--- Former Capital of New Fu Empire ---

Where the capital city once stood now laid a desolate landscape. Even the remnants of the city was burned into ashes, leaving a dried up crater. There was no life nearby as if the living understood that this was now a no man's land.

Suddenly, beams of cyan light distorted the airspace as they shot through the sky towards the desolate ground. Then, the three beams of light smashed into the ground revealing three figures, but they left no dust cloud as if they had always been standing there.

There were two males who had a physically old appearance, with a wrinkly skin and white hair; however, the unstable cyan fluctuations foretold that they are much older than they look, perhaps even ancient. As of the final one, it was a middle aged man wearing a green robe.

"Fellow elders, let us split up to search for the cause of this devastation. We do not want such unforeseen accidents to happen again, especially in our continent," one of the older elders stated as the other nodded in agreement before dashing off, not giving a chance for the green robed man to offer his opinion.

The green robed man shook his head in disdain at the pettiness of the elders. Just because he didn't agree to join their faction, their attitudes took a turn for the worst. Although the green robed man believed that getting rid of the two of them would be fairly simple, but he would rather not attract any unnecessary attention. Soon, he'll be able to get rid of them all. As for these two, he'll let them go as they will soon enter their graves even if left untouched.

The green robed man took a look at the now unfamiliar surroundings that he had visited not long before. He was glad that he came to pick up his treasured daughter before it ended up like this. Then, the green robed man then bent down and placed his hands on the ground. A cyan glow surfaced on his hand as a pulse of Qi was sent through the ground, spreading out like a wave without disturbing the physical world too much.

With his eyes closed, the green robed man slowly increased the radius of his search. He searched for any hint that could possibly signify a survivor as he seemed to be looking for someone. After searching for a bit, he noticed a peculiar area under the ground. The dirt and debris was a bit more loose here compared to the loosened dirt from the destruction. After probing deeper with his Qi, he noticed that the area was shaped like a tunnel. The green robed man opened his eyes as they sparkled.

The man then flew off as he followed the direction in which the tunnel led to. Not long after, he found the exit of the tunnel, albeit hidden well, inside a forest. The green robed man landed and sent his Qi to probe the surroundings once more. There he discovered what seemed to be a grave-marker which caused the green robed man's heart to skip a beat, hoping that it was not who he thought it was for. He hurried over to the grave, and read the grave-marker.

"Here lies Loyal Servant Xu Fa"

The green robed man smiled silently as he mused, "Xu Fa huh. So you were still waiting after all these years. Brother Xiong, it seems you truly had gotten yourself a loyal one. Pity he must go as soon as he met him. Although I still don't know who he is, but at least I know that your son is still wandering in the world of the living."

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"However, it seems that your son should learn to hide his tracks a bit better. Lucky there is me this time," the green robed man thought as he sent out a pulse of Qi with his hands which caused nearby vegetation to grow and crawl all over the grave, essentially burying it in order to keep it hidden for ever.

"Rest well. Brother Xiong would wish that for you as well. I'll take over from here," the green robed man said before slowly turning around, "I think it is about time that you two take an eternal rest as well."

Not far from the green robed man, the other two elders that came with him slowly stepped out while sneering.

"Hahaha, fellow daoist, what do you mean that we should eternally rest? Have you forgotten we were from the same sect?" the elder asked as he slowly advanced forward with the other.

"Hmm ... There is no need to beat around the bush. We all know what you two have been sent here to do. Originally I would not have mind letting you two off while faking death, but now it seems that plans have to be changed," the green robed man replied.

"Tsk- I knew this won't be easy, but we don't got any choice. Although losing a fellow Cyan Dan cultivator would be a pity, but someone has paid a {Rebirth Pill} for your life. We need the {Rebirth Pill} in order to extend our lives, and I'm afraid you'll have to obediently hand your life over," the other elder replied with a sneer.

"Oh? Why must I obediently hand my life over?" the green robed man questioned in a nonchalant tone.

"Hehehe, do you think you can fight the both of us who are at Cyan Dan as well after recently advancing to Cyan Dan?" one of the elder laughed as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

"Oh? But of course that would be the case, if I truly advanced recently," the green robed man replied as his eyes darkened.

"Huh? What do you mean by-" one of the elders asked as he had an ominous feeling, but before he could, he was interrupted by multiple attacks from all sides as he shouted out in shock.

The forest seemed to have come to life as the trees extend and completely sealed off the area. Not only that, wooden spikes that were infused with Qi constantly targeted the elders as they tried to block in fear.

"T-This- this is domain! How?! Only those that have broken through to the upper level of Cyan Dan could have such- it couldn't be-" one of the elder said in fear, but before he could complete his sentence, he howled in pain as a tree sprouted from his body, bring his life to an end as it grew right through his heart.

The other elder hurriedly directed Qi into his eyes, causing them to glow with a cyan color. Then fear sprouted on his face as he saw a space filled with tiny specks of floating seeds.

Although the other elder wanted to escape, his ending was but the same. As the barrier was dispelled, the corpse of the two elders were broken down and absorbed as nutrients by the plant life in the surround.

The green robed man the brushed off the dirt on his robed while sighing, "Although I won't enjoy this, I probably will have to injure myself once more before going back. As for the excuse for these two..."

"Perhaps this would be a good chance to send the young ones out to seek fortune," the green robed man though as he thought of the hidden underground tunnels he discovered with his earlier probe.

The green robed man looked in the direction of the capital once more as he stated, "Brother Xiong, I won't let our plan become void. Soon, we will be able to bring judgement upon the those who have wronged us."

Then with a swift flash, he flew off into the air once more, heading towards the sect at the central continent.