2 A white jade box

Bright flashes of light exploded in mid-air inside a dark stone cave.

It was the collision of two large spheres of energy. One was azure in color, and the other was dark purple.

After their last clash, the whole world around them seemed to shake. Afterward, the two took some distance from each other.

However, as their last crash seemed evenly matched, the azure energy sphere appeared a bit dimmer than the purple one.

Moments later, the two balls of concentrated energy dispersed, reveling two men floating in the air.

One of them wore a spooky purple robe. It seemed to be a mix of countless wrecked souls, imprisoned in the purplish cloth. From time to time, muffled screams echoed from it.

The man wearing it had long, black hair, and his handsome face gave off a demonic charm. Especially at that moment, he revealed a wicked smile, filled with mockery.

Yet, the most eye-catching thing on him was the strange banner he held with both his hands.

It was around two feet long and was completely black. Also, on its surface were engraved multiple purple skulls. They seemed to be permanently laughing, looking around with their empty eye-cavities.

If looked closely, one would see some faint black smoke coming out from it. It had the touch of evil in it.

The evil-looking man swung it around in a playful manner, gazing at his opponent.

"Give up, you old ghost! Those filthy swords of yours aren't a match for my Myriad Cursed Skull Banner! I have already cultivated it for a thousand years, with tens of thousands of corrupted souls! Kekekeke!"

As the man in purple lost himself in laugher, the one who came of the azure ball snorted.

He dressed a light-blue scholar robe, floating in the air with his hands behind his back. Also, by his greyish-black hair, he appeared older than his opponent. Yet, he was still just as good looking.

Despite his simple clothing, ten shiny flying objects floated around him in absolute synchrony. They were flying swords!

Each one of them was around four feet long, made out of some mysterious blue metal. Magnificent carvings of ancient beasts filled up their blade, and their hilts were smelted out of dark-gold.

Yet, is one looked closely, something seemed to be polluting their brilliant luster. It was a thin line of brownish corruption: rust!

Indeed, time was already weighing down on that mysterious warrior.

"Don't be so sure about that, Yin clan brat! These old bones of mine are indeed giving in, but we still didn't fight for real! And if everything goes by the plan, this old man is becoming immortal today!"

Having said so, the scholar swordsman spat out a mouthful of azure flames all over his sword. Afterward, his hands flashed into multiple mysterious hand-seals.

Seconds later, a horrendous beast cry sounded throughout the cave, as the ten swords absorbed the azure flames. The beast carvings on them seemed to come to life as all signs of rust disappeared from the sword's blades.

"Hump! If you crave so badly to die in this young master's hands, then so be it! The only one walking out of here alive, and immortal, shall be me!"

After saying so, the purple-robes man threw his banner up in the air, immediately making a hand-seal. Thick clouds of black smoke began to exit his body and entered the demonic banner.

In a split second, freakish laughs echoed through the dark cave, as the banner began to expand in air. The purple skulls on its surface seemed to be on fire, as they laughed, and the corrupted souls behind them cried.

Now that the two had powered up their magical treasures, great tension formed between them. It was a critical stalemate that could determine the outcome of the whole battle.

Then, with a low scream, the swordsman took the initiative to attack. Nine of the ten swords shot in the banner's direction with incredible speed, and one of them flew into his hands.

Receiving the sword, the swordsman immediately slashed it multiple times in his opponent's direction. Each slash produced a thick vertical wave of blue energy, flying with incredible speed in the purple-robed man's direction.

Yet, the demonic man just stood still, waiting for the attacks to arrive. By that time, his Myriad Cursed Skull Banner had already engaged in an intense struggle with the nine-sword formation.

However, the purple skulls on it seemed to have a conscience of their whole, combating the sword strikes with purplish balls of fire.

Moments later, when the first azure wave was about to hit him, he left out a sharp cry. In the same instant, black scales began to grow all over his hands and arms.

Then, with a simple palm, he effortlessly extinguished the incoming attack.

After coming out unharmed from the azure slash, a wicked smile opened up on his serious face. In a flash, his body appeared at the next incoming wave!

Seeing his opponent's speed, the old swordsman could only sight internally. He could not let the fight become a close-range battle, or he was doomed!

Meanwhile, as the two figures fought a fierce battle, a strange phenomenon happened in an obscure corner at the end of the cave.

Leaning on the stone wall of the cave was a golden skeleton. It was seated in a lotus position, holding what it seemed to be a white jade box.

Above its lid were multiple seals carved with golden lines. From the skeleton's position, it seemed to have died in meditation while holding the mysterious box.

As everything was just as static as the past thousands of years, a bright light flashed from the jade box.

Afterward, nothing more happened. However, something seemed to have occurred inside the box.

Everything was dark, and silent. That was the first impression Mark had after regaining his consciousness.

He was stuck inside some where! Yet, no matter how much he tried to move, it was useless. It was as if he did not have a body anymore, and even his eye-site was static.

However, he had this crazy impression that a white glow was coming from him.

After passing an unknown amount of time in that situation, Mark began to put his thoughts in place.

From what he could remember, after consuming that mysterious orb, everything went dark. And the next thing he knew, he was already in that dark space.

At first, panic flooded his mind, thinking he died and went to hell or something. After all, he was an atheist.

Yet, after discovering he was not burning in eternal fire, he calmed down a bit.

Following some rational thinking, Mark concluded that he was certainly not dead. Yet, he was not "alive" either. At least not in a known form a life.

It was like his consciousness continued to live on without a biologic or cyborg vessel.

However, as he was brainstorming in the matters of life and death, sounds from outside the strange space suddenly interrupted him.

At the moment, the fierce battle between the swordsman and the purple-robed man was coming to an end.

Standing opposed to each other, they exchanged intense gazes.

The purple-robed man had his arm's scales wrecked, and one arm was hanging by his side. Also, there was a bloody line cutting throughout his chest. Yet, his features remained unchanged.

Above him, the black banner floated around, filled with multiple holes. Yet, the purple skulls were still in good shape.

As for the swordsman, he was in a sad state. The left side of his body was pitch black. Also, blood was running down from the sides of his mouth. Certainly, he had acquired some grave internal injuries.

Floating around him were ten azure swords. However, two of them were missing half of their blades.

From the current outcome, it was clear that the demonic purple-robed man held the upper hand.

"Give up, old man! The Primordial Soul Pill shall be mine! I spent half of my lifespan searching ancient texts for this! Back off, or had over your life!"

"Hahahaha! Even if this old man can't have it, you can be sure not to have it either!"

As he said so, the old swordsman immediately began to make some strange hand-seals. The moment the demonic man saw it, panic finally flicked in his eyes for the first time.

"YOU WOULD NOT DARE! WOULD YOU LOSE THE CHANCE TO REINCARNATE!??"

It turned out that the old swordsman was about to extinguish his True Soul, taking the demonic man with him in death.

However, before he could complete the last hand seal, two figures flashed from the shadows and embraced the two from behind.

The moment the two touched them, their bodies and mystical powers were completely immobilized.

In the light, the two figures began clear. They were two humanoid puppets! One was a young man dressed in red cloths, and the other was a pretty girl in a yellow dress.

Seconds later, after the puppets captured them, another figure walked out of the shadows.

"Hehehehehehe! Who would have thought I would be the fisherman in this whole story! As for you, Old Sword Saint, why such a hurry to die? Why don't you wait for me to become an immortal and refine you into a puppet? That way, you can accompany me to the end of times! Hehehehe!"

The figure who spoke was a white-haired man. He walked with the help of a green crane and used a wood mask that covered his whole face.

"Puppet Godfather!" the swordsman and the demonic man shouted in unison.

"Now, quite now! This old is about to get the Primordial Soul Pill! Hehehehe!"

As he said so, Puppet Godfather summoned a ball of dark-green flames on his palm.

Illuminating the whole cave, he slowly wayed to the end of the cave with his creaky crane.

After walking a few steps, a golden skeleton seated in a lotus position revealed itself from the shadows.

It held a white jade box with golden seals in its hands.

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