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'A rotten tree cannot bare good fruits...'
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The tale started when another tale had ended...
The Kingdom of Xin Dao spanned miles and miles of seas, mountains, rivers, forests, lakes, cities, towns and settlements.
Across the thousands and thousands of miles, not many things could shake the entire kingdom...
There were of course, terrifying beasts, demons, and even a few ultra powerful ancient beasts. But these could only terrify the people in their own regions.
There were even times when the wind blew in the talks of war and there was unrest across the kingdom. But Xin Dao had not seen war for many many years.
And yet, the entire kingdom was undoubtedly shaken!
Almost everywhere, the questions were being asked:
"Who is *Xuè Shèngrén?!"
*Xuè Shèngrén - Blood Sage.
"Who is this sage who had defeated two of the top martial families in just three days!"
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On one fine dusky morning in Camellia City, the capital of the Eastern Region, lanterns swayed slightly in the brisk morning breeze, and the fresh scent of snow filled the air, as a crisp chill descended on the large city.
Though it was still early, the streets were already teeming with activity.
A red-faced man dragged two stubborn donkeys which brayed indignantly, and caused passersby to laugh at the early spectacle.
Here and there, warmly clothed children played around with kites, fake wooden swords and other toys. Men carried loads on their backs or shoulders, while the women carried dainty baskets full of foodsfuffs, fabrics or some other goods. Some of the women had a child on their backs, or little children following around them.
Street vendors lined both sides of the road, enthusiastically calling out to the passers-by, arranging their goods, or chatting excitedly.
There was a small gathering of traders, 'trading' gossip, and of course, the 'hot' topic was, 'Xuè Shèngrén'.
"Aiya! I can't believe something so unfortunate happened right here in Camellia City!" Said one, as he arranged a bunch of juicy looking apples on his stand.
Another one, "And not too long after the New Year! 'From joyful tidings to mourning'!"
Yet another one, "So many lost their lives... The entire sect's cultivators were defeated so easily, and their faces have reached rock-bottom!"
"Exactly! Do they dare show their faces in public? Even the Head of the Zhao family and the twelve top Zhao cultivators, were killed by this Xuè Shèngrén!"
"Really?" Another asked, and distractedly walked into his own cart. The cabbages he had been holding rolled down unto the dusty road.
A few passersby laughed at the sight, and the man shielded his face from view.
"Did you crawl out from under a rock?" One asked him. "I say, even if your eyes are bad, use your ears! This news has spread everywhere!"
"But several of them were in the White Realm! Who is this sage, to defeat them so easily?!"
"I hear the corpses of the main family members are barely recognisable, because of how gruesomely they were killed!" Yet another one added.
"Yes yes yes! They were completely disfigured!"
"Aiyu!" They all shuddered.
Having a proper, dignified corpse to bury, was a mark of respect... How could one rest in peace with a disfigured corpse?!
"The attack didn't start here, you know? The first was at the Southern Dragon Clan, and the guards and more than twenty cultivators were also killed.
"Then Clan Leader Wang, his wife and son were brutally murdered, just like what happened here. The coffin maker's only son was one of the dead cultivators, so he can't even rejoice over this sudden rush of business."
"Ah... A cruel misfortune, right before useless fortune. He will prepare a grand coffin for his own son, but who then will his riches be left to?"
"After all that, the Wang Clan had no leader... The illegitimate son of a servant that everyone has been looking down on, suddenly became Clan leader overnight!"
"Ei?! That Wang FeiYang? But he's basically trash! Such a low cultivation level at the age of twenty-three, and he's scared of his own shadow!"
"It's still better than here... The only other descendant of the Eastern Dragon Clan left, abandoned his own clan and disappeared five years ago!"
"Ah, that Zhao LanFeng fellow? *Wo-Peh! Isn't he the Zhao Family Trash? At least Wang FeiYang cultivated a little... Zhao LanFeng is completely without Spirit Power!"
*Wo-Peh! - could mean anything from disgust, to 'bullshit', to 'nonsense', and usually accompanied by spitting motions! I gave up trying to figure it out, at some point.
"And he even dared to point fingers at Clan Leader Zhao and his wife, falsely accusing them of killing his mother... That fellow can never rule the clan! *Cui!"
*Cui- spitting sounds
"But You know? I heard something ridiculous." One of the men lowered his voice. "I heard this *'Xuè shèngrén' is one and the same Zhao LanFeng!"
*Xuè shèngrén- Blood Sage
"Ei?!?! Are pigs running in the sky? Say something believable, if you must spout lies!"
"But why is it surprising? His mother was an evil woman as well! 'A rotten tree cannot bare good fruits...'!"
"I say, that's not the problem here... The issue is, how did a 'good for nothing' trash, become that powerful?!"
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That was indeed the question that bothered the *Wulin, and if the Wulin was bothered, so was the whole kingdom!
*Wulin - The Martial arts world.
How could the good for nothing son of a sinful woman, suddenly become strong enough to attack two ruling families?
The boy in question had been born without any spirit power, and he had disappeared five years ago. And then this Xuè Shèngrén character had recently emerged, killing people here and there.
And now, he dared to attack two ruling clans.
Even worse... He had succeeded in his attack and had killed the ruling family members and their top cultivators!
That was at least six White Realm Cultivators, ten Black Realm cultivators and an uncountable number of Purple Realm Cultivators...
Almost a hundred, in all.
Exactly how powerful was this Sage?
The questions, "Are we next?" or, "Am I next?" or, "Is our clan next?" were flying round the entire Wulin, and most of the scared ones were now trying to remember if they ever ran into this 'Zhao LanFeng' fellow, or wronged him in someway.
And that was, IF he was actually Xuè Shèngrén.
A further addition to the whole confusion, was how Xuè Shèngrén could have been in two places...
From the Eastern region to the Southern region was roughly a ten to twelve day journey by carriage, and about five to eight day journey by boat.
Yet Xuè Shèngrén had destroyed both clans in just three days, and had been seen in both places!
Even the most powerful cultivators flying their swords could not move that quickly, and even if they did, their qi would be depleted to the point where they would think twice before single-handedly attacking a whole clan.
Had he used a teleportation talisman...?
This was the most likely conclusion, but the long-range teleportation talismans were ridiculously expensive, and more importantly, they would also drain one of immense energy.
If Xuè Shèngrén used such a talisman to get from the South to the East, he should not have possessed the strength to attack.
And causing even more confusion, was the absence of a clear and consistent description of Xuè Shèngrén...
"He was so tiny! White faced and scary!"
"I didn't see anything! I didn't see anything!!"
"His figure was slighter than a blade of grass!"
"He was like the worst of demons!"
"He was black from head to toe!"
All on this only added to the mystery, and led to numerous questions...
Who was Xuè Shèngrén?
Was he Zhao LanFeng, the lost 'Zhao Family Trash'?
If he was Zhao LanFeng, where did his sudden power come from?
How could a nineteen year old boy even have such power?
What were his intentions?
Would he attack the remaining two ruling clans?
How had he gotten from the Southern region to the Eastern region in less than two days?
The leaders of the Wulin came together for the first time in a long while and had one clear goal.
Capture Xuè Shèngrén.
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Meanwhile, a smaller but powerful group of individuals, men who had always acted in the shadows of Xin Dao, had a different thought.
The Xuè Shèngrén they knew was already a threat to them...
After all, they had recently taken away something precious from him, which had led to the devastating attack on the two ruling clans.
If that same vengeful Xuè Shèngrén turned out to be Zhao LanFeng, then investigating him, would shed light on past events that they would rather leave buried.
And so they had another goal...
Kill Xuè Shèngrén!