"Why is such a simple looking man close to my future wife?"
His expression flashed as he eyed Su Min, finding nothing out of the ordinary. But, seeing his indifferent expression and how he is capable of disrupting the ceremony, doubts surfaced in Chang Hui's mind.
"I need to find out his strength... And if he is as ordinary as he seems, then... Hehe..."
That grin that seemed to define him struck his face as he laughed under his breath. Those around him paled even further as they hiccupped out of fright.
"I haven't seen Senior Brother this excited since his fight with the Number One..."
A man who was closer to Chang Hui muttered, eyes shining with a brilliant light. He wore red-robes similar to the red-haired man, and his face was shrouded in the same crimson aura.
His hair, though, was white instead of red.
It seemed that he originated from the same family, or he had at least learnt a similar technique.
"I wonder what Senior Brother will think of... I guess it's my time to shine once more hehe."
He flashed with a smirk as he appeared before Chang Hui; it was like he knew Chang Hui would summon him.
Chang Hui paused as he eyed the man, but instead of grumbling, a strange light gleamed in his pupils as he threw a blurred crimson object. The man seemed to shiver with excitement as he grasped and placed the object in a small pouch.
Chang Hui's eyes flashed as he spoke.
"Find everything you can about that golden-haired man..."
The man nodded as he took a glance at Su Min who was currently facing the bowing sect master. Though, it was obvious that the Sect Master was bowing toward Wen Mian and just ignoring Su Min's presence.
He noticed this, and thus a sense of confidence seethed.
"Sure!"
He kneeled before Chang Hui and leapt upwards, flying to a place unknown.
Chang Hui's eyes narrowed as he continued to stare at Su Min, grumbling to himself.
"Let's see, shall we..."
However, in a corner within the group of people surrounding Chang Hui, a beaten up servant stared at Chang Hui with fervent eyes. Everyone near him either glanced at him with disdain or ignored him, but that kid's eyes seemed to be blazing with excitement as a thought entered his head.
'I need to find out who this golden-haired man is!'
...
...
...
*Woosh!*
Within a booming shockwave, two figures blazed past the unending scenery of a peak. One figure stepped on the air with a disastrous power, whilst the other fluttered like a butterfly in a hailstorm. It was obvious which one was struggling to keep up, and such a person spoke with a heaving chest.
"T-there was Martial Energy around it..?"
She was gasping for air as she done so.
"Mhm."
The person next to her nodded as he continued to thump the atmosphere with his ghastly strength, shining with his golden hair.
"Su M-Min, please slow down!"
She couldn't take it anymore as she shouted at Su Min with a pale face, who only sighed and slowed down.
"Miss Wen Mian I am just training you to be more endurant, as if you can't even take this level then how on earth will you fight the top geniuses in this sect?"
Su Min smiled as he spoke, thoughts blazing inside of his head.
'She's not even at that level... I need to make her stronger before finding humanity, otherwise, I won't be able to protect her if I get in a brawl with someone on my level. That altar also gives me a rather disconcerting feeling about this sect's interests.'
Wen Mian grumbled as she continued to follow Su Min, who was still going a little too fast for her tastes. The scenery continued to blaze past as they travelled at a speed close to that of a 6th step cultivator, thus it didn't take long for them to reach their destination.
"So this is the Strength Pavilion?"
Su Min murmured as he gazed at a tower that pierced the sky, shrouded in a strange atmosphere that blew a fog around it from time to time. Its entire hull was coated in a pitch black, which was rather strange considering that heavenly energy takes the colour white as its primary form.
As its height grew, it would narrow in size, so its shape was that of a pyramid of some kind. At the very bottom was a large opening where numerous disciples walked in out of, either pale with weakness or energetic with excitement.
"Time to get some points!"
Wen Mian laughed as she plodded onto the ground and stared at the pavilion with interest; Su Min landed next to her as he pondered with a murmur.
"I wonder if I can get some points as well..."
His murmur caused Wen Mian to halt and a strange look to overtake her face.
"Are you kidding? Wouldn't that be unfair considering how powerful you are? Are you even at the age to be considered a disciple?"
Su Min glanced at Wen Mian who was giving him an expression of disdain. He doesn't really care about his image, so being shameless was natural.
"Who said I was powerful, and how am I any older than you?"
Wen Mian froze and thought of retorting. However, with a quick glimpse, she noticed a deep bloodthirst cloud Su Min's eyes as he stared at the pavilion. This caused a shiver to quake through her, one of a crimson drenched in the blood of an uncountable quantity of corpses.
'He really isn't ordinary...'
It didn't take them long to enter the pavilion, but considering Wen Mian's extraordinary beauty and her fame from being the overseer's daughter, many cultivators all gaped at her presence.
"She's going to attempt the 99 Heavenly Realms?"
"Quick, let's watch the leaderboard!"
Some rushed to a massive pillar engraved in text and others just stood there staring, not even trying to hide it. Nevertheless, those who noticed Su Min's presence weren't too happy.
"It's that ordinary guy again, lucky bastard!"
"Did the overseer have a stroke to have him accompany the angel of my heart?"
"Maybe he's a guard?"
"He looks weak so he can't possibly be a guard!"
Hateful gazed stabbed at Su Min, who was feeling a headache coming. Wen Mian didn't seem to like the attention also as she became a little quiet, so Su Min directed her to the large reception area in the middle of the square.
Around ten receptionists stood and faced those in a line, which was about a couple hundred people in length. Su Mins expression grew gloomy as he looked at this massive group of cultivators, but funnily enough, the group of cultivators all looked at him.
No, they looked at Wen Mian.
"Come on, how can we let our angel wait in a line! Quick, you can push in here!"
Numerous cries resounded as cultivator after cultivator waved their hands in various places, even right at the front. Su Min guessed that this was the place where you get an entry ticket to enter '99 Heavenly Realms', but it was obvious that this was a popular area in the sect.
Wen Mian hesitated as she saw all of these near-worshipping voices cry out to her, not knowing what to do. Yet, just as she was going to decline them all, a proud voice rumbled from behind her.
"Oi! You all have no right to even be in the presence of Wen Mian's magnificent beauty, so shut it!"
A red-robed cultivator revealed himself as a dangerous aura seethed. Everyone halted with half expended breaths, but none dared to even make a sound or loosen such breath.
"Wen Mian, right? You look even more stunning up close!"
He laughed as he strode up to Wen Mian with crimson eyes and white hair. He didn't seem to even put Su Min's presence in his eyes; like he was just air.
Wen Mian's eyes narrowed as she examined the cultivator in front of her. He gave her a dangerous feeling, and as she tried to probe his cultivation, she found something that made her feel a little queasy.
'6th step..?'
She gulped on instinct, as she was still nowhere near this level...
"Thank you..."
She nodded with a polite attitude nonetheless, and the man grinned as he saw this.
"No need no need, but considering this massive line you'd have to get through, why don't we just skip it anyway? Just you of course, as this isn't an easy thing to do..."
The man's eyes took a glimpse at Su Min with that grin, as if he was watching his reaction. But, quite surprisingly, Su Min remained unchanged to it all and just stood there.
'If he was powerful then he would fight back to get in early, be this doesn't seem to be the case.'
Silent thoughts entered the man's head as he analysed the situation. In fact, skipping the line was an easy task for anyone who was high in the rankings, and he was such a person.
Wen Mian didn't seem to want to do it, though, as doubt shrouded her expression.
"Ah, just take this as a favour. I don't want anything from you, I just want to make your life a little easier! If I may do so, though."
He coughed and strode towards the line, where a neat opening formed as everyone scrambled away from him. Wen Mian hesitated as she took a glimpse at Su Min, who only sighed.
"Miss Wen Mian, I'll wait here."
Su Min didn't seem to be impatient as he just took a light step and appeared in one of the lines that weren't affected by the man's disruption. Wen Mian looked at this with a slight hint of dumbfoundedness, as those in power would never lower themselves to such a degree...
'Definitely not ordinary.'
Still, how could she wait in a line? She is the Overseer's daughter, so she would never lower herself to that degree, overwise it would be insulting.
*Step* *Step* *Step*
She took a couple of light steps as she followed the man, who appeared to be as cold as ice itself. The man in question seemed to figure something out as he gazed at Su Min in a line not too far away.
'It seems that they aren't close... Senior Brother will be happy!'
...
...
"Here's your identity jade and entrance talisman, Miss."
A rather pale female server bowed as she handed over a black jade and talisman to Wen Mian, who looked on with an indifferent gaze. A white-haired man stood behind her with a little smile; it was unknown whether the server was pale because of Wen Mian or the man, but either was probable...
"Nice, eh? But, don't you find it strange that the jades are black instead of white?"
The man strutted out of the crowd of people with a smile as Wen Mian followed him, slightly curious as she replied.
"It is rather strange..."
She wasn't that scared of this white-haired guy, mostly because he wasn't at a strength that she wouldn't be able to defend against for at least a moment.
A dazzling gateway, taking up the entire right wall of the room, shone into view. It resembled a circular portal, one of a black abyss with the occasional starlight flickering out of it.
The man pondered as he spoke.
"Well, a rather popular belief is that this pavilion was once used by the Martial Races! Not that hard to believe right?"
With a laugh, he marched up to the towering portal like it was nothing, where a talisman and black jade appeared in his hand out of nowhere. However, the black jade was different from Wen Mians. It wasn't blank, instead, it had a single inscription of a figure sitting in meditation atop it.
It was semi-complete, and strangely enough, the figure was gold...
The man tossed the jade up for a while as a mysterious glint shined in his eyes, speaking.
"This pavilion is actually a mystery to the sect because nobody has actually completed it! It is rumoured that our patriarch had reached the 55th realm, but that's still 44 away from the supposed top! I can only reach the 21st realm, and as you can see, a strange inscription was formed on my jade."
The man showed the jade to Wen Mian's interested eyes, yet as she looked upon the golden figure on the jade, shock tumbled into her mind.
'What on earth?!'
The symbol itself looked pretty simple; it didn't even exude any aura. Yet, the shape and soft golden glow that shined out of this little mediating figure blazed into her vision, superimposing with another unforgettable image in her memory!
One that has engraved its very being into her soul...
'It's similar to Su Min's soul!'