A storm descends !

The fresh fragrance of the blooming flowers assailed Ling Yun's nose.

As always the Garden of A Million Blossoms was a delight to visit in the season of spring .The fields of colourful spring blooms opening their petals at the same time was truly a sight to behold captivating the hearts and minds of any visitor.

The vivid scenery appeared to be from a different world , one poles apart from the war-torn world he had made his own with burning fields , cities void of folk and entire forests laid to waste as a consequence of the mindless campaigns of a few power hungry warlords.

Ling Yun couldn't help but laugh at himself for his duplicity .

After all he was perhaps the most 'bloodthirsty' among the entire lot !

The blood on his hands could fill an entire an river .

His own 'yellow river'.

The boundary to Hell had been crossed long ago.

Today he wasn't here for repentance though.

Nor to clear his heart.

That had long ago been used as kindling to fuel the flame that even now propelled him onward atop a mountain of corpses of his own making.

The flame that burned in him day and night .

The flame that wasn't averse to burning down the entire world along with him even as it sought to reach the Heavens high above.

Compared to the fierce heat that he felt from the raging flame every other thing seemed lacklustre and bland in comparison including the paradise that he was in currently.

His breath quickened . His heart thumped rapidly.

His quarry had finally arrived.

He descended on the other side just at the foot of the hills .

His hair fluttering behind him in the gentle breeze . His pristine white robes like a snow lotus emerging atop the vast sea of flowers .

He waked his feet never touching the ground only touching the tips of the vast array of flowers which seemed to have been arranged beforehand to welcome his arrival. The sight of it under the blue sky evoked a sense of aesthetic beauty and elegance that was the only one of its kind .

Ling Yun couldn't help but click his teeth in admiration , truly a legend had come to life before his eyes.

After all the descent of an immortal had only been spoken of in myths before.

Ling Yun opened his eyes.

What he was greeted to , was a blurred image tinted in various shades of green .

A few blinks later it resolved itself into the all too familiar cage that he had spent nursing his last days like the hole dug by an aged bear to finally lay itself to the eternal sleep.

He coughed once more vomiting blood into the cup by his side.

He turned to look at the silent shadow sitting in the corner stoic like a statue.

His decision was made.

The Yellow River had been crossed a long time ago.

"Are you sure about this ? "

"Because it is going to hurt a lot " , the shadow inquired the exaggerated concern bordering on mockery all to apparent in its tone .

"Anything is better than watching your body being eaten away piece by piece."

"I wouldn't know now , would I ?"

"I am afraid the cross of pestilence is something that my kind would never be able to truly understand but in consolation I assure you that Immortals have much more potent methods , poison that could melt you inside out even as you live , methods to torture your soul in the fires of Hell pain , you see among us has been made into an art form .''

"I'm sure that after this you would certainly be craving for more ,No ?".The shade burst into giggles the first time that Ling Yun saw any emotion in its talk.

And He didn't like that.

Not one bit.

"Are you going to do this or not ?"

"Sure but I must have the exchange done first .The procedure of using the gem is very simple really , just make an incision along your chest and immerse the gem in blood fresh from your heart. I would be happy to help you if you're willing."

"No,thanks" .

"I would prefer to do it by myself.What you wish for is in the locked safe right there beside my bed. I'm sure that its not a problem for you."

"Course , it isn't .I'm skilled in " , the shadow's voice turned into a whisper ,"magic , you know'

Zap!

Suddenly a smell of burning managed to Ling Yun's feeble nose as he watched the Shade lifting up a brocade box his safe had no doubt been destroyed in the process.

The shadow gently caressed the surface of the box with its hand as if feeling something.

"Hmm, the aura seems to be sufficient. You have kept by your bargain it seems ."

"Of course, I Ling Yun have always abided by my commitments as you know very well.", Ling Yun responded confidently an unnoticeable smirk slowly creeping across his face.

"Fulfil your end of the bargain ."

'All right ! I suppose I could make one exception and not choose to kill you this time for your impudence ." , the shadow yawned as it tossed the gem into Ling Yun's feeble outstretched palms.

,"But I would still like to make some parting advice since we have struck up a nice friendship this while , you and I ."

The shade then leaned forward till the tendrils of darkness that made its form just touched Ling Yun's ear making him feel as if he had taken a dip naked into a frozen pond in mid January .

" A piece of friendly advice .Don't get too cocky even if you succeed today , in the vast world of cultivation you will only remain a trifling ant no more and however clever an ant is ...it still ends up getting stomped ."

"Bye-bye !"

With those foreboding words the shadow withdrew and in a moment unseen to the eye vanished into the ether.

The warning of the shadow chilled Ling Yun's heart.

He checked to make sure that it was alright , the warm feeling next to his chest convinced him of its safety. He looked then at the gem flickering eerily in the light.

Although he had managed to get off somehow he did not have much time till that person returned .

Ling Yun shuddered at the imagination of the consequences he would have to face as a penalty for his betrayal.

The methods of the so called righteous faction were oft even more terrifying than anything the Devils could conjure up in their wildest dreams .

He had seen it happen before when it was discovered that a prominent clan of the Kingdom had secretly been helping the agenda of one of the Devilish sects .

Although he didn't care much regarding his family , any ties of kinship he felt having been shrivelled up long ago , his own fate was a different matter.

There was no way that he would accept failure so close to success .

Also he had an inkling that these people unlike that worthless rabble who referred to themselves as the 'common folk ' were certainly not stupid.

The opposite in fact.

Against one of those monsters who had lived for years beyond count when even the Founding King was nothing more than a twinkle in his father's eye he stood no chance at a frontal match be it at prowess or intellect.

He had to get this over fast.

He gritted his teeth and lifted a knife from the bedside one that he especially kept for opening parcels and letters .

His hands shook for a bit as they attempted to gather the strength that had deserted them long ago .

After a sigh he fiercely plunged the knife without any chance of denial and gently ripped open an incision in his chest.

Already he could feel his remaining life fade away drop by drop as the blood flowed out from a hole that lead to his very heart itself.

Before he could fade away entirely he managed to use the last piece of his strength to shove the Gem into the hole.

The white gem turned rapidly a deep scarlet red it appeared as if it was sucking his blood excitedly drinking away his vitality and life along with it.

Unknown to him a piece of shiny red jade hidden covertly near his chest began to absorb his fresh blood as well. A dark red bolt of lightning emerged from this jade and shot straight at the gem on his chest that was even now sucking blood greedily .

As the last vestiges of all life faded away in Ling Yun's limbs the last thing he remembered seeing was a bolt of red lightning emerging from his chest and vanishing into the horizon after which the darkness enveloped him and he saw no more.

In the blackness Ling Yun couldn't see anything.

Nothing at all.

Nor hear nor speak.

He could feel though .

It felt as if he had been 'folded' in a contortion that would be outright impossible. As if his entire body had been stretched into a piece of rope that had been repeatedly coiled around himself.

He didn't like the feeling of death.

If death it was after all there was no way to tell if the Soul Awakening Gem had worked or not.

He certainly did not feel like a ghost .

Weren't ghosts able to interact with the material world through their 'senses' ?

He wasn't in the material world after all.

What he was in the void.

Oblivion.

Nothingness.

Beyond all existence .

In a twisted way it seemed as if he had attained his goal.

Just as his mind began to wander along strange paths that had never been travelled upon before a change happened in the mystical void.

He could 'sense' some bursts of golden light arranging themselves into a writing .

Yes, sense was the right word. There was no way to prove it .He just 'knew' that the words were there just as a migratory bird 'knew' where its home was.

Thoughts and Emotions had no place here.This was a place of instinct alone.

In a similar vein he could roughly 'understand' what the words meant .It depicted a strange set of poses which had no apparent connection to each other yet had a mysteriousness to it that he couldn't place his hand on.

Ling Yun subconsciously tried to arrange himself into the first of the set of poses that had been depicted . Surprisingly he managed to do this without any effort.

He didn't know for how long he remained in that position for time had no meaning in the void .

All he knew was that eventually he felt a mystical feeling sometimes like a pail of cold water washing down his body other times like a pool of heat rising from below his non-existent stomach and at other times like many tiny lightning bolts coursing through his imaginary veins .

After some time he stopped for try as he might he could not move on to the next pose and he felt a hunch that staying for 'too long ' in the pose would be more harmful than beneficial.

After a rest he continued once again and tried to 'close' his non-existent 'eyes' and 'meditate'.

Yes , that was the right word , 'meditate' .

If he had his body right now , his actions could be summarised as meditation.

Even so he tried his best by feeling an imaginary body and an imaginary result though he knew in his heart of hearts that all of the so called feelings were perhaps nothing more than a construct of his desperate mind for nothing could possibly exist in the empty void .

The cycle continued for long until he finally managed to 'meditate' in the second pose.

Then suddenly he saw what seemed to be a distant flickering light far , far away from him and he raced towards it as fast as he could .Even if it was all a delusion the prospect of the feeble light was way more entertaining than the loneliness spent in the void.

Luckily the light stayed where it was even as Ling un pounced on it like a ravenous wolf at the sight of a rabbit.

He didn't grasp the light as he thought , instead he passed straight through it and collided with what felt like a small green orb that appeared out of thin air right then and there.

The orb was as aggressive as he was and jostled with him as if its life depended on it .The cross Ling Yun never one to shy away from a challenge fought in return and eventually got the winning hand cornering it.

Prompted by a strange impulse he opened his 'mouth' and swallowed the green orb whole.

The stars were twinkling brightly in the night sky .

Below in the mortal lands in a desolate street in the cultivation city of ZiLin in the Cultivation realm of Grand Xia a youth howled towards the heavens .

His hair stood on an end .

Blood dripped steadily from his forehead.

Eventually however his scream turned silent fading away into the void .

He cradled his head in his hands clearly still in pain.

It did not last for too long for he removed his hands soon , his eyes now visible akin to two black orbs radiating a mystical brilliance .

Meanwhile far away at the peak of a barren mountain covered with snow.

Snowstorms and blizzards blew furiously obscuring the sight of the mountain .The wrath of the elements was unprecedented even for those who frequently visited it. That night even the mortals who lived as far away as a hundred miles from the base of the mountain heard a scream of murderous rage that had them scurrying frenziedly to the nearest temples to offer incense .

"Bring the Jade to this excellency at once ! Destroy all who interfere. Throughout the realms of Man few have ever dared to stand against this Excellency . What he wants the Heavens themselves shall surrender not to mention a puny realm like Grand Xia ! "

At the same time deep within the bowels of the Earth at a place fully shrouded in darkness without any light whatsoever a disembodied voice came into existence , the voice similar to a knife scrapping across stone evoking a chill that spread down the spine to all who had the misfortune to hear it

"Your failure was unacceptable.Not to mention you got tricked by a mortal from the out lands .What a fine job I have done in cultivating you !"

"My lord , Please give me another chance . I have left a trace behind on the Soul Awakening Gem that was traded by me. The ghost of the same mortal would be bearing the trace as well.I would tie him and bring him to you so that you can personally have the joy of helping him on his way."

" I have no such interest.Getting what I wish for is all that I ask of you. From what I have heard that old codger who spends most of his time cooped up in that peak has sent his forces as well. I want you to get the jade before his minions get their hands on it , especially since you're there already."

"I shall see to it , My Lord "

"Good.'

All across the world similar conversations were being held as unwittingly the wheels had been set in motion for a great storm that was about to plunge the entire Cultivation Realm of Grand Xia into a chaos never seen before in its long history.