"Haaa... I said hand it over! Seems like we need to rearrange this f*ck*rs face!" A hoarse voice bellowed not too far ahead of the siblings. Five new outer sect disciples were kneeling in front of another three disciples just next to a flaming torch.
"Ma Dong..." Tang Chen muttered through gritted teeth but didn't make any moves.
It was the same group that had robbed the siblings before, Ma Dong and his goons. They seemed to specialize in robbing new disciples of their initial spirit stones, in the name of initiation.
Tang Bai watched all this like a Bystander while thinking, Ma Dang is just in the second level while the other two were at the 1st level, no wonder they are targeting newbies, I won't take any chances though. But even with all that money, they don't have any martial techniques, perhaps they are under someone's instructions.> A smile spread across his face as he declared lightly, "Chen'er, looks like we found ourselves the perfect prey". "Prey?" Confusion was plastered on Tang Chen's face. Tang Bai smirked maliciously before saying," Don't you think we should get revenge and some interest?". "Hmm...is that why we carried this piece of cloth? You wanted us to rob while covering our face, what if we didn't meet Ma Dong?" Tang Chen looked lost with a little guilt while speaking to his older sibling. Tang Bai snickered lightly as he whispered, "We rob whoever and might kill a lot as well but who cares really? Also, didn't you want to help me before?... Who we rob doesn't matter, what matters is our survival in this world. Look around you Chen'er, do you not see where we are? Do you not see what is happening? This world has been taking things from us, Father, Mother, and Sister Tang Rou, our freedom was taken from us!, our destiny was also decided for the moment they placed that Gu inside us! Did anyone ask us for our thoughts? We are now demon cultivators and there is no way to change that unless you intend to die...But what would the sacrifice of family amount to if we did that? So that's why I will keep pushing till the very end. Our spirit stones are with them, what's wrong with getting it back with interest eh?." By the time he was done talking, he was already on the verge of raising his voice at the silly boy. He picked up a nearby rock and forcefully placed it in Tang Chen's hand while gesturing towards Ma Dong and Co with his chin. Tang Chen was speechless and numbly grabbed the rock when heard his older sibling's words as he covered half his face with a black cloth, "They are done so you don't have to worry, they are weaker than us now, cover your face and toss that rock at Ma Dong directly, enforce it with your qi for good measure, leave the rest to me." Well this has to be the last time I am rushing forward with you being behind, don't disappoint me boy> Tang Chen blankly covered his face with his cloth before picking up the rock again, 'Elder Brother is right, why was I thinking like that? What has doing good ever done for us Mother? ' "Toss it now!" Tang Bai's voice pierced through Chen'er's thoughts before he dashed forward with extremely fast wonky steps, it was the first time he moved with qi infused in his legs. So he almost lost his footing severally. Tang Chen used his Gu to send Qi into the rock in panic before throwing it at Ma Dong, the Qi-infused stone streaked across the air and met with its target with an audible crack. Ma Dong was sent to the ground, his life or death was obscure but Tang Bai didn't give the other two a chance to recover from the shock before he took them down with a salvo of awkward punches and kicks while yelling like a villain, "take that fool, how dare you touch my woman! Ha F*ck you!!". It went on for a few seconds until they were no longer moving. He exhaled sharply, and turned towards the victims from earlier before shouting "Scram!". They immediately ran away in a mess. At some point, Tang Chen was standing next to his brother silently. "Well our profit isn't bad, 37 spirit stones... Hmm still not enough but Come, leave quickly!" Tang Bai's words shocked Chen’er as a strange glint flashed through his eyes. _____________ Subsequently, They made an effort to rob a few more people but only managed to get the spirit stones to 53 pieces. They were unable to get the required spirit stones to exchange from the Scripture pavilion, so they continued the business for the next two days, and slowly people became conscious of this bandit duo. During the day, they performed the tasks available and at night they robbed their fellows. Tang Bai was able to keep them away from those above the third level of the Qi gathering realm or those who practiced martial techniques. By the third day, they were able to raise more than 200 spirit stones, it was enough to exchange two martial techniques and do more. _____________ It was passed noon already, a time when the looming fog was at its lowest. Tang Bai and his brother had just finished washing 50 corpses and coated them in a greenish substance that smelled extremely foul, It was a task posted by a Lone Star realm direct disciple named Long Yi. But all that didn't matter, they went to the duty hall and made their report, earning them 20 spirit stones, Once they were done with that They headed for the scripture pavilion. According to what he remembers, Tang Bai knows the Scripture Pavilion was located in the same mountain peak as the sect master's. It was not somewhere easily accessible unless you were an inner sect disciple, that is in the foundation-building realm where you can fly. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. So for outer sect disciples, you have to go to the place called Blood Arbor. It housed the month's inner sect disciples in charge of flying you out of the valley, which could be outside the sect for a mission or to the peaks for whatever reason, of course, you had to pay the corresponding spirit stones. When they arrived, Tang Bai spotted a familiar figure. "Our respects to Senior Shi Lao!" Tang Bai and his brother did not dare to tally as they immediately came forward to pay their respects. "Oh, It's the Tang boys, do stand up. Looks like life in the sect has been good to you. Where are you headed?" Shi Lao looked at both of them meaningfully while speaking. Tang Chen subconsciously answered "Scripture Pavilion". "Alright, we ca-" "That's 5 now, Shi Lao you can move", hearing these words, a voice spoke from inside the building, Shi Lao first waved the token in his hand at a brown formation with his expression turning gloomy. "This is not a good place to talk. Let us move first before we continue our discussion.". Tang Bai nodded before curiously sizing up the other three outer sect disciples in one glance. One male disciple while the other one was female and most of them were around seventeen or eighteen to twenty years old. The oldest was a snobby-looking twenty-something-year-old man in the 9th level of the Qi gathering realm. He had a heavy aura around him as if there was more to him than the eye could see but he also gave one a careless feeling. Surprisingly, he also glanced at Tang Bai and snorted at the latter. The two females also drew his attention. One had a goose-egg-shaped face, fair skin, and was rather tall with a massive ruler-like weapon, Overall she gave others an exceptionally unruly feeling. The other had relatively big and black eyeballs, it almost looked like a black pool but she had an exceedingly ample figure. The appearance of these two women was extraordinary and somewhat strange. It was easy to imagine them drawing the gazes of many young men wherever they went. While Tang Bai was still secretly pondering to himself, the group walked to the other edge of the Arbor. Senior brother Shi Lao led them to a cliff that faced the 7 main peaks before saying "Shi Zhu, these are your new juniors. This is your Senior Shi. As of now, I would like to formally invite you four to our faction." "Fellow Juniors, if you have any needs while in the outer sect, you can come and find me." the arrogant young master Shi Zhu cupped his fist at the new disciples and said with a smirk as if they had already chosen to join. Tang Bai and the rest wore different expressions as they bowed one by one in return. "In our factions, besides the two inner sect disciples, Gao Shin and me, there is still one more called Zhong Gu. However, he is currently in seclusion for a breakthrough so all of you would be unable to see him for a while." Shi Lao's gaze swept across Tang Bai and the rest as he slowly explained. At these words, Tang Bai felt somewhat depressed in his heart but he did not let it show on his face. The two girls frowned even more deeply but naturally did not dare to speak back. Shi Lao was simply forcing them to join with no questions asked and from his demeanor, he was trying to put his brother Shi Zhu in charge of those in the outer sect, not to mention that the faction was relatively new despite putting three inner sect disciples forward. For now, Tang Bai chose not to speak, he had no intention of joining them after all, and he planned to breeze through to the inner sect. "Senior brother Shi Lao, although I would love to join your faction considering your earlier help, unfortunately, my brother and I are presently working under Senior Brother Long Yi from the Corpse Wail Peak" He bowed with a remorseful expression as though he would have joined if it was not the case, infact he only heard of such a person this morning. Shi Lao squinted his eyes while thinking that it was a pity. the Tang brothers had been his main target to invite but he didn't expect to hear this. As for doubting the authenticity of this news? Impossible, after all, who would dare lie with a direct disciple's name? After recollecting himself, Shi Lao quickly said, "That's truly unfortunate but it doesn't stop us from making friends". "That's natural, Senior brother" Immediately there was an awkward silence, Shi Lao didn't bother speaking to the girls, it was like he never mentioned anything before. The girls gave Tang Bai a profound look, no one knew what they were thinking. Soon a giant skull that was over 3 meters in height slowly condensed and rose in front of them, on top of it was enough for them to stand on top. Shi Lao beckoned towards them and brought them flying up the mountain. Standing on the black skull, Tang Bai felt that the skull under his feet was certainly bigger and thicker than the last time... Obviously, Shi Lao's prowess on this technique had vastly improved. Soon they crossed a long gash and arrived at the entrance of the Blood Sun peak, it was the main peak belonging to the Sect Master. At this time, few disciples were entering and exiting the entrance; probably because it was passed noon. Quickly, Shi Lao brought the group through the huge gate and collected their 15 spirit stones from each of them. Tang Bai wasn't too surprised about paying such a sum, luckily they had more than enough money for now. After walking for 10 minutes, they arrived at the entrance of a huge building. On the stone plaque of the pavilion, two gold-red words that showed expertise in calligraphy read "Scripture Pavilion". To the sides of the entrance to the pavilion were two human-shaped Demon Statues that were ten feet in height. They both were expertly crafted to the point where they looked real. However, their dark metallic skin betrayed their real identity as statues. I remember being told before that because the Scripture Pavilion was one of the most important places in the sect, you must approach the pavilion in a particular way. Just like the paths we just took because of a formation. Even if you are flying, you must not come within three thousand feet of the pavilion. Or else, you might trigger the formation hidden around and be killed. Besides the bronze Golems guarding the pavilion would kill anyone who manages to survive the formation or those attacking the place. He glanced forward within the pavilion and began thinking. Right after entering, they spotted a black wooden counter and a narrow-eyed elderly man seated behind it. He lifted his head in an extremely slow manner and looked at them calmly before tinkering with whatever lay in his hand. Nevertheless, Shi Zhu didn't show any expression as he approached with his nameplate in his hand. Subsequently placing it before the man, he stepped into the main pavilion with a flick of his sleeve. The arrogant young master was definitely dissatisfied with Tang Bai's rejection. Tang Chen frowned at the young man’s antics but remained silent as his elder brother had told him before coming here. The others quickly followed behind after dropping their nameplate. [Name: Mo Yan Cultivation level: Earth Transformation Realm(67%) Cultivation techniques: Avert despair of the Blue waves, Moon Heart arts etc. Martial techniques: Seven Steps Ensnare the Soul, Blind Cat Way, Unholy Stance, etc Affiliation: Blood River Sect(Elder) Talent: Uncanny Precision, Extreme poison arts. Gu: Poisoned Snail Gu, Crying Snake Gu, Luminous Toad Gu Prowess: 233,748 Loyalty: 0% (Indifferent)] Tang Bai had subconsciously decided to look at the narrow-eyed elder's status in passing but ended up shocked, everything about the man's status was astonishing. Honestly, Tang Bai's lack of knowledge stemmed from him not being too active in the game due to his age and he was also a foundation-building player of the righteous or Orthodox faction but one well-known information back then was the cultivation levels. Qi gathering realm(1-9). Foundation building (1-9). Lone Star realm(1-3). Twin Star Realm (1-3). Triadic star realm(1-3). Earth Transformation realm. Heaven distortion realm. This was something that was known to every player but not much information was given on it until you get closer to each major part of the realm, like the 5th level of the Qi gathering realm and foundation building realm. But in essence, an Earth transformation realm is a major powerhouse anywhere, and Heaven distortion was an absolute ruler in major sects, organizations or even a more extensive environment. Then there's the fact that the man has more than one Gu in his body, Tang Bai had no idea about this at all as this was the first person he had seen above the lone star realm in his two lifetimes! Even his amount of practiced cultivation and martial techniques numbered over 10 to 12. The Combat prowess on the other hand was something he was seeing for the first time on this system but wasn't new to him. It was something used in the game he played, It's the total amount of someone's combat power consisting of Cultivation level, Martial techniques levels, weapon level, treasures, artifacts amd Methods. Elder Mo's Combat prowess being over 200 thousand was simply monstrous to Tang Bai, an average peak Qi gathering realm and an average peak foundation-building expert without any weapon, treasure, or artifacts would be around 10,000 max-20,000 max respectively! With that 20,000, Tang Bai believed it was already impressive but knowing that there were existences above 100 thousand was both exciting and unsettling at the same time. The Elder slowly raised his face to look at the Tang brothers upon noticing that they hadn't moved. Tang Bai noticed that he had been staring for too long, and quickly bowed before entering the pavilion, making Mo Yan a little confused at this strange disciple. __ Upon entering the main pavilion, their sight was assaulted by rows upon rows of black shelves that held scrolls or books. The place was slightly dim and had a smell of old books... Tang Bai didn't want to waste further time, so he headed towards the area that held martial techniques with Tang Chen right behind him. He hastily says to Tang Chen, "Look for those with fire elements and bring any 3 you find interesting to you, I will get you the one I think is the best one there". "But brother, you know, among my three spirit roots fire happens to be my second strongest behind Wind..." Tang Bai didn't stop his movement as he responded, "I know what you want to say but this has something to do with the Natal Gu I found for you just trust me". "Oh..." He didn't say anything else and quickly went to work. The older sibling began to seriously look for any martial arts that worked with sound. “Dream flower kicks, nope...” “Black Turtle fist, nope...” “Bone Corrosion Palm? Hmm I'll put this on hold for now” “Creeping Mantis Fist... Nope” ______ “Greetings Senior, I do not wish to disturb you but these are the two martial techniques I wish to redeem” Tang Bai saluted before setting a scroll and book on the counter,”3 star Bone corrosion palm and 3 star Dry kindling Fuels the flame palm”. Elder Mo looked up through his messy gray hair at an incredibly slow pace, he looked at the two techniques, his eyes scanned them lightly from behind his thick eyebags before saying with some difficulty, “one... one... One hundre...One hundred and fifty spirit stones”. Tang Bai once again placed a cloth bag on the counter, “Oh...here Senior, exactly 150 spirit stones”. Just like the Soul capturing heart chant, the Elder made copies into a one time trace scrolls to be used later. “Thank you for your time Senior, I’ll be leaving now” Although Tang Bai intends to befriend this powerhouse, he didn't want to rush it, especially as he didn't have much weight currently. He led his younger sibling outside and headed to the peak's blood arbor... Elder Mo's eyes lingered behind him before tinkering with the item in his eyes.