Meanwhile…

　　Somewhere in the Eastern continent… in a seemingly boundless forest.

　　A group of a dozen or more cavalrymen was advancing southward at a moderate pace. They were moving on a ten-feet-wide official road somewhere in the forest.

　　Everyone was dressed in black clothes. The individuals apart from the four people in the forefront carried a plain blade and a crossbow on their bodies. The blade was tied-up to their waist, and the crossbow was hung on their back.

　　The very first person in the group was seemingly an over forty-year-old man. He had refined facial features. He held a black wooden stick in his hand. It seemed like he was the leader of this group.

　　Three young people were riding their horses side-by-side behind that middle-aged man.

　　The leftmost person held a long green spear in his hand. The person in the middle had a pair of faint blue eyes, and he carried a blade and a shield on his back. The rightmost person was a red-haired girl. She carried a long sword on her back.

　　“How come there isn’t a single person in that Blue Rain Town? This made us drop the plan to stay there for the night. And now, it seems that the sun will slide down the mountain soon,” the young man with a long spear spoke-up.

　　“I had heard something about a dozen years ago. The spirit arteries were excavated in the vicinity of this small town. And, the surrounding land had started to become barren as a result. The departure of the town’s people may be somehow related to this story,” the Blue-eyed Man in the middle replied.

　　“Big Brother, can we see the Jia river if we cross over the hunchbacked mountain ridges in the front?” the Red-haired Girl pointed at a camel-shaped peak of the mountain that stood in the front and asked.

　　“Yes. We will set out early next time. Then, you can also ask our senior master and young master to share some experiences,” The blue-eyed man nodded.

　　…

　　The middle-aged man’s eyebrows suddenly furrowed while these three people were absorbed in their discussion. So, he started to sweep his eyes towards both sides from time to time.

　　“Master Li, be on your guard. I’ll be back after I’ve examined the surrounding,” the middle-aged man spoke-up.

　　“Yes, Young Master!” the Blue-eyed Young Man replied with a nod. A trace of vigilance appeared in his eyes.

　　A bright black radiance emerged on the middle-aged man’s wooden stick. After that, a black smoke sprang up from all directions, and changed into a mass of black clouds. Then, the man’s stature got wrapped-up in the clouds, and flew towards the left side.

　　The middle-aged man hadn’t departed far when a grey shadow sprang out from the left-side of the forest. It then arrived close to the dark clouds in a flash – like a monster.

　　The middle-aged was amid the black clouds at this moment. However, he responded extremely quickly, and wielded his wooden stick. Billowing fiery waves rushed forth in a violent manner, and turned into a fiery shield in front of the black clouds.

　　His other hand took a pinching gesture, and cast a magic spell. A mass of flame spurted out from his hand, and transformed into a dozen or more fiery swords. Then, the fervent red swords darted towards the grey shadow.

　　However, the grey shadow turned fuzzy, and dodged these fiery swords.

　　“Bang” a dull thumping sound was heard on the fiery shield the next moment. And, the shield crumbled into pieces with a rain of sparks that scattered in all directions.

　　After that, the grey shadow flashed again, and drilled into the black clouds.

　　“Ah!” a mournful and blood-curdling screech spread from amid the clouds.

　　After that, a spurt of blood sprayed in all directions from amid the black clouds. This spurt of blood was accompanied with some internal organs as well. This was followed by the middle-aged man’s body falling down from the clouds… he had been torn in half!

　　It seemed like plenty of time had passed since the grey shadow had showed up and killed the middle-aged man. But, the fact was that only a couple of breaths had passed from the beginning to the end. Moreover, the other people had only been able to respond to this incident after everything had already happened.

　　A crescent moon-shaped green spear shadow, a silver blade light that was ten feet in size, and several red swords shadows were shot towards the black clouds at the same time.

　　“Chi Chi” a dozen or more crossbow arrows also darted into the black clouds with a whistling sound!

　　“Bang” a loud sound was heard.

　　The black clouds dispersed in all directions with a loud rumble. But, the grey shadow had also disappeared without a trace.

　　“Everyone, be careful. Make a battle formation at once!” The blue-eyed man’s facial expression changed. He dismounted from his horse and shouted.

　　The red-haired girl and the man with a spear dismounted from their horses in a similar fashion, and gathered around the blue-eyed man.

　　The remaining black-dressed cavalrymen also dismounted from horses, and moved closer to the blue-eyed man.

　　“Whoosh!” the grey shadow flashed past this slightly confused crowd the next moment.

　　“Ah! Ah!” after that, two pitiful screams rang out in unison.

　　A hole had appeared on the neck of two black-dressed mounted soldiers who had stood in the last row. A spurt of blood gushed out. They then fell to the ground, and stopped breathing after a few futile twitches.

　　The blue-eyed man and other two people had barely raised their magic weapons when they heard these screams. They couldn’t help but look at each other in blank dismay. There was a trace of a petrified look in their eyes.

　　The speed of this ghost-like grey shadow was incredibly fast; so much so that these three people couldn’t get enough time to make their moves.

　　“Ah!” another pitiful screech was heard.

　　Everyone had barely made a battle formation by taking the blue-eyed man and other two people at the center. But, the grey shadow had flashed once again, and had swept past an unexpected edge of the crowd.

　　Another black-dressed soldier fell in a pool of blood the next moment. A big hole had been split-open in his chest, and his heart had already flown out of his body.

　　Suddenly, the green spear shadow, the silver blade light, and a dozen of arrows – that had been shot a moment ago – darted backwards while flying over the deceased soldier’s head.

　　Everyone’s complexion turned deathly white as they saw this!

　　Suddenly, the three black-dressed soldiers broke out of the circular battle formation. They mounted on their horses, and dashed away in the direction opposite to where they had come from.

　　However, they hadn’t run far when a grey shadow dashed out of the forest. It flashed past these three people, and disappeared in the other side of the forest.

　　One of these three men had barely drawn his blade when his blade was chopped down into several sections. After that, the heads of these three people rolled down on the ground. A fountain of blood sprayed out of their necks. But, their horses continued to rush forward while dragging three headless bodies along.

　　…

　　Some time later…

　　The surrounding black-dressed cavalrymen lay in a pool of blood in a disorderly state. Only the blue-eyed man and other two people had survived. Moreover, the majority of the bodies were badly mutilated and scattered into pieces; they looked very miserable. Their faces still retained an alarmed look. It must’ve been a remnant of the fear and shock they would’ve felt at the point of their death.

　　The blue-eyed man had still managed to maintain his composure. But, the other two people looked as pale as a piece of paper. In fact, the red-haired girl was trembling while holding her sword.

　　“Whiz!”

　　The grey shadow sprang out of the forest again. It then appeared in front of the man who held a green spear.

　　The man with the spear issued a loud shout, and the green spear in his hand changed into a large green spear-shadow. Then, it took the shape of innumerable green plum blossoms, and rushed forward to welcome the grey shadow.

　　Several red sword-shadows and a silver blade-light also emerged in midair as this happened. Then, they launched a converging attack on the grey shadow from the left and right side respectively.

　　The grey shadow flashed and submerged into the large spear-shadow. Consequently, the converging attack of the sword-shadows and blade-light ended in vain.

　　“Ping! Ping! Ping!” a string of muffled sound was heard.

　　The green spear-shadow collapsed as soon as it came in contact with the grey shadow.

　　“Ah!” an inhumanly pitiful screech rang out in the air.

　　They saw that the head of the young spear-man had burst like a watermelon. Then, some red and white substance splashed all over the ground. After that, his powerless body tumbled backwards onto the ground.

　　The blue-eyed man and the red-haired girl could see the grey shadow at this very moment. It stood on the spear man’s corpse. It had a pair of bloodshot eyes that were brimming with a murderous intention. This shadow was an ape-like beast whose body was covered with a layer of grey hair. Its two furry ape-like claws were smeared with blood.

　　“Evil monster, your time of death has finally arrived!”

　　The blue-eyed man’s corner of the eyes twitched. Then, the shield in his left hand turned into a vast-stretched black light as a protective shield. His body then moved, and his right hand shot numerous blade-shadows towards the grey ape in quick succession.

　　The red-haired girl was initially scared of this battle. But, she stepped forward along with the blue-eyed man in a courageous manner. Then, she wielded her long sword, and a half-moon-shaped fiery Sword Qi emerged. Then, it shot out a layer of cold sword-screen towards the grey ape in order to envelope it.

　　The grey ape’s silhouette flashed, and it bombarded its claws on the blue-eyed man’s multiple blade-shadows.

　　A dreadful and inhuman force passed through the ape’s claw as the two sides collided with each other.

　　A burst of metal clanging sound rang out in the air. After that, the black light-shield and the multiple blade-shadows were routed and dispersed. The gray ape’s silhouette again flashed, and it thrust its claw deep into the blue-eyed man’s body the next moment. It dug out his heart, and swallowed it down.

　　The appearance of the grey ape with its mouth smeared with blood looked extremely fierce.

　　The red-haired girl’s sword-screen had covered the ape by this time. But then, the grey ape’s claws danced in the air again, and a large number of densely-packed grey claw-shadows appeared. Then, they rushed forth and bombarded on the sword-screen.

　　“Boom” a burst of chaotic sound resounded!

　　The red-haired girl’s sword-screen fell apart the next moment. Even her sword tilted slightly, and was sent flying by its impact.

　　“Whoosh!”

　　A mournful scream again rang out in the air.

　　…

　　A month later…

　　Shi Mu arrived in front of Zhong Xiu’s guest house very early in the morning.

　　They had made a plan to meet on this day so that they could attend the Ascension to Immortality Auction together.

　　Shi Mu waited for her for a long time. But, Zhong Xiu didn’t show up as she promised.

　　Shi Mu pondered for a moment. Then, he walked over to the two blue-Taoist-trigrams-uniformed guards who stood at the guest house’s entrance.

　　Shi Mu stepped out of the guest house after some time. He couldn’t help but shake his head.

　　He hadn’t expected that Zhong Xiu and dozens of other disciples would be summoned by the Transcending Heaven Immortal Sect to its seclusion branch a few days ago. It was said that these disciples were also provided with various kinds of pills and other resources to facilitate their seclusion practice.

　　Shi Mu was thinking about this as he walked towards the north-east of the city where the Sheng Market Street was located.

　　The North-east Sheng Market Street was considered the largest market street of the Heavenly Yu City. The Ascension to Immortality Auction would be conducted here.

　　Half an hour later…

　　Shi Mu appeared on a wide street. The entire street was packed with a stream of people in a weaving manner.

　　Shi Mu had arrived very close to the market street by now. But, the closer he approached the market street… the denser the stream of the people grew on the street.

　　He passed through the crowded stream of people. Then, he turned around a crossroad, and entered the street where North-east Sheng Market Street was located. Well-dressed martial warriors could be seen all over the street. They were riding their horses. In addition, many rich and powerful people were also a part of the overwhelming crowd; they were riding luxurious carriages.

　　Shi Mu followed the crowd, and arrived at an open public square soon. A huge eight-storied building stood in the center of the public square; it looked quite eye-catching.

　　This building was a few acres in area. It looked quite breathtaking at a glance. It was a magnificently ornamented building with extremely delicate decorations. A myriad of birds and beasts’ designs were carved on each layer of the cornices; they looked vivid and lifelike. The building had a rather conspicuous and auspicious aura around it.

　　The building’s ground floor had four open-doors on all of its four sides. A golden board could be seen hanging over the southern entrance of this floor. It was inscribed with three big characters – “Sparkling Gem Pavilion”. These characters were dazzling magnificently under the sunlight.

　　All four gates of the Sparkling Gem Pavilion were wide open. Four long queues of people could be seen outside each of its entrance. Moreover, each entrance was guarded by dozens of city guards. These guards seemed to be the disciples of the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult since they were dressed in the blue-colored Taoist uniform of the Cult.

　　These guarding disciples had the same appearance as the ones Shi Mu had seen when he had entered the Heavenly Yu City for the first time. Everyone had to go through two processes to enter the Sparkling Gem Pavilion – the interrogation process of the soldiers, and the golden light of the circular trigrams mirror. This process was indeed very harsh.

　　Shi Mu was about to move forward. But, a burst of hoof beats suddenly stopped not far from him.

　　He threw his gaze in that direction… only to find a troop of a hundred or more elite cavalry-escort along with a luxurious horse-drawn carriage. Four pure-white and sturdy horses were pulling the carriage.

　　Then, the door opened and a beautiful royally-dressed maiden got down along with two pretty young maids. Her elegant dress was pink in color. She looked very fresh and pure, and her skin was pure white like ice.

　　The woman’s body was faintly exuding an intense magic power-waves; she was also a magician.

　　Suddenly, a familiar voice resounded.

　　“Brother Shi, I had guessed that you won’t miss this Auction. But, I hadn’t expected that we would bump into each other here. ”

　　The voice spread from the carriage’s direction. It was the voice of a handsome man who wore a pale-white robe. His hair was red in color, and a silver cloth-band was wrapped around his forehead; this person was Liu An.

　　“So, it’s you, Brother Liu. I have come down to the Heavenly Yu City to travel around and enrich my experience. So, it was only natural that I couldn’t afford to miss such a good opportunity,” Shi Mu replied.