severely damaged. You only have three years of lifespan left]
Current soul Orbs. -200
Looking at the records that had come up, the bitter taste suddenly welled up inexplicably. The last few were still ok, but the first and last one caused his eyes to redden in rage.
"That bastard Yang cai!"
Tian Long roared inwardly, his composure slowly crumbling. He had thought he made it in time, unfortunately, the records said otherwise.
That son of a b*tch had actually managed to get what was supposed to be his. How could he accept this?
He had gone through hell in the past few days than he did his entire life, nearly died several times and this was the result?
The quest to kill Yang Cai was something he didn't think he could fail. The rewards were pretty good. 600+ soul Orbs, and yet, the penalty was just as stinging.
All the accumulated energy was wiped clean, not to mention the fact that he now owed a massive debt to the Records. It was highly likely that his strength would remain stagnant for the next few months.
-200 soul Orbs? Who are you kidding. Killing someone on the same level as himself could only give him at most 15 soul Orbs, maybe less. It would probably take months to make up the deficit.
Yet, that matter now seemed trivial compared to what happened afterward.
Yang Cai had been killed by that man. No matter what, the power of those blue beams had already been engraved into his memory and would be one of those fragments he would find hard to forget.
It had managed to slay a Sixth stage Qi Spirit realm spirit beast in less than a second. That's right, at the sixth stage of Qi Spirit realm.
As for how he knew this, the Soul Records had already given him a detailed note on the cultivation realms of Martial Continent.
And he remembered clearly that only beasts who had reached the sixth stage of Qi Spirit realm would have a beast crystal.
That beast crystal was the very same thing that floated unto the youth's palm. It was a monster that he had no hope of standing against, even if there were two hundred and fifty of him.
Tian Long gritted his teeth as blood flowed from his lips and nose. He hated it, he hated that feeling.
The feeling of despair when he was surrounded by the Yang family, the feeling of fear when he saw the beast approaching. The feeling of dread, Inferiority, the threat of death he had experienced from the young man that could fly.
He was sure of one thing. He never wanted to experience those feelings again.
Especially the Inferiority! When he looked into that man's eyes, for that split second, he felt like an ant. He felt completely insignificant and his self-esteem plummeted.
His blood boiled.
That man looked at him as if he were looking at a nobody. A waste, as if he didn't even deserve a second look.
He didn't know why, a deep sense of hatred bloomed within him. After all, who likes being inferior? Every genius has his or her pride.
"You dare to look down on me. Acting all high and mighty as you float on air, but not killing me today will be your worse mistake. I may be weak now, but with the soul Records, I will surely catch up. I will climb a hundred mountains, cross overseas and step on corpses until I reach the peak. And if I ever see you again along the way, I will show you that no one is entitled to look down on me. Not even the Heavens itself, much less you".
Tian Long exclaimed inwardly as his eyes shone with an otherworldly glint. Power seemed to resonate within his words as they slowly spread and the aura in the atmosphere changed.
However, it had barely reached a distance of five meters before it shattered mercilessly.
The backlash caused Tian Long to spit out blood. His aura weakened again and the Soul Records appeared.
[Injuries have worsened. Time: 02:04:51]
"Brother Long, are you ok?" Rou'er who had been absentminded for a while finally came back to her senses and asked worriedly.
"Been better, but I'll pull through". He waved his hand lightly. His hot-blooded ego had calmed down. He finally reasoned that the youth's cultivation level must be pretty high.
At the very least, he must have already surpassed the sixth level Qi Spirit realm. Probably in the Seventh level or peak of sixth level.
Yet, it was that fact that confused him. How could someone who look as young as him... No, most likely younger, have such formidable strength?
From the looks of it, he had likely just entered his twenties.
Where did such a monster come from? Could it be from the legendary upper realm?
Was he really that strong? Could his strength have exceeded his estimations?
No!
Unless his age was actually a lot higher than he looked, then it was impossible for someone so young to have reached the Eighth level of Qi Spirit realm. He might have probably used a high-level treasure to defeat such a terrifying beast and fly as well.
When he thought up to here, Tian Long felt that that was reasonable. Some things still need to be considered in human reasoning. Although it might take some time, he believed that the most he needed was ten years.
"Ten years. I must step into the Sixth level within ten years". He proclaimed inwardly.
For others, it might be impossible to reach such a level.
"Brother Long, the commotion earlier is sure to attract attention. We could encounter trouble if we stay here any longer".
Rou'er said as she lifted Tian Long up while the latter nodded.
The noise earlier was sure to grab attention.
If he didn't leave now, and he later encountered a spirit beast, a curious cultivator or a Yang family member above his level, who would he cry to?
Even a first stage Qi Spirit warrior was enough to pose a threat to him at the moment.
Not to mention that it was already way past noon. If they were still in the forest when dusk greets them, then they probably wouldn't even know how they died.
He turned towards Mei Ling, who was still looking at the direction the youth flew away to.
A strange look flashed through his eyes as he looked at her, but it disappeared quickly.
With a last look at the area, the trio didn't stay any longer.
Meanwhile, unknown to them, a figure stood quietly high in the clouds as he watched them leave. After a few minutes, passed, the unfathomable young man sighed slightly and shook his head.
"The power of the system wasted on a fool. I really should have looked for someone else to gift the records".
He said disdainfully as he waved his hands. A list of logs similar yet vastly different from Tian Long's appeared in his vision.
"At least the decline of his potential should be considered as ample consequences. Oh! As well as this".
He clenched his right hand before reopening it. A dazzling life force erupted out of his palms.
This was precisely the lifespan that Tian Long had lost.
A cold, callous glint shone through the young man's eyes as they glowed a blazing blue. His figure blurred before vanishing completely.