The realm beyond the veil

"This is the last draw Zhang Xian! You're done!" A largely built male with a coarse voice yelled.

"Please! You have to believe me, I'll pay you at the end of the week, just give me one more chance." Zhang Xian begged

The largely built male looked at him sternly and turned his gaze toward three other men who were similarly built as himself. The three men instantly understood the assignment and started surrounding Zhang Xian.

"Please! I'm begging you! I'll pay you in two days time!" Zhang Xian yelped

The largely built man stood still while gazing at Zhang Xian while he was in thought before he suddenly reacted.

"Halt!" The largely built man commanded and the three men stopped in their tracks.

"I'll give you two more days but mark my words, if you fail to comply by then, I will personally rid you of this world and I'll be sure to do it slowly and make it memorable." The largely built man said coldly as he threatened.

"Yes! I'll definitely have everything ready! Thank you mister Long Fen!" Zhang Xian said in a cold sweat.

The three men walked away from Zhang Xian and followed the figure of Long Fen, Zhang Xian himself made haste and ran away as fast as he could before the people changed their minds.

Zhang Xian was in debt and owed over 14 million dollars to mister Long Fen but this debt was not his own. Zhang Xian's father had accumulated this debt many years ago as he became a gambling addict, he borrowed money from many people and always promised to repay them but those promises were always broken, one day he found mister Long and borrowed money in order to gamble but evidently, he lost everything and tried to repay mister Long for many months but that was to no avail, time went by and his situation worsened up to the point where he lost his home and sent his son to an orphanage as he could no longer care for him, a few more months passed and he was tortured a few times by mister Long, he could no longer take it and committed suicide by jumping from a 10 story building.

Mister Long only found out about Zhang Xian a few years after investigating the situation and hence why the debt fell onto Zhang Xian's shoulders.

It was now evening, the sun started to bow its head and the last rays of light could be seen as the moon started to peak out its head.

Zhang Xian sat on top of a tall building and felt the urge to jump off as he could no longer take the brunt of the threats that he constantly received.

"Is this my only escape? Do I continue on this cruel path or do I take the short end?" Zhang Xian thought.

Zhang Xian turned his gaze toward the setting sun until it could no longer be seen, soon the stars were visible in all their luster.

"To think there is beauty in chaos but unfortunately I can't see any beauty in the chaos that fills my life." Zhang Xian said solemnly.

Just as he was about to turn his gaze toward the everlasting doom beneath him he caught sight of an explosion beyond the sky that inhabits the earth, it was beautiful, there was a sudden heat flash that enveloped him and a blinding light could be seen in space as a shockwave could be felt. There was a global blackout as a second but harsher shockwave occurred.

Silence. Complete silence everywhere, not a single sound could be heard as everything was peaceful, Zhang Xian was still shocked after what he experienced but he could not turn his gaze from the place where he saw the explosion.

"What is happening? It's so unique and exceptional?" Zhang Xian said dazedly.

What he saw was countless rays of matter being sucked towards a single centre space as all the matter from the explosion started to convulse with miniature pulses that he felt and were compressed into a new star.

One thing that Zhang Xian failed to notice was himself glowing in an even more beautiful luster than what he saw himself. After the star itself was finished a ray of warmth hit Zhang Xian and he felt something weird entering his body, as he was feeling this weird sensation he saw that the new star started to dim slowly and its previous beauty was slowly being replaced by the darkness that inhabited the area around it.

At last, the star was gone and the previous heat that Zhang Xian felt had disappeared, he felt somewhat upset but he felt happy.

"From chaos comes beauty and even if all hope is lost, there will always be a counter balance to restore the hope that was lost." Zhang Xian said.

Zhang Xian then noticed a faint ripple on the edge of the building underneath him, he focused his gaze and could faintly see trees and grass. Now and then the ripple would seem like nothing but after a while, the same scenery would be shown.

"What is this? Some kind of illusion? A mirage?" Zhang Xian wondered.

As Zhang Xian saw this, there were four men who were walking towards him.

"Zhang Xian. I changed my mind." A man said.

Zhang Xian snapped out of his daze and saw the man behind him. This man was no other but mister Long.

"Mister Long? I thought we had a deal that I'd pay you in two days time?" Zhang Xian said questioningly.

"We did but my men told me that you came to this building and that you stood ready to jump. From the looks of it, it's true. I'd rather be the one to kill you than let you do it yourself." Mister Long smiled sinisterly.

The men crept closer to Zhang Xian. He knew that if they caught him that he would be tortured until he died, which could mean a time range from the first hour to the next year or even years later.

Zhang Xian did not say anything but turned around and looked toward the ripple that he saw earlier, the scenery seemed to change. Zhang Xian saw a girl on the other side standing amidst the trees. Zhang Xian then thought of his situation.

"If I am able to choose my end, then I'd rather choose to jump in faith that I may live on in a new life."

As Zhang Xian said this, he saw the ripple pulsing more frequently and he himself could feel it pulse, his whole body was filled with some kind of strange energy as he felt warmth spread across his body, he felt invigorated and felt a stronger urge to jump, the ripple seemed to halt its pulsing and showed the scenery and the ripple itself seemed larger, large enough for Zhang Xian to jump in.

"If this is where my legacy ends, then this is where I will begin my new legacy." Zhang Xian said.

With that said, Zhang Xian looked at the ripple and saw the girl once more, he then closed his eyes as he jumped off the edge. He felt a sense of relief as he fell through the air. Time seemed to pass slowly and Zhang Xian opened his eyes only to see a world of stars and energy flowing around him. As he rushed past them in free fall, he could feel heat, cold and weird sensations all over his body.

Zhang Xian felt that his body's cells were being filled with new strength and his bones were being reinforced, his vision became sharper, he could hear new things as his hearing started to develop further than humanly possible, his sense of smell was sharpening as he could breathe freely, he then felt energy gather near his abdomen, it was the same as what happened after the star was being created, soft explosions could be heard coming from his body as he felt his body transforming.

After a while, Zhang Xian closed his eyes once more and everything seemed to quiet down.

"Hello? Hello? Are you okay?" a soft feminine voice could be heard.

Zhang Xian's eyes started to twitch as he was starting to wake up. The sight that greeted him was that of a female, she had long black hair, green eyes and her skin was as white as snow, her legs were long and her body was curvy, her face was pure and innocent. She seemed, simply put, perfect.

"Hi, where am I?" Zhang Xian asked.

"You are on the side of the road." The girl said.

"Oh... Do you know what happened?" He asked.

"No, sorry I just found you like this." She replied.

Zhang Xian then clutched his head as memories of what happened filled his mind and caused him to develop a migraine. It caused him to kneel down while his head pulsed with pain.

"Hey, are you okay?" The girl asked worriedly.

Zhang Xian did not answer but he looked at her with pain-filled eyes as he gritted his teeth. The girl quickly took out a pill of some sort and held it toward him.

"Here take this, it should help with any pain that you have." She quickly said.

Zhang Xian did not delay and gently took the pill from her and put it in his mouth. Once it entered his mouth, it started to melt and its essence could be felt travelling toward his head and the pain started to ease up.

"Thank you." Zhang Xian said exhaustedly.

"It's okay, so where are you going?" The girl asked.

"I don't know, I don't have anywhere to go." Zhang Xian replied.

"Why don't you come with me seeing as you don't have anywhere to go?" The girl said.

"Sure, thank you. By the way, what's your name?" Zhang Xian said.

"Luo Yue." She said.

"I'm Zhang Xian, nice to meet you, Luo Yue." Zhang Xian smiled.

Luo Yue smiled back and walked toward a carriage with Zhang Xian and they both boarded it.

"I'm heading to the Heavenly Palace, it's the best school for cultivators and magic users." Luo Yue said enthusiastically.

Zhang Xian looked surprised.

"If you'd like, I can get you a letter of admission if you want to study there as well?" Luo Yue smiled.

"I'd like that, thank you." Zhang Xian said sincerely.

Zhang Xian and Luo Yue were on their way to the Heavenly Palace and conversed a lot on the way. Zhang Xian felt like he was in a dream, his life finally took a turn for the best.

Many days passed and Zhang Xian got the letter of admission. He and Luo Yue then continued on their journey until they were in line with their letters of admission in hand.