Chapter 1 : Old Pervert, Young Thief

The sky was dark filled with countless stars. The moon stood above all, radiant rays of white light shined throughout the land.

On top of a small mountain, sounds of an active fire could be heard inside a small dark cave. Within this cave there was a teenage boy currently enjoying a piece of chicken. He cooked this chicken only a few moments ago.

The boy had medium length black hair which reached his shoulders. When one looked at him they would sense a calm and cool aura surrounding him.

He appeared to be slightly skinny, wearing a black colored robe which covered his entire body. He seemed slightly suspicious and low-key.

“Sigh.” The youth took the final bite of the chicken leg in his hands. He yawned as he pulled out a little apple from within his robes. All of his actions appeared slow, yet refined. One couldn’t help but feel a hint of cleverness from his jet-black eyes.

The youth’s ear suddenly twitched, and his eyes turned to a corner of the cave. His eyes were on a huge boulder which was two meters tall and wide. The youth could faintly tell that the boulder appeared to be trembling slightly.

“It must be Old Man Black.” The youth thought to himself after observing the scene.

A few minutes later the boulder suddenly rose up, off the caves floor. It came in contact with the ceiling of the cave. Afterwards the boulder appeared to be tossed a few meters aside. The boy’s face expressed some surprise.

“Bahahaha! At long last I, Old Man Black have finally reached the late stages of the spiritual warrior stage!” An old rusty voice filled with delight could be heard. A tall black figure walked out of the little crack in the wall.

An elderly man dressed in black was grinning. He had long black hair which was turning grey. His figure was incredibly skinny. Anyone who looked at the appearance of this elder would feel a sense of danger.

The youth shot up to his feet. He bowed respectfully to the Elderly figure in greetings, “Teacher, disciple pays his respects.”

The Elderly man continued to grin as he looked at the young teen. Afterwards his eyes turned to look at the chicken laying on a wooden plate.

Old Man Black sniffed and a smirk appeared on his face. He casually grabbed the roasted chicken, and started devouring it without saying a word.

After finishing his meal he spoke merrily. “This chicken.. You must have stolen it from Village Farmer Eanor? Ahh, the taste of his chickens are much better than those other stalls. I've seen him actually go out to hunt for wild animals from a nearby mountain range. It’s only natural it tastes better than the others.”

The teen merely nodded his head in reply. Old Man Black had a strange personality where he did not speak much. He also didn’t like being talked back to. On top of that Old Man Black was considered a fairly infamous person within Tifili Village. He was well known due to participating in robberies and even murders, his reputation was actually horrendous.

The teen couldn’t help notice that Old Man Black appeared overly happy today. The smile on his face made him look a bit like a pervert. Old Man Black had raised him ever since he could remember. Apparently Old Man Black found him as an orphan of war during a mission. He decided to keep him around for company ever since.

Suddenly the teenager pulled out a glass bottle. Old Man Black eyes shined when he saw red liquid through the glass bottle. The smile on Old Man Blacks face grew wider, and even more unsightly.

“Huh, kid you got this for me?” Old Man Black disregarded the boy’s reaction. He joyously grabbed the bottle from the youth’s hands and drank a few gulps. The sound echoed throughout the cave.

“Eh, this isn’t any ordinary wine. You actually stole this from Blood Reds stall?” Old Man Black had a pondering expression, he fondled with his beard lost in thought.

“The owner of that stall is a level three Spiritual Warrior, how did you manage to steal this?” Old Man Black asked the youth, while continuing to enjoy the fine wine.

“Mister Blood Red wasn’t at the store. Instead it was his apprentice running the store.. So I was lucky and managed to escape from him.” The youth replied honestly. He smiled slightly thinking of his smooth get away.

Old Man Black contemplated for a moment. Blood Reds apprentice was a genuine spiritual warrior, who recently broke through to the second level.

“Hmph” Old Man Black snorted. “You’re quite lucky.. Any how to be able to escape a spiritual warrior can be considered decent. Even a village guard wouldn’t be able to get away with it.” He advised in a slightly chilly tone.

The youth’s eyes had a little fear in them, he replied in a faint voice “Teacher, if I had known I wouldn’t have tried to steal it. If I didn’t follow the directions through the alley ways that teacher told me, perhaps I would’ve been caught.” Although he was afraid, he didn’t come up with any excuses, simply explaining what happened.

Old Man Blacks chilly vibe changed once again, he chuckled slightly. “Mhm.. Remember what I thought you. Never fight anyone who has a level edge on you, especially since you haven’t started true training. Each little rank can be considered a huge difference.”

“For instance Blood Red is a level three spiritual warrior, but to me a level seven spiritual warrior he is nothing but an ant.” Old Man Blacks laughter echoed throughout the cave. He appeared to be in an exceedingly good mood while he bragged.

“Ah, teacher has reached the seventh level of the spiritual warrior stage?” The teenage boy appeared surprised. As far as he could remember, in the past fifteen years, Old Man Black only made a breakthrough once.

“Hahaha, it’s not only that. The seventh level could be considered a small boundary within the spiritual warrior stage. I can be considered a Late Stage Spiritual Warrior now. Before today I could only be considered a middle stage spiritual warrior at level six.” Old Man Black proudly said.

“If those old fellows at that accursed Grand Tree Sect knew this.. Hmph, they would’ve never expelled me from the Sect!” Old Man Black said with a dark smile on his face, his eyelids twitched when he mentioned the ‘Grand Tree Sect’.

This wasn’t the first time the youth heard that his teacher was expelled from a Sect. Old Man Black always seemed a little angry whenever he said the name of the Grand Tree Sect. He was kicked out due to his talent being poor when he was just a young boy.

Unfortunately Sects were like holy lands. Only those with sufficient talent could be a part of them. As for the others, they could only dream about joining any Sect without sufficient talent.

The youth couldn’t help smiling slightly. Even though his teacher was very strong he had a bit of a heretical attitude. Most likely no sect would even want such a villainous and petty man in their sect. In fact if it wasn’t for all the unorthodox methods Old Man Black had done, perhaps he wouldn’t be able to reach his current strength.

Old Man Black noticed his disciple’s change of expression. He angrily slapped his hand on the ground in anger causing the whole cave to shake.

“Little brat Blacky, do you find something funny?” Old Man Black asked furiously. Spit sprayed out his mouth.

The youths name was actually Blacky. Old Man Black gave him this strange name randomly. Apparently he couldn’t come up with a better name.

“Teacher, it’s just that the way we do things.. Those Sect might not acknowledge it as being ethical..” The youth spoke with a bitter smile.

Old Man Black snorted as he interrupted Blacky. “Hmph! Blacky don’t just speak whatever nonsense you hear from those buffoons at the village. I can tell you as long as your strength is sufficient no one will dare go against you. No matter what methods you used to gain strength.”

“Also just because you don’t hear about sects doing bad deeds, doesn’t mean they don’t do so at all. It was said the three current Overlord Sects of Denus Empire were previously the four Overlord Sects of Denus Empire.” Old Man Black paused after saying this piece of information.

“But don’t dare publicly go up against Sects. For the likes of them, they don’t even need to look at your direction. Like pfft, you will be eliminated from this world.” Old Man Black spat on the floor as he advised Blacky.

The cave suddenly seemed to have turned slightly gloomy. Blacky knew his teacher had a grudge against the Grand Tree Sect. Most likely it wasn’t something as simple as getting expelled from the sect.

*Gulp Gulp* The sound of Old Man Black drinking the wine could once again be heard.

“Haha.. Blood Reds wine is really the best out of Tifili Village.. Fortunately in the future we’ll enjoy much grander delicacies than this.” Old Man Black smiled slightly, attempting to sound mysterious.

Old Man Black looked at Blacky’s strange expression then roared out in laughter. “Hahaha! I don’t mean that we’re going to go rob the safe of the Village Chief or something.”

Blacky only appeared more relaxed after hearing Old Man Blacks words. “Then how will we survive without robbing?”

“The robbing can just be considered a way to train you.. In reality I am not so hopeless to go around and steal trash from some poor villagers.” Old Man Black laughed darkly.

Blacky smiled awkwardly. Old Man Black was a level six spiritual warrior a full three ranks ahead of stall owner Blood Red.. Yet he had to go around and rob things to keep surviving. On top of that most of the things he robbed Old Man Black took! He was a true bastard!

Old Man Black continued “Actually this has to do with the Village Chief he has recently broken through. This has surprised many within the Denus Empire. Tifili Village can be considered quite a bit above average. Now the Village Chief reached the fourth level of the Elemental Warrior stage.. A full boundary ahead of me.”

“Elemental Warrior Stage?” this was the first Blacky had heard of this stage.

Old Man Black nodded as he spoke grimly. “People who reach the elemental warrior stage are incredibly strong. They can store heavenly energy inside their body and use it to attack.” Old Man Blacks voice was strange as he said the words heavenly.

“Any casual attack by an elemental warrior can cause a peak spiritual warrior to die without knowing as to why. Now the Village Chief can be considered a middle stage elemental warrior. He will be highly valued by even the Denus Empire, don’t forget the Tifili Village Guard. For instance that Blood Red is a mere Knight of the Village meanwhile Grand Knights are between the Fourth and Sixth Stages of Spiritual Warrior Stage.” Old Man Black said.

“The Village currently has no one above the strength of the level Seven Spiritual Warrior. Perhaps only the family members of the Village Chief have reached that level.” Old Man Black glanced at Blacky and continued. “You discovered a little bit of the inner workings of Tifili Village. But now with the Village Chiefs breakthrough, the direction the winds blow shall change.”

Old Man Black put aside the bottle in his hand which was now empty. Afterwards he reached into his robe and pulled out a little box and handed it to Blacky.

“You’re quite lucky. I got this from my previous mission, I was going to use it today for my breakthrough just in case.. But I didn’t need it.” Old Man Black said casually.

Blacky was surprised it was not often that this stingy old man handed out gifts. Blacky opened the box and noticed a small yellowish-brown round pill in the box. The pill emitting a nasty smell, after a moment Blacky closed the box. He only observed the pill for a moment.

Old Man Black smiled like a perv and said “No need to thank me. I’ll be going out for three months on an important task soon.”