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Chapter 22

You Forgot To Ask What?

When Chu Shen walked out of the restaurant there was unexpectedly a pair of eyes on him. Because of his low cultivation and lack of experience he could not tell that someone was watching him.

Sitting upon the rooftops opposite the restaurant sat a black robed man. With a coldness that could cause even a tiger to hesitate the eyes stared down on Chu Shen. The plot to steal that thing from the city lords brat had failed, due to this boy.

His most trusted promising youth had been killed all because of this brats interference. While he couldn’t get revenge on the city lords son, he could get revenge by killing this boy.

Smiling with this vicious thought in mind his outline shimmered and then disappeared into thin air.

“Master are you ready to go yet?” Chu Shen walked into the main part of the bedroom. He had been ready for almost an hour and had spent the rest of that time trying to ease the nervousness in his heart.

His master wasn’t there, and neither was any gear of his. On the bed was a note. ‘Chu Shen, I have gone browse around at a couple Artifact stores. Go to the trials and if you can come back to the hotel within the week so I can find out what happened. Do not lose your masters face.’

He smiled. Just like his master. To be an artificer requires patience but Master Lang had a unique type of patience. As far as crafting goes he could wait an entire week to craft a superb weapon, but when it comes to watching others do something Master Lang wouldn’t have any at all.

He always had something to do and would only stop by and look every now and then before judging the final product. Shaking his head Chu Shen grabbed his hammer, stored it in his ring, and walked out of the hotel.

As he started walking down the road he stopped. ‘Crap. I forgot to ask for directions.’

The black robed man stared at Chu Shen. He could see that he had just gotten out of the hotel. He couldn’t assassinate that brat in plain daylight, if so the city guard would be on him in seconds.

He likewise couldn’t attack Chu Shen in the hotel because of the old monster in it. If he decided to cause a ruckus in the hotel it would simply be him throwing his life away.

Revenge wasn’t worth that much.

Stalking the brat the black robed man started to become confused. He kept asking people questions only for them to shake their heads.

Why?

Why did he keep asking and what was he asking? While the black robed man puzzled over this weird conundrum, the little brat suddenly took off. Cursing, the black robed man hurried after him.

Chu Shen kept asking people where the trials were but no one knew. He kept looking around when suddenly he saw Bei Fong off in the distance. Chu Shen immediately thought of how Bei Fong said he was trying out as well. ‘Maybe I can get directions from him.’

Chu Shen immediately caught up to them. “Hey, Bei Fong. Its me, Chu Shen.”

Bei Fong looked puzzled for a second then smiled. “Ah, its you. I didn’t expect to meet you before the trials began.”
Chu Shen had a bashful smile on his face. “Well I was planning on meeting you there but I forgot to ask you something.”

“Oh, what exactly?”

“Where is the trials at exactly?”

Upon hearing Chu Shens question Bei Fong immediately started laughing. Even the cold faced bodyguard that stood silently behind smirked at that.

“Hahaha. Something that simple? Hahaha. How could you forget to ask something so basic? Hahahaha.”

Chu Shen just stood there, waiting for Bei Fong to stop laughing. “Ahh. Its been a while since I laughed that hard. Thanks brother, you certainly do have a certain naïve charm. Come on, you better follow me to the trials otherwise you would be robbed a dozen times before making it. Truly you are too young. Only what, ten years old?”

“ Twelve actually. Thanks brother Bei Fong.”

As they walked they eventually made it to the edge of town. There was large crowd there all lined up in front of a large tent with tables next to it.

“Come one Chu Shen, go ahead and get in line. I will wait with you.” They got in line and waited to register for the trails. Soon enough they had almost reached the end of the line.

By now Chu Shen could hear what was going on. “Age” “Seventeen” “Cultivation Level” “Man Level 10” “Pass. Go over to the Elder over there”

‘Hmm. It seems that I simply have to tell them a couple things and then it will be fine.’

Chu Shen reached the front of the line. There was an elderly man with a long flowing beard. He stared at it, mesmerized. “Age” Chu Shen startled himself out of his reverie.

“12” “Cultivation Level” “Man Level 9”. The old man looked up for a second at Chu Shen before grabbing his hand. A pulse of Qi intruded in his meridians. Luckily he had already neutralized the nullifying effects or his secret could have been found out.

“Pass. Go over to the Elder.” With a wave of his hand he pointed to a middle aged man about 40 years old. Around him was bunch of other people. Walking nervously over to the man he studied the other people surrounding him.

The others were standing around in groups or by themselves. The atmosphere was quite weird. Soon they would probably be martial brothers and sisters but right now they were all competitors.

While Chu Shen was studying suddenly he heard a small commotion from the crowds behind him.

“What!” “At such a young age” “He certainly has a bright future”

Chu Shen turned around and saw the people in line staring at Bei Fong. He turned and walked towards Chu Shen before joining him. Chu Shen waited a moment before curiosity got a hold of him. “What exactly is everyone making a fuss over?”

Bei Fong had taken out a fan and waved it around, the perfect image of a graceful master. “I just told the old man what my cultivation was at and they were shocked.”

“It can’t be that bad right? I mean how old are you.” Chu Shen had started to accept Bei Fong as a true brother and was finally starting to relax around him.

“Hehe. I’m only 16, quite a bit older than you. I’m at the tenth level of the Tiger Stage, I don’t see why their all shocked.”

“…..”

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Chapter 21

Young Master

Chu Shen looked down at the town in amazement. It was big, over ten times the size of his old village. He had never seen such a big place, after all, he had trained at home all his life.

The examination to enter into the Chu school was given inside the city. The reason was that those who traveled here could rest until the examination.

The Mountain Eagle flew down towards a field outside the city. Beside the empty field was a hut and a collection of fences with other beasts inside them.

There was more than three kinds of birds and two giant mammoths. The fences were obviously not strong enough to keep the animals inside but since a beast trainer managed them it was obviously not a problem. The fences were really there to keep people from going inside or wild animals from bothering them.

Getting off the Mountain Eagle Chu Shen and Master Lang bid the beast trainer farewell. The master and disciple pair headed off for the town. Upon arriving they discovered that the Schools trials would start in two days time.

Master Lang frowned. “With this I am afraid we will have to rent a room. While I do that, how about you go off and find out some more details on this examination.”
“Yes Master Lang.” Chu Shen readily agreed. He was also curious about this examination. Departing from his master, Chu Shen set out to explore the town.

Walking around he exclaimed in astonishment at the different things he found. One store sold eggs of spirit beasts, another sold beast cores that had been refined. Beast cores had a very violent energy inside them so some people would refine the energy and make it gentler, letting the cultivator absorb energy straight from the beast core. This made beast cores extremely suitable for cultivating.

There were other stores that sold mundane things such as fabric and utensils but Chu Shen wasn’t interested in shops like those. No, what really fascinated him was the weapons, elixirs, and inscription shops, though there was only a handful in the entire city.

Chu Shen went towards the nearest weapon shop when he heard some fighting. Coming around the corner he saw a young master dressed in fancy clothes and waving a fan around. A young fellow was on the ground, a bright red mark on his face. In his hands was a leather pouch and standing above him was a man in leather armor.

The young master had a face as red as a tomato. Chu Shen was able to catch the tail end of his tirade. “To dare steal from me, your father! I will string you up at the city gates and let all those who want to spit on you until you become a broken corpse. Guard! Take him to the prison!”

“As you wish young master.” Reaching out a hand towards the thief the guard went to grab him. The thief, with a panicked expression on his face suddenly sneered. With a speed that made it hard to see the thief got off the ground and took off running down the street.

Coincidentally the thief ran towards Chu Shen. Chu Shen had always stayed at home and was truly naïve and innocent. Seeing that the young master had been robbed he thought it was only natural to help the young master out.

Punching forward with his hand, Chu Shen knocked the thief backwards. Chu Shen also stumbled back three steps. Surprisingly enough, that little thief was actually a level 10 Man stage cultivator.

The guard who had reacted immediately grabbed ahold of the thief as he stumbled backwards. The young master ran up to thief and yelled in his face.

“To dare think of running away! Truly courting death!” With a wave of his hand the guard hauled up the thief and drew his sword. There was a flash of blade Qi and then the young thief fell to the ground.

While it was obvious that the thief was dead, it was not clear how. While Chu Shen puzzled over this the young master came up to Chu Shen and bowed.

“Hey hey, to have such a good cultivation at such a young age you must be quite talented. How about I treat you to a meal little brother?”

Without pausing the young master grabbed ahold of Chu Shen and led him towards a nearby restaurant. The young master bought some food and started talking to Chu Shen.

“Ah, so you came to participate in the Majestic Sword Academy’s admission exams. Well I am going as well.” The name of the School managed by the Chu Main Sect was called Majestic Sword Academy.

“That’s great! Maybe you could tell me about it. Also, I never caught your name.”

“I am Bei Fong, son of the city lord here. The Chu Exams is made up of three parts. The first is a test of your level of cultivation, the second is your physical strength, and the last is a series of duels.”

“It seems forward enough.”
“Yes, its very simple. However, I would advise caution. Recently there have been rumors that this years exam is special. Apparently some of the clans have been grooming some strong experts in the younger generations.”

“Now they are planning on unleashing them in this year exam. I heard the lowest cultivation they have is the tenth level of man. The competition will surely be fierce.”

“What exactly is your cultivation stage?”

“I am at the ninth level of the man stage.” Chu Shen had another breakthrough on the way to the town.

“That doesn’t seem high enough. If I were you I would wait a year or two. After that it will be back to the usual and you would definitely become a dragon among men.”
Chu Shen shook his head. “My father sent me here to take the exam, how could I possibly lose face for him and run away like a coward. No, I must take them this year.”

Bei Fong sighed and shook his head. “Fine. Here is my advice then. Show off your skills in the first trial but be extremely careful who you fight in the duels. Last year they didn’t separate the different stages but they might this time. If they don’t welllll…. Just remember they are stronger than you, it is no shame to give up.”

Chu Shen nodded. “Thank you Bei Fong. I feel that I might take your advice. Now however, I must take your leave. I have to get back to my cultivation.”

“Take care. I can’t wait to see how a young guy like you will do on the exam.”

Chu Shen went back to the hotel and told Master Lang of what he had heard. He nodded his head. “As expected, the trial is very simple. Go ahead and train until the trials begin.”

Chu Shen took his masters advice and trained. Right now he couldn’t train in any martial skill but his  <Absolute Control> skill. The reason was simple. Until he reached the Martial Realm he couldn’t release large amounts of Qi from his body so all of the skills he gained from the Voids Hand was wasted until he could breakthrough.

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Chapter 20
Strong

Infusing Qi into his voice, Master Lang called out to the rider of the scaled bird.

“You are courting death! To dare attack the Chu Sects carriage you deserve to die a death of a thousand cuts!”

The driver of the Mountain Eagle stayed off to the side. He was only at the late Tiger stage. He was a beast tamer, a profession where the person bound a beast to ones soul and raised it.

He could be of no help in this fight except for keeping the Mountain Eagle calm. While the Mountain Eagle had a great physical prowess, its long-range attacks were lacking.

Immediately after saying this Master Lang swung his mace at the scaled bird. Qi surged off the tip and rushed towards them. The Qi resembled a mountain, aiming to crush the poor fools in its path. An image of a mountain faintly appeared in the air behind Master Lang.

As the Qi came towards the thief the sneering look on his face immediately disappeared. Instead a face of disbelief came over him. Grabbing a sword from his side he swung it at the mountain.

The sword gave off an imperialistic and noble feeling. It was incomparably sharp and seemed capable of cutting the world in half. The Sword Qi met the Mountain Qi. When they did, it was not with a large explosion but rather, when they met the sword Qi faded and disappeared.

The Mountain Qi smashed into the scaled bird and rider. With a puff of red the bird and man pair directly dissolved

Qi appeared around Master Lang covering him in a blinding light. When it dissipated he was covered in earthen colored armor. Master Lang jumped off the Mountain Eagle before hovering in midair.

All of the thieves faces changed. They had thought this would be easy prey but their strongest warrior had already been killed. When the old man had mentioned the Chu Sect they already carried hesitation in their heart. Now that they knew the strength of that old man they were definitely anxious to get away. Immediately the thieves started flying away rapidly.

“Ha! To late to regret it now.”

Saying so Master Lang disappeared. Suddenly one of the beasts exploded. Some of the thieves tossed out treasures. Dazzling Qi exploded in the air. Nothing saved them though. Each time the treasures and Qi collapsed soundlessly once Master Lang assaulted it.

One by one all the flying beasts exploded into blood mists, sharing the fate of their comrades.

Chu Shen stared in amazement. To be so fast as to become invisible to the eye, to be able to fly in the air with a mere thought, this was true power!

‘I wonder when I can have power like that.’ Chu Shen eagerly looked forward to that day.

“Impressed Chu Shen.” Master Lang whispered in his ear.

“Gaah!” Startled, Chu Shen let out an involuntary cry before turning around. Master Lang merely stared at him with a bemused expression on his face.

Showing his displeasure, Chu Shen let a “Humph” and turned his back. Laughing, Master Lang waved him into the carriage. The carriage had survived the attack. After all, the thieves did not want to damage any treasures in the carriage.

“These old bones just can’t move like they used to.” Master Lang sat down and sighed.

“Anyways, where was I? Oh yes. Let me help you with assimilating that black iron into the Living Steel.” Master Lang reached out his hand and in it appeared the hammer.

Apparently during the chaos earlier he had grabbed the hammer and stored it in his spatial ring. Along with the hammer Master Lang withdrew a chunk of black iron the size of a babies fist.

Holding up the iron he started to explain some of the mysteries of the Living Steel.

“When I made this hammer I put a restriction on it. Once you reach the Dragon stage you will naturally be able to lift it. The restriction is in place so that the Living Steel will keep its shape. Once you reach the Dragon stage you can change the shape of the weapon. “
“Now in order to merge any material with the Living Steel you must infuse the hammer with Qi. Then you simply put the metal you wish to merge it with on the steel. The greater the upgrade the more Qi needed.”

“For example, if I tried to directly merge Red Cloud Steel with the hammer you would have to be at the Martial Warrior stage to support the drain. Also, the Living Steel is cultivating to reach perfection. Because of that it will absorb the best qualities of any metal it touches.”

“If you gather Lava Stone and merge it with a hammer of Red Cloud Steel it will not absorb the hardness of the Lava Stone because the Red Cloud Steel is harder and lighter than Red Cloud Steel.”

“However because the Lava Stone is extremely fire-resistant it will cause the Red Cloud Steel hammer to take on the fire-proof properties.”
He handed back the black steel and hammer to Chu Shen. “It’s a very simple process. You try it.”

Chu Shen circulated the Qi in the manner his teacher taught him to cancel the null Qi’s special effects. His Qi flowed from his dantian, through his meridians, and into the hammer. The hammer started glowing a faint white.

Grabbing the black steel he touched it to the hammer. The hammers steel handle immediately rippled like water. The Living Steel covered the black steel. The black steel started dissolving into the Living Steel.

As the black steel started melting the Living Steel’s ripples started coming faster and faster. With each ripple the Living Steel started becoming darker and darker.

Eventually all of the black steel was gone but the Living Steel kept changing. The Living Steel final stopped changing but now the entire hammer looked like it was crafted out of black iron now.

Chu Shen grabbed the hammer. “A good hammer, truly a good hammer.”

Master Lang then pulled out another contraption. This was a sleeve crossbow. It was small with a lever to pull backwards instead of a crank like the one he had before.

It was small, almost unnoticeable if worn in the sleeve of his shirt. “The material used for the string and crossbow is also living steel. I already assimilated Aquamarine Steel into the string of the crossbow. As you know its flexible but very strong, just like you asked it to be like.”

Chu Shen’s jaw was already on the floor from the gifts he had gotten.

Master Lang looked on with pride. “Okay, now sit back and rest. We will arrive soon and you will need your strength for the trials.”

Following his masters advice he sat back in the carriage and fell asleep. By the time he woke up, Chu Shen would be that much closer to entering the academy.

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Chapter 19

An Expert?

Screee

Chu Shen grabbed his ears in pain. An eagle swooped down and landed on the ground. However, there was something wrong with this eagle. It was as big as a house and carried a carriage on its back!

Once his ears stopped ringing Chu Shen started marveling at the beast. “Come on Chu Shen, we don’t have all day.” Master Lang walked towards the beast

“Yes, coming Master Lang.” Chu Shen immediately ran up to the beast. He walked up the rope ladder and climbed into the carriage. Soon after he got into the carriage the beast took off with another cry.

Screee

“Dang. This bird has really got to stop doing that or I’ll go deaf.” Chu Shen rubbed his ears in dismay.

“Haha. You just might. The Mountain Eagle has been known to kill normal people with its war cry, lucky for you that’s just the warning and not its battle cry. Not to mention the fact that it’s still growing up.” Master Lang kindly informed Chu Shen.

“….”

As they flew through the air they rocked back and forth. The movement of the beast was almost hypnotic, quite soothing to the soul. Slowly Chu Shen became relaxed and imagined he was on a ship and not on a beast over a mile in the air.

“Chu Shen, you remember the weapons you asked me to forge correct?”

“Yes master, of course I do.”

“Well, I finished it.”

“That is great Master!”

“Here, I wanted to give it to you.” After saying so a hammer appeared in Master Lang’s hands. It had the same dimensions as the hammer Chu Shen originally had in the trials. It was 1 and a half meters long with a heavy head and a spike mounted to the end.

Inscribed on the head of the hammer was ancient arcane symbols that gave off a faint sense of power. Chu Shen recognized the symbols as the inscription patterns that he had asked for.

Inscribed on the hammer was two inscriptions. The one on the handle was a [Channeling Inscription]. It’s a very useful inscription no matter your cultivation level. The inscription essentially lets someone channel their Qi into the weapon easier, making the weapon harder and sharper.

It also let you use less Qi to make the same effects. Normally it would boost the Qi by 30-35% if made by both a Master Blacksmith and Inscription Master, but this was a weapon crafted by a Master Artificer. It actually boosted the Qi by 45-50%.

The other inscription was something that was best used for heavy weapons. It was actually an inscription created by Master Lang. Inscriptions are often copied and sold to other people however legacy inscriptions such as this one were only passed down from master to disciple.

This inscription called the [Earth Shattering Inscription]. The inscription changed the weight of the object, making the weapon as light as a feather while swinging it or making it more than 100 times its weight.

This let heavy weapons such as the hammer become as agile as a swordsman but hit as hard and with more weight. Imagine the weight of 1,000 pounds suddenly falling on you. It could certainly shatter the earth. What was even more scarier was the fact that there was no limit.

The more Qi you fed it the more weight the hammer gained. Master Lang had taught Chu Shen about inscriptions and helped him learn about them. Though he could not make inscriptions, he could easily identify and recommend inscriptions on weapons he forged. That was how Chu Shen knew what inscription to request of Master Lang.

Because he could not make inscriptions he was not qualified to be called an Artificer. However, since he could nullify his Qi’s affects he could finally pursue his passion and become an Artificer.

Master Lang looked on Chu Shen as he studied the hammer with pride in his eyes. Chu Shen looked up at Master Lang with appreciation all over his face.

“Thank you Master Lang, it is truly all I could ask for and more.”

“Haha! I knew you would like it. Now, you probably don’t know what material this is made of.”

Chu Shen shook his head. “Truly the metal is curious. It’s only as hard normal steel, I didn’t think this kind of metal would be suitable for a cultivators weapon.”

“You brat.” Master Lang smacked Chu Shen upside the head, though love could be seen in the violent gesture.

“This metal that is so feeble, as you put it, is called Living Steel. It’s a steel that can actually cultivate and grows as it does.” Chu Shen gazed at the hammer in respect.

“By mixing it with different minerals it can actually take the properties of them and when the metal absorbs Qi it transforms into a metal similar to it.” By now Chu Shen had a completely different outlook on the hammer.

“My master gave me a fist sized chunk of this Living Steel. I have nurtured it and used it in some of my finest creations. However, I have run out of money and materials. This is the last of my good resources but I do have a fragment of black iron.”
“I will show you how to do the assimilation.” Master Lang stood up and walked towards the hammer.

BOOM

SCREEE

A large explosion rocked the carriage. The bird yelled out screech of pain. Chu Shen looked around in befuddlement before he was suddenly grabbed by Master Lang. Immediately Master Lang ran outside the carriage with Chu Shen under his arms.

Outside the wind howled as it rushed past their ears. The eagle was still flying though some of its feathers had cracks in them but no blood flowed. The feathers of the Mountain Eagle might look soft but they were harder than steel and they had the defense like a mountain.

Flying beside them was ten small flying beasts of different varieties, all in the late Tiger stage with a cultivator of unknown strength on its back. Their Mountain Eagle was actually in the early Dragon stage.

A scaled bird opened its mouth and spat out a large yellow fireball. The fireball exploded on the Mountain Eagles feathers where they had been damaged causing even more cracks to spread.

BANG

SCREEE

Master Lang cursed quietly before putting down Chu Shen.

“Master, who are these people and what do they want?”

Master Lang sighed. “Their bandits. They are probably trying to shoot down the Mountain Eagle. No cultivator that can survive a fall like that unless they can fly. Apparently they will pick up our belongings after we fall.”

“Now I will show you my strength. I was planning on telling you about it later on so I could see your face but I guess I will settle for this.”
Saying this Master Lang withdrew a mace from his spacial ring. This was the reason he had researched and come up with the [Earth Shattering Inscription]. It was to magnify his combat ability.

Gripping his mace firmly Master Lang prepared to fight.

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Chapter 18 – Fathers preparations

“Father this, this is….” As Chu Shen stammered in surprise his father raised his hands to stop him.

“Yes, this is exactly what you think.”

“But father I can’t, I just can’t accept this. This is the family heirloom. You said it was the most precious thing our branch sect owned.” As Chu Shen spoke Chu Bai kept a calm face.

“I know this naturally. However, you are the most important thing to our branch family. Objects can be replaced by other objects but talent should never be squandered. Here take this, you already know its function.” Saying so, he immediately took back the spacial ring and extracted from it a small bead on a necklace.

Chu Bai hung the necklace around Chu Shens neck. When he put it on the necklace flashed white three times before fading back to a dull black. Chu Shen grabbed the necklace and looked at it with amazement present in his eyes.

Though this necklace did not look amazing it was a true lifesaving treasure. The necklace was made using pieces of a primordial beast called the Spider of a Thousand Tricks already in the late Martial Emperor Stage. It was a well-known beast because of three things.

It used its webs to set up many traps, the higher its cultivation the trickier the traps became. It was for this reason it was called the Man Spider of a Thousand Tricks.

What it was really well known for was its two inborn abilities, which had actually been copied to a lesser extent in the necklace Chu Shen now wore.

Once the person who wore this necklace came under life threatening danger it would immediately deploy a cocoon. This cocoon was made of strings of spider webs almost completely impenetrable even to a cultivator’s weapon. Even if the shell was penetrated it would still do the attacker no good.

Upon penetration the person inside would immediately be teleported up to 1000 miles away from the spot of the attack though the spot you would be teleported to would be random.

From these rare abilities it could be seen to be as an extremely good piece of equipment. However there was a limit. The spider web could only be used up to 3 times in a week.

After that the necklace had to absorb Qi and transform it into the spiders webs. Without the webs as a primer the teleportation could not be completed so it could also only be used 3 times.

The reason it was so precious was because of these features and also because of how rare it was. In order to incorporate the special abilities of the Spider of a Thousand Tricks the beast spirit had to be fused with the necklace.

A beast spirit was a very rare occurrence when the soul of the primordial beast, as beasts who could cultivate were called, fused with their beast core. The beast core was a beasts version of the dantian but instead of the dantian being an organ that dissipated once killed it was actually a stone like object that kept all the beasts energy stored in itself.

Once a beast was killed there was chance the soul of the beast would incarnate inside the beast core. Of course, there was a chance it wouldn’t. The higher rank the beast the more powerful the soul of the beast and therefore an increased chance of a beast spirit.

It was said that beasts above the World Stage would have a one hundred percent chance of gaining a beast spirit. Those that were at Tiger Stage and below only had a 1% chance. Those at the Student to Scholar Stage had a 10% chance. Those at the Warrior to the Army Stage had a 20% chance and the beasts at the King Stage had a 30% chance. Finally those at the Emperor Stage had a 50% chance.

The increase of almost 50% showed the massive increase of both strength and spirit the World Stage unlocked.

Chu Bai took from the spatial ring a stone. This stone gave off large fluctuations of Qi. “Chu Shen, this is called the spirit stone. The main sect uses these stones for currency. I only have a small amount of 10,000 stones. I give these to you so you can use these when you enter the sect.”

Chu Bai put back the stone inside the spatial ring and took out a medallion with the characters of Chu Bai’s name carved into it.

“While I as an elder of a sect branch do not have a lot of influence in the main sect I do have some. An old friend of mine, Lan Wen, is an elder of the main sect that helps manage the school. “

“He will be able to help you a little if you come into trouble or need some things. Do not hesitate to ask something from him. Show him my medallion if he doubts that you are my son.”

“Yes father. I have a question though father.”

“What is it Shen’er?”

“Well father, I wanted to know why the elder of the sect does not have our families name.”

“That is simple. Our family runs the school and those of the main sect are favored so they typically become the powerhouses of the school. However, the main sect also takes in talents from the school directly into our clan. Those who join do not need to take on our family name.”

“I see father. Is there anything else I need to know then.”

“Yes. In order to enter the School there will be a trial. First there will be a simple screening, then a strength test, and finally some duels.”

“It is impossible to tell the strength of a person unless you see them in battle. In order to make it fair the sect also passes out a basic cultivation technique for all the surrounding villages, this way anyone who is talented will stand out.”

Chu Shen nodded. Naturally when someone entered the school they would of course need to test their talent. Of course, someone’s achievements could not always measure their potential.

Therefore in order to narrow that possibility down as much as possible the sect needed to have a basic cultivation technique readily available. This meant those who worked hard or those who were naturally gifted would stand out more than his peers.

“I understand. Truly the main sect has thought of many things. Is there anything else father?”

Chu Bai adopted a thoughtful expression as he put his hand on his chin. “Hmm, well. I gave you the medallion, the necklace, and the spirit stone. I already told you about he sect trials so there is nothing else. Now, in three days the flying spirit beast from the main sect will appear. You and Master Lin will be going together. Put the rest of your baggage in the spatial stone and prepare to leave. Remember son, you must become stronger to save your mother.”

Chu Shen nodded resolutely. A stubborn look came across his face. “I will father, don’t worry.”

The next three days was spent training in the and the techniques. His master was busy crafting the things he asked for so the crafting of the weapons for the Lin Sect was left to him. The replacement artificer came on the second day and took over, allowing Chu Shen to have more time to cultivate.

His strength was actually up to almost 360 pounds since he broke into the ninth level of the man stage. Each time Chu Shen broke into a new stage of the <Void King> technique, it would accompany a massive increase of strength otherwise it would only steadily increase the strength of the person.

Finally it was time to go.

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Chapter 61
Rules

“Alright I know everyone probably knows the rules but I have to go over them anyways.” Chu Shen had registered for the Robo Games yesterday. Today was the official start of them.

Everything had been exactly the way the crazy old man had described except for the fact that it wasn’t any old competition. It was actually a major competition for the entire planet. There was even some aliens that had come like the blue skinned Crowlezx behind him.

Only people 24 years or younger could compete or their equivalent for the species in question. Chu Shen was on the side, most everyone else was a teenager or young adult. The main judge was on stage behind a podium giving the speech he was listening to.

“To start off with. Some of you might have been mislead as to the exact nature of the game. We are not building robots from scratch. Rather, you will be able to buy from us with your money parts pre-assembled.”

“For example, you can buy a Raven III chassis along with an RSI Nuclear battery. Afterwards you can modify any of the designs using our workshop. Of course, you still have to pay for any materials with the budget all of you will be assigned.”

“As for specific rules… there’s only a couple. First off you can not use any hacking, EMP’s, anti-matter, or any weapon that can destroy or pierce a class 5 personal shield.”

“If you use nanites you can not directly use them to attack your opponent. Instead they must form a weapon or be used to repair your bots. As for controlling each robot we have banned any mind-control methods as they are deemed too dangerous for competitions.”

“We will scan your robot and make a copy of it for each fight. This way each robot will be in perfect condition. So if you have any illegal gear you will be eliminated.”

“Now the attendants will escort you to the design room so you can plan out your robot. Don’t worry though. Each room and workshop is private and the AI’s will copy your robots. No human will be able to access your blueprints.”

“You will have five days to complete your robot. After that the games will begin. Ask the attendant to take you to your workshop when you are ready. If you wish to test your robot please ask the AI’s to make you a digital copy to test it inside the simulation arena. That is all.”

“Dismissed!” The main judge walked off the stage towards the exit. The contestants looked at each other before they immediately headed out. Overall there was about 30 people with 23 of them being human.

All of them had small pins with a number on the front of their outfits. Chu Shen’s number was 28. Following the rest of the contestants he went over to the line of attendants.

Each attendant was dressed in a black formal outfit and had a number pinned to their chest like the contestants. It was pretty obvious what it meant. Chu Shen found the attendant with a matching 28 pin.

Walking up to them he shook hands with them. “Nice to meet you.”

“It is nice to meet you as well young sir. Would you like me to show you to the design room?”

Chu Shen nodded. “Yes Please.”

“Right this way then sir.” The attendant gestured for him to follow and went down a nearby hallway. After they rode in the elevator for a bit they came out on a floor with a very short hallway. At the end was a single room.

Inside was nothing but a desk and a small computer console. The attendant pointed inside the room.

“This is the design room. You can use the computer though most prefer to use the hologram instead. Don’t worry about someone getting into the room. AI’s monitor the rooms and the only ones authorized to go up need an implant. Even the attendants can only go to the room assigned to you.”

“If you need anything at all ask me. The bathroom is right there and the cabinets are stocked with food and drink.” The attendant left and sat in a chair outside the room.

Chu Shen immediately closed the door and opened up the hologram. First he started looking through the designs available. ‘Hmm. That frame looks nice…. I have no idea how to control something like that….’

After he went through the list of items available he went through the budget he had and the cost for all of the designs as well. Then he compared the materials list to the design list.

Following some internal debate he made up his mind. It had to be a humanoid robot. It was after all the form he was most familiar with in combat. The other peculiars he would have to decide after getting the specific robot chassis.

Chu Shen spent over 5 hours inside the design room before he finally moved on to the workshop. He ordered the materials and parts using the system inside the design room.

He ordered a glass cannon kind of robot. It had powerful hydraulics but was low on armor. Then he ordered several compact batteries, energy guns and explosives along with a variety of other things.

After he was done ordering he asked the attendant to escort him to the workshop. The attendant looked at him. “Are you sure there is nothing else? You can of course come back if you need to.”

“I am sure. Can you take me to the workshop.”

“Of course. This way please.” The attendant took him back to the elevator. After a second or two the elevator stopped. Exiting the elevator it appeared in a hallway the exact same as the one they came from.

Opening up the door at the end of the hallway revealed an expansive room separated into several chambers. Various tools such as plasma-torches, micro-wielders, and nanites were all displayed here.

As soon as Chu Shen saw these tools he immediately started getting excited. He had never truly created anything outside of simulations. His blood burned to be able to start on his true dream. Crafting.

Swinging his head around he immediately looked at the large crates in the middle of the room. He looked at the attendant. “What are those crates doing here?”
“Ah. Those are the things you ordered. Do you wish for me to stay and help you unload them or should I wait outside.”

“Wait outside please. I can help myself.”

“Very well then. Please use appropriate safety precautions when you use the tools. Good-bye.” The attendant left but stayed outside waiting. Chu Shen immediately opened them. A gleam of metal could be seen as he unpacked the materials.

Taking out the items he ordered, he set them down side by side. Looking at all of it he took in a deep breath. “Ahh. Finally. I can get to work.” Cracking his knuckles he grabbed the chassis and dragged it over to the welder.

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Chapter 17 – Requesting a gift

Chu Shen looked at Master Lang and he looked back at him.

“Chu Shen, you are leaving for the main sect in five days time. Well actually you are not. Instead you are going to a school managed by the main sect. Prepare what you need for the journey during that time. While you prepare I need to ask you something.”

“I noticed you were having difficulty controlling your strength in the forge, why is that?”

“I am sorry master. Do you know the reason why I can go to the main sect now?”

“Yes, a mysterious expert came by and gave you an artifact and a technique.”

“The reason I am having difficulty controlling my strength is directly related to this matter. I have started training in the technique he left me and have broken through to the first stage of that technique.”

“Ah, so it increased your strength. Good, good, good. Now, I am planning on forging you some things, what do you want and I will try to make them.”

Chu Shen paused for a moment to think. He wanted a hammer similar to the one he had in the trial but with a little modification. He would have made an adjustment then but Ti Wu may have objected to that, Ti Wu had already been upset when he changed his weapon mid-trial.

He told his master what he wanted. Master Lang frowned. ‘This kid, he sure is a piece of work. He requested only two things so that isn’t problematic. The only troubling thing is that they are both complex and fickle things. This will be tough.’

Seeing a worried expression on Chu Shens face Master Lang immediately laughed. “Haha. Don’t worry, I will have these things you have requested done before you leave. What is with that glum face, do you doubt your master?”

“No master, of course not! I merely was sad that I was leaving you that’s all.”

“What, what! Have you not heard? I will be coming with you. After all, even your master has to travel every now and then.” Chu Shen was truly astounded. His master had never left the Chu branch Sect since he had come here and had actually stayed for almost 20 years.

For a cultivator to spend almost a tenth of their lifespan in one town was truly rare. Often times unless it was a main city or the capital most towns lacked resources for martial artists to train properly.

“Master, you do not have to leave with me. I do not need your protection.”

“Brat, I am not leaving just for you though if you are bullied just tell me and I will rescue you. I am going to the artificer’s guild to test my skill again, now leave. I have to start forging those weapons for you, I will be too busy once we get to the School to forge anything else for you.”

Ushering Chu Shen out he watched him walk along the path back towards his valley. Leaning against the wall of the forge he sighed. “Ahhh. Seeing him like this really takes me back. Hehe, it’s a miracle I survived all that.”

Looking up at the sky he reminisced over all the different trials he had gone through in his youth. As he did, Master Lang reaffirmed his decision to go with his disciple and become a local artificer.

An artificer is well respected and has much influence, especially someone of his level. With his status Master Lang would naturally be able to protect his disciple from most of the troublesome problems that would crop up.

Chu Shen had no idea what was going on Master Lang’s head. As he walked towards the valley he started to prepare to start cultivating again.

Suddenly a voice called out to him. “Son, I need you for a moment.”

Turning around he saw Chu Bai coming towards him.

“What is it dad, what do you need me for.”

“I just need to give you a couple things you will need for the School. You can start planning your strategy for this afterwards.”

“Yes father.”

Turning away from his valley, Chu Shen immediately followed his father back to their house. Chu Bai and Chu Shen did not say a single word on the way back but merely enjoyed each other’s company as they knew their time was limited.

They reached the house and went to his father’s storehouse. Upon reaching it Chu Bai went to the corner and grabbed a ring. It was merely a simple unadorned metal band.

He handed it to Chu Shen who looked at it in confusion. “Father, what’s this?”

“Its only natural you don’t know what this is, most people don’t use it in this little town. It’s a spacial ring. If you channel your Qi into it you will notice that it contains a space around five cubic meters in size.”

Doing as instructed he started to channel his Qi into the ring before his master stopped him. ‘WAIT!’

Cringing Chu Shen grabbed his head. ‘Master, don’t yell so loud. You are giving me a headache.’

‘I don’t care you little brat. If you had channeled Qi into that ring you would have destroyed that space with your null Qi. If you want to use that ring revolve your Qi according to this method.’

‘Oh. Thank you master.’

Ti Wu immediately passed on a basic cancellation technique not controlled by the library. Once used it actually cancelled the extra effects of null Qi.

Chu Shen immediately used the technique, after all it had no underlying concepts so it wasn’t hard at all but rather like bending your finger backwards. It was merely something you wouldn’t normally do.

Once his Qi circulated the right way he channeled it into the spacial ring. As he looked at the content he gasped. “Father this, this is.”

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Chapter 15 – The might of a king

HuffHuff

Panting echoed through out a small valley.

“Come on brat, put your back into it.”

This small valley was actually a special training area reserved for Chu Shen by his father. The Chu Sect branch family was part of a small town by the edge of the wilderness. Because of this it was relatively simple to take over an entire valley, after all they were surrounded by mountains and had numerous valleys around them.

Right now Chu Shen was practicing inside the valley. He was bare-chested with sweat dripping down him. When his master had asked which technique he wanted to train in he naturally said <Void King>. The reason behind this was quite simple.

The body is the foundation of cultivation. By having a strong body you will naturally be able to handle large amounts of Qi that could kill someone who did not have a strong body.

Absorbing massive amounts of Qi would naturally increase his cultivation by a large amount but having a strong body was necessary. By practicing the technique he could gain an extremely strong body in a short amount of time.

The unfortunate thing was that practicing this technique required a great deal of effort to be put into it. Because of the void Qi penetrating his body and strengthening his body he could progress faster and farther than with any other method.

Chu Shen was in the breaking process. Right now he had a pair of 100 pound rocks. He had them attached to a leather harness and was running with them trailing behind him.

He had been running with them for almost an hour. He was exhausted beyond measure but kept trying to reach his breaking point. The worst part of it was that Chu Shen was forbidden to use Qi and had to use his physical body to pull the stones.

He had never trained this hard before. The reason for that was that Chu Shen simply did not have any motivation to reach a higher realm.

Up until now the only thing that had driven him to practice was the allure of power and curiosity of what standing at the peak of cultivation, or as close as he could get, felt like.

Now he had a motivation and it was a strong one. Chu Shen only had his father in this world. Now that he knew he had a mother he would naturally care for her as strongly as he did his father.

Crash

Chu Shen fell face down on the ground. He couldn’t move at all, he couldn’t even feel his limbs. His entire body was like a limp noodle. Ti Wu looked at him and nodded in appreciation.

Not many people would work to the point of exhaustion like this. “Okay brat, this is the important step. You know the proper circulation of Qi to practice the technique. Go ahead and use it.”

Still panting on the floor Chu Shen started circulating the Qi in his body. A feeling akin to a hammer repeatedly hitting him overcame Chu Shens exhausted body.

It was so painful that Chu Shen almost passed out. As Chu Shen went to stop the circulation the image of his mom passed by his minds eye. Immediately he did not only stop but actually accelerated the pace of the Qi.

Unknown to Chu Shen as the Qi started circulating through his body it would infiltrate his body in massive bursts. Because it was only the first stage of the technique it only penetrated his skin. As it hit his skin it caused him great suffering but at the same time strengthened his skin beyond belief.

A level 8 Man practitioner’s skin was harder than a non-cultivators skin by a dozen times, becoming as tough as a bulls skin. Now Chu Shens skin was becoming as strong as stone!

As the Qi penetrated his skin it overflowed into his muscles making his strength soar. A level 5 Man cultivator had the strength of 100 pounds while a level 8 cultivator had the strength of 200 pounds. Chu Shens original strength at level 8 was actually at 250 pounds of strength.

With the help of the technique it increased his strength directly to 350 pounds of strength! This was the equivalent of a Level 10 Man cultivator! Now his skin could deflect mortal weapons, actually becoming on par with a level 1 Tiger stage cultivator!

If the news that the first stage of a body cultivation technique caused a level 8 Man cultivator to gain 100 pounds of strength broke out it would shock the entire continent. Usually those who practiced body cultivation techniques were the people who had reached the end of their martial path.

The reason for this was that a body cultivation technique was not very effective until you reached the latter stages of the technique. Only then would you see effects like gaining 500 pounds of strength. Typically body cultivation techniques were very demanding and painful. Truly only those who were desperate would go through the entire cultivation method to simply gain some strength.

The <Void King> technique was different. It had over 5 stages and on the very first practice of the technique directly increased his strength by over 100 pounds. And the muscles weren’t even the target of the practice this time either! Not to mention that this was the first volume too.

It wasn’t as unique as to be declared unrivaled among the heavens though. Many sects and families were known to have very good body cultivation methods but these techniques were treasured amongst these factions. What was truly shocking though was that someone who was not apart of these factions had a technique that actually surpassed theirs in some ways.

Ti Wu merely stared at his disciple. Chu Shens face was turning red from the pain that he kept bottled inside him. As Ti Wu studied Chu Shen he realized that he had almost recovered from the long run he had done.

If Chu Shen kept circulating the technique while his body was not at its limits it would not be absorbed. It was like making a fat man go on a diet and then letting them eat at a buffet. At first the fat man would devour everything in sight but eventually he would slow down and become full.

Even if the fat man kept eating after he was full it would not make him less hungry but could actually harm him.

As Ti Wu came to this realization he stepped in to stop Chu Shen.

“Alright brat, that’s enough. Anymore and you might just explode.”
Chu Shen faintly heard his master and finally stopped.

Huff Huff

He merely laid on the ground for a moment breathing heavily from exhaustion. Then he slowly stood up. He sat down with his back against the rock wall in order to calm his breathing and pulse.

Clatter Clatter

Sometime later when the sun had reached its zenith he heard stones falling down the valley. Looking up he saw Chu Lan.

“Junior brother Shen, are you working today?” Chu Lan called out into the valley when he saw Chu Shen.

Stunned Chu Shen realized that he had forgotten about his forging duties, such was his drive to get stronger. Hurriedly he called back to Chu Lan.

“Yes Senior brother Lan. Tell Master Lang that I will be there within a few minutes.”

“Alright Junior brother. Hurry up though, the Lin sect wants some more tools for their competition.”

“En”

With that done Chu Lan ran back up the valley while Chu Shen slowly got up and followed him.

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Chapter 14 – Successor

Chu Shen was curious now. “Master, why can’t I use these techniques?”

“How foolish of me. You see, you are the third person who has come to the sect with a void constitution. The first person was the founder who died before my time and the patriarch. Now you will inherit the techniques the founder left.”

“These techniques are specifically left for void constitutions and are also the strongest techniques available.”

As his master talked he led Chu Shen to the other side of the library. There were three doors there though the one on the right was padlocked.

“These doors lead to different sections of the library. The one on the left takes you to the outer disciples library. The one on the right takes you to the Core disciple’s library. Until you pass the test you cannot go into that room. The middle room is one only you can go through.”

“Go into it and see if there are any good things left by the previous patriarchs.”

“Yes master.”

Obeying his master, Chu Shen opened the door to the middle room. As he did, he felt a surge of energy pulse through his body. Suddenly a room appeared on the other side of the door.

Inside was simply three jade slips. Going in he looked at each of them. <Voids Child> (A cultivation technique that lets null Qi gather at an extremely fast speed.)

He looked at the other two. They were both defense techniques called respectively <Cancellation Armor> and <Universe Shield>. The armor was formed from null Qi and enhanced its cancellation effects. With it so long as the enemy was not of a significantly higher cultivation level it would cancel their Qi and in cases of them being of the same strength even assimilate their Qi.

<Universe Shield> worked on the same principle but with a shield that could be manipulated through the air instead of armor that could be worn. It had the advantage of being able to block attacks at long range.

These were extremely powerful techniques that could exponentially increase a cultivators strength. The other techniques in the library were powerful and could create massive waves outside of the library.

It was different however for these techniques simply because of the requirement. These ones required you to have a special constitution. This was not something you could steal but rather depended upon your luck. With this requirement only Chu Shen was suitable for these techniques.

Grabbing all three jade slips he started to walk out of the room. Bonk

Stumbling backwards he stared at the doorway in confusion. Ripples of an unfathomable black energy covered the doorway, blocking him in.

Panicking slightly he called out. “Master, master! Something’s wrong with the door!”

Ti Wu startled after hearing his disciples panicked voice. Looking up from the jade slips he was studying he immediately ran over to the door his disciple was in.

The door was wide open but he couldn’t see inside. A black barrier covered the doorway. Pounding sounds came from the inside of the doorway.

“Brat, the library would never block you unless you did something wrong. Tell me! What did you do!”

In a panicky tone Chu Shen immediately replied back. “I didn’t do anything wrong master! I came in and picked up the jade slips like you said and when I went to go back to you the library wouldn’t let met out!”

Ti Wu stared, flabbergasted at Chu Shen. Suddenly he started laughing uproariously. “Ahahahaha”

“……”

Chills ran down Chu Shens back. The only time Ti Wu had laughed was when he had punished him or when he did something stupid.

Finally Ti Wu stopped laughing. Pulling himself together he started explaining to Chu Shen his basic mistake.

“Chu Shen, you do realize that these techniques are forbidden to be shared with outsiders right?”

“Yes master, anyone would know that.”

“I will tell you something. The library stores all your memories of practicing any of the techniques in here. If you try and share it with anyone else you won’t remember how.”

“The patriarchs techniques are forbidden for anyone to learn unless they are the patriarchs successor. That is the reason why you cant get out of the library room, you have the forbidden techniques which you cant take out of the room.”

“Oh.” Chu Shen said slightly embarrassed

“Set down the jade slips and come out here.” Chu Shen put down the slips on the table and cautiously walked towards the door. The black energy barrier had disappeared once the jade slips had been set down.

He cautiously walked forward towards the doorway. Nothing happened. Chu Shen kept walking forward into the library and stopped next to his master.

“Since you have already picked out some techniques I will show you how to assimilate the techniques knowledge with you.”

“Now first you grab the technique, close your eyes, and hold it up to your forehead.”

Chu Shen waited for a couple seconds. After realizing his master wasn’t going to elaborate he grabbed one of the techniques he picked.

Holding it up to his forehead he waited for something to happen. Suddenly images and words started flashing past his closed eyes. After it was done he gasped in shock.

Searching his memory he realized that he could recall all the different steps of .

“Okay brat, now that you know what to do go ahead and assimilate all the jade slips you chose tomorrow we will train.”

Chu Shen started assimilating all the different techniques. Soon he had assimilated them all. Going into the forbidden room he assimilated those as well.

“Master I am done.”

“Good, now I will take you out of the library. Get a good nights sleep, you will have a long day tomorrow.”

The world dissolved into blackness.

Chu Shen opened his eyes. He was back in his room. Sighing he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

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Chapter 13

Martial Arts

Chu Shen waited anxiously for it to be night time. At first he merely paced around the room for a while. Next he started listing forging materials and how to forge them.

Finally Chu Shen sat down and cultivated. For the next two hours he merely sat in a corner of the room meditating. Ti Wu on the other hand was extremely busy.

Inside the Voids Hand he was going through different Jade slips in his mental library. Even Ti Wu had no physical jade slip and had to use the mental library.

“This one might be good for him. No, no, doesn’t suit him. It’s been so long since I have gone through these low level techniques that I’ve forgotten most of them.”

He browsed the shelves picking up slips randomly and would either put it back or place it on one of the tables. On the tables was about twenty different techniques.

“Why did this brat pick a hammer for a weapon? There’s so few people that use a weapon like that there is only a couple suitable attack techniques.” Ti Wu complained out loud.

Shaking his head with a bitter expression on his face he sighed. “I want a disciple who will shake the world. So what if his weapon is unique, it just means no one else will be prepared for it.”

Looking up at the ceiling of the library he stared into space for a moment, thinking over bygones of the past. Shaking his head he focused again on choosing a good cultivation technique and martial skill for his disciple.

Chu Shen opened his eyes. Honestly cultivating in his families ‘broken techniques’, as his teacher put it, felt like a waste of time. He knew that only by using his teacher’s techniques would he be able to enhance his strength quickly.

He looked out at the sky and saw it was dark. Excited he waited for Ti Wu to say something but nothing happened. After waiting for another ten minutes before becoming impatient.

Gritting his teeth and praying for forgiveness he contacted his teacher. ‘Teacher, its bedtime. Will you come teach me now?’

Ti Wu startled when he heard his disciples voice. ‘Bedtime already? All right. Now lay on the bed, we will begin soon.’

The real reason Ti Wu had waited until Chu Shen would go to bed was so that when he fell unconscious this time, the boys dad wouldn’t worry.

Doing as his teacher said, Chu Shen sat down on the bed. Laying back and closing his eyes he waited for a couple seconds.

Suddenly he was once again in the soul cave. Except now there was a door in the side of the cave. Curious he went up to it. Inside was a room filled with jade slips. There were two tables in the very middle of the library.

Ti Wu was looking at one of the jade slips while sitting at the table. Beside him were four piles of jade slips.

“Master, shall I learn some martial arts in here?”

“Yes. Sit down. Now, do you know the different types of martial art techniques?” Following his masters instructions he sat down.

“Yes master. There is cultivation techniques that help you absorb Qi, attack techniques that allow you to use Qi to attack, defense techniques that allow Qi to form shields, and movement techniques that help you move faster or more agile.”

“Good, good. You know the fundamentals of martial art techniques. Now, these four piles are separated into the four types of techniques. Browse through a couple and choose them. Tomorrow you will start training in the different techniques you choose.”

“Yes master.” Immediately he picked up the jade slips and started browsing.

<Celestial Being> (After cultivating this body refining technique you will have a body comparable to celestial bodies). The technique was a body cultivation technique. It sounded nice but he didn’t want to choose one after looking at just one. Picking up another he kept reading. Surprisingly enough he realized that all the jade slips in the cultivation technique pile contained body refining techniques.

Finally he chose one. <Void King> (Cultivating this to the peak you can shatter the very void with a wave of your hand. All things in the void will be beneath you). Even the very description was arrogant and overbearing.

Setting it off to the side he started looking in a different pile. This one was filled with movement techniques. After looking through it he finally decided on one.

<Comet Travels Though> (At the peak you will be able to travel across the entire planet in a day.)

Ti Wu had been watching him the entire time, when he started to move onto the next pile he snorted. Freezing Chu Shen looked up at him with fearful eyes.

“Pick another one.”

“Master? “ Chu Shen had a questioning tone. He didn’t understand, couldn’t he only choose one?

“Pick another movement technique. While the one you chose can help you reach the pinnacle of speed it is only in a straight line. Choose an agility technique so you can use it in battle.”

Nodding Chu Shen immediately picked up another technique. This one had caught his eye earlier. He had debated with himself over choosing<Comet Travels Through> , or <The Stars Dance>. (Using the power of the cosmos you can become incurably quick and agile like the stars dancing in the heavens).

Next he moved onto attack techniques. The first technique shocked him quite a bit.<Stellar Flame> (Burn the universe to nothing. Incinerate your enemies and let nothing stand). Such arrogance and boldness was uncommon. It was an extremely ruthless technique to follow. Even a simple touch of the flame would cause you body and soul to be burnt to nothing.

Most of the other techniques were what he was used to. One techniques appealed to him the most. One was called <Song of The Universe> ( Using the vibrations of the cosmos you can penetrate any defense and attack at range). It was a semi-ranged technique that was quite suitable for his hammers crushing blows. It wasn’t a direct move but rather amplified his original attacks.

Finally he looked at the defense technique but suddenly Ti Wu exclaimed out loud.

“Ah, what am I doing? You can’t use those defense techniques!”

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Chapter 12 – The Goal

“Father. Who took my mother, tell me!” Chu Shen pleaded with his father.

“I will not tell you until you unless you can reach the Earth Stage” Chu Bai was extremely firm on this point. Normally Chu Shen’s begging would have dissuaded him but this matter was far too important for him to give up on.

“But why father, I must know.” Chu Shen truly did not understand. Anyone would wish to know who had captured their family, even if they could not do anything about it.

“I know son. I will only tell you once you get strong enough, otherwise even investigating them can get you killed.”

“Father I….”

“NO. I know you are set on rescuing your mother and so am I. However you are the only descendant I have. You must survive to carry on our family legacy. Grow strong so that you may carry yourself with a straight back.”

Chu Shen stared at his father. It was the first time he had ever been yelled at by his father.

All he had ever know about his mother was that two years after he was born she had gone to visit her family in the main sect. She had gone missing on the journey there.

Grief was rending his heart in two. The only thing that kept him going was the fact that his mother was alive. A passion lit inside him unlike anything he had before.

His father had said that only when his strength was sufficient could he help save his mother. If that was the case than he would become strong!

He would turn the world upside down to help his family, even if it was the imperial family that had captured his mother he would slaughter all four of their generations.

Ti Wu was actually pleased with these events. He could tell before that Chu Shen really wanted to become strong out of curiosity and a sense of wanting to make his father proud. Now though there was a burning desire to be strong.

This desire would make Chu Shen try his hardest at cultivating, no matter what it took.

Truly only a person who was courageous was able to walk on the path to cultivation. Someone who feared for their life would not ever be able to travel far.

“Father. Since I can only become stronger then give me five years. Give me five years to become strong enough to go with you.”

There was the very beginnings of a killing intent present in Chu Shens aura now.

“Truly you have great ambition son and while I am anxious to go save your mother I don’t want it to be at the cost of your life.”

“Don’t take unnecessary risks. At most take ten years, that will be enough time.” Chu Bai faintly admonished Chu Shen

“Yes father. I will try me best to keep myself safe.”

“Good, good. Now that I have your promise I can tell you this. Since you are able to cultivate to the Emperor Realm, then I can send you the main sect.”

“There you will learn different martial arts and become a great cultivator.”

“It is imperative that you go because of the resources they have there. By going to the main sect you can increase your strength as fast as possible but be careful. It not unheard of that disciples die during their trails.”

“Don’t worry father. When will I go?”

“In a week the main sect will have some trials to become disciples. If you go you will definitely enter.”

“How can you say that dad, there are undoubtedly others who are much stronger than me.”

“Yes but they all had wealthy families or came from a more prominent sect. “

“The average cultivation level of the people who go there is man stage 8. Not to mention that the people are usually around 16.”

“Thank you dad. May I be by myself? I’m still pretty exhausted.” Now that they had finally properly discussed the matter of his mom, he needed to talk to Ti Wu.

“Okay son. Rest properly, I’ll check up on you later.” With that Chu Bai left.

Immediately after he left Ti Wu appeared in front of him, just like in the spirit realm. He could be heard like a normal person instead of inside his head.

“Okay brat we can talk now.”

“Master, I know you heard all that. Will you be able to help me reach my goal.”

“Of course. Your five year goal will be hard but with the proper resources you can reach the pinnacle soon.”

“So do you agree with going to the main sect?”

“Yes I do. If your sect can send an nature stage cultivator to watch over a minor branch sect than the main sect is undoubtedly strong.”

“Yes master. Master, I wished to know if you will transfer to me the hammer and the martial techniques that you have picked for me.”

“Tonight brat, tonight. When you go to bed I will take you to the soul realm library and choose a cultivation technique for you.”

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Chapter 11 – Explanations (2)

A sleeping boy laid on his bed while two men looked down on him. The one right in front of his bed had an incomparably noble air about him The other had soot over his clothes.

The man with the noble air stared down at the boy. “How did this happen to my son.” He said coldly. This man was obviously Chu Bai, the elder of the Chu branch sect!

If Chu Shen was awake he would instantly recognize the other person. It was actually Master Lang! He was looking at Chu Shen with a worried expression but did not seem concerned about the killing intent that was directed towards him.

“Elder Bai, I don’t know. I went back to see why Chu Shen was not bringing in any of the orders and saw him collapsed on the floor. After that I called you and the doctor. You naturally know the rest of what happened.”

Chu Bai just stared silently at Chu Shen. After a long pause he spoke up. “If my son is permanently harmed you will pay for it. Luckily for you this will probably not happen.”

Master Lang sighed. “You know I would do anything for you brother. We have gone through many things together, I would not harm your son. You have suffered enough.” Chu Bai stayed silent as he kept his back to him.

Hesitating for a second he spoke up. “Brother, what is the exact condition of Chu Shen.”

Sighing Chu Bai looked away from his son and instead at Master Lang. “If it were anyone else I would not let them ask about my son’s condition. However, you are his master and my sworn brother so I will tell you. He is suffering from Qi exhaustion and blood essence loss, though only a small portion of blood essence was lost.”

Master Lang frowned. “Blood essence and Qi exhaustion. Those are the two signs of bonding a treasure beyond their level.” Looking up sharply at Chu Bai he waited anxiously for his response.

He nodded. “That is also my conclusion. Do you see now why I would let no one else know of his condition.”

Master Lang nodded his head. “Of  course brother.”

“Good, you are dismissed.” Chu Bai stayed at Chu Shens side while Master Lang left.

He stayed at Chu Shens side for an hour before he heard Chu Shen stirring.

Chu Shen opened his eyes. He was back in his bedroom. Looking around he saw his dad looking at him with a serious expression on his face. “Hello father, what happened?”

“You don’t know do you son? Ahhh. It is only natural after all you are still a kid. Tell me my son, did you drip blood on a tool of some sort at the shop.”

Chu Shen was naturally stunned. Truly he was worthy of being an elder in that he was immediately able to recognize the signs of binding a treasure.

“Father, this….” Chu Shen was hesitating. The last thing he wanted to do was to lie to his father. However his new master had told him not to say anything about him.

This put him in quite the predicament. He wasn’t sure what to say, either he offended his father who he loved greatly, or he offended his master who could help him reach the pinnacle of martial arts.

Suddenly a voice sounded in his head.

‘Brat, you can’t keep your training a secret from your father. I truly did not expect someone of the nature stage to be here, much less that you be related to them.’

Taking a gamble he thought to Ti Wu. ‘Teacher, what should I tell him then?’

‘Tell your father that you met an expert who came to the forge. He became interested in your constitution and gave you a necklace and a cultivation method. He oversaw you bind the necklace with blood upon which you fainted and afterwards you woke up here.’

‘But Master, I don’t have a necklace. Where would I get one if he asks to see it?’

‘Brat! You think I don’t know what I’m doing! Obviously the voids hand can be used as a spatial device. Contained in it is a lot of great artifact’s and one of them is a necklace. I will let you use it since it has a good effect on cultivation speed.”

Now that the issue had been settled, he told his father about how a mysterious master gave him a cultivation technique and a necklace that boosts training speed.

After hearing his explanation his father simply stared at him. Chu Shen was a little nervous but waited patiently. “Son. What kind of technique is it?”

“The master said I am the only one that can use it because of my bodies constitution. He said that my constitution is extremely rare but it is also a good thing.”

Chu Bai then asked the question that weighed heavily on his mind. “With this technique, how far can you breakthrough?”

Respectfully Chu Shan replied “All I know is that with this technique, I can breakthrough past the Emperor stage.”

Chu Bai was at first hesitant to believe this. After all, the Emeror stage required the meridians to be unblocked, but now his son who had no meridians said he could reach that stage.

His father started crying. Startled Chu Shen stared at his father with some hesitation in his heart. It was the first time he’d ever seen his father cry. Even when his mother was lost he did not cry, instead he just became angry.

“Thank the heavens, thank the heavens. My son can finally reach the pinnacle of cultivation. Ah son. You may not know this but your mother was not killed but captured. I have waited so long to search for her but could not, I had to protect you. If I had tried to rescue your mother then I would have put you at risk. I couldn’t do that so I have suffered in silence all this time.”

“Son. If you can truly reach the Emperor stage then you will be able to protect yourself. With that I can be at peace when I go to rescue your mother. If you ever encounter that master again tell him he may request anything of me and I will do it in an instant!”

Ti Wu heard this inside his gauntlet and nodded in appreciation. Obviously this man knew how to appreciate kindness. Chu Shen was lucky to have such a good father.

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Chapter 10 – Explanations (1)

Chu Shen stared at Ti Wu in rapt attention. To be honest, there were two reasons why he had accepted Ti Wu as his master. The first was obvious, by following him Chu Shen would be able to break into the Emperor stage.

Only his father and the patriarch were at that level. They only knew about the higher realms because of their family’s ancestors. The Chu Sect was only a branch sect.

Even the main sect had only one Cosmos level cultivator and they were widely regarded as one of the three strongest sects in the Ji Empire.

However the second reason was even more important to Chu Shen than breaking into the higher realms. What he wanted to know was why his Qi was different than anyone else’s.

One must realize that he is still a twelve-year-old kid, curiosity about what made him different was the real driving force behind his choice. Maybe once he matured would Chu Shen realize how this would impact him.

Ti Wu looked at Chu Shen humorously for a moment before clearing his voice. A serious expression came over his face as he began speaking.

“The kind of Qi you have is called null Qi. This kind of Qi is actually a spacial attribute Qi. It’s a special Qi that rarely appears in the natural world but it conquers everything around it.”

“My sect called it null Qi because it nullifies every other type of Qi. The only kind it does not nullify is heavens Qi because it doesn’t come from this plane of existence and Qi that is inside someone’s body.”

Chu Shen nodded his head. There was something’s he didn’t quite get like spacial attribute but he could get most of it. After all since before he had started practicing martial Chu Shen had studied under his father.

He’d learned the basics of cultivation but the advanced theories and other stuff, as Chu Shen thought of it, wasn’t important. After all before this there was no hope of cultivating.

There was one thing that was troubling him. “Master, you said earlier I had a void constitution. What is that exactly?”

His masters face changed from a serious look to a contemplative one. Looking at him Ti Wu remembered something. His disciple was still a kid!

‘How much does he know about martial arts, it can’t be much. He probably knows the basics but he is quite talented for such an out of the way sect. With his constitution and still making it to the eighth level of the man stage he could actually be considered a cultivation genius!’

‘However his life experience was still lacking though he is a fast learner, as evidenced by the trial.’ With this in mind he looked at Chu Shen with new eyes.

Normally only 16-18 year olds would take the test but at 12 years old he was already an inner disciple. Even within his sect this was considered good. Of course, they never would have accepted someone of such low cultivation though the void constitution he had was an exception.

‘Its best to not let him get to arrogant though, having a big head is never good.’ Chu Shen was starting to get nervous. His master was just staring at him after he had asked what he thought was a basic question. ‘Hopefully he doesn’t decide to punish me.’

“What do you know exactly about constitutions”. This sudden question startled the nervous Chu Shen.

“What master?”

He rolled his eyes. “I asked brat what you know about constitutions.”

Chu Shen was delighted. With his condition it was labeled as a broken constitution. Because of this Chu Shen was often lectured on all the different constitutions by his father.

“Yes master. A constitution is when your born different than everyone else. It might be that you’re meridians are weird like mine or you have inborn strength like me as well. It could also be that the body has a special affinity with an element.”

Ti Wu nodded. “Its sufficient though basic. You actually don’t have inborn strength. It’s a side affect of your constitution. A void constitution is when you have an affinity with space or rather the void of space.”

“The void of space contains all the different types of Qi. The void is where everything originated from and also where everything goes in the end. Because of your affinity with the void whenever you cultivate your body turns the Qi into null Qi.”

“Your body also absorbs the energy of the void when you sleep. That’s why your body is so strong. As the harsh energies of the void penetrate your muscles and bones they strengthen them. That’s the reason why you are so strong.”

“As for you lacking meridians, its actually not true. The void is nothing and everything. It is not detectable to anyone besides someone who uses void Qi.”

“When your body absorbed the Qi of the void it stored it inside your meridians. Because of the void Qi no one could sense your meridians, hence the reason why you were said to have no meridians.”

A light lit up in Chu Shens eyes. ‘So it wasn’t because of my body lacking meridians but rather my body absorbing an undetectable Qi and storing it in my meridians.’

“Is there anything else brat? I think you’ve been passed out long enough.”

“What? What do you mean passed out master?”

“I mean when I took you into your soul realm you’re consciousness left you’re body.” Seeing his panicked look he started to reassure him. “Don’t worry. At most it’s been an hour.”

“Master I need to go back to the real world. Let me get out of my soul realm. Can’t you come back when I go to bed or something?” Chu Shen begged his master.

“Brat, you truly don’t appreciate the heavens. Your void constitution is something anyone in my sect would have killed for. Almost half their cultivation was spent converting their Qi into null Qi but here you are able to do it with even trash techniques. Ah, the heavens are truly blind.”

Chu Shen was getting desperate. “Master that is not the point. Of course I appreciate my fortune but my father may get worried if I am gone too long. I need to wake up so he doesn’t suspect anything.”

“Fine brat. Don’t tell anyone about me until we can talk later.” Waving his hand the world dissolved around him into darkness.

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Chapter 9 – Failure

“Hahaha. I truly did pick a good disciple.”

“Its not like you had a choice master, I was the only one.”

“Did you say something brat? If so I can start the array like you are.” As he said that Chu Shen had a horrified expression over his face.

“No master! This disciple was merely commenting on how grateful he was for you picking him. It truly was a fortuitous event.” Chu Shen panicked slightly.

“Good. An unyielding tree will be snapped, only the supple reed will survive the storm. Let that be your first advice from you master.”

“Thank you master.” Thankfully his master did not pursue this matter. He shuddered at the ‘testing’ his master would make him go through if TI Wu had.

“You will probably die on this next one. Can’t wait to see it.” Ti Wu rubbed his hands in glee.

Chu Shen almost spit up blood. He was the son of an esteemed elder and a genius! People might look at him with pity but never had they hoped he’d be in pain.

Snapping his fingers, Ti Wu healed Chu Shen. Letting him get in position, Ti Wu started the array.

A shadow with a saber appeared. This one had no armor except a leather breastplate. Chu Shen kept his distance as he thought about the saber. His master had said that a saber was exceptionally good at attack but average on defense.

The reason for this was because it only had a single edge and was curved. The curve made it hard to defend against but at the same time it couldn’t parry enemy attacks as well.

Its downsides, however, would be nullified in the hands of an expert.

‘I have to end this quickly, if the shadow is as good as I expect, I can’t let it gain any momentum. I must strike now.’ As all these thoughts ran through his mind, Chu Shen took up an offensive stance.

Running towards the shadow he paused just out of its range. The shadow became a blur as it ran towards him. Jumping to the side the blade just barely missed him.

Swinging his hammer Chu Shen hoped that the shadow had over exerted itself. The hammer barely missed the shadow as it followed the momentum of its swing.

It didn’t stop the blade as it missed him but rather went with it, making the blade go even faster! It was going significantly faster but again Chu Shen dodged it. Again it spun around, building up speed.

Chu Shen repeated this cycle a few times, dodging it only for it go faster and faster. Sweat was dripping down his forehead as it kept getting harder and harder for him to dodge.

The shadow was now like a cyclone making an impenetrable storm of blades. It even sucked in the air, making a slight draft, which just enhanced the image of a cyclone. Getting desperate he shot his crossbow at the cyclone.

Impossibly a saber flashed out and deflected the arrow! Chu Shen was floored. What skill is needed to move that fast while being that accurate. It didn’t even look like the shadow was dizzy.

He couldn’t keep track of the shadows blade any longer. The cyclone suddenly appeared in front of him. A burning pain was suddenly present all over his body.

Falling to the ground he realized that the shadow had sliced him with its saber dozens of times in a matter of seconds.

Ti Wu sighed. As expected, becoming a core disciple on the first test was out of reach for Chu Shen. Waving his hand the shadow dissipated and they were back in Chu Shen’s soul cavern.

Seeing the downtrodden expression on Chu Shen’s face his heart sank. If he lost his confidence then Chu Shen could encounter many serious problems later on.

“Kid, don’t let this defeat effect your soul.” Ti Wu said seriously.

“Yes master” Chu Shen still had a defeated look on his face.

“I’m serious brat. If you let this affect you it could do incomparable damage to your future cultivation. Let me ask you this, do you focus your martial arts training on fighting.”

Startled, Chu Shen shook his head no.

“That explains it. Have you ever fought a life or death battle?”

“No master.”

“Hmm. How many battles in total have you fought brat.”

“Only two master.”

“What!” Ti Wu was shocked at his answer. Chu Shen had showed good judgment in the battles, even if he had forgotten to use all his weapons and didn’t know how to fully bring out the potential of his hammer.

“So little experience yet you could reach the trial for core disciples.” Ti Wu grumbled under his breath.

Speaking up he called out to Chu Shen. “Once you can train more in the ways of combat you can come and take the test again. However, the key to success does not lie in getting to a better cultivation stage. The shadows strengths will adapt to match your own.”

“Do you know why I made you take this test?”
Chu Shen tentatively spoke up. “Because you were mad and wanted to punish me?”

“No! It was because of the sect’s rules. For some reason the founder of the Void sect decided that the Voids Hand would contain all the martial arts and cultivation methods of the sect. Only by taking a trial will you be able to learn these things.”

“Once you pass the test the Voids Hand will imprint on you a library with all these techniques. Only a core disciple has access to the most powerful techniques and can browse at will any of them.”

“You can only practice martial arts that are available to inner disciples. I will show you how to access the library and pick a suitable technique for you. Before that though, I’m going to explain some things about your Qi.”

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Chapter 8 – The Pillars Warriors (2)

Bang

Yet another pit was smashed into the floor of the arena by the hammer wielding Chu Shen. Blood streamed off of him as the shadow warrior danced away from the weakening Chu Shen.

Puchi

The dagger once again sliced into his leg. “ARRRGH.” Using the handle like a club he brought it brutally upwards smashing into the shadows head.

PantPant

Chu Shen was breathing heavily after that intense fight. It turns out that while having a hammer so big gave a reach advantage, the hammer was also leaving him wide open.

Unless he was faster than the opponent, they would have many chances to cut him.

“Master give me a moment. I might have to change my weapons.” Chu Shen looked a little sheepishly at his hammer.

“In the middle of a test!” Ti Wu looked incredulously at him.

“I chose wrongly. I don’t believe a hammer this big is my style. Could you give me a hammer about half this size?”

“ARGHHH. I swear, you’ll be the death of me. Making me work so hard.” Ti Wu had a right to complain. Just when Ti Wu had planned out what to teach him, this brat decided to change his style!

“Here, is this good?” A hammer about half the size of the one Chu Shen had appeared on the ground in front of him. Even the head had been shrunk. It now resembled the hammer Chu Shen was most comfortable with, his blacksmithing hammer.

There was some differences though. It was several times heavier than he was used to along with the spike.

The hammer was also a little bit longer and wider though not by much, maybe a quarter meter difference.

Picking up the hammer Chu Shen hefted it in the air. “Yes, this will do. Start the fourth pillar master, I’m ready.”

Ti Wu pointed at Chu Shen, dissipating all fatigue and wounds. After all it was still just an elaborate illusion.

A shadow with a sword appeared in front of Chu Shen as the fourth pillar lit up. Hefting the hammer he waited for the shadows move.

The swordsman immediately thrust forward towards his chest. Barely blocking it with the handle of his hammer, Chu Shen stumbled sideways. Aghast he stared at the shadow.

While before each one had been at about the same level as him the shadow was now clearly higher. If he had to guess it would be at the peak of the Man Stage, almost 2 levels above him.

It was now just above him in strength but the worrying part was its speed. Right then Chu Shen had reacted out of instinct. If his hammers handle hadn’t been so close to the sword he would have died.

He had severely misjudged the rapid pace the difficulty increased.

‘I was right about switching weapons. A large hammer can crush foes if it meets them but has no use in a battle against faster opponents. I truly liked that giant hammer but until I can become more skilled in I will have to abandon it.’

Discarding his idle thoughts Chu Shen focused on the current battle. Swinging his hammer around in a circle he rapidly built up momentum. The swordsman swung his sword sideways at him.

Spinning around the tip of the sword Chu Shen jumped forward. He swung the hammer at the chest of the shadow.

With the built up momentum of the hammer it would have crushed the ribs of even a late stage Tiger warrior if it connected.

Bang

The swordsman couldn’t react, overbalanced as he was. The hammer landed on the chest of the swordsman sending it flying. The fourth pillar dimmed as the shadow dissipated.

Chu Shen was confident now that the shadow had been destroyed without a scratch, unlike the dagger wielding shadow that had specialized in speed.

Chu Shen quickly passed through the fifth pillar but once again the last pillar slowed him down. This time the shadow warrior was wearing armor. It had a broadsword that it could wield with incomparable nimbleness.

Chu Shen flew through the air like a kite with its strings cut off. He hit the ground and rolled. The shadow didn’t come after him though. Taking the “Dang it. I just can’t get close.”

No matter how he tried the defense of the shadow seemed impenetrable. Unfortunately his hammer was too short now to reach the shadow.

Spinning his hammer he prepared for a tremendous blow. The sword swung downwards. Dodging it the sword cleaved into the ground.

Taking his chance at the slight hesitation he swung his hammer at the sword. The sword flew sideways, ripping out of the shadows hand. As the sword flew away the shadow stretched out its hand. The sword stopped in midair flying back to its owner.

Chu Shen swore out loud. He backed up trying to get out of the reach of that giant sword. He gained a slight respite as the shadow adjusted its grip.

Chu Shens eyes lit up. “I don’t have to get close! I can just hit him with the crossbow.” Chu Shen had started neglecting the crossbow after the first fight.

He’d been overcome by adrenaline, becoming too focused on hitting the enemy with his weapon.

It was only natural. Chu Shen had never really fought before and only used a crossbow to test it out after they forged it. That was the only reason Chu Shen had any proficiency at it to begin with.

Chu Shen set his hammer on the ground. Nocking the crossbow he quickly shot out a bolt.

It instantly hit the shadows shoulder, not giving it time to react. Such was the power of the crossbow.

Chu Shen grabbed a bolt from the quiver at his waist. He knocked the crossbow and prepared to fire. But how could the shadow let him? It charged at Chu Shen, swinging at him sideways.

Realizing he wasn’t going to be able to fire Chu Shen grabbed his hammer and rolled under the blow. He was barely able to do that since the crossbow dart had lodged itself into its shoulder, slowing the movement down.

As he rolled past the shadows legs Chu Shen lashed out with the hammer. Crunch The blow struck its legs, forcing the shadow onto the ground face first.

As he came out of the roll Chu Shen aimed the crossbow at the shadows head. The crossbow bolt shot out and pierced the shadow, dispersing it once again.

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