Jie Shui

The moment ,the skeleton spoke the name Wu Yi , it felt as though it was a living being .The name was the tether that was holding the skeleton together. The skeleton did not feel any particular way about this name but it felt that it needed to remember this name in order to continue it's existence. It slowly stood up for the first time in years. Its once black bones were now covered in dust and green mold .The skeleton did not care about it's appearance. It did not have any emotions meaning that it also did not have an opinion of its own on anything in this world.

It only cared about the joy it felt from absorbing human blood into its bones. It's blood red eyes looked around the hall that once served as the town hall. The skeleton did not seem anything of interest. It looked out into the darkness of the night and decided that it was time to leave the ghost town .

The place had served its purpose .

Ta,ta,ta,the skeleton walked over the floor one step at a time. It's weight had greatly increased and so had the toughness and density of its bones. As it walked through the dark town, the skeleton muttered, "I aM wU yI. "

It repeated the same words after every few steps as though it were the chant that gave it life.

The skeleton did not notice that each time it uttered these words, the small black sphere below it's sternum increased it's speed of rotation and subsequently, it's speed of absorption of spirit qi also rapidly increased. The skeleton was cultivating by simply saying the words.

The skeleton left the town with a single goal and this was to hunt for more of the creatures it liked so much. It walked no different from a human but due to its weight and hard bones, it left deep foot prints and an ominous sound in its wake. It walked following the long abandoned stone road that used to lead to the town. On the same stone road, a batallion of soldiers in black leather armour rode on horses moving towards the town. The from t horse that was leading the group carried a young man who looked to be in his late twenties. He had long black hair, brown eyes and a lean muscular body that was the dream of many. Every one in the batallion looked at him with deep respect and undying loyalty. The young man was prince Jie Shui of the Cloud Empire. He was the second prince but he was the most popular prince in the empire. The commoners loved him for his devotion towards his people and his righteousness .

He rewarded the righteous and punished the wicked. He was a general in the army and he had gotten this position not through his status as a prince of the empire but through hard work and determination. At fifteen years of age, the young prince snuck out of the palace and joined the army without telling his father. He had only left behind a simple letter telling his father ,the emperor not to waste resources searching for him.

He wrote that he would return to the palace in a few years. He used a false for his military career.

He began as a common foot soldier commonly used as cannon fodder but he did not give up.

Through determination and hard work, he had quickly risen through the ranks until he was a general.

By the age of twenty two, he was the most formidable general in the empire

The prince had good talent for cultivation and according to rumour, he was already a sixth stage Qi Gathering realm expert.

On the sky continent, he was a formidable power house. Even with the advent of the sects, the innate talent of most people on this backward continent could not allow them to climb too high on the path of the immortals.

The prince had even opted not to join the sects like many of his brothers and sisters. No one knew the reason for his bizzare choice but it was one of the reasons for him having the lowest cultivation among all the royal progeny.

The prince sat on his black horse in complete silence. Judging from the expression on his handsome face, the prince had to be thinking of something that had his mind unsettled. A few years ago, the mayors of three different towns all sent letter to the capital requesting for help in dealing with the mysterious deaths of the citizens of the Thousand Flower town. The letters were received by the Prime Minister who chose to ignore the pleas of the "peasants".

His logic was simple,Thousand Flower town and it's neighbors were of no value to the empire. These towns were so small and economically insignificant that the Prime Minister did not see the value in spending any resources investigating the happenings of these areas. The prince had only heard about what happened to the town just a few days prior to his march. His fury was so profound that he had almost led his one million man army to wipe out the Prime Minister's manor. He had only been stopped by his childhood friend who advised him against opposing the Prime Minister so openly. The Prime Minister had consolidated his power to a point where the emperor had to give him some respect.

The prince was a few years late but he still hoped to get justice for the victims of the massacred town. He believed that 'Evil should never be allowed to walk in the light. '

To this end, he had marched with ten thousand of his soldiers day and night so that he could reach the town as fast as possible. It had still taken them two months but they were now about to reach the town. The young prince felt that something was off but it was now too late to start second guessing his decision.

He had come to get justice and that is what he would get no matter the cost.