(BACK TO THE PAST)A famous restaurant, Death City:
"Miss, It is very difficult to search for a herb in such a big land without any clues regarding its location. The two Young Masters were apparently given the locations to search for" a cute pet.i.te girl said, her little fist clenched.
"Hmm" the Young Lady nodded, her moments stiff.
"In this life, I, Qin Qing, shall not give up and become a trade for my clan. I will live my life for myself." she repeated herself in her mind for the Nth time.
As her mind was undergoing chaotic thoughts, the corner of her eye caught a figure at the entrance of the restaurant.
"How could he still be alive?" her mind screamed.
The Young Man with black hair and sky blue eyes looked into her eyes.
His gaze seemed to penetrate her eyes and look at her heart.
He walked towards their group with a gentle smile and helped himself to sit with them "Yo, Miss. Fancy seeing you here. I was about to go to the capital to find you." Sheng Tian casually got himself a chair and sat down right opposite to Qin Qing.
"Un." nodding was the best response she could give coming out from her shock.
"I got nine stalks of the herb. Here." he pa.s.sed three jade boxes and smiled Kindly.
"Shameless fellow. We found nothing and yet you claim to have found nine stalks! How dare you lie to us. Apologize or face the consequences." the young man who previously spoke against Sheng Tian in the Embrace of Death slammed the table and said in disdain.
"Yes. Apologize or I shall break your legs." the other young man pursuing Qin Qing also narrowed his eyes and said.
Sheng Tian looked at the two of them with a calm face. Then he started to laugh uncontrollably.
His laughter filled the entire floor as everyone looked at him.
"Do you think you can laugh at us?"
"You are courting death." the two young men bellowed and threw out a punch each.
But before their fist could even move forward, two loud BANGS were heard.
"Bam. Bam."
"f.u.c.k!"
"Am I seeing things?!"
"....."
Everyone was dumbfounded at the sight!
Sheng Tian was still seated. But the two young men were no longer on their chairs.
The Wall of the Restaurant was now cracked as two bodies stuck to it.
"Ugh."
"Aaaah"
The two young men howled in agony as they tried to move their bodies.
Yet they couldn"t even move their pinky and were rooted inches deep in the wall.
Qin Qing"s eyes widened as she held her breath.
The two young masters, Gu Song, and Duan Han were her pursuers and had great backgrounds.
She only let them be with her on the trip because of their cultivation base-each of them are at the 3rd stage of the Earth Realm!
Their achievement was possible only after they are 19 years old.
In any sect, they would naturally be selected as Inner Disciples.
Yet such people were casually blasted by a swing of the Young Man"s palm. They were not able to fight back. And he looked to be only 17!
How can he be so strong at such a young age?
Sure, he is the Inner disciple and could get to the status of Core disciple but the point is, he is not the Core disciple yet!
And she almost couldn"t see his attack!
"Now, Now. My hand just slipped. But you look better there. Haha." Sheng Tian smiled humbly in embarra.s.sment.
"You..." everyone was speechless by Sheng Tian"s words.
How can he be so shameless?
"What were you saying, young masters?" Sheng Tian walked towards the young masters stuck to the wall and smiled Kindly.
"We...we..." they stuttered, having no idea how to respond.
"Don"t say it. In fact, don"t ever talk to me. You are not worthy!" Sheng Tian"s kind smile immediately turned into a disdainful smirk as he left the restaurant leaving a few words.
"I"m Ling Tian, the disciple of the Sacred Sword Sect. Provoke me and you will breathe your last."
"Co...Cool!" a little boy shouted, his face red with excitement.
"I want to marry him." a young lady yelled as her eyes turned into hearts.
Qin Qing was rooted to her spot. She didn"t expect him to be so domineering. Then, she shouted "Fellow disciple Ling Tian, we will be leaving this Afternoon. Meet us at the North Gate."
Everyone turned to see the extremely beautiful young woman in the room.
Qin Qing"s group helped the two young masters from the wall and checked their injuries.
"This!"
"What the h.e.l.l?!"
What they saw made their bodies tremble.
The bones of the young masters were broken at several points. The area around their dantian was smashed, saving their cultivation by a hair"s breadth.
It meant that they were dangerously close to risk losing their cultivation.
And by attacking the areas around it, he was giving them a warning!
Cold sweat poured down the face of the two young masters, their pants drenched in liquid.
They knew that he could be an elite inner disciple but they never thought someone younger than them to be so strong.
What a monster this guy is!
... ... ...
The clouds fleeted in the sky like a dream. It was very hazy, yet very real.
The scene was as if taken out of a painting.
The breathtaking panorama shattered as the clouds dispersed followed by the sounds of flapping.
As the cloud dispersed, a huge creature came into sight.
Its head akin to an eagle and its huge body was enough to hold a mansion.
As its long wings flapped, the bird soared.
On the back of the bird were twelve members.
Some were sitting cross-legged, some were standing enjoying the beautiful sight.
A youth with black hair and blue eyes was gazing at the scene ahead as the wind hit and his clothes fluttered.
This was Sheng Tian in his disguise of Ling Tian.
Sheng Tian was feeling an unexplainable sense of satisfaction and peace after they took flight.
There was a desire to fly in the sky by himself. also wanted to reach the Sky Realm soon to fly high in the sky.
As he was having the time of Life, a devilish enchanting voice rung in his head, "It"s beautiful, free of worries."
"Yeah, full of freedom." he said.
Subconsciously, he thought "Listening to you it"s even more beautiful."
..... ... ...
The next day:
Qin Clan Meeting Hall, Qin Jade Palace, Qin Capital:
In the Grand Meeting hall of Qin Palace, all the elites of the Qin Clan were seated.
On the platform were two Majestic thrones.
The elites ranged from younger to elder, from Peak Sky Realm to Peak Emperor Realm!
The hall was filled with gossips about the Clan Meeting"s notice given last night.
"Creak" the door opened.
The hall turned silent in a split second. Even the sounds of breathing had ceased.
A man around 40 years slowly made his way towards the throne on the Platform.
His face was sharp and he had an outstanding body.
The aura around him forced others to fear and obey him.
Every person in the hall, be younger or elder stood up and bowed deeply.
The Man sat on the throne with a Golden Lion and clapped. "Grand Elder won"t be attending this meeting."
Thus the Throne with a Golden Dragon was left empty.
Following his words, two young men and a young lady stepped forward.
"Clan Head" they bowed, albeit it was lighter than others.
"Hmm." Qin Feng nodded lightly. "The results?"
Everyone in the hall perked up their ears.
There is only one week before the Successor ceremony that takes place once every 50 years.
Even though Qin Feng looked like a middle-aged man, he is in fact over 100 years.
However, as someone who reached the peak of the Emperor Profound Realm, without any internal injuries, he could live for 250 years easily.
And once he breaks through to OverLord Realm, his lifespan would further increase.
But with Yin exists Yang, the more advanced his Cultivation is, the lower his fertility will be.
But if he chooses to have a child before achieving deep cultivation, then the child will likely have mediocre talent in Cultivation.
Having one such child or not is the same to him.
He became the Clan Head at 25 years and now it is time for him to retire from the World Platform and focus on Cultivation so that Qin Clan will continue their position and he could live a long life.
So, although the Future Family head was not selected 50 years ago due to Qin Feng still being able to lead the Clan.
Now that he has to retire, a new family head will be selected and be trained for some years before he retires from his current position.
Selecting a Clan Head, however, is an extremely important matter.
If it falls into someone evil, then the clan would become evil.
However, if it falls into someone incapable, the Clan would fall apart. It is more horrifying than having an Evil Clan Head.
Now that such a great thing was going to be decided in this one week before the winter ends, everyone is curious about their new Clan head. Who would it be?!
Eldest Young Master- Qin Lie or the Youngest Young Master- Qin Cheng?
A few placed their bet on Young Miss Qin Qing, but they didn"t say it out in fear of being mocked.
The first to present the results of the adventure was indeed the Eldest Young Master, Qin Lie.
He took a step forward and said "We faced an unexpected danger and had to retreat. The area became dangerous later. So, I didn"t bring back the herb."
His back was straight and he looked straight at the man"s eyes without hiding his eyes at all.
Qin Feng furrowed his brows.
He knew that Qin Lie had a secret love affair with a disciple named Ling Chen. He should"ve not cared about this matter if it was normal but the problem was- Ling Chen himself is a male.
So how can he allow his own son to do such things?
With a cold snort, he clenched his fist "I know you have been searching for that guy named Xiao Bai the whole time blaming him protecting your little affair.
I don"t want my bloodline to go waste. From now, you will only have females around you including servants."
Qin Lie sensed the crowd"s gaze and when he saw their expression, he almost wanted to kick them. They were either gloating or looking jealous.
No matter how many times he explained this matter, it only made the matter more ambiguous. Except forcefully swallowing down the anger, he couldn"t do anything about it.
Clenching his teeth, he stepped back.
Qin Qing held three jade boxes and bowed. "I was fortunate, Clan Head."
Having sensed the herb within, Qin Feng was inwardly shocked.
It was 9 stalks!
But no one in the clan favored her at all. She didn"t get any probable locations.
No matter how he tried to make sense of this situation, he couldn"t find an explanation.
He turned towards his Youngest and most promising Son, Qin Cheng.
"Father, I finished the task." Replying in a humble tone, the handsome young man took a step forward and placed the jade box on the table.
"Twelve!"
"As Expected" saying so, a slight smile of appreciation towards Qin Cheng.
Then he was back to his normal poker face "The future clan head will be selected after the Qin Ancestral Grounds."
"Hiss" the crowd sucked in cold breaths. Though the same was the test 100 years ago, they were still unable to help but feel antic.i.p.ated.
"Qin Ancestral Grounds" there is no one who wouldn"t have heard of this name before. Even the faces of the three compet.i.tors also began to turn serious.
"Qin Lie gets ten entry tokens. Qin Qing gets seven and Qin Cheng gets thirteen."
***
At the same time,
In the highest room of a brothel, Qin Capital:
A naked young man and woman laid on the bed, unconscious.
A figure shrouded in black appeared in the room.
With a flick of his finger, the naked young man"s head was held by the black figure.
The image of the figure in black began to twist and warp as it became more and more similar to the body in its hands.
In the end, it looked exactly like the young man.
A stream of dense and dark profound energy flowed from the body of the fake young man to the original young man.
Unlike normal profound energy, the one used by the imposter had a very eerie feeling to it.
The profound energy itself had a dark red aura. It was full of bloodl.u.s.t and evil.
The next moment, the young man turned into ashes.
Talking out a talisman, the fake young man spoke a few words.
Hiding it in a secret place, he went onto the bed and took the same position as the young man previously while the woman began to wake up.
*********
In a street, Qin Capital City
"Why do I have a feeling that something bad is starting? Like the villain of a story is introduced?" Sheng Tian froze on spot. Such a feeling was not a good one. Ahh.
"Wait, if this world worked like a cultivation novel, where are the bad guys? They need to be strong else it would just be boring." he rubbed his chin and continued walking thinking of how awesome he would look when he defeats the All-powerful Villain.
"Did the author get so overwhelmed that he forgot writing a villain in the d.a.m.n plot? d.a.m.n! I will write the plot myself!" Sheng Tian sneered.