Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

An extremely fine slit appeared in empty space, it widened until it gradually formed the outline of a human figure. This human shape was male, a little skinny, but overall well-formed. With a popping sound, the outline turned into an actual person.

Yan Zaizen went through space like he was a sharp knife through bread. It felt odd. There wasn't any discomfort, but it was more like...teleportation. Going from one place to another as if you just took a slight step. When he appeared, he landed softly on the cold floor. He gathered his bearings and felt like he understood what just happened. This place and the place in the chaotic space was one and the same. It was like he just walked through a door outside.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to observe his surroundings. He saw impressively designed white tile floors, white walls that looked like it prevented all forms of sensory perception from entering, and a part of the floor was hollowed out and filled with steaming hot water.

"A bath?" He couldn't help but conclude. However, the more he looked around, he realized it was the size of a public bath, but the pool of water was only sufficient for a few people. There were several towels of different lengths nearby, but each one was folded was gathered together on the same rack as if used by a single person. Besides that spot, not a single other spot had towels.

"Where am I? Whatever, I'll first find a door." He looked around, as he moved he realized his qi was overdrawn by his shifting in space, his soul form was in a state of hibernation, and his vital energies were nearly drained dry. Despite this, his body brimmed with vibrant lifeforce, obviously originating from the Unyielding White Flame. Regrettably, he couldn't convert this vibrant lifeforce into something he could actually use.

After searching around a little, he finally found the door. It was a light blue door, but it had no handle. He checked to see if it slides, but it did not. Using his weakened spiritual sense, he realized the door required qi to open. Not only that, it required a unique method similar to the skyship. It even prevented people from investigating the outside with spiritual sense.

Shit!

Where the hell was he?

It was leaving an incredibly large cage after finding a way out, and then being locked in a considerably smaller one.

Screw it.

He clenched his fist and readied to smash directly into the door. Even if he didn't have his vital energy at its maximum, he still had his refined body that could rival a Qi Unification Cultivator. As he was about to deliver a pounding on the door, a light suddenly shone from the door, prompting him to take a step back in shock.

"Someone's coming in…" He couldn't help but mutter to himself. Hopefully, it's someone weak, then he could just brute force his way. However, he was absolutely stunned when it revealed who was on the other side.

As the door swung open, a woman's figure revealed itself. She looked no younger than twenty, had sapphire hair, sapphire eyes, the fairest skin he ever saw, and a countenance that could put Su Fengyan or Ying Yimian to shame. She was like the precise definition of feminine beauty. It wasn't just that; she had no clothes on. Her beautifully lithe body was in full view of Yan Zaizen's eyes.

He feasted on it thoroughly and blinked so he could have another serving.

"..." The woman was silent. Her expression wasn't filled with surprise, anger, or calm. It had a casual feel to it, like the one everyone typically has when they're going about doing things. As if she was thinking about other things, but not too deeply. It was exceptionally exquisite to Yan Zaizen.

"..."

"..."

It took them awhile before the situation donned on both of them. The woman's expression turned from slight surprise, curiosity, realization, complete surprise, and then absolute horror all in that order. Yan Zaizen couldn't help but feel like he joined her in this rollercoaster of emotions.

"I…" He tried to explain, but before he could the woman screamed at the top of her lungs.

"ASSASSIN!!" Her words were like a shriek, a cry for help from the entire world declaring his presence. His eyes widened. Assassin?! Where?! However, before he could say another word, several figures with exceptional auras entered the room and struck at him with a unified qi-essence filled strike.

"Wa-" He wanted to say something but was immediately interrupted by surging blasts of qi. He used crossed his arms to protect his head and block what he could. The fierce strike smashed him violently, sending him crashing into the wall several dozen meters away. He created a small crater with his body and could've sworn he felt something shatter.

Before he could speak, he was already surrounded, many chains manifested from qi-essence circulated around his legs, arms, neck, and torso. His eyes caught glimpse of the woman who called out an assassin alert once more and realized she was fully clothed. The attackers were all women, but next to her was a white-haired middle-aged man with an exceptionally powerful aura.

Origin Core!!

He was brought up, placed on his knees, and positioned to face them. It was similar to him being a prisoner awaiting execution. The muscles of his body felt sore and in pain. Seems like without his vital energies, he couldn't execute the full strength of his refined body. Despite this fact, he was strong enough to withstand several strikes from multiple Qi Unification Cultivators.

The middle-aged man walked forward with slow and steady steps, his eyes glancing at Yan Zaizen's necked form as if wishing to see through all his secrets. Seeing this gaze, Yan Zaizen felt stifled. He wanted to speak, but his throat was being held by two qi-essence formed ropes, and any attempt caused them to become tighter.

He wished he had his soul cultivation. He could execute all of these people! It's been quite a while since he felt like his life was no longer his. It brought him back to his early days with Han Genji kidnapping him. It still felt horrible.

"Who sent you?" The middle-aged man's rough voice sounded out, questioning Yan Zaizen from the get-go. After realizing that Yan Zaizen wanted to speak but was restricted, the ones who controlled his throat loosened up their grip.

"Ahem…" He cleared his throat, contemplating his next moves, but realizing the situation, he decided to just tell the truth. "No one. I was on a spatial platform, someone plotted against me and the next thing I know I was here." His voice was rough, filled with anger at this humiliation. His answer caught everyone, including the middle-aged man off guard. They expected silence in death or a declaration of intent, but never did they imagine he would try to explain himself.

The middle-aged man could tell this boy was exceptionally young and filled with vibrant lifeforce. It's likely he belonged to a powerful force, but he was plotted against. "Which force do you belong to?" He questioned more.

"The Yan Clan." He thought about lying, but then realized there wasn't a real reason to do so unless he desired to put himself in danger. If they investigate his background or words later, they would be able to verify if what he says is true or false, if false they could sentence him to death.

"Yan Clan?" The middle-aged man was clueless. It made sense. The Yan Clan was just a middling second-tier force in Meteorite City, and it wasn't the main clan there either. In comparison, the five great sects and three great clans were widely known, but there were countless second-tier and third-tier forces. As for first-tier forces, they existed and would be more widely known, like the He Clan.

"Yes. The Yan Clan in Meteorite City. I'm Yan Zaizen, the grandson of the Clan Lord." As he spoke with a little bit of pride, declaring his identity, the others around him were clueless. This felt depressing. He decided to just stay silent. If they didn't believe in his situation, he'd have to fight, but if they did, then perhaps there was a way out of this situation.

"There is no Meteorite City in Grux. Where do you come from?" The middle-aged man seemed to have picked up some clues.

"What? Grux? Wait...this isn't Presba?!" He heard of Grux before from Wu Yuanxu. It was one of the four great countries of the world, alongside Presba, Amber, and Fenri. Unlike Presba's forests and plains filled lands; Grux was filled with mountains, mines, and desolate earth. It was known for their armament creations, and they had deep mineral reserves which they've been mining for tens of thousands of years. It was even stipulated that they hadn't even touched 10% of those resources.

Hearing him mention Presba, everyone was shocked this time. The middle-aged man was solemn. If what Yan Zaizen said was true, then someone sent him to Grux, which was over a hundred thousand li away from Presba. Either they truly wanted to send him away to die, or he's lying. If it's the former, he didn't like being a tool for someone else to use to kill discreetly. If it's the latter, why even lie about it?

He heaved a heavy sigh. There's no way he wouldn't have noticed someone infiltrating, which meant he truly did get teleported here. Right when he was about to spare Yan Zaizen and interrogate him in a more comfortable environment, the sapphire haired young woman declared coldly.

"Five hundred years in the Deep Mines. If he survives, then he'll be given his freedom. If not, then that's the crime for trespassing regardless of the circumstances." She looked at Yan Zaizen as if wanted to scoop out his eyes. With a snort, she left.

The middle-aged man was about to say something, but after thinking about it a little longer, he knew there was no way this decision would be overturned. In truth, it's already fortunate that Yan Zaizen wasn't immediately sentenced to death after profaning this young lady of Grux. This was the imperial palace, after all.