Chapter 4: Black Dragon Incarnate

The red wolf howled and slashed at Nathan. Nathan deflected the sword, reducing the power of the slash and the wolf decided to retaliate with a slash of its left paw. Nathan ran to his right as the wolf raised its left paw for the slash, the wolf's left flank exposed by the drawn back palm. Nathan had no time to swing his sword, so he threw a sword of gold at the chest of the wolf. The wolf howled as the gold sword pierced into its flesh and tightened its muscles to prevent it from going deeper. It spun around and sent Nathan flying as its tail smashed into him like a baseball bat.

Nathan did a back flip and landed deftly on his feet, a foot stepping back to regain his balance. The wolf's fur was more durable than he expected. He had hoped the gold qi sword would pierce deeper but it tightened its muscles and stopped its paw swipe. It probably learned to not make big swings prematurely and underestimate him.

It kicked at the ground, sending dirt and earth flying at him. Nathan jumped backwards and most of the dirt missed him as he got out of range. The wolf charged at him while he was in the air and hacked down. Nathan could only hold his sword with two hands and felt his arms numb as he crashed twice on the ground before landing on his feet. It grabbed the earth to make a giant snowball of dirt and threw it at Nathan. Nathan narrowed his eyes and cut it in two. Nathan's eyes widened as the sword turned into gloves to protect the wolf's paws and sharpened its claws at the same time. Now Nathan knew where the sword came from.

The wolf charged at him, slashing at him with both its paws. It was as if four sword strikes happened simultaneously with each swipe. He grit his teeth many times as he deflected one claw only to be scratched by another. It stomped once, loosening Nathan's balance as it slammed its right paw down. Nathan immediately used the Art of Lightning Star to dive forward, cutting the wolf's left leg in the process.

The wolf barely registered the pain as its paw smashed the earth, cracking it as Nathan leaped at its back. He rotated his body and slashed the wolf's tail in two before cutting the wolf in the back. It howled with rage and made a glancing blow as it abruptly turned its body and hit him with the back of its right arm. It was enough to slam Nathan into the ground, bruising Nathan's body.

Nathan knew the wolf would become fueled with rage and decided it was time to end it with a single strike. Images of the sword style of the Black Dragon's Fury Manual appeared in his head. He had incorporated the fighting style of the manual into the Zhou general swordplay he had mastered, but the manual had a finishing move at the first stage. He focused his spirit energy into the sword, the ground cracking beneath him from the dense spirit energy. A purple and black dragon swirled around his body, the benefit of reaching the first stage. It entered Death Repulse and its death qi burst out.

Suddenly knowledge of the Art of Black Sun was stimulated and black flames covered the sword. The black dragon was the sovereign of dragons. Hence, its flames were also the strongest. A dragon's roar came out as Nathan used the ultimate sword move of the first stage of the Black Dragon's Fury Manual: Dragon Star Scream.

Nathan's body crackled with blue lightning as he appeared near instantaneously before the Stone Fur Wolf Behemoth, slashing it with the tyrannical power wrapped around his sword. The wolf could not move as it sensed the frightening spirit energy of the black dragon, allowing the sword to slash its body. What looked like one slash was actually seven as his sword moved incredibly quick. Seven points on the wolf shined to form a constellation of a dragon.

As Nathan's feet landed behind the red wolf, its body burst into a black flame pillar from the sword wound. Its body was also affected by the death qi wrapped around Death Repulse, the death qi draining its very life force. The red wolf released a heart wrenching scream, dying as its body broke into pieces of ash as it crashed on the ground. Nathan gasped as he looked at the sky, a feeling of serenity washing over him. He fell to his knees and coughed blood as he picked up a red crystal orb which was the Class 3 magical beast core of the wolf. He stored it into his storage ring and panted heavily.

"Heh. I suppose the rest is up to the others," Nathan said helplessly as some of the wolves ran at him in anger. He had no strength left and felt sluggish as he fought back against the angered wolves, their claws tearing deep into his flesh.

"Nathan did it! I still have to black wolves to kill. You two provide support from above!" Toshio said as he how Nathan killed the red wolf. Toshio quickly beheaded one of the black wolves before spinning to slash the other. He charged into the black wolf, running it through with his katana. The wolf howled in agony as ice spread from the wounds and it died with disbelief in its eyes. By the time Toshio reached Nathan, Nathan was leaning back against a mound of dead wolves.

"You lucky bastard. You really killed it at your Tempered Body fifth layer," Toshio grinned as Qing arrived and began healing him with her light element qi. Nathan struggled to keep his eyes open and felt dizzy from the blood loss. After an hour, the four were back to normal and had all their wounds healed. Toshio and Nathan got most of the magical beast cores and Nathan stared around at the carnage.

"This is horrible," Qing said as she stared at the bodies and felt sick.

"We have to get used to it. They took over the world. We have to fight in order to survive," Toshio said as Wei comforted her. "Still, I never expected this clearing to be so nasty. Hiding a compression type magical beast among the packs, that's fucked up. They wanted people below the sixth layer to fail. I mean, I could have killed the red wolf with ease, but Nathan nearly sacrificed his own life to kill it."

"Right, I never did see you use any spirit techniques," Wei agreed. "The treasure has to be up ahead. We already reached the quota and we fought and traveled the tunnels for a long time. Look, the talisman says we only got two hours remaining."

"You guys know this is also the fourth trial, right?" Qing asked.

"Huh?" the boys frowned, confused.

"What do you mean?" Nathan asked.

"Class 1 magical beasts, to kill five isn't all that hard. Even you two could have only killed five and scaled back up the wall and into the tunnel. All these hidden cameras, I'll bet they are testing us with the fourth trial without us realizing it," Qing said. "Besides, Class 3 magical beasts are rumored to be above the Tempered Body ninth layer! That means this one was a juvenile only. Class 1 magical beasts usually don't have the talent to reach the fifth layer and Class 2 magical beasts usually end their cultivation at the ninth layer. Too suspicious. They probably aimed to kill us or force us to get to the treasure by overcoming the wolf with large numbers, increasing the chances for betrayal and death afterwards."

"Now that is messed up," Wei spat in anger. "The tower too, I'll bet people are assessed on how they react to it and the three devils."

"What matters is that we didn't encounter others. We can take all the treasures for ourselves," Nathan said. The other three nodded and they all headed into the tunnel in the distance. As they exited the tunnel, they stood before a giant gate with two giant spheres about twenty feet in diameter. From one door to the right end of the wall, everything was illuminated by the scarlet energy in the right sphere. The same was one the left, save that the energy was azure.

Then they approached the door, a voice thundered in their minds that said, "Enter those with vision to defy the heavens and the daring to walk the path of immortality. Enter ye who are the follower of the First Immortal for I, alone, defied the tribulations of the heavens and was the first of Earth to ascend. Only ye of the Tempered Body may pass and enter my vault."

"Whoa! WHOA! What the fuck?" Wei shouted in shock and fell on his butt, utterly terrified. Qing noticed video cameras, but guessed no one ever entered the doors. Everyone knew of the First Immortal, but few chose to cultivate the methods in his jade stick.

"Then the person who made the City of Ancients had to have been the First Immortal! Only such a legendary figure can make a city isolated by the ravages of time and mysterious space manipulation that makes the rivers, fountain, and waters ever-flowing. It seems he really was Chinese," Toshio praised. "I only regret I did not follow his cultivation."

"Let's go," Nathan said and started walking to the gate.

"What? You follow his cultivation?" Qing asked, shocked.

"I follow his cultivation method of the five element pentagram. My elements were gold, death, lightning, wood, and fire for a reason. Still, didn't the soldier say treasures were donated?" Nathan frowned.

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"Oh, I see them! They lay before the gate!" Wei cried, pointing at the wooden gate with roots on the edges of the door with sixteen stones on the door.

"Those must be it. I don't think they ever expected anyone to know the First Immortal's cultivation method. They are rare, but inexpensive and considered obsolete to current cultivators," Toshio said. "Hurry, let's go!"

They arrived at the door and looked over the treasures. There was various armors and weapons of at least Grade 3 quality. They all scrambled over the treasures and began sorting them before choosing among what they liked.

"An egg!" Qing said and picked up a purple and grey egg. "I don't recognize it."

"I know what that is. That's a Death Gaze Cockatrice Egg! That is the egg of an avian Class 4 magical beast. My father told me some elder of the Vermilion Phoenix found some eggs and sold most of it to the Chinese Army for dozens of green spirit coins. My dad wanted to buy one, but the elder only sold them to the army," Toshio cried.

"What does it look like?" she asked.

"Well, it has grey colored feathers and a white feathered body. It has the tail of a dragon and the head of a peacock. Its eyes are a complete, glowing purple. It looks less majestic and powerful than a phoenix but is more dangerous. It hunts tigers and elephants, able to lift them into the air and drop them to their deaths. That is no bird of beauty, but death. Its eyes can also petrify," Toshio said with awe.

"You take it," Qing said, giving the egg to Toshio as she found a beautiful staff. "A Class 6 staff! I'm choosing this instead."

"Awesome," Toshio said and gingerly stored the egg in his storage ring while Qing and Wei stored the various treasures into their storage bags. Unlike storage rings, there was a finite amount of space inside storage bags. No matter the storage item, only rings had an indefinite space and all things, or creatures, placed inside were frozen in time. Nothing would bleed, age, rust, or deteriorate over time.

"You only want the spirit pills?" Qing asked, as Nathan only took them.

"Yeah. I barely started my cultivation path. Besides, there must be better stuff inside," Nathan answered. "I just can't figure out how to open the door."

"Well, Black Dragon Incarnate, you open it," Wei grinned.

"Huh?" Nathan responded.

"He's only saying that as you picked the Black Dragon's Fury Manual and we actually felt the spirit energy of a dragon inside you. That's pretty fucking scary. It was beyond my imagination," Toshio explained. "Maybe you need to use the element arts. I heard they are like spells. Maybe the doors make the two spheres react to unlock a mechanism to open the door?"

"Like a hidden lever to open a secret passageway. I barely know the three I used before. I'll try with one first," Nathan said. He used the Art of Golden Storm with the talisman to create four gold qi swords floating around him as he held a fifth in his left hand.

He touched one of the sixteen stones, but there was only a slight reaction. Excited, he fused the five swords into one and destroyed the sword by releasing the gold qi into the air around the stones. One stone reacted and began to shine as it turned into a clear crystal. Within was the symbol of an anvil that glowed gold. It was the crystal representing the element of metal!

"Success!" Nathan cried, the other three cheering as well. He used the Art of Lightning Star and focused the lightning qi into his right foot. He did a push kick on the door, spreading the lightning qi over its surface. A second stone crystallized and displayed a symbol of a lightning bolt within.

The others stared curiously at the tiny black flame that burned above Nathan's right palm and he slowly touched each of the remaining sixteen stones. He was using the Art of Black Sun and soon saw the tiny flame absorbed into one of the stones. Within the crystallized stone, the image of a phoenix made of fire appeared.

Nathan breathed deeply and drew Death Repulse. Information of the Art of Phantasmal Eclipse appeared in his mind and he slowly made a short incantation. The sword shivered as he tapped into the death qi stored within. Death qi radiated from the sword and the others stepped back as they felt pain from contact with the death qi that was released into the air. Slowly a stone crystallized with the image of a black skull within.

"Only one left," Toshio rubbed his hands with glee.

"Yes. We need to be careful in case there are traps," Qing said, Wei nodding as they moved closer to Nathan as he sheathed Death Repulse.

"Last one. Get ready," Nathan said as Toshio frowned and put his hands on the ground.

"Fuck. I can sense people approaching from the tunnel in large numbers. It must be the Blood Wing Mercenaries!" Toshio said. "Hurry Nathan!"

Nathan gently put his left hand on one of the roots on the edges of the door. He began to use the Art of Serene Lotus and a pretty jade lotus no bigger than a thumb floated above his right hand. The wood qi spread from the lotus to his body and into the root. Nathan sweat a little as he tried to manipulate the root. Slowly, the energy spread until it affected all the roots. Wei and Qing watched in awe as they moved like snakes and touched each of the twelve remaining stones. As Toshio could hear running in the distance, a fifth stone finally crystallized and displayed a jade tree inside.

"Ye are worthy of my treasures. Enter and be enlightened. The door shall never be opened again, guarded by my pet for all time," the voice thundered in their minds, people shouting in the distance.

"FUCK! Someone got here first!" a boy screamed and he appeared out the tunnel seeing Nathan and the others rush into the door. His eyes widened in anger as Nathan smirked as he slowly began to close the doors.

"Those treasures are for me!" a giant boy shouted as he burst ahead of the other boy. "Hold those doors open if you wish to enter the Vermilion Phoenix Palace. My uncle is the patriarch! Keep it open or die!"

"What are you doing? Close it!" Qing shouted as Nathan hesitated.

"Young master, that's the boy who killed our brothers and, forced the crowd to kill many others. He is the one who forced us to retreat!" the other boy grinned maliciously.

"You bastard!" the giant boy roared as he appeared on the steps before the doors.

"You can blame the fool who dared tread on my path and blocked me," Nathan said coldly to the boy and slammed the doors shut. Outside, only the Blood Wing Mercenaries could see the scarlet and azure energy float out the spheres and converge.

Soon, an apparition of a giant man of amethyst spirit energy materialized into crystal before them. This was the pet the First Immortal mentioned. It could not be defeated, killed, or destroyed. Only fragments of its body would break and be collected, the pet instantaneously replacing the lost crystals with a seemingly infinite vitality source.

"I'll kill him! I'll kill that mother fucker!" the giant boy screamed with rage. Amethyst crystals were valuable, but not as much as the treasures in the vault. His father was the brother of the patriarch of the sect and told him to cultivate the First Immortal's cultivation methods. Now, it was all to waste! He could only sacrifice some boys and girls to get a few amethyst crystals before escaping. He silently vowed to get vengeance on Nathan.

"That was too close. I didn't expect others to come in," Wei sighed with relief after the door closed.

"Why did you hesitate?" Qing asked Nathan, seeing his face pale.

"My mother dreamed of joining that sect before she died. I came from all the way from America to join that same sect. Now, I can't join them," Nathan said, his voice tinged with regret and grief.

"Then join the Sky Sage Temple. With the spirit energy of a black dragon species, you are sure to get in. You even wield a Heaven Series sword," Toshio said in an effort to comfort his friend.

"Let's just get the treasures and wait for the talismans to break to get out of here," Nathan said as he walked away from the doors after a wistful look in his eyes passed.

"I, I didn't know. I'm sorry," Qing said and Wei pat her on the shoulders.

"People who lost others don't want to hear apologies, and it only makes them feel worse. We just got to be there for him, you know," Wei said as he held her hands, Toshio nodding in agreement as they followed Nathan deeper in the vault.