The celebrations continued for quite a while, the sun setting down the horizon. Painting the sky a beautiful mix of red, yellow and orange.
The hall was filled with chatter, but on the platform, standing behind The Grand Marshall's throne in the shadow was an old man.
He had a small, unnerving smile that sent shivers down most spines. He was wearing a long flowy purple robe with silver jewelry adorning his body. A purple gem glowed on his forehead, a dim but visible glow coming from it like heartbeat.
He was very thin and tall, unnaturally so, not only that his nails were dirty and long. But despite that, an aura of elegance and conceit surrounded him. One that made sure no one dared to even match his gaze.
His eyes scanned around the hall, landing on the group of Jinshen, Yanwei, Ruoxue and Jinhai.
Jinshen and Yanwei were bickering again, poking each other in the ribs, throwing glances at passing girls like they had nothing better to do. Like they hadn't just survived the Trial of Blood. Like they weren't marked as rising demons of the sect.
This earned a small laugh from the old man, making basically everyone in the room sit up straighter and tense up.
"Despite their rather important rankings boys shall be boys huh?" He said directly to them, his hands behind his back.
Their eyes snapped towards him as Jinhai turned quiet, uncomfortable under the mans gaze but Jinshen remained stoic and his dry smirk was plastered on his face, drier than sandpaper itself.
"You miss your older days or something?" He taunted while crossing his arms across his chest "Because if you were to look at any woman I'm sure you'd get your ass beat for being a pervert-"
Ruoxue quickly put his hand on Jinshen's mouth to shut him up, his face glowing red from embarrassment and nervousness.
"That's an Elder Jinshen!" He whispered to Jinshen who remained completely unfazed except a small raise of his eyebrow.
Jinshen licked the inside of Ruoxue's hand who immediately retracted it in a mix of disgust and annoyance, he quickly wiped it away on Jinshen's clothes in retaliation.
"Fucking weirdo.." Ruoxue muttered in annoyance.
The Elder looked at Jinshen completely nonchalant, just shrugging response before walking down the platform to straight in front of his sitting self, a calm and creepy look in his eyes.
"You're quite creative."
Jinshen stood up, readily facing off against the Elder despite the immense difference in rank. His expression was completely stoic except the taunting smirk on his face.
"I think so too."
The Elder stared deep into Jinshen's eyes, like he was trying to look into his soul but Jinshen didn't back down at all, instead it seemed he was even more invested and took a step closer towards The Elder.
A toothy grin spread across the Elder's face.
He put his hand forward for Jinshen to shake, which Jinshen readily took, shaking it firmly.
"I'm Elder Wei. You can call me Old Man Wei, I deal with creating techniques for recovery and strengthening the member's body." He paused for a moment, letting go of Jinshen's hand
"I'm sure you've heard of the Undead. I'm the founder of the squad."
The atmosphere had returned back to normal and the chatter of the people resuming once more. But for Jinshen, all his focus was on this one man, everything else was background chatter.
He seems strange. I should keep my guard up around this old coot. Jinshen thought to himself before replying to Wei.
"Ah, I do know of the squad. Well, lets not talk about anything serious for now. We both know how to contact each other at a more appropriate time after all."
Wei just nodded, his grin going away to a more indifferent expression. He silently went back to his place, standing behind the Grand Marshall's throne, his eyes fixed on Lianhua, intrigue evident in his gaze.
Jinshen sat back down, unaware of the man's gaze on Lianhua. He crossed his legs as he looked at Jinhai once more.
"So uh.. Which girl did you think was hot?"
Jinhai looked at Jinshen blankly, not responding immediately as he blinked a few times before stuttering out in confusion.
"Huh? We're rating the girls?"
Jinshen just shrugged, leaving him to his own thoughts and turning to Ruoxue who was staring at one girl in particular. A female disciple that seemed average at best.
She had black, silky hair and green eyes, her face wasn't anything special and so weren't her skills or talents.
That is what confused Jinshen who spooked Ruoxue by speaking right next to his ear.
"So is that future sister-in-law?"
Ruoxue jumped slightly before taking a deep breath, calming down quite quickly before whispering back to Jinshen
"Maybe. I like her eyes."
Lianhua shifted in The Grand Marshall's lap as she momentarily looked at Wei before averting her gaze, her small hands gripping her robe tightly, her body trembling.
Should I tell Jinshen... He could punch this guys teeth in.. Right?
The Grand Marshall immediately noticed her discomfort as he gaze Wei a harsh and almost murderous glare, forcing him to look away out fear. Taking a step back, retreating into the shadows.
Jinshen noticed this, his expression immediately souring in anger but before he could stand up, either to really punch in Wei's teeth, or to talk to him.
He was approached by a young man nearly wearing the same clothes as him, but they were much less grand and loose, symbolizing his lower rank in the Demonic Angels.
"Vice Captain, Captain Bai Qiansheng is summoning you." He paused for a moment, his voice dropping in volume a bit from shyness. "He said uh.. And I quote.. 'I'm going to shove a stick up your ass if you don't come quickly..' So um.. Shall we?"
Jinshen's eyebrows shot up before he stood up quickly, waving towards the group who were snickering and Yanwei flicked two fingers in a downwards manner towards Jinshen, his fingers resembling fangs while Jinhai and Ruoxue shook him, stifling their laughter.
The gesture was commonly used among younger generations to say 'Fuck You', or 'Bitch' in subtle ways so the Elders of the Sect do not notice and reprimand them.
Jinshen poked his tongue out in a mix of amusement and annoyance, returning the gesture with one of his own, two fingers pointed towards his shoes to say 'I'm above you in rank'
The young man chuckled awkwardly, understanding their gestures but not saying anything, after all he was the lowest in rank.
He led Jinshen out of the hall as Lianhua watched in boredom, wanting to know what they were gesturing to each other.
I wanna know those gestures.. She thought to herself before sighing, leaning back against the Grand Marshall like a chair.
Jinshen walked with the young man of the Demonic Angels silently for a few moments, their walk peaceful and quiet until Jinshen and him reached the exit of the base grounds.
"Um.. Shall we go?"
The young man asked in impatience. Seeing Jinshen nod in response gave him the go to start running as fast as possible.
He leapt across the mountainous terrain of The Sky Severing Mountain Range, the large empty crater in the middle of the range still there, the rumors still holding on.
He looked over his shoulders, seeing that Jinshen was still at the gates made him feel confused.
But before he could question it, Jinshen dashed forward in a brilliant blue and golden flash of light, speeding past the Young Man who was thrown off balance by a small boom.
He yelped in panic as he managed to catch himself on one of the rocky ledges of a mountain, preventing his death.
"Who am I kidding. That's theDevil in White... I should be more careful.. They say he eats his opponents souls to gain his immense growth.."
A small shiver ran down the young man's spine before he started to climb the mountain he was hanging from once more, hoping to catch up to Jinshen.
Jinshen continued his flight for a few moments, his body enveloped in a deep gold and blue Qi that allowed him to float on the air itself and fly faster then most cultivators could run.
He reached the Demonic Angel's base, it was a small, normal looking restaurant as Jinshen walked in, the people eating and chatting casually, like a famed cultivator of the Demonic Sect wasn't just standing there.
Jinshen walked through a secret door in the wall which made the building itself shake as it opened without any assistance, the inside was dark and simple, a few cupboards and shelves here and there inside the stone room.
The room had a few white doors with name written across them in black. One was of Jinshen, the Vice Captain while the other's was Bai Qiansheng's name with 'Captain's Office' written underneath it.
Jinshen knocked playfully on the door, fearless of the man inside as a booming voice came through.
"Enter."
Jinshen opened the door, walking into the office which was a simple, almost monk-like in nature
It had a simple chair and desk made of dark wood, slightly scuffed but still in good condition. A small bamboo bed in the corner of the room and on top of that was a sleeping woman, her body completely covered with the blanket.
Oh yeah.. I completely forgot that he has a wife.. Jinshen thought to himself before closing the door.
The walls were still the stone gray from the outside the office, no designs, no art not even windows to let fresh air or light in during the day. There was just one oil lamp on the table, and even that was starting to run out.
"Jinshen. I've received complaints of a Sect, their causing problems for our merchants and disciples. Its the Swordsong Clan's member, Lin Zhue, mind beating their ass for me? I'm busy." Bai said simply, not wasting time for pleasantries. Bai's clothing and face weren't visible in the dim lighting but his pale white skin was.
He was staring at Jinshen whose expression seemed to turn sour and bitter at the mention of the Swordsong Clan, his eyes glowing a faint mix of golden and blue Qi.
"Oh I'll take care of that man alright," He said in a firm and poisonous voice, his veins starting to glow a faint white.
Bai just shrugged standing up and putting the oil lamp out, plunging the room into a thick darkness.
Jinshen just sighed deeply, already feeling like he was suffocating in the room as he opened the door and left without another word. Feeling his blood boil from anger.
Nanomachine-
Jinshen paused, taking a deep breath as he realized that Nanomachine wouldn't respond no matter what right now. A small pang of loneliness hitting him.
He shook his head quickly, walking out the hidden base of the Demonic Angels and materializing his spear, the one Nanomachine had created for him before it left.
Its head's had changed, still resembling flames sticking up but now being the color white in the center, and slowly shift to black as it reached the edge. The handle was now also a burgundy, the golden cloth wrapped around the neck of the spear.
"Its time for revenge."
Jinshen muttered under his breath as he started flying towards the Swordsong Clan's base. His eyes narrowed in anger and determination.