Having jumped down to the crevice, the boy could only grit his teeth and curl his body as he fell down and hit one ledge after another.

  The crevice itself wasn’t steep at all, only a hundred meters or so, but the only reason the boy survived was because there were several ledges coming out from the walls that broke his speed when he fell. When he finally reached the floor, he could do nothing but groan as he clutched his left hand that was bent in a weird shape.

  Obviously due to the severe malnutrition, the young boys bones were fragile and it was even a miracle that he had escaped with only some bruises and a broken hand. As the young boy was gathering strength and enduring the pain, an old man was suddenly disrupted from his work when a small spiritual fairy appeared next to him and said, “An intruder has appeared in the southernmost passageway.”

  The old man raised his head and looked towards a small crystal screen on the wall. A flicker passed his eyes as he smiled, “Hoo, he possesses the qualities of a Soul Magus.” He fell into thought as he suddenly said to the fairy, “Put him on the Testing Path. If he can pass through it, I will take him as a student.” The fairy acknowledged the order and changed the Death Cave to suit the Testing Path.

  **

  After slowly getting used to the pain, the young boy slowly worked his way up from the ground. Although his body was covered in filth, his original appearance hadn’t changed much. His eyes were azure blue and his short hair was bleached white from the lack of proper nutrients.

  His hair used to be golden but due to the lack of food, he never got to eat properly, in fact, in his life, he had never even had a full stomach. His physical strength had suffered greatly due to it as well. Currently, he was only moving forward only on pure determination and the thought of revenge. Getting back out from where he came in was impossible, so the only route he could take was deeper into the Cave.

  As he slowly walked along with the assistance of the stone wall, the old man frowned as he observed him through the crystal screen. He seemed to be pondering deeply as he waited for the young boy to reach the testing area. Although the old man was silent, the deep interest was evident in the old man’s eyes. Suddenly, he waved his hand and a small gate opened behind him. As the gate opened, a squadron of ten skeletons walked out from it. Their bones pitch black as a green flame flickered in their eye sockets. Without turning his head, he said, “Take up position after the examination area.”

  The skeletons nodded their heads as they started moving towards the cave. With each step they took, different armour and weapons appeared on them and soon, they were fully armoured in black armour.

  The young boy had no idea what had happened as he cautiously made his way forward with the assistance of the wall. He hadn’t heard a single sound except his own inside the cave and that was what made him most vigilant. This place was known as the “Death Cave” because without a single exception, every single person that entered here, had never walked out alive. Since it was so quiet, without a single sign of life, it was even scarier.

  Suddenly, as he took one step forward, he suddenly saw a bright flash as he was blinded for a second. When his eyes readjusted, he wasn’t standing in the pitch black cave any more but rather, in a weird room. The room was made purely out of grey stone and the walls were adorned with torches, lighting up the entire room. As the boy looked around, he didn’t see any door or anything resembling an entrance anywhere. The entire room was tightly closed off and he had no idea how he had even gotten inside in the first place.

  In the middle of the room was a one meter high podium on which a black slab with red writing was levitating in the air. As he vigilantly glanced around the room, suddenly stone cold voice entered his head, “Place your hand on the Slab of Measuring.”

  Hearing the voice, the boy jumped back and bumped into the wall. As he nervously looked around, he didn’t see anyone besides him in the room. Without any other option, after a while of hesitating, he did as the voice told him and put his hand on the black slab in the centre of the room.

  As he did that, he suddenly felt a weird feeling take over him as something ran around inside his body. When the uncomfortable feeling disappeared, the slab lit up and the red writing on it transformed. A sequence of information entered the young boys head.

  [Skeletal Age: 10. Body condition: Severely malnourished, left arm broken, several bruises across the body, light internal injuries. Overall Physique: Weak. Elemental Affinity: Darkness, Fire. Affinity Talent: Darkness 9, Fire 6. Special Bloodline: None. Special Affinity: None.]

  **

  At the same time the young boy got the information, the same information appeared inside the head of the old man. As he went over the information a frown appeared on his face as he mumbled, “Everything except the Body condition is very good. Especially his Talent for Darkness….”

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  The old man didn’t care about the Special Bloodline because a Special Bloodline could be transplanted at any time. Actually, he was happy that he didn’t have one as the old man could make use of this and after some research, he could find the best bloodline to help the young boy grow. As for the Talent for Darkness…. It was a very rarely seen figure.

  These numbers weren’t taken out of thin air but rather had been carefully selected after centuries of meticulous study. The Talent of 9 meant that he could achieve the result in training in a year that another person with the same Element achieved in nine years. Basically, if the young boy and another person with the talent of 1 in Darkness Element were to train in the same Darkness Type Art, then the young boy would achieve the same results in a year that the other person would be able to only with nine years.

  What made the old man a bit downcast was the poor physique of the boy. He had no idea why he was in the passage in the first place or that there was a village right outside the passage. If the old man took him as an apprentice then the first thing he had to do was slowly nurture the boy back to normal health as it was very detrimental to his future if the boy started training right away.

  “I wonder, what is the story behind his injuries and his weak physique….”

  **

  After the information entered his head, the boy could not make heads or tails of it. The only thing he could understand were the injuries but the Elemental Affinities and stuff, he didn’t understand any of it. Suddenly, the slab disappeared and a black necklace with a small red snake head appeared in its stead.

  As the boy glanced at the necklace, the cold voice entered his head again, “The reward for passing the Test is the Red Serpent Necklace.” The boy hesitated before slowly taking the necklace and putting it around neck. He instantly felt a cool energy run though his body, just as he was about to take it off, he felt that the energy didn’t mean any harm but rather slowly nurtured his body and he could feel strength returning to his body.

  The bruises and small injuries slowly healed and also the pain from his broken arm was slowly subsiding. The young boy’s eyes opened wide as he let out a breath of astonishment, “This necklace…. It has strengthened my body immensely and even healed my injuries. Is this one of the legendary Magus Artefacts?”

  as he clutched the necklace, he suddenly felt dizzy as he was transported out of the stone room. He was back in the cave he was before but now, he wasn’t alone any more. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he suddenly could make out ten black figures in front of him.

  He let out a shriek as he fell on his butt from fright. In front of him stood ten fully armoured jet black skeletons with green lights flickering in their eyes. As he sat there paralysed, the ten skeletons looked at each other and seemed to communicate amongst themselves. One of them pointed at the young boy and more specifically at the Red Serpent Necklace hanging at the young boys neck.

  After a quick discussion, the ten skeletons seemed to have reached some kind of a conclusion as they walked in front of the young boy. Seeing the fear in his eyes seemed to have no effect on these skeletons as one of them touched the Serpent with one of his fingers. Suddenly, the young boys mind shuddered as he felt a connection to another person in his mind. One by one, the skeletons touched the necklace and each time, a connection was added in the mind of the young boy. As he sat there in confusion, a voice entered his head, “We pay our respects to Master.”

  As these words sounded out in the boys head, all ten skeletons simultaneously fell onto one knee as they put their right hand on their left chest, where a humans heart was. The young boy looked at the skeletons with a blank look when suddenly an aged voice sounded out, “Hahaha, seems like you are very confused little one.” As these words sounded out from behind him, he immediately turned around to suddenly see an old man in black robes standing behind him.

  The old man had wrinkly skin and a head full of white hair. Even though the old man looked fragile, the young boy could not help but feel terrified on a subconscious level when he saw the man. It was an unexplainable feeling, as if he was feeling fear from the depth of his Soul. The old man waved his hand and the boy felt something invisible tug him up and on his feet. When he was sanding on his feet, the old man smiled and said to him, “Focus on the ten connections in your mind and say Return. The ten Skeleton Warriors will then enter the Red Serpent Necklace and you can withdraw them at any time you need.”

  The young boy looked blankly at the old man, extremely wary of him. Seeing the young boy hesitate, the old man smiled and said, “Don’t worry, if I wanted to harm you, I would have failed you in the Test instead of passing you. After you failed, those ten Skeleton Warriors would have killed you in half a minute.”

  Hearing this, the young boy’s eyes opened wide as he asked in a hoarse voice full of fear, “Who are you?” The old man laughed as he said, “I am Xie Meng. One of the Thirteen Ancestors amongst Soul Magus of the Heaven Realm.”

  He paused for a moment before he smiled even deeper and said, “And, from today onwards, you will be my Disciple.” The boys eyes opened even wider as carriage wheels as he immediately knelt down and kowtowed, “Ji Fang pays his Respects to revered Master.”

  The old man nodded and said in an amused toned, “So, your name is Ji Fang huh?” As he nodded his head, he suddenly glanced down and his face changed as the young boy seemed to have lost his consciousness.

  After a quick examination, the old man sighed in relief as he saw that he had only fainted due to exhaustion. He gently waved his hand and Ji Fangs body started floating. As the old man started leaving with Fang, the small fairy suddenly appeared next to him. Xie Meng didn’t even glance at it and said, “Reactivate all the defensive formations in the path.

  The small fairy disappeared to carry out this order without another wasted moment.