An old man was sitting on a chair in the corner of a room.

In front of him was a table like that of a reception table, a bit dusty and dark.

He was looking as if in deep thought while his arms were in front of him, on the table.

"Hey, old man! I want to get this martial art."

A young man came in front of the table and put a book on it, the book was red and had deep blue-colored text in the front of it which read "The Bone-Shattering Fist"

The young man's eyes were looking like they were about to destroy a mountain, it was fierce and innocent at the same time. Coupled with his blond hair and smooth skin he had this aura of charisma around him.

The old man took a glance at the book then pulled out a black-colored  brush and asked in a normal manner:

"What is your name?"

"It's Gu Bao" The boy replied.

After hearing the name of the boy, the old man was a bit surprised but stayed normal on the outside and wrote down to the lowest part of the book "Gu Bao".

The text that the old man wrote was black and it fastly faded away till it wasn't visible.

"Here" The old man handed the book over to the young boy, then the young boy hastily left the room.

The old man looked at the fading back of the young boy, sighed.

"Young generation has great talents this boy is the first to pass the Spritiual Confrontation stage" The old man said.

The old man sat in the chair while deep in thought, a couple of hours passed.

"Old Man! I want this book!" The usually silent room with people who were reading books was broken out of silence once more.

The book was dark in color and there was a text in the middle of the book in red that read as "Yin-Yang Balance Art".

"Hm, what is your name"

"It's Ye Jun!" The short girl in an elegant dress said.

The old man took out the dark brush once more and started to slowly write.

"Hey, Old man. I'm the one who came first to take a martial art right?" The short girl asked.

A few seconds later the question was asked the old man finished writing the name and slowly shook his head while saying:

"No, there was another person"

The girl took the book but suddenly froze when she heard the answer. The answer was not what she expected.

"How? I was so fast! how is that possible?" The short girl said in an unbelieving and questioning tone.

"There is no reason to not believe I'm telling the truth" The old man said casually.

"Uh." The short girl said in a realized tone.

It was obvious, there were no reasons for the old man to lie.

The short girl took the book she was holding and left the room, dejectedly.

After a few more hours many more youngsters came to the old man for their first martial arts book.

Of course, there weren't only youngsters coming to the old man. There were all kinds of people of the Blue Sand Academy coming for taking books out of the library.

However, the floor of the library that the old man was in was usually really silent. And deserted because it was only the first floor out of the 5 of the academy.

There was only general knowledge that many people already read through. And some low-ranked martial arts.

Everything, besides martial arts, was free to read on this floor just like the 2nd floor and that's why the knowledge here wasn't something special.

The old man waited until the sky got dark, and then stood up and left the room.

When the sky gets dark the martial arts on the shelves will be inaccessible because of the formation around it. And the general knowledge was free to read, as long as nobody took the book out of the library or damage it there would be no problems. Which was the job of the guards of the 1st floor, not the old men.

The old man turned left after leaving the library.

There was a wide street outside of the library it was more energetic than one would think at the night, countless people were walking down the street and going into the shops.

There were a lot of lights on top of the middle of the street, they were making the street clear even in the dark sky.

There would be different shops or stands on the sides and sometimes even in the middle of the street, one could see a stand. This place was called the Ancient Resource Road.

It was named like this by the elders for obvious reasons.

While the old man was walking, people didn't walk near to him in a 5-meter radius it was as if there was a sphere force making people not come near to him.

But the truth was far from this it was because the old man was at the peak of the Qi Nourishment stage.

After the 4 confrontations of the Spritiual Confrontation stage came the Qi Nourishment stage, where one would nourish their soul, body and purify-enlarge their personal qi.

The old man had these thoughts more than ever today.

After walking for 10 more minutes in the Ancient Resource Road the old man turned right and walked upwards to a deserted place.

This was the place for the authorities of the Blue Sand Academy to live their daily lives.

There would be few middle-aged or old men walking in this place, it was because most of the authorities were people who broke through Qi Nourishment stage and became true cultivators.

The ones managing the academy were people like this old man, who was at the peak or close to the peak of the Qi Nourishment stage.

Only the really important jobs wouldn't be given to the Qi Nourishment authorities.

The old man walked more on this road. He already reached the layer of houses that he was in, he just had to turn right and move for a while then get in his house.

But it looked like the old man had different plans he didn't stop but still walked upwards on the main road.

The road was slightly curved however after walking for 15 minutes he was high up.

After walking for so long the same road that leads to other residences showed some change and its curve sharpened by some amount.

And then the scenery changed to a flat plain where there were tens of huge and small buildings with signs on them.

This place was much more active than the deserted walking road that the old man just walked.

Because this was the center of the academy, the place for the authorities, a thousand-meter plain land that was almost 20 thousand meters high from the sea level.

This place was called the Central Circle.

There were a lot of buildings like "The Council Of Elders", "Blitz Flame Faction", "Hunter's Association "...

The old man walked forward without really looking at these buildings, his goal was different.

At this time when the old man was walking another old man came near to him and said:

"Old Xia! How is it going?" The other old man said casually as if a friend of his.

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The other old man looked old even older than the old man, Fu Xia.

"I'm good. What about you Kong Cai?" Fu Xia said to the other old man, named Kong Cai.

"I'm fine as well you know waiting to die as always, so I can get out of this job" Kong Cai said.

"Mhm." Fu Xia nodded. He knew this old man named Kong Cai. They met 30 years ago when Fu Xia just started his missions and Kong Cai could be counted as a senior of his.

However, Fu Xia saw Kong Cai change.

This old man was now coming to the end of his life just like him.

Kong Cai became much more selfish and self-centered compared to the past, where he was much more benevolent and kind.

Fu Xia could be considered one of his few friends from the past. Other than him and a few others Kong Cai didn't see other people as true friends but benefits.

Fu Xia could surely say this because he has been with him for 30 years and understood him better than others.

"So, you are going to the Main Hall to report your job? If you are, after that we should drink a bottle of wine and eat some spiritual meat at the Deliciousness of The Spirit." Kong Cai said in an urging tone.

Fu Xia thought a bit, then said:

"Okay." Fu Xia accepted, there were no reasons for him to not. Even though he wanted to rest well today, the sky just got dark. They were in the winter, there was still a lot of time before the night came.

Fu Xia left the Kong Cai alone and walked towards the Main Hall.

The Main Hall was at the center of the Central Circle. It was the place for reporting, administrating and, observing the Blue Sand Academy by its whole.

Of course, this place was much more energetic than any other place at the Central Circle.

If someone throws a penny into the sky it won't land on the ground. But this was only the case for the outside.

All kinds of elders, authority holders, influencers were waiting for their turn. Obviously, the place was really noisy.

But almost everyone here was familiar with the sight and the noise.

Everyone had their time to get in and when that time came the guard in front of the door of the Main Hall would shout their name.

Fu Xia waited for around an hour before his name got shout out by the guard.

"Fu Xia!"

"Here!" Fu Xia shouted back and went out from the crowd. After that, he walked to the door of the Main Hall, and the guard, after seeing his face, opened the door, let him in, closed the door, and then shouted another name.

The temperature and the atmosphere inside were warm compared to the outside. There were gold and shiny colors everywhere, it was decorated in a mighty and colorful way. The inside was really large and comfortable.

There were three long lines which all three at the end had a reception table with three young women working all day. All on the left side of the Fu Xia.

Fu Xia went straight past the three lines and came in front of large stairs with two guards on its sides.

"Hey! To go to the second floor you have to show your Authority Card and let us confirm it's yours." The left one of the two guards said. Both guards were looking at Fu Xia.

"Here." Fu Xia said while taking a card out of his bag of holding.

The card could fit in one hand, and it had information on it.

"You can go in Elder Xia!" The guards bowed and shouted after reading Fu Xia's Elder Card.

An authority card was made in a special way, it couldn't be faked easily.

Fu Xia nodded and walked upside the stairs, the stairs turned left after every five meters of walking and Fu Xia came to the second floor after half a minute.

The second floor was much more decorative. One would think they were in a king's palace if they didn't know that they were on the second floor of the Main Hall.

The second floor was more empty compared to the 1st floor.

Fu Xia walked straight for a while and saw a door and a sign hanging on the front of it.

: The Head Elder : Tang Huan

Fu Xia knocked on the door and opened it after hearing "Come In."

The sight was pretty classic like a president's room but much more warm.

Fu Xia walked in and saw a middle-aged man sitting in front of a considerably large table, with a woman standing beside him.

The middle-aged man was, of course, The Head Elder Tang Huan.

The Head Elder wasn't at the Qi Nourishment stage, he was a true cultivator.

Normally all elders would stay at the Council Of Elders as a part of their job. However, there were exceptions like The Head Elder, Fu Xia and, Kong Cai.

Fu Xia sat in one of the two chairs in front of the Head Elder's table and the Head Elder asked:

"Did you get the report?"

"Of course." Fu Xia replied and gave a white paper with long black text on it.

"So the first place was Gu Bao, a disciple I never heard. I was sure it would be Ye Jun, but she was second place and the third place was a boy named Hao Hu..." The Head Elder read in a surprised tone.

"This was out of my expectations as well." Fu Xia agreed.

"Well, there can be black horse's we would gladly accept it as an academy but I'm sure the Jun family will create some trouble and the other factions will most likely use this chance to climb up..." The Head Elder said thoughtfully.

"Good luck to you Head Elder" Fu Xia said while standing up.

The Head Elder wasn't in any factions and he had the mission of stabilizing the situation of the academy.

There were a lot of big and small factions in the Blue Sand Academy, even though it was just a selection place for young talents.

The real reason Blue Sand Academy existed was to take talented individuals to the sect.

"Mhm. Thanks." The Head Elder Tang Huan said while Fu Xia left the room.

After leaving the room, Fu Xia went back down the stairs and left the Main Hall. Then left the crowded place around the Main Hall as he could hear the voices of people slowly getting further away.

"Old Xia!" An old man shouted, then came rushing to Fu Xia. Of course, this old man was Kong Cai.

"I did my report, now we can go to Deliciousness of The Spirit." Fu Xia said slowly.

"That's great!" Kong Cai said. There was obvious happiness in his tone.

After that, Fu Xia and Kong Cai walked down from the Central Circle side to side.

"So what do you think we should eat?" Kong Cai asked.

"Last time we ate Wild Pork With BlackPink Flower Sauce, this time we should eat something like that as well." Fu Xia said.

"Ah, that was expensive even for spiritual food, are we gonna eat something like that again?" Kong Cai said thoughtfully.

"Well, why not." Fu Xia said casually.

Kong Cai was right. Wild Pork With BlackPink Flower Sauce was expensive even for both elders.

The reason Wild Pork With BlackPink Flower Sauce was expensive for both elders wasn't that there was wild pork in it, it was because of the BlackPink Flower Sauce.

BlackPink Flower was a good spiritual plant that could enter the middle-rank.

A middle-rank spiritual plant could be considered for true cultivators who surpassed the Qi Nourishment stage.

Which, was hard for both elder's pockets.

"Okay." Kong Cai agreed.

Normally, Fu Xia would not do such a wasteful act. The reason being that it was too expensive to eat a middle-ranked spiritual plant, meat, or other kinds of stuff two days in a row.

Because they couldn't afford it and eating it again the next day wouldn't give the best performance for nourishment.

But Fu Xia had his plans. It seemed like there was always something in his mind unrelated.

Kong Cai and Fu Xia walked downwards and came to the Ancient Resource Road, but didn't stop.

They walked even more downwards where there were slowly more people showing up.

And without one's notice people were everywhere.

Most of them were young people while there were some older ones.

This was the most commonplace for the disciples in the Blue Sand Academy, Ground Disciple Street No 4.

This was a common street and there were restaurants, gambling, 'love' hotels, and many more.

Fu Xia and Kong Cai walked in a certain direction in Ground Disciple Street No 4, until they saw an open and luxurious building with dazzling lights, it had a huge sign that read "Deliciousness of The Spirit"

"We are here" Fu Xia said.

"Mhm." Kong Cai nodded and they both went in.

"Hi Elder Xia, Elder Cai how are you doing?" As soon as they stepped inside the atmosphere became a little hotter and a waiter asked them.

"I'm fine." Elder Xia said.

"We are both fine, can you guide us to a table?" Elder Cai said.

"Yes, esteemed elders." The waiter answered, bowed, and led them to the second floor and put them on a free table.

The restaurant was crowded and a little noisy. There weren't any empty tables on the first floor.

"Esteemed elders, what would you want to eat or drink ?" The same waiter asked.

"Can we get the menu?" Fu Xia asked.

"Yes, Elder Xia." The waiter answered and gave a menu to both elders.

After a few minutes of deciding, both elder's gave a decision:

"We would want Spirit Oiled Duck" Kong Cai said.

The waiter was a bit shook, then said"Yes, Elder Cai" Then left.

After thirty minutes of chatting Fu Xia's and Kong Cai's Spirit Oiled Duck came to their table.

"Enjoy your meal, esteemed elders" The one bringing the meal wasn't the waiter but a uniformed person. This was expected by both elders since what they ordered was one of the best food in the restaurant.

"Mhm." Fu Xia nodded.

"Yeah, of course." Kong Cai said. He and Fu Xia were speaking about something and Kong Cai couldn't stop thinking about it for a while.

The people on the other table could clearly smell the Spirit Oiled Duck, most people's eyes flashed with desire while some inappropriate acts were drooling.

Of course, the one's drooling was some disciple's.

"Well, then let's enjoy it." Fu Xia said then started eating.

"Yeah!" Kong Cai said, then started eating as well.

Fu Xia after eating the Spirit Oiled Duck fully, which was unbelievably juicy and delicious, could feel the energy of it going through his throat to his abdomen.

It was refreshing and made him feel full.

They talked for another ten to fifteen minutes about life, philosophies, etc.

Then Fu Xia wiped his mouth with a towel on the table and said:

"Then, this is the end I'm going to do my business. "                                         

Fu Xia said then stood up.

"Wait, we were getting to the best part, we were gonna drink wine!" Kong Cai said.

"Well, I'm not in the mood." Fu Xia said casually and slowly walked downstairs.

"Okay." Kong Cai said, then sadly stood up as well, clearly, he wanted to speak more.

They both went down side to side and paid the money equally with their sect contribution points.

The cost of two Spirit Oiled Duck was 20.000 contribution points.

After paying the cost they left the restaurant.

Then they started walking upwards again, they both reached the authority's residences.

"Goodbye Old Xia!" Kong Cai said.

"Goodbye Kong Cai" Fu Xia said back.

Kong Cai left and Fu Xia went to the right layer of houses and walked for a few minutes before reaching his destination.

: Elder Residence : Elder Fu Xia

He took out his Elder Card and placed it in the space down the doorknob.

After placing it fully some mechanical sounds came out of the door and formation lines were shown on the doorknob.

Then Fu Xia pulled the doorknob down and opened the residence, went inside.

The residence wasn't big.

There was a door leading to the bathroom, another door leading to the basement, another door leading to the kitchen and another one leading to the bedroom.

Fu Xia didn't waste time and went straight down to the basement.

The basement looked like a normal basement, it didn't have anything special.

Fu Xia lighted up two lights up the ceiling, that worked with a qi consumer and came to the corner of the room.

Fu Xia put his right hand on the corner of the basement, his hand shone bright blue with qi fluctuations. Then he slowly said:

"Open."

Another mechanical sound, similar to that of the doorknob came.

A space opened in the corner of the room and a red-black book showed itself to the eye's view.

The book could be called to be thick. It looked old and damaged but one could still read it without a mistake.

Fu Xia held the book in his hands and went into deep thought.

He opened it and looked at the pages of it. The sight was familiar because he already read all of the book tens of times.

"I can't wait any longer... My time is coming to its end...I should make a decision"

Fu Xia said deep in thought.