As he sank into the clear water, he saw the ripples on the surface vanish at an unusually fast rate. He swam up and pushed his head out of the water to breathe.

Yun Fei surveyed his surroundings. The pond was surrounded by a ring of trees after a clear grass patch around it. He knew that he had reached the mountain and now he only had to move towards the peak.

While swimming to the shore, he admired the beauty and serenity of this place. The exceptionally clear water with a particularly dense texture, the wind having no presence, no sign of any kind of life.

All these made this place seem like a small paradise tucked away from the world.

He gulped a few mouthfuls of the clear water and was pleasantly surprised at its sweet taste. This was surely the best water he had ever tasted.

He wanted to rest here for some more time but decided against it. He still had to reach the peak and the danger was not yet over.

'The first time can be a coincidence but the second can not. Their movements displayed their confidence and unsurprise at encountering me.

It seems that they have a way to track me down. The original attack by that guy was also premeditated and not coincidental.'

He didn't know why they were targetting him and exactly which thing on him allowed them to track him down. But he knew how to get away.

Yun Fei refused to leave behind any of the loot that he had taken from the people. He just planned to climb to the peak before his pursuers caught up to him.

There, they won't be able to attack him under the official's supervision. After joining the association, he could have someone experienced help him get rid of the marked object.

He filled the containers he had with water from the pond and made his way out of this serene paradise. Just as he stepped outside the grove of trees, Yun Fei turned around to take one last look at this place so he could return sometime later.

What encountered his eyes was not the pond and the trees around it but a completely different place. The small oasis had vanished into thin air.

He tried searching for it but to no avail. He just couldn't find that place again. Time was passing by and Yun Fei couldn't afford to search any longer. He decided to revisit this place after the exam. Etching a tree using his dagger, he moved ahead.

Refreshed after the tense moments and his night’s cultivation, Yun Fei began his climb. Though the mountain was not a particularly steep one but the climb was no cakewalk.

As one moved, steadily ascending to the top. It became tougher, as one had to deal with numerous beasts. Some attacks made even Yun Fei pause especially so when a wolf pack set himself upon him.

Yun Fei was surrounded by the wolves as the alpha growled and stepped towards him. Although being surrounded would've been very troublesome for the other candidates, he had a way.

His eyes shined a shade of purple as he glared into the eyes of each of the wolves surrounding him. All of them froze in their places as Yun Fei moved to continue his climb.

This was the rulers jolt, as his control over Sun Ming's Eye technique increased, Yun Fei could better control the power of the rulers jolt.

He could earlier make beasts and humans with weaker cultivation than him lose consciousness. He could also do that now but he was also able to make them stop right in their tracks.

There was a reason why Yun Fei preferred to do this rather than completely knocking them out. This was because, using ruler's jolt continuously made him mentally tired.

Although he could use the forest king's crown to recover. It still took time. Using his eyes, he could easily bypass the beasts he encountered. He didn't have to stay and fight them.

Yun Fei thought that it wouldn't be any different this time too as he passed the group of wolves. But his judgement proved to be incorrect. The alpha darted towards his ungaurded back and leapt towards his neck.

He wasn't really going to fall for something like this. Although he was surprised, he could easily see the wolf moving towards him due to his all around vision. He could defend against its attack quite easily.

What came after this though, was a close combat with the alpha wolf. The rest of the pack was easily suppressed by Yun Fei's ruler's jolt whenever they tried to move.

He had a lot of difficulty in dealing with the alpha with his injuries. The wolf could use Qi and Yun Fei suspected that it was at a higher cultivation level than him, if the beasts even had a cultivation level.

He fought with the wolf for some time and was finally able to injure it and make it run away somehow. He didn't really have the time to chase it, so he let the pack escape without interrupting. Returning back to his climb.

At a certain tipping point, figures that were previously mere flitting images amongst the foliage became sharper to each other.

The forest thinned out before reaching the top and the climb got much steeper. This caused the various participants that had made it this far, appear before each other.

The ones who remained, were surely capable contestants and they all held a healthy respect for their respective abilities.

The previous frenzied fighting of the plains was absent, clashes were few and far between. All of them focused solely on reaching the peak.

The huge mountain flattened out into a flat tabletop, flat enough to doubt its natural origins. Even the tabletop was a considerable area, a simple testament to the monstrosity that the mountain was.

Before the mountain flattened out, there was a sheer cliff edge that constituted the hardest part of the climb. The cliff face was rife with unstable holds that caused many to lose their footing.

People who fell after a certain threshold had no chance of surviving. And messing up before that would lead to heavy injuries.

On this final stretch of his journey, Yun Fei looked down at the vertigo inducing fall behind him. Dangling from his hands, he felt no fear but only a euphoric exhaustion. His sculpted body never failed him as his developed skills showed their worth.

He clambered up the rock- face with the practiced strength and unassuming grace of an age old primate.

A surprising number of people had made it through to this point. But the sheer climb and most of all, the gruelling overhangs; were a great divide between those who had 'IT' in them and those who didn't.

Yun Fei navigated another difficult section, his languid body drawing attention as it left his peers behind.

He reached an edge on the cliff where he could rest for some time. Although his climb had been smooth, the palm he had used for the finishing blow back in the forest, wasn't fully recovered.

Yun Fei decided to take a break for some minutes as he sat down on the edge, facing the direction of the path he had taken. Since there were no obstacles, his eyes could see very far.

He could see some candidates in the clearings of the mountain, cliffs in the nearby plains and even the wall of the city.

The wind made his clothes and hair flutter as he enjoyed the expanse that stretched out before him, accompanied only by the rushing wind.

At the top of the mountain, on the table top structure,

Some of the candidates had already completed their climb. They were currently huddled up in various groups, talking to each other about different things.

All of these people were of the 6th stage of Qi Condensation and were over the age of eighteen.

This meant that they won't be able to participate in the tournament and will not recieve extra benefits of any kind.

Even without any of these extra benefits, the job of a city guard was already very lucrative for the rogue cultivators.

They would get a set amount of an allowance of spirit stones and could even commision the alchemists under the city for any pills they needed.

Their safety was also guaranteed by the city directly. There wasn't really much else that these rogue cultivators desired.

Even some of the more ambitious ones of the bunch were satisfied by the promotion opportunities which were provided to the guards frequently by the free city alliance.

Stopping their discussions about topics such as which girl was currently number one in the spring and rain pavillion and why a hammer might be a better weapon than a sword.

The rogue cultivators turned their heads to observe the newcomer stepping on to the table top.

It was a young man dressed in luxurious white robes. His expressions and demeanor clearly depicted his higher status.

His unblemished skin, average body height and a gentler build created an impression that he wouldn't be very skilled in a head on clash.

Su Libai looked around and then walked towards the centre of the table top. The City officials had set up a tent there for the candidates who climbed up to register.

"That's Su Libai, he's from the immortal illusion sect. He's the son of the grand elder." said one cultivator to the others standing in his group.

"Daoist Ren, isn't he adopted? His status shouldn't be very high."

"Well, even though he is adopted. I've heard that he has a very good relationship with the grand elder, even better than what some of the biological sons have." Ren replied.

"Hmph! If he had such a good relationship, would they send him out to get into some other force? He's clearly being sidelined." Another daoist who, allegedly, looked older than he actually was, pitched into the conversation.

"Uncle, you fool. I don't think you even understand the general situation. The Immortal Illusion sect has a good relationship with the Free City alliance.

Even in the past, many people from there have joined the free city alliance, getting appointed at high posts. There's even a city in the west whose city lord was originally from the immortal illusion sect."

Said a scholarly looking cultivator.

"Hey! I'm just 25 this year alright." Said the cultivator with the nickname of uncle.

"Bullshit! I'm 22 myself. You're definitely over 35. It's very obvious from looking at your face, you don't need to hide it. Doesn't everyone else agree?"

The rogue cultivators were once again embroiled into a fierce discussion which vanished as soon as Su Libai stepped out of the camp.

Walking towards them, Su Libai suddenly called out.

"If it isn't Daoist Ren, I didn't know that you were also going to participate in this exam."

"I must have forgotten to tell young master Su that day in the house of spring. Well, you can't blame me. I was so drunk that I almost forgot my name."

"It was really fun, let's go and enjoy after this competition finishes. It will be this young master's treat. You're all welcome."

The scholarly cultivator, uncle, Ren and all the others' faces instantly lit up. They always wanted to go and enjoy themselves but they couldn't bear such extravagance frequently with their finances.

With Su Libai, more people joined in and the conversation heated up. Although everyone except Su Libai was a rogue cultivator. He knew some of the people as he had met them in other places.

Rogue Cultivators moved around a lot and a few of the people here had even worked for the immortal illusion sect before. He had met a few of them in brothels and restaurants of Sungon city too.

If someone witnessed Su Libai right now, embroiled into boisterous conversation with the rogue cultivators and then compared it to his demeanour when he was alone at night, they would be very surprised.

His personality had completely changed. Currently, he came off as a spoiled Young Master who cared less about cultivation and more about liquor and whores. While, the previous night, he had a melancholic aura about him.

The conversation was once again halted as two newcomers made their entry on the table top. They were, He Xianru and Ha Ken.

As they were coming out of the tent after submitting their tokens and registering themselves. Ha Ken said to He Xianru in a quiet voice.

"It would be better if you don't get close to Su Libai. I know about this guy, he's a wastrel. He doesn't care about cultivation and spends all his time drunk in whore houses."

He Xianru was a textbook rebellious personality. If someone told her not to do something, that was what she would do. Additionally, she felt like she had to get back at Ha Ken for always lecturing her.

All the cultivators who were making plans with their young master Su to celebrate after the exam were scattered after one harsh glare from Ha Ken. He followed after a smiling He Xianru skipping towards Su Libai.

Ha Ken used to be a frequent sight around the city and the neighbouring towns. Before he was accepted as a disciple by the city lord he lived the harsh life of an orphan.

He carried a reputation amongst the people present, even as a child he had been a moral and hard-working kid.

It could be a monster eradication job, protection job or any other jobs offered by sects or any other organisations which required man power.

The point was that, rogue cultivators knew each other and had even worked together previously if they had similar areas of actions.

All that while, Ha Ken had done anything to continue his path of the sword. Often becoming a pack mule for these groups after being rejected.

He frequently ran into the rogue cultivators when he took up tasks and chores for resources in different places.

He had often been shunned as a useless kid by many in the present company. But even then, he had risen up far above them all. And no one could say that it was undeserved.

Everyone knew that Ha Ken was tight assed. Completely anal about cultivation and as upright as an iron rod. This personality just wasn't able to mesh well with the debilitating and ambition-less attitude of the majority of these rogue cultivators.

They also knew that Ha Ken was walking a correct and better path than them. This was also a reason they found him hard to deal with.

Unlike many of them, Ha Ken was one of the true rogues. He had no family remaining in the world and was all in on cultivation. The others had families and relatives, tethers to their mortal existence.

They just worked to support their families, maybe one day promoting their families to bigger and more powerful families but nonetheless constrained by their lack of dedication. How could they compare to someone like Ha Ken who only had himself.

"Greetings Young master Su, how has your stay in the city been? I heard that you had arrived some days earlier." He Xianru said as she smiled.

"It was fabulous, the girls in the spring and rain pavilion are just masters at servicing. Although the facilities nearer to our immortal illusion sect are grander, some of the workers here are very skilled.

The madam here was very kind too, I didn't have to pay a single spirit stone.", Libai replied enthusiastically.

He Xianru had a baffled look on her face. A little confused, She asked.

"Skills? Servicing? Just what do they do in the spring and rain pavilion that made the young master so satisfied."

"Oh! Miss Xianru is not aware? If you would like, Why don't you hang out with me after the examination?

I will personally demonstrate what they do there, you could help me out too. I don't mean to boast but...I am pretty skilled."

"Su Libai!!!! You went too far." Ha Ken's rageful voice cut off Libai.

While He Xianru was still confused about the situation, Li Subai just laughed out a little and said.

"I was just talking about drinking. Don't tell me you thought of something else.

You're too worked up, you should calm down a little."

He Xianru didn't know what was going on but she knew that the mood had soured. Trying to fix it, she said,

"This is young master's first time on this mountain, yes? Let me show you something amazing.", Saying this, She started walking towards one of the edges of the table top.

Libai just grinned towards the still frowning Ha Ken and followed He Xianru. Ha ken followed behind him.

What greeted his eyes when he reached the edge was the ultimate picturesque landscape.

A whole mountain range followed the mountain that they were currently standing on.

Surrounding and covering the mountain range was just a patch of green which existed as far as his eyes could see. It was a dense and grand forest.

Although the mountain tops were at a lower level than the table top. This was only because the whole plain on which the mountain range existed seemed to be sunken into the ground.

If absolute height was measured, the range would tower completely over the mountain they were currently standing upon.

What struck his eyes were buildings made out of white marble which existed just as spots of white near the foot of the first mountain in the vast green.

"Don't you think this is the best place to look over the Atlas forest?" Said He Xianru.

"I agree. This is one of the best views I've ever experienced in my whole life." Said Su Libai, genuinely.

He knew about Atlas forest. Afterall, it was a rather large one. Rich in all kinds of products, be it beast cores, herbs or other monster based products. It was a big contributor to the revenue of the surrounding areas.

Each and every force situated at its border would definitely exploit it the best they could. It carried unimaginable wealth.

"Do you see those white buildings? That's the direct base established by the Free City Alliance. Atlas forest forms a good source of revenue. It is definitely an important resource land."

Su Libai nodded absent-mindedly as his eyes remained fixed over the scenic view.