9 Chapter 9: Title At The End

Chapter 9: Title At The End (unmodified)

Xue Tie and his band of merry misfits made their way to Spirit City to pillage..ahem burn AHEM…. They are making their way to study at the center of the Spirit Hall itself.

Xue Tie is especially excited, internally gloating over the misfortune of others who annoy him.

In the meantime, due to his hectic schedule, Xue Tie can only eat his birthday cake in the carriage. He also had some food from the celebration that took place on the last day before he left. He didn't know when in 7 days Zhi Yun was leaving so to placate Xue Tie's nervousness. His parents ended the party early but still boxed up some food for him. Zhi Yun tried to ask for some food but she only got her hand slapped away.

It takes them roughly 4 days to get there. Xue Tie takes the time to cultivate and isolate his energies so Zhi Yun can't figure out what his level is. The method to do this was listed in the cultivation manual. A unique perk of his ancient clan he is from.

Spirit City is a marvelous construct that, while predominantly medieval, has some modern charm to it through its Skyscraping towers, which are most likely the spirit hall itself. Business is booming in the city as due to the power of the Spirit Hall, no one is crazy enough to create conflict with them, Especially bandits. Thieves are a different creature altogether as long as they don't target the Spirit Hall itself. Yet they are regularly caught as well since thieves ruin the reputation of the Hall. But roughly half get away as long as their crimes are minor.

The carriages keep going until they stop at the entrance to the hall. Greek pillars reaching high up are beside the entrance, along with a set of guards protecting the entrance. Zhi Yun steps out of her carriage first and ushers the trio out.

After showing off her badge. She brings all 3 of them inside. The reception area is grand with bits of gold and silver which contrast with the black. It creates a majestic situation as they are led down a few halls until they reach a sizable training room. Or at least what it looks like. There is a tall man in a black suit sitting in a seat, a clipboard on his lap. And a cup of tea on a sliding counter next to him. He says in a gentle voice.

"Ah, you have arrived. Do you have your report for me?" To which Zhi Yun responds by handing over a few papers. From the few glimpses that Xue Tie had gotten in the carriage. She had essentially written down the details of the awakening process.

*************************

Meanwhile, in another place. Inside the office of a building adjacent to the elder hall. There are Two people inside. One who is doing paperwork and dressed in Bishop clothing, notices something strange. By his side is his attendant. Serving tea or running other errands for the elder

"Why the hell is Cheng Zin in charge of one of the young'uns application days? He'll kill them all, and if they aren't dead then traumatized and turned to waste." The elder complains as he rubs his forehead.

The attendant says, "I believe this was to be his punishment for angering the 10th elder Quin Bey."

(A/N: not all the elders are named in the wiki and i keep could keep it that way but this makes it more personalized)

"What a stupid commander of the Black Corpse. Damn it. Go make sure Cheng Xin doesn't ruin anything."

The attendant bows and makes his way over

Back to the group. Cheng Xin just received the report from Zhi Yun.

"I see, only 4 awoke and even then only 3 decided to come. Well, let's get down to testing. See if they are compatible with our Spirit Hall." His words seem to have a bored undertone and impatiently says to start the tests. Whatever they are. He takes out a gemstone and taps it 3 times

Strangely enough, after a few minutes, 2 people enter with 3 more folks in chains. They are escorted between the new instructor and the kids. Each one is positioned in front of them.

"Kill them," the new one says bluntly which sends a shiver down the other 2. Xue Tie at least had some expectations that his path would be bloody so he can at least 'act' stoic.

He begins explaining in more detail, his voice growing more resolute and ominous as he continues. His composure breaking as thick killing intent revolves around him, making him look far scarier, even if it doesnt leak out to be felt by the kids.

"What's wrong, kill them. Spirit Hall regularly deals with bandits and thieves, not to mention Evil cultivators unleashing bloodshed upon varieties of villages and other cities. What will you do when Evil Spirit masters come to your hometown and begin killing everyone? Stand idle and watch them die? We also have to keep the peace against the Spirit Beasts. Sure you work in teams, but you are still killing. Them or you. Those are your choices"

The girl of the trio steps forward and unleashes her martial spirit. It seems to be a type of eagle. Even when it covers her. No Spirit rings are shown. All can feel her rampant energy flowing out and indicating that she is at least level 7. Her shaking is still plain to see. But with her clawed hands, she swipes at the chained man in front of her. She only leaves a scratch on his face.

"That's it. You're told to kill, not…." His words are cut off as Xue Tie summons his trident and after 2 handing it. He stabs down at his prisoner's chest. Blood gushes out but the prisoner collapses as his heart gets punctured by the side spikes of his trident.

(Do the individual spikes of a regular trident or pitchfork have a name? If so that would make it easier to reference it)

Xue Tie dismisses his spear, neglecting the need to pull it out. The man claps

"Now that's how you do it. If you can't, get out. Both boy and girl that came here look like they are about to vomit, and they do. But buckets rapidly appear before them by the instructor.

"Don't dirty the room with your insignificance."

That seems to be the last thread to break as they both start crying once they finish vomiting. Xue Tie has his stomach In upheaval but the sight of his death was worse and more painful than the death he just gave. That doesn't mean he doesn't have a green face from the heavy nausea but he is holding it down with his spirit power.

He has gained a bit of proficiency in manipulating his energy, after all the energy-hiding method he used during the carriage ride was the training method for controlling his energy.

Cheng Xin seems pleased with Xue Tie's performance so far. While the 2 kids begin running away to the entrance while still crying.

"Aw screw it. Have someone escort them out. No point in either of them. One could barely do anything and is too weak. While the other didn't even do anything but gawk." One of the 2 men who brought in the prisoners heads out when they bump into the elder Attendant. The same one who naturally sees two 6-year-old kids running away with the smell of vomit from them. The attendant rubs his forehead in annoyance. He looks to the chasing guard.

"Get them cleaned up and to room 8."

The attendant yells out and the only confirmation is a wave of the arm. Unknown if he listened or not. The attendant looks inside the room to see another kid standing before a prison with 3 holes in his chest. As time passes, the scene grows more bloody.

Cheng Xin says this to the other attendant

"Get rid of the body and prepare to spar with him. " he points to Xue Tie.

The 2nd guard listens and drags the body away.

"You hear that kid, he is gonna fight you for your 2nd test. Need to see your mettle. The report said you have twin Martial spirits. Pretty rare but I don't care. Hmmm?"

"CHENG XIN, YOU IDIOT"

"Ow, don't yell when you're so close" An argument ensues between the 'instructor' Cheng Xin and the attendant who just arrived and ran over to him.

The argument continues for a few minutes until the guard arrives. He looks nervous about the yelling and so he looks to Xue Tie. Xue Tie is doing the same. They nod and walk a bit away from them.

Xue Tie summons out his trident once more as he takes a casual position with its butt end placed against the ground. He takes out a pebble from his pocket. The guard is confused as he summons his own martial spirit which is a brown boar. 3 spirit rings revolve around him. 2 yellow and 1 purple. A spirit Elder

"Come on kid, summon out your 2nd martial spirit. Don't let down the commander. Ill even go easy on you so you look good and maybe even get an offer to join our team.

Xue Tie who had a few minutes to regain his composure and distract himself from his first skill has a sneering look on his face. "Don't underestimate me or you will be the next corpse here"

"Audacious" The Guard yells in return as he charges towards Xue Tie. Black veiny gloves begin coating his arms, They reach high up, past his elbow and halfway to his shoulder. He quickly activates his first spirit skill and with the left hand holds the stone. His claws bore into it and he lightly tosses it at the Guard who begins slowing down as he sees something shocking. He then immediately feels something shocking as the rock explodes.

The explosion attracts the attention of the two arguing folk who lay witness to a sight that they may never see again. A 6-year-old with a purple spirit ring. Not only that, there are two of them. They can clearly feel the spiritual energy at the 23rd level and is stable too. A spirit Grandmaster and 6 years old is untold in any form of 'known' history.

With the explosion blinding the guard with its smoke and the pain of it distracting him too. Xue Tie charges forth through the smoke and once he gets a clear view of his target. He activates his 2nd spirit ring. BloodBoon, He grabs out and manifests a bunch of burning blood and splashes it towards the neck of the target. The guard can either duck to protect his chest and take it to the face or take it head-on in the chest. His moment of hesitation is his downfall as he doesnt realize that the single splash was it but a continuous flow of bloodflame spurting out in an arc. Getting right onto his eyes. He is temporarily blinded.

(A/N: I am aware that Bloodboon is supposed to be a single toss of blood flames but there have been instances of prolonged spirit skills and also, why can't I make a variant of bloodboon that is like a flamethrower? It just works better and reduces the initial energy cost in exchange for prolonged usage that still builds up considerably if overused)

Xue Tie grabs his spear and smacks it sideways into the Guards leg. Breaking his balance and making him fall over on his back where he becomes a pinata for Xue Tie to smack around until he got bored and stops his abilities. The bloodflame disappears though the guard still feels the pain of it on his neck and eyes. After a minute, The guard gets up. Bruises are seen all over his face while he has light burn marks on his neck, cheeks and around his eyes, which are bloodshot by the way. Xue Tie admires his work while Cheng Xin and the attendant who are in the audience admire Xue Tie. His effectiveness to land consecutive attacks with ease, even against a stronger foe. Granted the guard was surprised just like they were. Also nobody really expects to be blown up at any point in time. It had provided enough of an impact to break the guards' simple charge.

Cheng Xin and the Deacon Attendant look at each other and nod in unified thought that is: 'He is a real treasure, we can't let him go'.

Meanwhile Zhi Yun who has been forgotten is practically a statue over what she has just witnessed and continues her silence.

(A/N: wanted to give more detail to the attendant than just calling him an attendant, he will be introduced later, and yes I did forget about her until I reread a bit. Also i call him a deacon due to the structure not being shown at lower level. It's pope x Worship hall at the top. Elder hall below that, Bishops then nothing is mentioned. There are 3 other halls with their own set of elders and bishops. So i added some lower level status, not using priest since worship hall members are referred to as priests in the wiki which ill lightly follow. So Deacons to avoid confusion, ill also add in multiple stages of bishops other than bishop and platinum bishop like how it's mentioned)

Cheng Xin clears his throat loud enough for Xue Tie to look at him. Cheng Xin says

"Very impressive kid. Since you are officially worthy of the Spirit Hall, why not introduce yourself"

Xue Tie nods and says "Xue Tie, 6 years old, from Sunset City. Level 23 Defensive Assault System Spirit Master."

"Defensive assault huh? Is it because you chose your strange gloves as your main martial spirit? But also, how the hell are you level 23 already?"

Xue Tie has a devilish smile as he blatantly lies. "I awakened at level 20, My family helped me hunt down my first 2 rings. Somehow my first ring mutated because it was only 800 years old while my 2nd was a true one thousand year old ring. I faced very little spirit beast backlash during the absorption process and so I spent my week staying at home training and solidifying my cultivation." He explains when in truth. "Also, my gloves started out originally at my wrists, they grew to my elbow until I got my spirit rings and grew halfway to my shoulder now"

'It was just in one day that I was able to achieve a breakthrough to the 20th level and spent the rest sparing against my father. Trying out different methods and usages of my skills while dad also explained the history of how the move was used since it was a standard 2nd ring skill. Though they only had the one-time splash as compared to my own which can be constantly used as long as there is energy. Also I rose 2 levels during the early evening of the 4th day and morning of the 7th day during my training. The last level was gained during the journey. Essentially 1 or half a day to reach level 20, 2 days for level 21 and 2 and a half for level 22. Then it jumped to 4 days to level 23. It was all because of Vin, the energy necklace which provided a constant flow of energy and did not let me tire out.'

Cheng Xin has his lip twitching in surprise before throwing out into a howl of maniacal laughter.

"Kid, join my shadow corp. As you heard this guy next to me yell. My name is Cheng Xin, a level 59 Assault system and I'm the commander of the Shadow corps of the Spirit hall. I have a pretty cushy status. Roughly between a proper elder from the elder hall and the master of this guy, who is a Gold bishop." His words get a glare from the deacon.

"That is not proper procedure, he must first go through orien." the deacon gets cut off by Cheng Xin

"Ah who cares. He clearly is strong, I don't need him dumb due to all the mumbo jumbo that you all do at the lower levels. It also takes time. He is clearly a genius, he can't be mingling with the rabble down there."

The deacon raises a finger but puts it down once he realizes the truth of the argument. But he won't settle for just handing him over to this brute

"Your argument has merit but if that is the case then his situation should be brought up with his majesty the pope. After all, he is a talented youth, no lesser than the holy lady brought in by his majesty. He might even serve as her close advisor when she succeeds his majesty."

Cheng Xin is at a loss for words against this logic just as the deacon was from his own.

Chapter 9: Spirit City, Scary Instructor, Tests, 2nd Spirit Ring, and Invitation.

****************

A/N: I found the word count and phrasing satisfactory for this chap so im not updating it like the others except this new message