Chapter 30, Matters at hand

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Li Meixiue went to prepare for the contest after being done with her training. Though she left the room untidy.

She strolled through the paved pathway while thinking about something. As she was walking, a man came beside her wanting her attention by spouting loads of stuff about her beauty.

The lady didn't care at all, or to make it worse, she didn't even notice his presence.

After seeing how he failed with entrancing her, the man left with a dejected look. Unfortunately he wasn't the last one as more came afterwards.

Meixiu eventually reached to the center of the town which had a pond and a large tree on it.

The tree was so large that its shadow covered mostly the entire square.

She didn't pay attention to anything aside the two jade pillars nearby. When she went near, a middle aged man came and greeted her. He then said, "Fairy Meixiu, it's good that you came today." Before bowing.

Meixiu waved her hand, "You can drop the formalities Uncle Fu, we're not in the clan."

The middle aged man revealed a smile before replying, "Even if we're outside, I must address our clan's future with utmost respect. Though sometimes I don't know whethere you're angry or happy with your expressionless face Haha."

She heard him before asking, "So, how's the portal construction going?"

"It's almost done, by the next five days it should be complete." He said before patting the pillars.

Meixiu nodded in response. She then asked, "How about the islands?"

"It'll appear anytime now."

Meixiu wanted to speak but a large thunder noise urupted before before enormous things appeared in the sky.

Commotion broke out amongs the pedestrian people around as they look at the sky.

Four huge islands appeared from thin air. All of them giving a grand sense of mystery.

Each having a certain characteristics. First one being filled with trees and flora, second with a large lake surrounded by a forest, third having three home like structures and lastly an island with a large palace.

Every island were sourounded by a bubble that looked inpenatrable. Buzzing with electricity.

Though out of all of this... The most shocking part was that the islands were ALL upsidedown!!

The middle aged man then continued, "Looks like it was a success."

Li Meixiu nodded but couldn't help being lost looking at the islands above. As this was actually her first time seeing a major teleportation at this scale.

Seeing how she kept looking at the islands caused the middle aged man to chuckle before saying, "Our sect master is our pride afterall."

Meixiu again nodded, but this time twice.

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Back behind the inn, near the forest

"What was that noise!?" Lihua yelled after cutely jumping twice in fright.

Tengfei awoke before eyeing something in the sky. He pointed at it which attracted the attention of the princess.

Both were then left dumbfounded as they surveyed with awe at the large islands in the sky.

Lihua couldn't help but comment, "Am I dreaming?"

Tengfei replied, "I'm supposed to be the one saying that." He proped his chin before continuing, "You, tell me."

The princess thought off something before an expression that showed she figured the mystery appeared on her face.

"I think I know what are those islands for." She said.

Tengfei seeing her confident look made him want to tease her a bit. So, he said, "Really? Did they come from the center of the world?"

"What yo-" Before she could finnish, Lihua knew that he was making fun of her previous mistake. She angrilly stepped on his feet as a reply.

Tengfei shrieked in pain though started laughing later on.

The princess crossed her arms before saying, "As I was saying, those islands belong to one of the great sects! Heaven spark sect! Holding the contest that you are invited five days from now."

Our young mc had some doubts as to why the name of that clan being quite... horrible. Though he didn't point it out.

He then exclaimed out loud, "Amazing! I never seen such a grand thing before."

His words felt forced but Lihua didn't catch it.

"Well, you're afterall just a country bumbkin. Since you're now with a great princess like me, you will, from now on keep seeing grand scenary such as this!!" She then struck her usual pose.

Tengfei seeing this act once again, made him play with her cheecks, pulling it and saying, "It's a crime as to how cute you are. Slowly letting me forget all those wretched things about you."

The princess pushed away his hands before replying, "I changed for the better! And also... don't do that but instead pat the top of my head..." her voice kept decreasing through her statement till the end.

Tengfei did as told with a smile.

Lihua seeing his smile made her feel happy as well, "I like that type of smile!"

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Deep in the forest

Zhou Huan was now beside the dead bear covered in mud, soot and blood.

He was hyperventalating as he clucthed his spear deep into the bears body.

A wry smile appeared on his face before he thought, 'All this for just a stage one beast core... And here I thought I was strong...'

He kicked the bear's corpse before feeling frustrated. Huan removed his spear then took out his carving knife before searching for the beast core.

After finding it, he can't help but feel shocked at the appearance of the ball.

It wasn't like others as it had a purple runic character in it. He couldn't decipher the meaning of it so he just placed it in his bag.

Though the appearance of it still lingers in his thoughts.

He decided to clean and loot the bear's material before setting up camp.

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In a far away land, to the south, a country called Tanyeong

There was carriage being pulled by two horses crossing through a forest path.

Around them were trees with orange leaves and the general flora.

The driver was lazily yawning before spotting a stranger blocking the carriage's way.

He pulled the reignes and calmed the horses before observing who was in front of him. The man then heard the noble in the carriage, "Why did we stop?"

"Noble sir, a stranger is currently blocking our path."

"A stranger? Ask what that person wants. Hopefully not being another mere bandit."

The driver stepped out of the carriage before approaching the stranger. He surveyed the individual and found an unexpected thing.

Even though the stranger was wairing loose clothing, it couldn't hide the vuluptious figure. Her breasts were outlined by her top clothing, very full and round. The stranger's robe also couldn't hide her bottom which was perched upwards and plump. A body figure similar to that of a hourglass.

She was wearing a thin silk veil allowing only her vermillion eyes to be seen. Though her hair was covered by a black hood connected to a short cape embroided in gold clouds.

The driver couldn't help but feel shocked and dazed by the woman's figure as he almost forgotten his purpose.

Only a short while later, did he regained his mind before he asks politely, "Wondering fairy? Are you perhaps lost?" He then revealed a confident smile. Even if one of his teeth was missing.

Hearing his words caused the stranger to look into the man's eyes for a long while.

She then started laughing. It started lightly but her laugh became louder and louder. She even fell to ground and started rolling around as she continues to laugh.

The driver was speechless from her act and also flustered. He asked nervously, "What's wrong, miss?"

She stood up before wipping of her tears. The stranger then said, "Your past is funny!"

"Past?" He replied dumbfoundedly.

"You sold your wife and son as slaves to pay of a debt. Later when free, you used your remaining money to get into a shady business involving that noble in that carriage." She revealed a smile behind her veil before continuing, "A bussiness that involved spreading out a drug which makes a user's cultivation progress faster the more they had intercourse. Now you're pretending to be a driver for that particular noble and looking forward to your payment in Krehor." She said before surveying him.

The driver's face changed as he pulled out a knife aiming to stab the woman in front of him. The knife digged into the woman's chest. Though only the tip. A small scratch.

He found it hard to push it through and more shockingly pulling it out. The driver then found that a red substance was starting to engulf his blade, then his hand.

The driver shrieked as he tried to remove his hand by punching the woman with his free one.

He's is quite unlucky as the moment his fist was about to collied with the lady's face, his hand was already separated from his arm. He saw the lady's ring shine in bright red before seeing full darkness.

The noble inside the carriage looked out and wondered what's wrong before witnessing something very gruesome. His driver... Was sliced in half by something fast covered in red.

Then a laugh as gentle as the breeze could be heard. If it weren't for the mutalated corpse in front of the lady, then anyone could be entranced.

Though right at this moment, the noble was feeling the complete opposite as he shrieks in fear and asks help to the man accompanying him.

The man showed a grin before stepping out the carriage. He was a person feared by everyone and was quite infamous.

People called him the 'Skin flayer' as he was known to strip off individual's skin and make trophies out of them.

He was a small statured man wearing a clothing resembling human's skin...

It had pieces of iron on it, acting like some sort of armor.

He had no weapons except the many inscription rings on his fingers. Many of them retrieved from the foes he killed.

His face was rough and filled with scars.

The moment that he saw the stranger in front of him. his mouth started watering as he pictured ripping of the beauty's skin while she begs.

Though he wasn't that dum as he prepared already activating one of his rings.

A whip made out of pure fire appeared on his hand before clutching onto it. He tested the whip before saying out loud, "I'm a mercifull guy, prostrate in front of me and I'll consider taking you in as my personal bed warmer."

Hearing his words caused the lady to cover her mouth as she tried to contain her laughter. Though she failed as she laughed a lot, not falling to ground this time though.

She then pointed at the man before saying, "I don't even need to look through you as you're already in my list!"

The man didn't question as to what the crazy lady is saying but instead he swung his whip. As if the whip was made of rubber, it stretched and aimed for the girl.

She sidestepped the initial blow before a ring appeared on her finger. An eternal soul ring.

It glowed in crimson red before a coiling majestic eel emerged out her hand. The eel was very large, countless sharp sickles on its back, large horn on its forehead and not to mention it was made entirely out of blood!

The second whip's fire was blocked by the hardened eel's body.

It then, without anytime to waste, lunged towards the skin flayer like a javelin. Aiming its horn towards the man.

The skin flayer barely dodged, as he noticed the large scratch with seeping blood on his body.

He then activated another inscription ring which manifested a flame shield on his left arm. Using the shield, he blocked the next attack of the eel. Though the unexpected occured. As his flame shield couldn't handle the eel's horn and disperesd.

The eel didn't stop there as its horn pierced through the skin of the man's arm before fracturing the bone. He shrieked in pain.

Next thing he knew was the feeling of his back being lacerated.

He gritted his teeth before inserting mana to the mark on his stomach. The moment the mark glowed, his whole body was then covered in orange flame.

Skin-flayer then dispered his flame whip before punching the eel away.

The flame around him then condensed before forming a full suit of armor. He grimaced before thinking, 'I underestimated this lady... A simple peack stage one technique to be this formidable...'

An eternal soul ring appeared on his index finger. Gold with a ruby on top. He channeled his mana into the ring before a very large greatsword appeared below his feet.

The sword then was lifted up and flew with him. As if he's surfing with the sword on the wind.

By the time he's up on the air, he looked around the place but couldn't find the lady.

Though immediately he felt something was wrong... before looking up.

There was a lady sitting on the air, crossing her legs, as a very large blood like wings flap behind her.

A laugh was then heard before countless feathers rained on him.

He couldn't dodge the mass amount of projectiles towards him. At the same time he didn't felt any pain and thought that he made a fine choice investing on that armor secret technique.

Skin-flayer then flew towards the lady with his greatsword aiming to pierce through her!

He even activated another ring which emitted large amount of flames from the back of his hand, using it as some sort of thruster! His speed increased and he was approaching the lady.

Though before he could reach her. His whole body was then encased in a large red bubble which rebound his strike. Causing him to bounce around inside the bubble...

He looked out the bubble to see another eternal soul ring on her hand. The skin-flayer cursed before trying to break out the bubble.

The lady laughed again but this time it was short. Her eyes then glowed in blue causing her vermillion iris to look purple.

She then inserted 40% of her mana into her mark before flicking her sleeve. She then waved her hand slowly vertically.

The feathers that stuck on the skin-flayer then glowed in red.

Before slowly the quil of the feather extened and digged into the man's flame armor, his skin, muscle, bone and right through.

The skin flayer died misserably as he had to withstand the slow agonizing death. He tried lots of stuff like burning the feathers, pulling each one off, breaking the bubble, and asking for mercy...

Though all failed, before death, he felt the most excruciating pain.

He now resembled a pin cushion with lost of enlarged feathers inside him.

The moment the bubble disappeared, his body fell to the ground causing a large gory splatter.

Blood dyed the ground.

The lady whistled mockingly as she looked at the young noble running away for his life in the forest.

She flew towards the young noble before appearing in front of him. Her appearance scared the young noble to the core. His expression paled before trying to running the opposite direction.

The lady activated her ring and sliced the calves of the young man. He fell but didn't stop there as he grit his teeth and tried crawling away. Though his action were stopped when he felt the weight on his back.

He then yelled out, "H-how much!? I-I promise to pay that amount if you set me free!"

"Hmm? Don't waste your last words with typical lines that any noble would say. Your life will end now, no matter what." She said seriously.

Tears started appearing on the young man's eyes before he yells out, "I-If you kill me... They will come after you!"

The lady laughed before replying, "The more of your people come, the more easier for my vengeance to be fullfield."

She then waved her hand before crimson liquid emerged out of her hand. It condensed and sliced of the young man's arm.

He bellowed in pain as he struggled to get off. His eyes wide and filled with fear as he kept screaming like a dying chicken.

The lady then said, "You were there... Though still a child but already at a point where you can't be saved. You enjoyed the scenary of my demise with those other people. Now, fifteen years later, your group of people will slowly disappaear from this world. As long as I'm here."

She then sliced a major artery as she watched the man slowly die.

The lady removed a paper before crossing out a name out of it. She looked at her shaking hands before sighing and looking at the sky above. She wondered if what she's doing is right.

"Better burn the corpse and loot them." She said before rubbing her hands.

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To the country of Xuanqihar. In the main city. The king's Palace.

Inside the King's advisor personal room.

There was a man sitting on a cotton chair facing a desk filled with papers. He dipped his quill in the ink jar before writing down some stuff.

His appearance was quite simple, looking like a gentle caring middle-aged man. Having red flowing hair tied to the back. Red beard flowing downwards. Having a bulky warrior type physique. Wearing a well ordaned clothing beffiting nobles from prestigius background. He looked serious at his work.

The candle on his desk flickered as if the windows were not closed.

A shadow creeped from the window, slowly moving through the floor before a man emerged out of it.

Normally you would expect a dark heinous like appearance but instead... A radiant look appeared.

A man wearing clean clothing belonging to any common family, his hair was cleanly shaven off, aside from the small black braid on the back and he wore a mask with lots of black dots on it.

His posture was straight and dignified. His hands were cupped to the back before he said out, "Master, I have brought news."

"Spill it out." The king's advisor said but didn't stop writing down on the papers.

"The majority of what I'm about to inform you is... Quite bad. Firstly, even though that minor branch of a sect has been completely destroyed, the two individuals you wanted captured has escaped and their whereabouts unknown. Secondly, your man at task called Ming Lu has been found dead and traces of being tortured were seen on him; Also his men has been entirely anihalated. And lastly, I believe that the knights of Krehor will be involved in hindering your plans, Master."

The masked man then braced himself and awaited the outburst of anger comming out of his newly appointed Master. he was experienced at this aspect since he had many masters before. This was his first mission given by his new Master. So, he didn't actually know that much about him.

To his surprise, his Master didn't care that much from what he spoke but instead commanded, "Tell me the good news."

"...Your concubine has been confirmed dead and silenced. Found her body resembling a pile of meat. The servants were all confirmed dead aside from one. The treasury and living quarters has been desposed. I easily found the gray haired youngster and your daughter. It seems like the assassin guild calling themselves 'An Yue' lurking in the city Taesu was responsible for killing off Ming Lu and his men. Luckily at the end they were disbanded by the knight's sent out by king of Krehor."

The King's advisor stopped writing before looking at the man in front of him. He then said, "Obey my command. Don't reveal or even touch both my daughter and that young man till I say so. Though make sure to keep an eye on them from in the shadows, checking their growth, particularly that young man."

The masked man was surprised by his master's demeanor.

He didn't question about the task given and accepted the order. Though he had to ask, "What about the knights, Master?"

"Don't mess with them, King Elric is a man not to be taken lightly. Now go and accomplish your task."

The masked man nodded before truning into a shadow and then disappearing.

The king's advisor stood up, cupped his hand on the back before he calmly walked beside the window. He looked out before uttering, "He who was born not human, bearer of gray, thief of mana and key to the next world. Thou's descendants will change races hatred."

He closed his eyes before thinking, 'That old lady said that I can wield the key and find that world... Though only when this young man steps into the world of cultivation/sorcerry will the signs of him being the key will appear. Right now I have to wait patiently and watch his development. If he can't proceed naturally then I'll take him in and develop him. The best way to chain him as my pawn... Would be for him to marry into my family.'

The King's advisor looked at the sky above before uttering, "I'll find you. Just wait for me."

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Inside the Inn

Tengfei laid down on his bed before thinking about the islands earlier.

He then felt something to his side before finding Lihua on his bed. He looked at the shy looking girl before asking, "You're getting braver each day."

She averted her gaze before replying, "S-Shut it! Because of you, I can't sleep anymore by myself! It wouldn't feel right."

Tengfei looked at her before thinking about how she suffered before. He then placed the blanket on both of them before saying, "Goodnight."

His action confused Lihua before she shyly replied back, "Goodnight."

They became quiet for a while and couldn't sleep.

Tengfei eventually said, "Thinking about it, I wouldn't ever imagine this in the past. If I knew you better like now, I believe we would have a different future."

Lihua remained silent, but thought about it.

She then, after making sure that Tengfei was sleeping, told him "Thank you for everything."

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