99% Completion!

Vast plains stretched boundlessly in all directions, far off in the distance, the faint outlines of grand mountain ranges could be seen, Ximen Wei was walking down the plains, heading towards a mountain range whose mountains towered high up towards the heavens.

It's going to be a long journey, the Tang mountain range he's heading to is hundreds of hundreds of kilometers away from his current location, but he did not care, and in fact, was not in a hurry at all.

He would take breaks from time to time, and even sit cross legged occassionally to meditate and contemplate the White Devil's dream.

These past couple days, his gains were great. His cultivation base was improving at a consistent rate and Bai Gu Jing's dreams was pointing him in the right direction, making his cultivation journey easier and less bumpy.

However, food was an issue. Ximen Wei had to bear with extreme hunger and thirst these past couple days, unlike the forest, these vast plains had nothing but bushes and grass.

Plus, he couldn't hunt wildlife because the moment an animal saw him, it would run away.

Ximen Wei was already skinny, yet he got even skinnier. All he can do at the moment is let out a sigh and hope for the best.

However, unbeknownst to Ximen Wei, a meeting was being held in the ancestral mansion of the Song family.

All of the important Song family members attended the meeting including Song Peizhi, currently, all of them wore serious expressions because they've heard the news that their Young Master perished somewhere in the Desolate Astral Forest.

In the meeting, two figures stood out the most, they were being treated with utmost respect and even Song Peizhi had to bow his head towards them.

These two figures both had red hair and were middle-aged, they were quite burly and almost 6'5 foot tall, they were the brawns and brains of the Song Family, the main primary bloodline and the most powerful cultivators of the Song family.

They were a pair of father and son who held command over the entirety of the Green Lotus City.

The son was a Level 3 Qi Trainee, the family head of the Song Family, and the father emanated such a terrifying aura that made the scalp of anyone who sensed it go numb with horror and fear, he was the sole Rank 1 Qi Expert of the Song Family, the Song Family Patriarch.

Yet despite the authority and power they hold, both of them were currently griefing.

Their precious gem, their sole successor, the one with the most potential to achieve Qi Ascension and the only one who can make the Song Family prospect, is dead.

And to make things worse, their treasure that was passed down from generation to generation is lost.

It's not an exaggeration to say that the Song family is fuming with anger, they wanted to find the culprit and enact their revenge, and retrieve back their Qi Artifact.

The room was dead silent, there were over 20 people gathered but not a single one of them dared to utter a word and break the silence.

They were influential figures who held sway over the matters of the Green Lotus City, yet in front of the father and son pair, they were nothing but lowly subordinates.

A minute slowly passed before the head of the Song Family, Song Longwei, decided to break the silence.

"The matter of Jiayi passing away is heart breaking, he's always been a good ambitious child with latent talent that exceeds his peers yet he had to wander into uncharted territory..."

A heavy sigh could be heard.

"He has the blood of the Song family running through him, therefore we must enact revenge, no one is to allowed to kill the blood of the Song family without paying a price."

Song Longwei got up from his chair and waved his sleeve as he issued orders left and right.

"The culprit must be found, dead or alive, I authorize the usage of the entirety of the Song family's resources... and..."

Said Song Longwei as he looked towards his father, the Rank 1 Qi Expert.

"Even if the culprit were to be a figure who exceeds our capabilities, he'll still be forced to bend is knees!"

The Song family Patriarch slowly opened his eyes as he stared as his own sons, hidden in his pocket was a Jade Talisman that he caressed with his hands.

Somewhere, in the depths of the Green Lotus City, the Green Lotus City Lord was looking at the ruined buildings in front of him with an anxious expression.

The fight with the Immortal Devil Sect cultivators was vicious to the extreme, many died and some cultivators managed to get into the city, leaving behind a path of ruins and destruction.

Many innocent civilians died, and the Green Lotus City had to pay a heavy price in order to fend off their enemies.

If it weren't for Western Wen's timely support, the Green Lotus City would have collapsed.

For now, everyone was recovering, the damaged buildings are being reconstructed and the city walls are being repaired. Everything seemed fine and peaceful at the moment, but to the Green Lotus City city, it was the calm before the storm.

Demonic cultivators are tenacious, they won't give up until their enemy is destroyed, they will come back for sure, and they will come back even stronger.

In fact, the Green Lotus City Lord started noticing some cultivators slowly and stealthly surrounding the city, their mere number alone made his scalp numb.

He had a feeling that this is going to escalate into something big, not a mere conflict between the Green Lotus City and a division of the Immortal Devil Sect but, a national-level conflict between the Western Wen empire and the entirety of the Immortal Devil Sect.

Although Western Wen possesses a grand army of mortals, in front of cultivators, they have no worth at all.

Their true might lies in their cultivators, not in their mortals.

Days passed, Ximen Wei was emaciated from head to toe, there was not an ounce of fat in him, in fact, all that could be seen is bones.

After spending god knows how long walking, his eyes finally stumbled upon a village that lay in the horizon.

Instantly, he was filled with hope and expectation.

He had to eat something no matter what, or else at this rate he would die for sure.

Surprisingly his body burst out with energy as he headed towards the village in the distance, his craving for food and water exceeded everything.

It didn't take an hour before he was at the village's gates, it was bigger than the previous village he stumbled upon, but that didn't matter ot Ximen Wei. His eyes flashed with hunger as he looked towards the small marketplace in front of him.

There were all sorts of fruits and vegetables... and even meat!

His breath grew ragged and saliva uncontrollably flowed down from his mouth, he was drooling at the sight of food.

He sniffed the air and his body shuddered, he smelled all sorts of cooked home-food, chicken soup, porridge, rice, etc... He trembled as excitement as he leaped towards the closest booth to him that was selling rice balls.

Unknowingly, his movement was accompanied by a wave of Qi that kicked up the surrounding dust into the air and amplified his leap to borderline inhuman speeds!

The booth collapsed into itself, making an commotion that attracted all attention.

A crowd gathered around the now collapsed booth, looking at Ximen Wei devouring the rice balls at inhuman speeds with wide eyes, some of them gasped, some of them chuckled and some of them stood with their arms crossed, waiting for the show to unfold.

The booth owner did not realize what happened, he stood there motionless for couple moments before it kicked in.

His face bubbled with anger as he looked towards Ximen Wei, not only did he destroy his wooden booth but he also ate his rice!

He pointed his trembling finger at him, and forced out a sentence painfully due to his extreme anger.

"Child, stay your hand!"

Yet Ximen Wei kept eating his rice balls, pretending as if he didn't hear the man at all.

"I said stay your hand!"

He kept eating, ignoring the man completely, until he eventually gobbled down the last rice ball.

"You!!!!"

Unable to contain his anger, the booth owner reached out with his hands, intent on grabbing Ximen Wei and teaching him a lesson that he wouldn't forget for the rest of his life.

Yet what happened next made the booth owner tremble in fear and horror, when he reached out his hands, Ximen Wei subconsciously thought he was getting attacked, so without thinking about it, he turned towards the man with killing intent on his eyes as he casted a Qi Technique.

"Qi Technique - Iron Fist."

He threw a deadly punch towards the man, intent on killing him, the punch whizzed through the air menacingly as it headed towards the booth owner's chest.

All the hair on the poor man's body stood on end, and he felt the surroundings turn increasingly cold, a sense of doom loomed over him and all the color on his face disappeared, replaced with a pale expression.

When the punch was midway in the air, Ximen Wei finally snapped back, he realized what he was doing and his expression immediately fell, he tried to stop but unfortunately it was too late!

Boom!

An ugly noise rang out as the old man's upper body transformed into a haze of blood and gore, what remained of his body fell down onto the ground, leaving behind a pool of blood that slowly spread to the feet of the crowd.

The poor man died unexpectedly without even knowing how or why, the crowd was shocked, they expected a small ruckus to ensue, maybe the little child will get a beating then everyone will go on his way, they did not expect a murder!

One of them slowly uttered a word fearfully, he was shaking from head to toe as he looked towards Ximen Wei with fear and absolute terror.

"I-I-Immortal!"

It didn't take a moment for everyone to descend into chaos, they ran around screaming fearfully and begging forgiveness, ironically what they were running from was a mere 10 year old child.

Ximen Wei looked at the remaining half of the booth owner's body with pity and... derision!

Unexpectedly, the League of the Devil's magic inside his body trembled a bit, white mist came out of the lifeless body in front of him, it swirled around in the air for a bit before merging into Ximen Wei.

The results of that made Ximen Wei's eyes widen in shock and excitement.

His cultivation base improved a little bit, and most importantly, the faint outline of his seventh Extraordinary Meridian finally showed signs of progress, it went from 70% of completion to 72% of completion!

Then, the League of the Devil's magic inside him trembled even more, apparently yearning for more.

Ximen Wei knew that this was new, he did not experience such a thing when he escaped from the Song family's dungeon.

'It must be the White Devil's doing... This must be his legacy!' Thought Ximen Wei, a diabolical evil idea formed in his mind as he looked towards the fleeing mortals, it was the kind of look one would give a lifestock.

He inhaled a deep breath as he prepared himself for the incoming massacre he's going to commit, to Ximen Wei, he had no choice other than to do this, the words Bai Gu Jing said to him were imprinted deeply in his mind, he knew that he was weak, too weak, so he had to get stronger no matter what, even if it involved doing unethical, immortal stuff!

He shot towards a fleeing woman at a borderline inhuman speed, where he clamped down on her neck. The woman screamed miserably and begged for forgiveness, even going as far as saying she would do anything to survive, yet Ximen Wei did not car, he tightened his grip and crushed her frail neck like dried weed!

She was dead.

Shortly after, white mist poured from the woman's lifeless body into Ximen Wei's nose, mouth, ears and eyes. His cultivation base improved and even started showing signs of an imminent breakthrough, and his seventh Extraordinary Meridian became 75% complete.

After confirming his suspicions, Ximen Wei proceeded with his slaughter.

Mortals died left and right, empowering his cultivation base and completing his body.

Eventually, he killed almost the entire village, some escaped but Ximen Wei did not care about them, he frowned as he looked at his blood covered hands.

After a certain point, his seventh Extraordinary Meridian wouldn't improve no matter how many he killed, it was stuck at 99% completion!

He killed dozens of innocent mortals heartlessly, paying their pleas for help and forgiveness no heed, yet his seventh Extraordinary Meridian wouldn't take that final step.

Ximen Wei had a faint feeling that he had to kill a cultivator in order for his Extraordinary Meridian to solidify and become complete!

He looked towards the outskirts of the village, his gaze fell onto a small shed that looked ordinary in every way.

Once he started slaughtering the mortals, he sensed the faint fluctuations of a Qi Cultivator in that very shed, it was a Level 1 Qi Trainee and despite that, Ximen Wei could sense the age and decay in him.

The Qi Cultivator decided to act when he saw Ximen Wei wantonly killing the innocent, and even built up his energy to a certain level where Ximen Wei detected it, yet he abruptly stopped and decided to watch.

Ximen Wei didn't want to engage in a deadly fight with the Qi Cultivator, so when he saw him not acting, he sighed in relief, but unfortunately, in order to finish his seventh Extraordinary Meridian, he had to kill this Level 1 Qi Trainee and absorb his white mist.

And with that decision, he strode confidently towards the lonely shed in the outskirts of the village, his eyes shining with killing intent.