He Xiangu

Within Gusu Lan Sect's inner sect Arena, three people while being surrounded by multiple disciples of the inner sect was having a massive brawl.

"These girls are vicious!"

"Careful, make sure to guard your crotches with Qi my brothers!"

Masaru who heard these words could only smile apologetic to these cultivators, although he felt it was a bit too heavy hand for the girls to attack those vital points. However, he knew they must have done something since Kuroka was too easy going and Roygun only had a fetish towards younger boys and most of them were much older than Masaru.

"Die you Oni! Shattering Mountain and River!" One of the disciples manipulated his qi to cloak around his fist and legs, before he dashed towards Roygun.

"Crack" Roygun whispered as she waved her hand, under the assault of her peculiar bloodline the Qi attack the disciple initiated started to tear apart before it broke down before he reached Roygun.

Clenching her fist, she slams it into the face of the bewildered disciple who was one of the loyal followers of the Yin-Depriver,

BOOM!

The disciple crashed into the ground right in front of Roygun, however, she did not stop as she starts to stomp the discple heavily causing the disciple to scream out like a pig being slaughtered. The surrounding dsciples all stopped their assaults as they started to fear these two girls, it was only the disciples surrounding Masaru who was continuing their assaults.

Pak!

Bang!

Swoosh!

"Brother why the hell are you slapping me!?"

"I did not have the intention to, but hell why did you hit me with your fist!?"

The disciples argued against each other while trying to attack Masaru, however, Masaru was smiling since he was redirecting their attacks towards each other by ensuring they were close to each other with him in the middle. With a jump he twist his body in a spiral before kicking both the disciples with his heels, the impact of the kick send the two disciples spiraling before crashing into the ground out cold.

"I guess it's time" Masaru muttered as he materialized hundreds of layered magic circles while releasing his killing intent, this caused many disciples to take a step back while the cowardly ones already began to run away as if their lives was counting on it.

"Killing is not allowed!" Meng Yang cried out when he sensed masaru's Killing intent, he was taken aback at how heavy the killing intent around Masaru was which meant this boy killed many people.

'What a miscalculation!! What is our information gathering team doing!? Why did they not report that he killed many people, just his killing intent scared more than half the remaining disciples away' Meng Yang thought while feeling embarrassed,

"Meng Yang, stop this fight" a mysterious voice entered Meng Yang's mind causing the latter to shiver,

"Master!?" Meng Yang cried out in surprise,

"Stop the fight, I sense the boy is getting tired of our harassment and will not hesitate to purge our disciples if this continues" The voice said,

"He dares!?" Meng Yang glared at Masaru,

"It is our fault for testing his limits, you should learn how to retrain your greed Yang. Declare him as the winner and give him what he wants, we can't have He Xiangu pay us a visit" The voice said before disappearing.

"This---" Meng Yang was reluctant, he was just about to get the Core Disciples but now his Master who was one of the founding ancestors of the sect ordered him otherwise. Even he knew He Xiangu had been trying to contact the host of Byakko and should they do something unbecoming of a cultivator, they might make an enemy of the Immortal gods.

"Byakko! You won the match! Retract your killing intent!" Meng Yang shouted,

Hearing what Meng yang just said, Masaru glanced at him before retracting his killing intent. a Smile appeared on his face causing Meng Yang to feel like spurting out blood in rage. he not only humiliated himself by losing this duel, but he even dragged the reputaiton of the sect down by creating such a shameless condition to win the duel. If other sects were to hear of this then they would become laughing stocks.

"Hmph! here is the information you wanted, leave" Meng Yang said as he threw two scrolls he had his personal disciple prepare for him, he did not want to look at Masaru's face a second longer so he left.

The disciples who participated in the battle felt ashamed for losing, those who awoken from their unconsciousness feared Masaru and the girls much more compared to the cowards who fled after Masaru released his killing intent. it was at this moment, the disciples no longer glanced at the girls with lustful gazes or with disdain at Masaru.

"It's over? So boring" Kuroka complained as she walked closer to Masaru, feeling that she had to spar with him to calm down her battle excitement she had accumulated.

"Hmph" Roygun simple snorted at the disciples with disdain, but what the disciples did not know was that the few hours of combat had been tiring for the girls, however, they did not manage to pull of their trump cards since it was a killing move they could not use carelessly.

"Well, since we got what we wanted. I suppose we should leave" Masaru said with a mocking smile, none of the disciples refuted him since he had proven that his fist was stronger than theirs. They followed the strength doctorine, where the strong is king and the weak is the thief.

"hoho, to think you would actually win" Elder Gu said with a surprised look, he did not witness the battle since he an outer sect Elder was not allowed to enter the inner sect. However, he could still hear what was happening from the shouting he heard.

"It was by luck" Masaru said with a humble smile, compared to Meng Yang he felt he could get along with Elder Gu,

"Well since you ended up tarnishing Meng yang's reputaiton I would like to advice you to keep your vigilance, he is quite vengeful just like Meng Zhang" Elder Gu warned Masaru, he found this boy interesting. He was upfront, honest to fault but was no coward facing the strong.

"Thanks for your kind intentions, Elder Gu. I would like to share a cup of tea with you, however I am required to attend a banquet" Masaru said wtih a wry smile before he left the Outer Sect after saying his farewells.

"Boss! Madams!" Zhou Hai cried out in relief when he saw his boss coming out of the sect unscatched, he knew his boss was strong but the sect had several God Realm Experts guarding it so it was really a surprise for him to see Masaru leaving without a injury.

"Take us to the Hotel" Masaru said as he glanced at the two scrolls in his hands, he got what he came for so there was no longer a need to remain in this place any longer.

"Ma-nyan, you must also let me read it!" Kuroka said with a playful voice, her eyes betrayed her expectation to increase her strength even further.

"Ofcourse" Masaru said as he gently caressed her head,

Opening the scrolls, Masaru began to read the introductory to the Martial Soul. It was no different from the information he had already gathered about the domains, each Martial Soul is unique for each person and grants them an ability. However, unlike the domain Masaru knew of the martial soul gave the Martial Artist a unique ability within their body.

Unlike a Domain that grants them a passive boost in strength, or a ice field for example. The Martial soul grants the martial artist the ability to use the skills granted by the Martial Soul with their bodies, the most common kind was those that increased their strength while some of the rarer kinds allowed them to partially transform into mythical beasts such as Dragons.

In order to fully awaken the domain or Martial soul power, one must syncronize with the power lodged wtihin their soul realm. When the syncronizing is complete, then one can instinctively bring out their domain power or allow their martial soul to posess them. "What would it be in my case?" Masaru asked,

[Hmm... Although I am not certain, but, won't it work if you syncronize with Byakko?]

"Hmmm...!?" Masaru widen his eyes in surprise, after considering this for a while he felt it would be quite possible. As he had forgotten that Sacred gear holders follow a different path in strengthening compared to other powers in the world, it appears he will have to interact with his sacred gear in a deeper level to achieve an breakthrough.

Masaru handed over the Domain scroll to Kuroka and Roygun to make a copy of it to send to Ulrika, meanwhile, he began to meditate while connecting his consciousness with his sacred gear. Spending time playing with Byakko while trying to figure out how to syncronize his consciousness with this little cub.

After finding it was going to take a chance to figure it out, Masaru smiled lustfully at the two girls before he secretly pounced on them. Causing the girls to squeel in surprise. Thus several hours pass by, night fall has arrived and a peculiar guest has arrived at the hotel.

An ethereally beautiful woman wearing a white kimono entered the hotel surrounded by men wearing black tuxedos and black sunglasses appearing to be her bodyguards, when the Receptionist saw the lady she was flustered as she stood up straight looking in awe towards this beautiful woman who was quite famous in Beijing.

Her name in the mortal world was, Wang Xiangu. Heiress to the Wang Corporation but her real identity was Immortal He Xiangu. One of the Immortal Gods and protector of China.

She was a lean beautiful woman with black hair that can touch her waist dancing with the winds, most people who looked in her direction was mostly watching her beautiful long legs. "Good Day Miss Wang, how may I be of assistance?" The receptionist spoke respectfully,

He Xiangu looked at the receptionist with a warm smile, "I would like to visit a friend that just arrived yesterday, his name is Masaru Belial?"

The Receptionist was stumped, according to the company rules such information is not allowed to be indulged but since she was her Big BIG Boss, the receptionist gave the room number and Xe Xiangu nodded before heading for the Elevator.

When she arrived in front of the door she could hear exotic moans that were so passionate that even she who lived for thousands of years was blushing while listening to the waves of moans, luckily her bodyguards did not come up with her or they would have found her actions to be slightly voyeurism.

After a while, the moans came to a climax and it was silent, only then did He Xiangu knocked on the door, when the door opened Masaru was only wearing short pants with a white robe over his body revealing his well-defined abs in its splendour to He Xiangu, the poor girl blushed when she saw Masaru's state while being reminded of what happened just a while ago.

"Good day, I am certain I have not called for Room Service" Masaru said, although he found this woman to be unearthly beautiful. He still sensed that this woman would become a real threat if he were to anger her, so he decided to play it mild and dumb.

Hearing this He Xiangu eyes became sharp, feeling a trace of divinity did Masaru know the person standing in front of him was a god realm expert, definitely not someone he could take on yet. 'I have to achieve a breakthrough quickly so I can pick up these kind of presences with my senses' Masaru thought,

"My name is He Xiangu who sent you're the invitation" He Xiangu introduced himself,

Masaru nodded as he stepped aside to let the lady enter his room, luckily he already used magic before opening the door to clean up the place, however, Roygun and Kuroka were still unconscious with blissful smiles on their faces at the moment.

"I would have gone to the party later tonight" Masaru spoke with Xiangu while making a cup of tea for her and a cup of coffee for himself.

Xiangu nodded as she knew he would but she had a different problem. "I came earlier so we can talk since some of our topics is too sensitive for outsiders"

Masaru nodded as he places her cup of tea in front of her before taking his seat opposite of her, "I suppose I can ask about Meng Zhang who attacked me and why you have been looking for me the past two months, although I do apologize for only coming now, I was busy with variety of problems cropping up"

"Meng Zhang's action was meant to test you if you managed to awaken Byakko but he went too far so we already punished him, I hope you can forgive us for the transgression" Xiangu said as she bowed slightly, Masaru nodded allowing her to continue,

"I have been looking for you so we could assist you in awakening the Sacred Gear if you did not, but you really surprised us there. Not only did you awaken it on your own but you even achieved the balance Breaker for it" Xiangu said with a bright smiel,

Masaru nodded while he took a sip of his coffee, Xiangu continued, "As for why, we need you to be the representative of Byakko for a Ritual was designed in order to appease the fury of Kouryuu who left China many years ago"

Masaru who heard this could not help but arch his brow while looking at Xiangu suspiciously, "What you mean Kouryuu left? Isn't Kouryuu the Centre God of the four directions?"

"Many years ago there was conflict over Religion within our country against the Biblical God and his angels, during the conflict we had many who accepted the new religion in hopes to co-exist which was Byakko and Kouryuu, however, Suzaku and Seiryuu was against this so an internal war broke out but we never expected for the Angels to attack us at this critical moment" Xiangu said before adding on, "We also discovered Devils involved in this as well. In order to save Kouryuu, Byakko gave up her life and died in the hands of God and later turned into a sacred gear"

Masaru who heard this wondered just what is really going on,

[Boy, I know your also finding this suspicious so let us not tell them about the true form of this Sacred gear... I have a gut feeling telling me this story is more complicated than this]

Masaru nodded when Drago Spoke in his mind, he too felt it was fishy. Although the Biblical God was powerful, there would be a limit to their power since they could attract other factions. Hench, he should not be able to force Kouryuu who was a real powerful and important God of China to retreat and kill Byakko.

"The ritual is based on the four direction Gods meeting at the centre of China while having their spirit purified by the elements of the Center, we continued this ritual every hundred years in order to keep the balance intact to prevent disasters from occurring. However, we recently received an Oracle that if this ritual does not succeed then we will be in danger" Xiangu said an important piece of information making Masaru look at her with surprise.

Masaru places his cup on the table, "Now then you speak about the history but how can you all still trust Suzaku and Seiryuu? Could it be you too were on the opposite side?"

Xiangu shook her head," We remained neutral because we are the protectors of China till the end of our lives, the chinese have always been loyal and respected their ancestors and their lands, so there is no need for us to force them to reject other religions despite having such strong loyalty to their country?"

She added, "There was indeed some of the Immortals that joined Seiryuu and Suzaku's side but many more remained neutral"

Masaru caress his chin, "But why did no one side with Kouryuu and Byakko?"

Xiangu took a deep breath saying another thing that was incredible, "Because the two of them were discovered having a Meeting with the Biblical God the night before the internal war happened"

"By whom?" Masaru asked,

Xiangu was feeling a bit irritated at Masaru's constant questions, "Why are you asking these questions?" She asked,

Masaru leaned backwards while linking his hands over his abs, "Because I am not sure if I can trust you nor the Seiryuu or Suzaku. After hearing this so-called history I am quite sceptical, and surprised that even you do not question how fishy it sounds"

Xiangu sighed as she did not expect him to be quite attached to their history so she answered, "The one to discovered them was Jiang Ziwen, Qin'guang King, one of the ten hells under the command of Yama himself... He together with Meng Zhang discovered this and reported it to the public"

Masaru thought for a moment, "How would you describe Jiang Ziwen?"

"In the past, he was quite honourable always completing his work efficiently and even striving to outdo his peers to perform excellently, it was rumoured that he is the number one inheritor of Yama's Position in the future" Xiangu explained in detail about Jiang Ziwen,

masaru who heard this felt there was something wrong, from the personality description Masaru picked up such a person should not have reported it in public but instead reported to his superior instead, 'Will have to find some more information later' Masaru thought.

"Thanks, I will consider participating in the ritual, however, I will have to confirm a few things with Suzaku and Seiryuu first" Masaru spoke with a serious face,

Little did the two realize Roygun and Kuroka were both wide awake but since they were naked they did not dare leave the bed till Xiangu left after an hour of more discussions.

"Masaru, that woman... I feel she does not even understand her own situation" Roygun spoke with Masaru straightforwardly,

He nodded so she continued "She answered the questions as if she heard it from someone else instead of her own view so we will have to investigate the truth... I fear something is definitely going to happen in the ritual"

"Well I will send the report to Ulrika so she could arrange a few meeting appointments for me, but now let us have some dinner," Masaru said while he wrote a small letter before sending off with a warp magic circle sending it to Ulrika,

"Food nyan?" Kuroka asked

Masaru smiled at Kuroka, after a shower and getting dressed the girls and Masaru went downstairs to eat something light since it was almost time for them to head towards the Summer Palance.