Devouring The Heavens Chapter 20 – A Bet

Xuanyuan was wearing the uniform of inner disciples as he rode on Guxing next to Yan Ziyun and her bloody moon horse. In the line of over a hundred horses, he was especially eye catching on his wolf.
Every inner disciple would get a hundred warrior coins, the books related to the school's teachings, a low ranking sword, and a bottle containing thirty pills. These pills would last for a month, they were to take one every day to replenish their strength to the maximum for training. Xuanyuan no longer needed to hunt and eat to restore his strength; it was a time consuming task. He also got the clothing meant for inner disciples, a rough introduction to the techniques of the School of Yuehua, "The Book of Moonlight", but Xuanyuan was not interested in that. He was more interested in another book he got, "The Record of the East".
That was exactly what he needed. Xuanyuan knew next to nothing about this world, so this was a precious item to him.
First, there was an explanation for each realm.
Fighters distilled their skins, warriors their flesh, masters their bones, spiritualists their veins, wilds their marrow, kings their five organs and grandmasters their blood. Then there was even the imperial realm, the emperor realm, and the legendary Xian realm.
Grandmasters could already establish their own schools. The Head of the School of Yuehua was a top ranked grandmaster, who also happened to be the author of the "Record of the East".
The East was one of the territories of this world. It was extremely vast.
The School of Yuehua was only one of the smaller schools in the East. There were two major sects in the East, the Fighting Dragons Sect and the Sect of Linglong. The School of Yuehua belonged to the Fighting Dragons Sect.
The Eastern Dynasty ruled the lands of the east, there were many cities and counties under it. However, the two major sects, each controlled their own lands which were at odds with the Eastern Dynasty.
Moonwaste City was under the rule of the Fighting Dragons Sect. The surrounding ten cities around Moonwaste were under the control of the School of Yuehua. In turn, the school would have to pay tribute to the sect by giving them the most talented disciples. The sect would also present them plentiful rewards for that.
Hidden under the vast lands of the East was the underground magical race - Mo. They were cruel; often tormenting and killing the people of the East. Therefore, schools and sects like Yuehua were necessary to keep the common people safe from harm.
There was also the beasts dwelling inside the mountains. Beasts like wolves, tigers and bears were only the low ranking members of the beast race. There were still many terrifying existences in the world. Some of which were so powerful, even the Fighting Dragons Sect wouldn't dare provoke them.
Reading the record, Xuanyuan realized how big the world really was. There were many things he never imagined. He checked the map. Moonwaste City was about three thousand miles from Yuehua City, where the school was located. Even on the bloody-moon horses, it'll still take four days.
Just when he was concentrating on his reading, he heard the energetic voice of Shi Congyu behind him. In his hand, there was a globe like object covered with a white cloth. There was blood still dripping from the bottom of the cloth.
"My lad, Yuejue has answered for his sins."
Xuanyuan smiled,
"Thank you elder brother Congyu. Just throw away his head. It's not a very pleasant sight to behold."
When Yan Ziyun led everyone out of the city, Xuanyuan refused to leave. She learnt that there was a great grudge between Xuanyuan and Yuejue and he swore to kill the young master of the city. Since Yan Ziyun now out-ranked Yueteng, it wasn't a problem if she wanted to kill Yuejue and Yan Ziyun was very pleased with Xuanyuan, she was willing to make Xuanyuan’s wish a reality.
In less than an hour, she had already gathered over a hundred witnesses to the gruesome crimes Yuejue had committed. Yueteng couldn't defend his little brother. In the end, Yuejue was decapitated by Shi Congyu before a crowd of people.
Yueteng hated Xuanyuan even more because of this.
”Just thank first sister. It's all her doing. I only chopped off his head." Shi Congyu casually gestured and threw Yuejue's head away.
"No need for that. I became first sister thanks to Xuanyuan." Yan Ziyun smiled and asked tentatively, "Brother Xuanyuan, who taught you how to fight?"
Xuanyuan knew he wouldn't be able to evade this question, so he explained slowly and honestly,
"It was a woman from the Yin clan. She gave me the dragon scale as an armour, so I wasn't pierced by Sunzhi's sword. She taught me two techniques, the skin refining ‘Heavenly Dragon Burning Scale' and the flesh refining ‘Five-taloned Dragon'. I hope first sister would understand that I can’t tell you the secrets of their techniques."
Yan Ziyun was surprised and gasped,
"Yin Family of the Eastern Dynasty, how could that be! Both the techniques are Heaven class. Even though our techniques were given by the Fighting Dragons sect, it is only Earth class. Why didn't you follow her to practice. She knows much more than the School of Yuehua. I've heard that if you studied Yin's secret techniques, there's a chance to reach the Xian realm. It's even comparable to the techniques of the two major sects of the East."
Xuanyuan was getting emotional as she spoke of his beautiful master. After all, he still wanted to find out the whereabouts of Yin Zhenluo. He recomposed himself and sighed,
"She saw that I was gravely injured and saved me. She only taught me for a short period of time before she left. I didn't even know who she was. Does first sister know?
Yan Ziyun nodded,
"Of course. You are a lucky child, Xuanyuan. The Yin Family of the Eastern Dynasty is the leader of their imperial generals. Their Heavenly Dragon's practice is famous throughout the lands. The woman who taught you must be a descendant from the direct bloodline of the Yin family, or she wouldn't be able to learn the secret techniques of the Heavenly Dragon. Even our Head of Yuehua would have to show her respect if they should ever meet. However, Xuanyuan, you are now in the territory of Yuehua under the Fighting Dragons Sect. If anyone knows that you have learnt the Yin's technique, you'd be in danger."
Xuanyuan frowned,
"Is there any grudge between the Yin clan and the Fighting Dragons Sect?"
"Both of them took their names from dragons. The Yin family was the clan of the Heavenly Dragons, our sect was the clan of the Fighting Dragons. Even if they aren't enemies, they still hate each other and were enemies in previous generations. There were many grudges between the Eastern Dynasty and the two major sects of the East. You should've gone to the Eastern Dynasty. It would have been the best for you." Yan Ziyun lowered her voice. The thing she was talking about was too important to be uttered aloud.
Xuanyuan smiled bitterly,
"People from the Yin clan wanted to kill me because I've learnt their techniques and was afraid that I would teach other people. Is there really a place for me in the Eastern Dynasty?"
Yan Ziyun's eyes brightened up from those words,
"Are you sure? How did you escape that?"
Xuanyuan took out his Sword of Swimming Dragons. The sword was full of dragon markings. It’s a top ranked spiritual instrument!
Ziyun only had an upper ranked spiritual instrument, and Xuanyuan had already got the best ranked spiritual instrument.
"The sword was left over by the man who tried to kill me. He died because a mysterious man came to my rescue." He skimmed through the story about the greedy old bugger.
"Brother Xuanyuan. Do you really trust me this much? Aren't you afraid that I would kill you and take everything from you, including your sword? Then collect a reward from the sect? If I'm not wrong, you have the techniques of the Heavenly Dragon with you, isn't that right?" She gave let out a sigh. She didn't expect that Xuanyuan was connected to such powerful people, but she had trained her heart and mind strictly and wouldn't feel anxious over such a matter.
"Yes, I'm betting my life on your character. I believe that people with similar qualities are drawn together. I can feel that you are trustworthy judging from Shi Congyu and Liu Piaoxu. It would have been easy for you to kill Yuejue, but you took the time to collect all the evidence and give him a fair trial, so even the Yue family couldn't argue that you were unjust. Even if you are not a good person, you're still a smart person."
Xuanyuan was wearing a huge smile on his seemingly innocent face as he continued,
"And a smart person doesn't give herself trouble. Since the Yin clan is so powerful, if you try to collect reward from the sect, then the School of Yuehua might be destroyed by the Yin clan. The struggle between great nations guarantees some sacrifices are to be made, especially when you become a burden. The Fighting Dragons Sect wouldn’t protect you from the Yin clan. The Sword of Swimming Dragons might bring you trouble, but if you don't kill me, I can help you with many things. Even if the Yin clan came after you, you can say that you didn’t know my past. Then they wouldn't give you trouble, but you can't explain to them what happened if you take my sword."
"Very well, brother Xuanyuan. You have far exceeded my expectations and you've won your bet." Yan Ziyun's smile brightened her surroundings.