Secret Temple

AN: Please read the AN at the end of the chapter as it's something that may interest you.

<<<Shin Akagawa>>>

After making some distance Shin let go of Ning'er as they started to walk towards the dense forest, they encountered only a couple of demon beasts along the way but they were quickly dealt with by the two.

"Now that I think, did someone see you come back?"

Shin asked as he led the way using a spare sword to cut off any branch or weed in the way.

"I haven't told anyone… There was no one near me so I couldn't have told them…"

'Ah' Shin thought as he could already feel the headache Linjian would feel as he lost not only one heir but two heirs. 'Well, it will be fine after we return.'

Continuing forward the two reached a small opening in the forest and in the middle of it there was a big stone door with a staircase that led down.

The two exchanged glances before Shin put away the worn out sword to take out his main gold ranked one.

"Stay close." Ning'er nodded as she took out a small sword-staff which was also a gold ranked weapon in itself.

Walking down Shin was more and more curious about why a place like this was in Orchid Ruin City, while he didn't know much about it's history the whole staircase seemed out of place if put together with the place they visited before.

White marble covered each step as they seemed unbothered by the passage of time, while the outside was covered in vines and other types of vegetation. The stairs and the wall inside were pristine like they were just brand new.

After who know how much time the two finally reached the end of the steps as they came across a big spacious corridor, on each side of the corridor there was a pair of metal bowls hung high up as a small crimson flame danced inside of them giving much needed light in the dark place.

"Shin, Look there."Ning'er lightly touched his shoulder before pointing toward the end of the corridor, as they arrived Shin immediately started checking the surroundings so he missed what was at the end of the corridor.

Right there at the end a spacious room could be seen as in the middle there was a big crimson throne with bright orange lines all around that seemed like inscriptions, looking closely Shin seemed to find some resemblance with the inscriptions that he found inside the book left behind by the founder of Fire Lotus City.

The two walked closer until reaching the room, at first they only noticed the throne in the middle but after entering the room they saw the numerous treasures laying at the edge of the room.

As the two were amazed looking at the wealth around the room another voice sounded out from the throne, there a figure made completely out of fire appeared as they seated down on the throne.

"Out of any possible Human that could have found this place, it just had to be one of his descendants… How Ironic."

The figure leaned back onto the throne as she gazed over the two, her eyes observing judgingly Shin before she chuckled a little.

"No need to be so wary, I don't have a reason to hurt you or your little lover there."

Saying so the figure waved her hand as a crimson fire spread out in the room blocking the entrance to the corridor.

"That's surely not what your actions are suggesting." Saying so, Shin moved to stand in front of Ning'er as he started to look around searching for any other escape route.

"The last thing I need is you two escaping in fear, after all I won't have another chance at this. And I can't hurt you without a physical body can't I?"

'No I'm sure you can definitely hurt us without a physical body' Shin thought as he glanced at the crimson fire surrounding the two but didn't say anything.

Under the attentive gaze of the two the figure, who was already made completely of fire, changed form becoming a head size orb that floated in the air.

"Calm down, I'm just the remnant of a soul, my soul energy is diminishing and after this I'll probably disappear to join the rest of my soul in the cycle of samsara"

Saying so the orb slowly floated up as it illuminated the whole roof of the room showing the two beautiful murals.

"I had this whole beautiful speech of who I was and where all this wealth came from but way too much time passed, I'm wondering whenever what I'm doing has any meaning anymore…"

Looking at the orb Shin was surprised as he almost felt the sadness and emptiness in it's words as it floated towards one of the murals, on it there was drawn a beautiful giant vermilion bird as it showed proudly it's giant wings as an army was being turned to dust under its fire.

"I once too was a proud daughter of the heavens, looking down on Humans and other lower species but it all changed with a single meeting…"

Moving to the left Shin looked at the next mural as it showed the same vermilion bird fighting along side to an humanoid figure wearing a black armor with red accents, the figure had two horn sprouting above it's head and one crimson circle behind him as it held a purple halberd high in the sky.

"But it doesn't matter now, the only things remaining are the cultivation and special techniques I collected during my life. I once used them to create an empire hoping that that would've brought me closer to finding a certain person but they are useless now."

The orb floated down as it stopped right in front of Shin.

"You, who have his blood, are the answer to a question I couldn't answer even after my death… I don't know if I should thank you but maybe it's fate that brought you here, so will you accept my inheritance?"

Shin was stunned at the orb words, from what he said he understood that her soul may come from the same time as the founder of Fire Lotus City! If that orb, who was powerful enough to keep a wisp of her own soul for so many years, was searching for someone that shared his blood then the only person he could think of was the founder who was said to have reached a rank higher than Legend rank.

But as he looked at the orb he couldn't even master the strength to ask as he could only nod at her question.

"Good, then while I would give everything to you I can't since you already accepted his inheritance your body would explode if you were to also accept mine, instead I have a better idea."

Moving from Shin font the orb quickly floated in front of Ning'er surprising the girl.

"A Winged Dragon soul form was really rare even in my birthplace, it's a shame that it's Wind-Lightning attuned, if it was Wind-Fire then it would've been perfect."

At her words Shin mind blanked, it was one things to sense the level of cultivation of another person but to actually perceive the soul forma and attribute from someone that wasn't even emitting soul energy was something unheard of, not even Legend rank could do something like this 'Not even the person in question can check their own soul form and soul attribute without a soul crystal… How high was her cultivation before she died?'

"Your friend there already accepted his share but what about you? Will you take this chance or not? If you plan on following him then I suggest taking this or before you know it you will be left behind only being able to pursue behind his back…"

While the words that she said seemed trying to convince Ning'er, to the girl it seemed more like those words were more directed to the orb itself as it was regretting some old choices.

"What does this 'Inheritance' entail?"

Once, before meeting Shin, she would have taken this opportunity without even blinking, no matter what the consequences were she would have paid any price as long as it would have helped her increase her strength bringing her a step closer to free herself from her accursed marriage, now instead she could already see a way out of it so she wasn't so prone to sell or give up on her current life anymore.

"Nothing that he hasn't done, even if I think he may not know what it did entail…"

Saying so, the throne that once stood in the middle of the room shone a bright vermillion color before it compressed into a small rectangular the size of a hand.

"This is called an Empyrean Core, in the place where I come from, this is something any power would kill for as the only way to receive one is by killing its previous owner or reaching a high enough realm to create one in your own realm. This one specifically was created by myself so it can still be considered a pure one since you will be the second person to ever merge with it."

Seeing the confused face on the two the orb chuckled lightly as she remembered a similar scene as she explained that once to her lover.

"In easier terms, this is the equivalent to a Demon Spirit but from Demon Spiritualists, the only difference is that this doesn't give you any transformation, it just gives you part of my memories along with my talent in cultivation and special bloodline. This will also allow you to easily reach my own realm one day as long as you diligently practice."

The small rectangle slowly floated down before placing itself onto Ning'er palm who quietly accepted it as she looked at it.

"And don't worry about those memories, they will appear like dreams at most, giving you some more insight in cultivation or some case information of my previous life, they won't alter your mind or personality."

After a while Ning'er sighed as she made up her mind, looking intently at the orb she declared with a firm voice. "Please, I'll be in your care!"

"Humu Humu, good answer. Now sit down cross legged as for you, here take this. It contains most of the special techniques I collected but I suggest you just learn the first one as it's the most compatible with you."

Saying so, a small slim slip made of red jade appeared in front of Shin, who took it with no little confusion.

"Right, you don't have these here… Just inject some soul force inside. Well, I'll be going, I hope fortune will smile on your future endeavors."

Saying so the orb disappeared inside of Ning'er chest along with the Empyrean Core as the girl closed her eyes going unresponsive.

Shin stood still as he looked at Ning'er in worry to see if anything was wrong but she simply stayed seated with her eyes closed as her soul force circulated her body calmly.

After seeing that nothing would happen he found another place to sit down as he did as the orb told him, injecting his soul force onto the jade slip his mind was filled with different Special Techniques and even some Inscription Patterns.

Calming down his mind he went over the various technique as he got more and more excited, Nie Li already sent some of the Cultivation Techniques he had but at the end of the day they were only cultivation techniques, if he wanted to see an increase of strength in the people of Fire Lotus City then he would have to wait years for the younger generations to train with those cultivation techniques until they get to at least the Gold rank.

Instead with these Special Techniques he could even share it to the old generations and see immediate results after just a couple of months or a year at most.

'If it's these types of Special Techniques then taking back Fire Lotus City may happen even sooner than I thought…'

Leaving the various techniques for later he went to the one the orb suggest it to him, the first special technique recorded there was called Vermilion Bird Empyrean Dance, a Wind-Fire attribute technique that would let the user control flames and in the later stages even transform into a giant bird made of fire with seemingly infinite regeneration.

Suddenly thinking of something Shin looked upward, even in the dark he could still faintly see the drawing of the giant red bird showing off its wings.

'Then could it be that the other figure was…' Thinking that he shook his head before resuming his cultivation, He didn't know how much time Ning'er would take but he certainly couldn't spend that time simply looking at some drawings.

<<<Two Days Later, Shin Akagawa>>>

During these two days the couple spent their time cultivating as Shin took as many pills as he could to push over and was even able to reach the fourth star of the Bronze rank.

Sighing he stood up as he looked back, during this time Ning'er never woke up as she spent the time seated still as soul energy fluctuated around her, Shin could feel a really hot energy sometimes appear around her as he recognized it as the first stage of the Vermilion Bird Empyrean Dance called 'Burning Flames', it was a simple name but got the work done as it easily explained what that first stage entailed as the user would be able to create flames that would not harm the user itself but anything else that it touched them.

Shin himself was barely able to activate the first stage as a weak flame would be created between his hands but even then the heat would be nowhere near the one Ning'er would emit from time to time.

Looking around the once filled room was now empty, in his free time Shin proceeded to empty the room separating all treasures in various spatial rings he had on himself, he still couldn't believe what he found inside this room.

Tracing a finger over his spatial ring he looked inside once again, inside the room there were at least more than a hundred Bronze rank set of armors and weapons along with Dozens Silver rank, At least Fifty Gold rank and even dozen Black Gold rank. But more importantly were the two Legend rank treasure or one and half.

Taking out the half broken blade he looked at it over with a wry smile, once complete the blade in his hands would've been a peak Legend rank weapon but now it could only considered an Half-step Legend rank weapon at beast and even then with the shortened range of the broken blade it could only be used as a dagger, at least it was light enough for him to swing with his Bronze rank strength.

The other Legend rank weapon was a short bow adorned with Crimson Feathers stronger than the gold ranked sword Shin had at his hips along with a set of Black Gold ranked arrows, The bow itself was light and while the arrows were a little heavy it was still usable by someone already at the fourth star of the Bronze rank.

'But none of this comes close to the heaven I found in that spatial box…'

In one corner of the room once stood a medium sized golden box with engravings of red birds dancing and intertwining together, the box itself worked as a spatial ring and inside of it preserved in durable glass bottles were various rare materials that Shin only read of in books.

'There was even some sacred Demon Beast blood essence… with the right skill we can make some pills to gain the same attributes of those sacred Demon beasts.'

The Prime Titan Body Technique gave them a sturdy body comparable with even ranked treasures but that wasn't the only thing it did. Being able to absorb any type of Blood essence or bloodline, that was the goal and benefit that the user would gain after reaching higher stages of the Body Techniques.

Feeling Ning'er stir he was drawn back from his thoughts as he looked at her, she moved a little before she frowned as she started to fall backwards. Shin moved before she could even lean back as he helped her by holding her back.

"Hey Ning'er, how do you feel?" This time Shin distracted himself with the various treasures and his cultivation but he was deeply worried for the girl that quickly became an irreplaceable person in his heart.

Ning'er leaned in on his body before sighing calmly. "I'll be fine, she told me to rest for a couple of hours as my body would slowly get accustomed to the new changes."

Opening her eyes she smiled at Shin as he noticed a small red glint in the deep of her orange eyes, like a small fire burning in the middle of the darkest night.

"Her Empyrean Core gave me the same blood essence that she once had, the bloodline of the Vermilion Bird. Other than that I also gained the memories of a special technique that she told me you should have also practiced?"

Moving to a more comfortable position he nodded at her question before he asked about what else happened.

Apparently whoever the soul fragment was after giving everything to Ning'er she disappeared completely vanishing so there was no other way to ask her anything or even talk to her from now on.

"... She told me that if we continue like this we will inevitably battle against a power even stronger than the entirety of the Tiny World but no matter how many times I asked she refused to tell me more about it… She said that it was better to not know until the time was right."

At that Shin rolled his eyes at the soul words. "I appreciate what she left us but really? Going all secretive with this secret mission and this secret enemy… I can't understand them, both her and the founder of Fire Lotus City!"

Shin was getting more and more frustrated with those two, who simply left cryptic messages to him hoping that he would be able to somehow decipher them instead of directly telling him what was important.

"Oh well, nothing will change if we continue to stay here, let's go meet each other!" They rested for a couple of hours and Ning'er herself was already fine, as she's been fine for over an hour already. So it was time to leave this place, fortunately Shin didn't even have to bring up the matter of the treasures as she understood that he wanted to share it to his clan as she couldn't agree more.

Leaving the temple behind, Shin gave one last glance at it as he saw the fire that previously gave a little of light go off as it was soon engulfed by darkness now completely empty.

The two walked silently toward their destination, the dense forest was at the leftmost of the three spots while the training ground was at the right most so they had to walk all the way toward the fortresses then toward the training ground.

It took them just a little bit more than an hour to reach the fortresses as they started to see them in the distance, but just as Shin was walking calmly he stopped as he started to look around.

Ning'er first stopped confused but she then also felt what he felt.

"Six people… They are coming this way, quick let's hide in one of the fortresses!"

There were five fortresses in total with four at each cardinal side with one in the middle, Shin and Ning'er hid in the northern one as it was the farthest from the incoming group of people.

As the two hid, a group of six people arrived in front of the fortresses.

"Where the hell is that brat!…"

The one that seemed to be the leading figure shouted as he stomped on the ground creating a small crater in front of him.

"Boss Qin, maybe they went over to the dense forest? We have yet to check that part."

One of the robbers said as he tried to calm down his own boss which thankfully worked for him.

"That's right… We can't be seen by the whole group but Xia Yufen is also keeping a watch to make sure that he doesn't rejoin them. You four stay here and see if he comes here, Ming will come with me!"

Saying so he didn't even wait for an answer as he started dashing toward the dense forest as the one named Ming simply followed with a wry smile.

Shin looked at them from a distance as he studied his situation. 'From the color of the robes they seem like a different group from the one that first attacked me but they also seem stronger…'

He didn't dare send his divine sense to probe them but from the small attack their boss sent when irritated he could guess that they were at least peak Silver rank with the boss at least Gold rank.

'What the hell is such a group doing here… They are searching for 'Him' but who is him.'

As the patriarch of the Akagawa he also had a couple of Inscription Patterns that he could use to save his life in a fight against a Gold ranked but they were so scarce he preferred to not use them if possible especially since there were no more Legend rank Inscription Masters anymore.

He made a motion for Ning'er to stay in silence as the two hid there not making a move lest they discover them, but that didn't last long as the group of four started to check each fortress.

The remaining group was at best Silver rank at worst peak Silver rank so with a good opportunity they may be able to escape without alerting them.

"Ning'er I will be distracting them so get to a better position and use this to strike them."

Giving the Legend rank bow to her he told her so as she nodded her head seriously, a small crimson light shining in the depth of her eyes.

Taking a breath he stood up before jumping out of the fortress, using a gold rank sword as a projectile he launched two swords toward the group but it was easily repelled.

"So it was here the little rat! Quick, someone send a message to the Boss!"

At their words Shin complexion paled, to think that he would be their target!

The four immediately let out their auras, two were Two star Silver rank while the other two one was a Three star and the other was a Four star. One of the Two star didn't hesitate to turn around as he started to run toward the dense forest to try and alert their boss, but as he made a couple of steps the air whistled as an arrow came flying, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, before striking the cultivator's right leg successfully stopping him.

"There's another hiding away!"

Shouting that the Four star rushed toward Shin as he calmly took out an inscription scroll, it wasn't one of the Legend rank as it would have been overkill to use it on a single Silver rank but it was one of the Black Gold rank.

Four big vines sprouted out of the scroll as they immediately latched themselves onto the Four star. The air trembled again as another arrow came crashing down onto the vines, this time the arrow was smaller but it also had a red aura around it and as soon as it made contact with the vines they both exploded in a beautiful show of lights.

Using the repulsion of the explosion Shin took his chance to escape but stopped as he felt another person appear behind him. Turning around he saw the other two silver ranks following behind him, without hesitation he took out the broken blade as he opened his first moon.

Soul force gushed forth from Shin as it took a crimson color before becoming a brilliant Vermilion, swinging his sword in an arc he left a trail of fire that continued to grow before becoming a bright red fire wall between him and the two cultivators.

Out of the two the Three star was able to easily dodge the strike while the Two star was one step too late as he got engulfed by fire, he wasn't even able to take out his robe as his entire body was roasted by the fire.

Stepping back Shin lowered the blade as he gasped for air, using that move used far more Soul energy than when he used the Lotus Technique but at the same time it was far better to deal damage to a large area.

The fire quickly dissipated as there was no more Soul energy to maintain it, the three star simply walked over the small embers with a cold expression.

"The orders were to kidnap you alive but I guess they won't mind if you miss a couple of limbs…"

Straining his Soul force Shin gripped tightly the broken sword as seven petals appeared in front of him, with his increase in cultivation the number of petals he could control also increased.

The two moved at the same time their sword clashed together but instead of maintaining the deadlock the Three star had to step back as the seven petals danced dangerously trying to cut him up.

The Three star waved his sword parrying three petals that came flying from the front before grunting as another came from behind him and hit him in the leg, but before he could move Shin came from his right with his sword as three other petals came from above him in three different direction, this was not a simple 1vs1 but a 1vs8!

"Ahhh!" Shouting in irritation he swung his sword as a purple light followed it, Shin immediately moved all of his petals in front of the strike as a shield giving him enough time to step back as they were immediately destroyed by the attack.

"You stupid rat!" Stepping forward he stabbed his sword toward Shin who took out another Black Gold inscription scroll as a golden shield appeared around him, just as the sword came in contact with the shield another arrow came flying from the forest covered in fire as it gave the same cry as a bird. The Three star stopped his attack as he moved to parry the attack as his sword met the arrow, the fire spreading out leaving Shin untouched thanks to the shield.

'Just in time!' Thought Shin with a smile as he moved his petals, the seven petals easily navigated inside the fire as they actually caught on fire but didn't get destroyed.

Momentarily surprised by the compatibility between the Blood Lotus and the fire of the Vermilion Bird he continued with his attack the seven petals pierced seven different parts of the Three star body before exploding in a crimson light that made the Shield tremble a little before it disappeared without the continuous flux of Soul energy.

"Shin! Sorry I had to take the long way around or the other would have caught me!"

Shin smiled at the girl before shaking his head.

"More Importantly we have to go, the other won't be much distant from here."

Out of the group of four only the four star remained as he was just lightly injured, the only reason why he hadn't come yet was that he was helping his other friend who had an arrow in his leg thanks to Ning'er attack, taking the arrow from the body of the Three star he gave it back to Ning'er before they started to run back toward the training ground, for some reason they didn't want the other group to see them so as long as they were with the group they would be fine.