Writer's note: The next few chapters will feature the third year of school after a two year time skip, like a real arc would. I don't know how long this final year of school will be, before the triplets go to sects or academies. I will also be writing a side project, but expect this story to release chapters more frequently than the side story. No worries. Enjoy.

Chapter 7: The Imperial Guards

"We have arrived, young masters," the guards said and opened the carriage door.

"Finally here. I'm going on ahead," Guo Lin cried as he ran in, two of the ten escort guards running behind him.

"Four of you take the carriage somewhere. It is blocking the road," Guo Yang said, four guards nodding as they and the clan's carriage driver left the area.

"Young master!" the remaining four guards cried as they took up a formation behind him.

"Hmm?" he frowned and turned back, eyes widening as he saw around a hundred soldiers in the sky wearing black armor with dragon shoulder guards made of gold with another gold dragon emblazoned on their chest plate. "Those are not members of the city guard. They're flying?"

"Young master, those are Earth Mortals. They can fly, but cannot leave our planet like Sky and Heaven Mortals," a guard whispered. "We heard stories about them in the taverns. Those are the soldiers of the Song Dynasty's imperial guards. Those are not regular soldiers of the army."

"All will hear and obey the will of the emperor!" a man roared as he flew forward, everyone hastily bowing on both knees with their heads to the ground. Their arms were stretched before them, palms on the ground. Guo Yang hesitated before he did as the others did, kowtowing before some stupid gold scroll with the emperor's words inside them.

"Long live the emperor!" the people cried, the people in the buildings silently watching.

"A week ago, the emperor has sent an edict to collect information on a golden pillar. However, another has been detected using the imperial clan's secret method. Those with any information on two people with Yin Yang divine tattoos are hereby ordered to report immediately. A reward of one hundred million demon spirit coins will be awarded for verified information regarding the two individuals. All people with divine tattoos are hereby ordered to step forward for immediate inspection. Those who refuse will immediately be executed along with two generations of his or her clan. By the will of the emperor of the Song Dynasty: Shen Wukong," the imperial guard roared.

"Crap," Guo Yang cursed and immediately closed his eyes. Within, the red serpentine dragon flew around the neidan. While everyone stood up and gazed around at the members of the powerful clan, Guo Yang meditated on the street, hastily absorbing spiritual energy from his surroundings.

His neidan trembled at the sudden surge of spirit energy. The aurora brightened as a small pond formed. Slowly, the pond expanded and soon became a lake. Meanwhile, a rock was created in the night sky, becoming bigger and brighter to resemble a tiny moon.

Guo Yang hastily swallowed spirit bead after spirit bead, forcibly draining spirit energy. earth began to form on the surface, the lake steadily increasing and deepening as the earth became thicker and expanded outward. The night sky was indeed marvelous as it truly resembled a night sky with the moon's light shining on the serene lake.

Breathing deeply, Guo Yang willed the dragon to slumber in the lake. The red serpentine dragon complied and actually dived in. It was then that Guo Yang realized that the red serpentine dragon was actually made of spirit energy of a nature not found in the Mortal Realm. Like the crimson eye that spoke to Guo Mei, the red serpentine dragon was made of Yin Yang energy. Opening his eyes, Guo Yang coughed blood and sighed as he stopped tampering with his Spirit Realm and quickly calmed his body. The neidan was truly his priceless treasure. He would not have created his Spirit Realm to such an extent without it.

"Young master, you reached mid level Spirit Forming Stage?" the guards gasped. "Congratulations."

"Guo Yang," Guo Lin cried as he ran outside, running to his brother's side. "What do we do? What do we do?"

"I'll be fine. You'll see," Guo Yang said and turned to the skies. "Imperial guards, I have a ordinary divine tattoo."

"Why not call it a lesser divine tattoo?" Guo Lin whispered as one of the guards flew to him.

"It encompasses my entire back and has a serpent dragon on it. Shush. Here he comes," Guo Yang snapped as the guard stood before him.

"What is your name?" the guard asked as he took out a scroll.

"Guo Yang, sir," he answered, the guard frowning.

"You're not registered here. Show me your back and prepare for inspection," the guard said, his voice rising as three others appeared behind him. Guo Yang took off his robe and adjusted his pants as he turned his back to the guard. The guards murmured as they saw the strange dragon. Guo Yang's eyes narrowed as they sent their spirit energy inside him, probing his Spirit Realm. No one can possibly detect his neidan, evident as not even his parents and grandparents detected it when he was born.

"That's a high divine tattoo alright. It encompasses your back and contains a strange creature. However, the creature is not in your Spirit Realm," the guard said. "You must have formed the divine tattoo within the last two days?"

"Y, yes. I needed time to recover, according to my grandpa patriarch," Guo Yang nodded as he put on his robes.

"Yes. It seems to be so. A copy will be given to the city governor. You won't need to register anymore," the guard said as one flew to him.

"Reporting. Besides six unregistered divine tattoo owners of various levels, there is no one with a Yin Yang divine tattoo," the guard said.

"We fly to the next city," the guard said and the people sighed with relief as the guards disappeared from view.

"Guo Mei cloaked her Yin Yang divine tattoo? No, there is no way she could create her Spirit Realm to the same level as me. The eye. It must have been the eye, but how? She has a sibling rivalry with Guo Lin, my human brother oblivious t her jealousy. I'm sure she now feels the same inferiority complex towards me. If what I saw was true, she might lose her mind and attack me. I must make plans to prevent that," Guo Yang thought as Guo Lin turned to him.

"What about Guo Mei?" he whispered.

"It seems she also found a way to prevent them from discovering the truth. Enough of this. We head inside the shop now. I might take a while so browse for food for your magical beast and her blasted owl," Guo Yang said, the two followed by four guards as they walked inside. The last two guards stayed outside, eyes peeled for any suspicious characters that would want to go inside.

Back in the Guo Clan patriarch's home, Guo Mei was surrounded by her parents and grandparents. All of them had relieved faces while she sweated from fear. None of them guessed how Guo Mei managed to pass off her divine tattoo as an ordinary divine tattoo, a crimson eye with shadows that covered almost her entire back. She was shivering and Ji Ting looked at her daughter, worried.

"What's wrong? They left," Ji Ting said.

"It's the whispers. It doesn't stop. It never stops!" she screamed as a black of darkness pulsed out, pushing them all to the wall while her grandma frowned and resisted it.

"It whispers to you? That can't happen! What didn't you tell us?" Guo Li asked her granddaughter. Elders of the sub branch clans rushed in with several guards as they felt the surge of spirit energy.

"No! No, stay away!" Guo Mei screamed as tentacles of darkness sprouted from her back as she fell on her knees. They seemed to have a mind of their own and coiled around each of the elders and guards before anyone could do anything.

"Souls! Souls! Souls!" an unearthly voice shrieked from Guo Mei's mouth, her eyes covered in wispy black shadows. The elders and guards all screamed as the spirit energy was drained out of them, even their skin and bones dried as their blood was also drained from their bodies. The dark tentacles had an eerie shade of crimson as the elders and guards fell on the ground, lifeless.

"What have you done?" Ji Ting cried. "Dear? What are you doing?"

"That thing is not our daughter! It took her over! We must slay it!" Guo Feng roared, taking out a heavy sword. "Forgive me, Guo Mei."

"HAHAHAHA! She cannot fight me. Her fear drove her to hide, embracing me! She is part of the Darkness now. Only Lightning remains to claim her," the voice laughed and caused Guo Mei to walk backwards, towards the shadows. "Do you believe me now, Guo Mei? They cannot understand you. They fear you because they are jealous. They cannot be what you can. Follow me and the whole world will kneel. They have all abandoned you. You are lightning touched by darkness. The darkness has been tainted by the desires of lightning."

"D, da, daddy....why?" Guo Mei said, returning to normal as she sniffed her nose with grief.

"Guo Mei?" Ji Ting gasped. "I'm still here. Don't go!"

"Mommy?.....I...can't fight it," Guo Mei said as the dark tentacles disappeared.

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"Curses. It seems her body is too weak to endure. I'll have you take good care of her, for now. I must thank Guo Lin. I always found a body but it did not possess enough darkness in his or her heart. You should know the only way to save her is for her to taint other fragments of the Darkness to evil. Lightning has evolved and will rise again. The others will be freed and the Yin Yang Realm will be reunited once more! Her jealousy of Guo Lin's powers made this all possible. HAHAHAHA! It is only a matter of time. The next time you see the Snake, tell him that I will show him how much fun I am the next time I take control of this body," the voice of the crimson eye laughed, its laughter fading until only silence remained.

"Snake? Could it be that Yang'er knows about it?" Guo Li frowned as she checked her husband, relieved to feel a pulse. Her son and daughter-in-law didn't feel it, but Guo Li knew her husband protected them by spreading out his spirit energy and took the brunt of the dark spirit energy pulse.

"Guo Mei!" Ji Ting cried as she hugged her only daughter, Guo Mei crying as she buried her head into her chest.

"I..I'm sorry I lied. I was scared. It seems to be sleeping. What do I do if it wakes up?" she cried, her mother at a loss for words.

"Mother-in-law?" Ji Ting asked, the two turning to Guo Li.

"I...I don't know. I think Yang'er might know a way. That boy is extremely smart for twelve years old. Whatever was inside her also mention him. Now, Guo Mei, what didn't you tell us that happened the night you got your Yin Yang divine tattoo?" Guo Li narrowed her eyes.

"I..." Guo Mei began and told her story, shocking her parents, Guo Li, and Guo Jing as he regained consciousness.

"What?" Guo Yang gasped and turned to the direction of the patriarch's house. "Something called to me."

"Why hello, young master of the Guo Clan. Welcome to Tang City's Pet Shop of Magical Beasts," a man smiled, distracting Guo Yang's thoughts as he turned to him. "Is there a particular magical beast you are looking for?"

"I want to buy all the snake magical beasts you have," Guo Yang said, stunning the man.

"Snake magical beasts are strong but take too long to cultivate and are very difficult to raise. Pardon my words, but only a fool would choose a snake magical beasts. I understand you may wish for one as they are cheap, but it would be best to choose something else," the man said.

"Are you the owner?" Guo Yang asked, an innocent smile on his face. "Is there anyone else here?"

"Besides my two assistants upstairs, there is no one but another boy who has two escort guards wearing the same armor as the ones behind you," the man said.

"Take me to the snakes," Guo Yang said and turned to his guards, light spirit energy gathering in his eyes. "You are tired. You need to close your eyes and rest. Rest. Rest."

"We'll be here, young master. Don't worry. The two guards outside will protect this place from suspicious characters," the two guards said and fell asleep.

"Hypnotism. Heh. Light practitioner arts has its uses," Guo Yang laughed as he had used the Light Puppet Art. Unless the victim completely trusted you, it only worked on those with lower cultivation. The victim can only do or say things he already knows and the more complex, the more difficult to succeed in using the light practitioner art.

"These are all the snakes?" he asked as the owner led him there.

"Indeed. Some of them are rather feral and had to be trapped in cages," the owner said. "The ones to my left are toxic while the ones to my right are the ones with superior bodies."

"I see. You collected quite a lot," Guo Yang said as he stared at the snakes. There were all kinds of snakes with different lengths and patterned scales. Some had feathers, horns, spikes, and even more than one head. They all looked abused and angry within their cages. Guo Yang turned to the man and smiled.

"You did good. Very good. It seems my spoils will be great. Come a little closer. I don't someone to see me take out so many demon spirit coins and mark myself as a target for theft," Guo Yang smiled like an innocent little boy.

"Of course. Now the amount of money is...." the man began but Guo Yang unleashed a red mist from a vial that appeared, entering the man's eyes, ears' nostrils and mouth.

"Huck...huck...." the man coughed and grabbed his own neck as he gasped for breath.

"Snake poison. My own original. You see, I was a snake magical beast. I was treated as food and a source of magical beast core by greedy humans. I put my brethren, who suffered under magical beast contracts, out of their misery. The poison that entered the seven orifices, the openings in your head; is my poison powder. Contrary to belief, not all poisons take life. There are some just a teeny bit scarier," Guo Yang said as he kicked the man.

"You....you," the man chocked.

"Me. Me. Me.  It's too bad I can't kill you. You won't remember a thing. The poison I used was created by studying poisonous magical herbs. It attacks the memory and makes you comatose. When you wake up, you won't even remember how to walk or talk. Think of it as a fresh start to treat snakes better," Guo Yang said as he pat the man as he went unconscious and turned to face the magical beasts. "Now, which of you has a similar poison? I will let you free and you can eat the man before the city guards show up. Any volunteers?"

"Neidan?" the snakes hissed as Guo Yang manipulated the spirit energy in his hand to reveal the shape of the neidan in his Spirit Realm. "The Exalted One lives!"

"I will serve. I am old and dying, as my cultivation is too weak to increase my lifespan. I suffered the most and was captured first. I thank the Exalted One for this gift," a snake with white, frail scales with a black pattern hissed, dipping its head in respect as he freed it and set it upon the man.

"Ah, the receipt. Hmm. Let's just take it from his own inter-spacial ring. I'll also take some items while I am at it," Guo Yang muttered and took five minutes to do the deed. "I cannot take all of you, only the eggs of snakes with the most potential. However, I will free you to kill the avian magical beasts who are imprisoned here. Do not kill the boy who is my age and his two guards. There deaths will bring me trouble."

"Thank you, Exalted One," the snakes hissed and rubbed their heads on the back of his hands before slithering off. Guo Yang picked ten magical beast eggs. He stored them in his inter-spacial ring and was about to leave when he noted two things. "Wait. Let me take things of interest before you proceed upstairs."

"Yes, Exalted One," one of the snakes said and relayed the order.

Guo Yang headed to the back of the area and opened the door. Sure enough, he found cages and cages of mice. They would serve as food for his five snakes and stored them in his inter-spacial ring, letting them free so the snakes could enjoy a little hunt before eating them.

"I don't need to bind these snakes as I can brand them with my neidan. I can use it to inject my poisonous spirit energy inside them to control them. I still need a magical beast....but my five snakes are better," Guo Yang said considered the five snakes eggs he chose thanks to the other snakes' guidance.

Two of the five eggs were hydras. Of course, they were female. Hydra milk was exceptionally valuable and increased one's spirit cultivation. Hydras also regenerated their heads and had stronger scales. Most of all, each head would breath a different element, up to three heads per hydra. They had no obedience but his neidan would take care of that. He chose one flying snake magical beast. Flight was imperative to escape or chase enemies below the Earth Mortal stage. The final two were poisonous snakes that could also breathe on land or beneath the water's surface.

Why poisonous snakes? Guo Yang had once used a unique cultivation that required poisoning magical beast flesh before eating it. The neidan would absorb the poisoned spirit energy of the meat and convert it into richer spirit energy while simultaneously improving his own poison. Guo Yang called it the Toxic Jade Emperor Cultivation. Him, kowtow to a human emperor? Much less his fucking scroll? No. If anyone was going to bow, it should be the emperor! How dare he mess with Guo Yang's peaceful life?

"Well, interesting life," Guo Yang said as he closed his eyes while he let the snakes roam upstairs and yelled, "Guo Lin! Run! The snakes broke out and are escaping! RUN!"

"Be careful young master!" the two guards upstairs cried as the two sleeping ones shook and awoke. Hastily, they all left and lingered as the city guards solved the chaos and inquired them as to what happened. After three hours, they were released and the two brothers were allowed to ride their carriage home.

"You bought five snake magical beast eggs? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to contract with one, alone?" Guo Lin cried.

"Relax. You saw how Red Shadow obeys me more than grandpa patriarch. I'll be fine. More importantly, something might have happened at home. Remember? Guo Mei?" Guo Yang said.

"Ah, right. Driver, hurry and take us back home!" Guo Lin roared as Guo Yang clapped his hands together.

"Poison and trickery only get me so far. I need to start training," Guo Yang thought as the carriage picked up speed.