A long time ago, a time few remembered . It was during an era of a brutal conflict, between the Beastman Tribe and a Prominent War Saint Faction . However, this tale is not about their war, but the story of two men who fought to settle their scores . It happened on the verge of twilight, at a place filled with the scent of roses . If one looked around, they would see an endless meadow of red roses stretching to the vast horizon itself . A brilliant crystal palace stood here; it was a grand construct built with the most beautiful materials and exquisite design .

However, the palace was silent, as there were no guards, and no maids, only a man who stood alone and aloof, peacefully within his flower garden .

In front of this man was a coffin of gorgeous design, it was made of a pure type of crystal that sparkled with the color of the roses in the surroundings . If one looked carefully, they would see that resting inside, was a woman who was beautiful beyond words, she lay sleeping as if she would continue to sleep until the end of time .

As this man sat down, he gazed at the woman in the coffin with an infatuated look at the depths of his eyes .

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

Suddenly, the sound of hard footsteps could be heard as with each step taken the roses that were below the individual"s feet would be crushed to nothing . This man slowly walked towards the seated man, and upon reaching a few a meter away he stopped his motion and stood silently in this field of roses .

Swoosh! A gentle breeze blew which lifted some of the red petals to float between the two individuals, as the only sound that could be heard was of their clothing making flapping noises, giving a bit of motion to this still atmosphere .

"So . . . you"ve finally come," The seated figure said as he continued to stare at the coffin .

"Where is she?" The man said in a dark tone, as he stood with one arrow in his left hand and a humongous bow in the other, a sharp look was in his eyes .

"She rests peacefully in the garden of roses . . . " The seated figure replied as he lifted his vision and stared at the man that stood behind him .

"Do you know why I have come?" The man asked as he gripped his bow tightly .

"Hahaha! How would it be hard to guess? What man is willing to live on this earth with the man that took his wife?" The seated figure with a look of derision in his eyes .

"Are you ready to face your death?" The man with bow said indifferently .

"I am ready, but the question is, are you ready to face the consequences?" The seated figure replied as a dark fiendish aura started to rose from his body .

"I remember telling you that day, that as long as I the Divine Arrow Exault exists; you and I will not live in this piece of earth, in this stretch of s.p.a.ce . No matter how many years, how many eras, we will fight and one of us will die . . . " The man said as he lifted his bow and placed his arrow within its string, not long after, his bolt started to glow in a divine light .

Bang! The terrifying energies of both beings erupted as the once beautiful field of roses became a wasteland, leaving behind only cl.u.s.ters of powers that spread across the endless horizon to no end .

"I am the Rose Fiend! And what I want, no one can take!" The seated figure said with a dark fiendish aura around his form, as he stood before the crystal coffin .

And so, they fought, they battled and raged war, decimating all in their path for years upon years until one day, they both faded . No one knew who won their battle, and no one knew where they went, as they both disappeared into the memories of time itself . . .

∞∞∞

At the summit of the sky, within the Chosen Battle Arena . Feng Yu, Hui Ying, Lang Kuang and Miren Fei looked at the battle in the arena with interest as Dai Lin was currently fighting against an opponent .

Bang! The opponent would launch swift and fierce attacks towards Dai Lin who would easily avoid his attacks with a slight tilt of his body . Currently, the look on Dai Lin"s face was similar to that of boredom .

"You"ve wasted my time long enough, time to leave!" Dai Lin said as he stretched out his finger and pushed it against the air, pointing towards the distressed opponent .

"Prison of Lightning!" Dai Lin shouted as multiple streaks of lightning shoot from his finger towards the shocked opponent snaking around his entire form creating an electric cage .

"Argh! Let me out!" The chosen candidate shouted as he attacked the prison . Yet, it was futile as lightning began to bombard his form burning his flesh turning him into charcoal .

"ARGH!" The opponent fainted due to the "shock" .

Flash! The Ancient Dragon soon after sent both forms out of the golden square .

"Blue Thunder Dai Lin is the best!" A fan of the local pract.i.tioners of Machen Town shouted .

"Haha! He"s certain to get far for sure," Another individual said .

The major influences looked on with a solemn expression as their geniuses began to feel even more pressure .

"This Blue Thunder Dai Lin is too powerful, even I don"t know if I"ll be able to best him in direct combat," Tang Wu said as he looked at Dai Lin with battle intent .

Xin Qing looked at Dai Lin"s figure with a strange light shining her eyes as she remained silent .

"I wonder who is next . " A chosen candidate said as he looked around the battle platform .

Suddenly, the light shone once more, and two forms abruptly appeared on the arena . , seeing these two forms the pract.i.tioners and chosen candidates where stunned .

"Isn"t that the useless Feng Clan troublemaker?" A local pract.i.tioner said .

"Heh! This should be interesting; didn"t he only get this far due to his willpower? What can he possibly do against true geniuses?" Another individual from the local pract.i.tioner"s group said in a mocking tone .

"Haha! It"s finally Yu"er"s turn!" Feng Yunlong said as he looked at his son with pride, while Feng Junling, Feng Xingyu and the elders of the Feng Clan looked on silently .

"This is where I will see your real power," Huan Mang muttered as he looked at Feng Yu silently .

Xiang Tian looked at Feng Yu with a deep expression as he thought of the possibilities of Feng Yu hiding his real strength .

"It"s about time, I was wondering what was taking so long for him to get on stage . Now I can see whether or not you"re as strong as what Brother Zang expects you to be…" Xia Rou said as she looked at the opponent who Feng Yu will face on stage .

"Dark Sky Pavilion"s, Number 2 Prodigy!" The elders from the Seven Blade Mercenaries and Blood Rose Union exclaimed .

The Golden Dragon Empire and Southern Wasteland, Midnight Temple and Rain Sword Sect elders looked at the scene with interest on their faces .

"I didn"t think they"d sent one their number 2 prodigy here to take part in this Mystic Realm Opening Trial . I guess they wanted to use this opportunity to have him seek for a way to compete against number 1 . " The Rain Sword Sect elder said .

Xun Yanshan looked at the scene and spoke softly, "Now I can see what kind of genius this Feng Clan has been raising under the noses of these locals . "

Xin Qing beside Tang Wu spoke, "Brother Tang, here is our number one dark horse of the Chosen Wars . "

Tang Wu looked in and nodded, "Un . "

"Finally, it"s Young Masters turn!" Dai Lin said as he looked on excitedly with Lang Kuang and Miren Fei .

Hui Ying couldn"t help but smile as thought to himself, "I haven"t seen him truly fight since the previous battle with the Golden Furred Ape King . I wonder, just how much more powerful have you gotten in this brief time back home . "

The bamboo hat youth and southern wasteland youth looked on with interested as Xiang Shu observed with a strange smile at the corners of his lips . "Hmm . . . Feng Yu, why is it that I smell that scent? The very scent of death upon your soul . . . "

∞∞∞

The two figures within the arena stood calmly as they observed each other without words, soon the youth standing before Feng Yu was the first the speak .

He wore a dark cape, with strange tattoos over his hands that were visible from its sleeves, with piercings in his nose, mouth, and ears . He had short black hair with shadows under his eyes and pale skin seeming to be unrested and malnourished .

"I am Dark Sky Pavilion"s, Sheng Bing! I do not fight the nameless, and I fight to kill . What is your name?" The youth said .

"Hmm, you fight to kill you say . If such is the case then I will not speak my name as the dead does not need to remember it," Feng Yu replied with a calm expression .

"What! Do you know who you"re dealing with?" As Sheng Bing said this, towering amounts of dark essence energy erupted from his body . The power of peak 9 Tier expert exploded causing the air surrounding the golden square to become unstable .

Quickly, he got into a battle posture by stretching one of his arms outwards with one foot lifted in the air and the other foot standing firmly on the ground . He then placed his other hand close to his side and clenched its palm into a fist that had dark essence energy flowing above it .

He then looked towards Feng Yu with a fierce light and spoke, "Draw your swords! It is time to battle, may your end be a swift one . . . " He said in a serious tone of voice .

Feng Yu hearing this smiled, as if influenced by Dai Lin he adopted his behavioral patterns by raising his finger and waving it, "You want me to draw my sword, fine, but you"ll first have to beat me using my fists," Feng Yu replied confidently .

The chosen candidates and major influences listening to his words were stunned as a commotion soon after followed . Sheng Bing looked at Feng Yu with shock, however, after a moment, his face turned in a smile . It was a dark look as if he wanted nothing more than to slaughter him .

"Good! Good! I"m going to let you understand why it is we are called, the Dark Sky Pavilion . . . " As he said this, a strange dark light shone in his eyes as his essence-energies shrouded his form soon wrapping the entire golden square into darkness .

Feng Yu seeing this smiled as he slowly positioned himself into the mantis stance while looking at Sheng Bing with confident eyes, as a man seated beside a scholarly looking man saw this, he spoke with disdain .

"This little brat is insane; does he not know who he is dealing with?" The man questioned .

"It does not matter for he has those eyes . . . " The scholarly man .

"What kind of eyes?" The man asked .

"The eyes of a man who sees the world beyond himself . . . " The scholar silently said as his words faded with the wind, and tension on the battle arena rose to new degrees . . .