In the cave of the Evil-eyes Azure Tiger, Di Tianming had set up a bonfire.
Currently, he cooking the Iron Clawed Bear's meat. Su Lanyue, sitting beside him was caressing the Evil-eyes Azure Tiger cub. She asked, "Does it have a name?"
Di Tianming turned to look at her, under the luminous flames her figure looked even more enchanting. He said as he shifted his eyes to the cub, "A name? Hm~. How about Hu Di? Hu as in Tiger and Di as in emperor."
"Tiger Emperor? That's a good name.", she said, her smile extremely sweet. Then, she turned to look at Hu Di, "Now you have a name~! Xiao Hu, short for Hu Di. Do you like it?"
"Meow!", Hu Di or Xiao Hu responded, expressing his approval as looked at Di Tianming and jumped in his lap before sitting. Due to him possessing the same bloodline as him, Xiao Hu felt closer to him.
"Aw. He seems to like it! Look, he is even expressing his affection to you.", she said smiling.
Di Tianming only glanced at Xiao Hu for a second before, once again, staring at her. To him, she was the most important person at the moment and would do anything to protect her.
He couldn't help but recall what the both of them have done. At first, he thought maybe it was just a fling. But now...
He found her every movement beautiful, even when she frowned. However, he quickly shook his head and shrugged those feelings away.
Su Lanyue noticed his piercing gaze and her face started to heat up. Not wanting to go at it again she suddenly said, "Tianming, which sect are you planning to join after passing the sect entrance exam?"
Di Tianming, upon hearing her question, fell into a contemplative silence as he thought, "Which sect? I don't even know any of there names or anything."
So, he said with uncertainty, "I don't know. I don't even know if I will be able to pass the trials."
He pretended, putting on a conflicted expression. No matter, how much love he had for her, trust was something that was built over time. It wasn't something that could be built in just a moment.
"Don't be discouraged! In fact, with your talent, eve if you don't pass the trials, countless sect will be delighted to accept you in their ranks. Even some of the top sects will be take you in!"
"What are you getting upset for!? You're very talented!"
She immediately said, not wanting to see her love in low spirit.
Yes, after that one time she had already fallen for him but she hasn't told him yet.
"R-Really!?", he pretended to be surprised.
"Yes! With your Evil-eyes Azure Tiger Bloodline you can easily be accepted by other sects without even bothering to take the trials. However, if you want to enter the top ten sects you will have to take the test. My Serene Spirit Sect is also one of them so... "
She suddenly paused and moved her face closer to his right ear and whispered seductively, "If you want to be with me you'll have to pass the test."
Di Tianming wasn't disturbed by the fact that she knew about his bloodline. He didn't bother to even ask how she knew as he didn't plan to hide it.
On the other hand, instead of backing off like she had anticipated, he boldly turned his head and...
"Mm!"
Caught off guard, Su Lanyue couldn't react in time and her lips locked his. She, then, closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment.
"Hah! Hah!"
It was only after a minute that they separated. Taking deep breathes.
However, Su Lanyue eyes were burning, she doesn't seem to be satisfied with just that and still wanted more.
"Let's eat!", Di Tianming clearly saw the look in her eyes but chose to ignore it. But how could he know that he was soon going to regret it?
She was reluctant but still eat the food because she was still hungry.
"Roar!"
He also gave meat to Xiao Hu, who surprisingly had a huge appetite and quickly ate an entire leg, letting out a cute roar before going to sleep.
Soon, all the was left of the Iron Clawed Bear were its bones.
"Lan'er could you tell me more about the top sects?", he asked.
"Sure. But first, we must hurry back to the Orchid Mountain City otherwise you will miss the trials. It will take two days to reach the city so, I will tell you about them on the way."
As she said, she took out her sword and a black pouch which had intricate design from her spatial ring.
Then, she threw the black pouch at Di Tianming as she said, "Take this! This is a beast pouch which is made to carry your beast companion around. Convenient right? Xiao Hu is an Evil-eyes Azure Tiger, a beast which on reaching adulthood can rival a Peak-stage Spirit Soul Realm cultivator. So, there will be many people who try to get their hands on it. Even though, the top sects will not bother with it but the same can't be said for others."
"Spirit Soul Realm? What is that realm? Is it the realm after Spirit Body Realm?"
He had lots of question but no answers so, he asked her, "Um, Lan'er could you tell me about the realms above Blood Qi Realm?"
"You don't know?", she asked in surprise.
"No! I actually am an orphan who was raised by an Evil-eyes Azure Tiger since young so, I have zero knowledge about cultivation and stuff."
She gasped. However, soon, her gaze turned pitiful and melancholic. She couldn't imagine what sort of life he must have led and went forward to hug him.
"Poor Tianming! Don't worry though, I will shower you will all my love."
Noticing the change in her, Di Tianming could only apologize inwardly for deceiving her as he hugged her back.
"Sorry Su Lanyue. Maybe one day I will tell you the truth."
Then, she breaking the hug after a minute she said, "Just drop your blood on it and you will become its owner."
"Yes.", he said as he carefully observed the pouch. The intricate patterns on it looked mysterious.
He quickly pricked his tip of the finger and dropped a drop of blood on the pouch.
The intricate patterns glowed in red light the moment they came in contact with his blood before going back to normal. However, now, he could feel a strange connection with the beast pouch which previously didn't exist.
"Let's go.", she said as she stood up on her Shadow Steel Sword.
"Xiao Hu! Wake up, we are leaving."
"Roar~"
Di Tianming woke Xiao Hu up, who yawned as he stretched his small body.
"Come here. Enter inside. Don't worry its a beast pouch.", he, then, asked Xiao Hu to enter the pouch, who lazily walked inside it before going back to sleep.
He quickly hopped on the sword as he wrapped his arm around Su Lanyue. They set off into the horizon.
...
The Orchid Mountain City was largest and the most prosperous city located in the Xin Province, the second largest of the ten provinces in the State of Qi. The city was named so was because of the large varieties of orchid found in this mountain valley. From afar, it looked like a rainbow mountain, making it the most beautiful city in the entire State of Qi.
With control over several Spirit Stone mines and countless experts residing in the city, it was also the wealthiest. The several roads ran through the city, making transportation highly developed. As a result, it was one of the main road of trade and commerce in the region.
This past week, however, has been especially busy and profitable for the businesses of the city. A large crowd has gathered in the city, waiting eagerly for the Sect Entrance Exam to be conducted.
All sorts of people have gathered around here. However, the majority of them were youths around 15 to 17 years of age, for they were participating in the trails.
They were mainly of two different backgrounds - Nobles and Commoners. However, even among them, their were two groups: one that grew up in the city and knew what's beneficial for them. The other group was the one that came from villages and towns in remote regions. They usually made do with what they, were poor and had suffered their entire life.
However, they all had one thing in common; hope and ambition. The weak and poor dreamed about joining a sect in hopes of having a better life, have money, food and beauty. The strong, however, the children of the noble families wanted to join a sect with an Ambition. They dreamed of becoming legendary figure who cleave heaven and earth.
At the gate of the Orchid Mountain City.
Two figures, riding on a sword, landed. They were a young man and a young lady.