“During the past, The Ethereal Land could be divided up into four eras — Ancient Draconic era, Prehistoric era, Dynastic era, and Old Kingdom era. Old Kingdom era was the current era the fighters were living in. The Ancient Draconic era was once upon a time an era that boomed prosperity but was cut short by an unexpected event.

“One day, a huge number of extraterrestrial beings from another planet invaded The Ethereal Land and slaughtered the fighters there. The extraterrestrial beings were very strong and had a penchant for killing. They were so powerful that The Ethereal Land was flooded by the fighters’ blood for many days that came after.

“The extraterrestrial beings had been given the name of Extraterrestrial Demons. There were many fighters who unleashed all their potential to protect their land. Through the years of fighting off the invaders, these fighters had become so strong that they were able to go head to head in a fight against the Extraterrestrial Demons. However, no battle has ever led to a positive outcome, both sides suffered heavy losses daily.

Finally, after a thousand years since the very first day of the invasion, the fighters managed to successfully drive off the Extraterrestrial Demons and peace returned to The Ethereal Land. However, it was not for long as many fighters spontaneously began to drop like flies, one by one, leaving only a few handful of survivors. Those that did survive discovered themselves becoming suddenly much more powerful than before. Some of them even had the opportunity to harness the Extraterrestrial Demons’ special abilities.”

It was the first time Zephyr had ever heard of this story. Even with his years of experience on the road with his master, he could not disguise the shock on his face.

“I was shocked when I heard it for the first time too! It’s true that things happened exactly as I said,” said Vert.

“What do all these have to do with Yang?” asked Zephyr.

“Well, it has very much everything to do with him.” Vert’s expression became very grave. “As I was saying, the fighters in the Ancient Draconic era discovered that their bodies had transformed into a much more powerful version than before. In the end, they found out their transformation was due to the Extraterrestrial Demons’ blood which inevitably got on their skin during the battle. According to the history records, the transformation imbued the fighters with exceptional abilities. There was one who could communicate with the celestial bodies, there was another who could summon a tsunami, and there was one who could even dance with the flames!”

Zephyr found it difficult to imagine such heaven-defying powers.

“Due to the transformation brought on by the Extraterrestrial Demons’ blood, these powerful fighters had far surpassed the normal fighters. The newly transformed fighters were graded according to their abilities. Most of them were categorized into metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The rarer ones were in accordance with the power of time, space, and galaxies. Then, there were the fighters that were imbued with beasty powers and treasures. The more powerful a bloodline was, the rarer it would be for their descendants to awaken their powers down the line.”

Vert smiled at Zephyr. “Does that answer your question why everyone was so eager to get their hands on Zephyr?”

“Because the Extraterrestrial Demons’ blood is coursing through his veins!”

“Exactly! Thousands of years have passed since the Ancient Draconic era. It could be said that those that were able to awaken the power in their bloodline had practically become non-existent. Therefore, as soon as a fighter who’s a descendant from the Ancient Draconic bloodline appears, everyone would stop at nothing to recruit them into their clan. Those from the Ancient Draconic bloodline can progress very fast in their training and once they’ve mastered the bloodline’s power, they would become invincible.”

A hint of envy flashed across Vert’s face as he said that. “When I saw your martial technique being imbued with Electrical power, I thought you were a descendant of Ancient Draconic Electrical bloodline.” His expression changed to one of pity when he thought back to Zephyr’s terrifying Lightning Spear.

“Oh, I attained that technique through my training.” Zephyr did not want to reveal his secret so he chose to lie. He was well aware that even without the Ancient Draconic blood coursing through his vein, he could still easily master the Electrical powers. This was his biggest secret and he wished to keep it under wraps for as long as possible.

“Well, it was a powerful martial technique nonetheless. You’ll surely be found out if you are from the Ancient Draconic bloodline,” said Vert with a nod, not even doubting what Zephyr had said for a second.

The next day, under the clan-brothers guidance, Zephyr had finally familiarized himself with The Boundless Academy. Compared to other academies, there were a lot less rules one needed to abide by. They were treated well as long as the initiates behaved themselves and pledged their loyalties to their master.

“Here’s your point ring. Do not lose it under whatever circumstances. It’s very hard to get one if you’ve lost it.” Vert passed Zephyr a ring that glowed with a blackish faint light.

“What’s it for?” Zephyr could not figure out what material the ring was made of.

“The ring will keep a score of all the points you’ve accumulated. Points are all that matter to everyone in The Boundless Academy. You’ll only need to feed it a drop of your blood for it to recognize you as the owner. From there, we could check your score whenever. As an Academy initiate, you’ll receive 500 points as a welcome gift.”

The difference in treatment between an initiate and an apprentice was stark indeed.

“You’re lucky to have gotten another 500 points from your test group room. Adding the two 500 points together, you have 1000 points now!”

Zephyr simply nodded his head and proceeded to feed a drop of his blood onto the ring. Immediately, a beam of light flashed across the ring as it absorbed the blood. The ring sent a signal straight to Zephyr, showing that he has accumulated 1000 points.