Disclaimer!
Besides my original characters, the other characters do not belong to me (I'll name them when they appear). I am not making any money off this story, and am merely writing Fan Fiction.
I hope you enjoy Soul Land: Generation Talents Journey :)
Hi, it's been a while now! I finished all of my culminating not long ago and now I'm starting my second semester. I hope everyone's doing well!
"Outrageous!" A woman stood in their path. Hair red like flames swept down to her waist. A fiery crane was standing parallel to her, the same spirit as the two boys they had encountered in the forest. Surrounding her was five spirit rings, two yellow, two purple, and two black. Zu Que looked to Gu Yan Ling, her eyes bulging in shock. A Spirit Emperor! It's a Spirit Emperor! This isn't good! Not at all!
Gu Yan Ling seemed to share the same surprise and for once, didn't straight on attack. "Outrageous?" She laughed. "Madam, what's outrageous?"
"Don't play dumb with me," The lady responded. The six spirit rings around her floated threateningly, one of them already glinting. However, nothing was shot forward yet. "You should know that our Blazing Academy has a cottage here, one that was undisturbed until you two came over. The entire place was lit on fire!"
"Hold it," Gu Yan Ling started to laugh. "You're called the Blazing Academy, I emphasize the word blazing, but you complain to two kids about how it was lit on fire? I think you need to run over some facts."
"Do I? Besides the two of you, there are no others nearby. This place is specifically secluded, and most already know that. As for the fire, I don't underestimate people whether they be kids or not. Even someone's first spirit ability can start even the smallest of fires that can grow into a wild one."
"The Blazing Academy is so reputable, but the students can't handle some fire. If not the students, then the teachers are so inept as well. People might as well just call it the Four Elemental Academies." Gu Yan Ling tsked a few times, shaking her head back and forth. She turned to Zu Que, "You see, it's all bark no bite. These sorts of places are the types you want to avoid. Places with rich people who have so much fake reputation, they'll just scam you."
The lady narrowed her eyes, choosing not to respond to Gu Yan Lings' taunts. "There's the stench of gunpowder on you. Furthermore, I'm guessing that at least one of you has a fire-type spirit. There are residuals from where you were. You're not bad at doing something like this, but you're far from good either." Her first spirit ring finally lit up, the yellow blaring before flames erupted from her hands heading towards them like a cannon. Immediately, they both activated a spirit skill, darting out of the way of the fire. The higher level you were, the more spiritual energy you had so even your first spirit skill would be no laughing matter.
"Phoenix?" The ladys' eyes widened for a moment. She had been planning on just teaching those children a lesson, but she never expected to see such as spirit. If she counted the number of times she saw this rare fire bird spirit, including this one it would only amount to three. Everyone is back at the cottage dealing with the fire there. It has to be them who did it. She thought back to the fire moments ago. Everyone had been packing up for the night, she herself was giving Huo Wu some advice about that Feng Xiao Tian who seemed to visit them more often lately.
It was then when they heard a rumbling like an earthquake before the explosions came. After so many years in the Spirit Master World, she could tell the difference between fire that wasn't caused by spirit power, one that was or an amalgamation of both. The two kids in front of her proved her thoughts just so. Truth be told, the explosion wasn't too big. It was something more like a few trembles that caused things to fall off the shelves and the children to call for help in fear. The real problem was when the fire had started, especially when they were in a wooden cottage next to a forest. They didn't use this as a place to practice, more as a place to take a break in this area. It wasn't as though they could control it, but all these famed schools and organizations cared as much for their reputation as Gu Yan Ling cared for hers.
This shouldn't take too long. She told herself, the second spirit ring glowing. I'll give them a beating first, then have them come back and apologize. Perhaps we could even accept them into the school. Possibilities and options went back and forth in her head as she fought. On one hand, encountering a child with a phoenix spirit was rare and would certainly be beneficial to their academy, but she couldn't get past the humiliating words the other spoke. Considering that they were bold enough to come together, it was likely that their relationship wasn't just some strangers.
While the lady was thinking about how she should proceed, Zu Que and Gu Yan Ling were in a similar situation. A Spirit Emperor wasn't something they could easily brush off. The attacks had already been thrown half-heartedly, but they didn't dare let their guard down, fire still burning fiercely. The forest had already caught on many times, but the flames were swiftly taken off and thrown back at them. The best option was to flee, but even with their abilities in speed, it would be difficult to escape. Still, another one of Gu Yan Lings' spirit rings glowed. I'm not going to back down without trying!
Her third ability: Shadow Doppelganger. It would create many clones of oneself, usually hard to distinguish between. Gu Yan Ling often used her first ability because her speed was already enough from that, but she suspected even if the Spirit Emperor could see through her clones, it would still be better to have some sort of help. Making eye contact with Zu Que who had already activated Soaring Ascension, the scene was soon filled with multiple Gu Yan Lings, the real one leaping onto Zu Que who used her first spirit ability to make a flame cannon, propelling them away.
"Doppelgangers?"
"I never intended to confuse her or anything. Just to hold her back as we leave. This fire is running out, you should activate your spirit ability again. Once we get closer, I'll rush back and carry you on my back, but for now, can you hold on?"
"Mn," Zu Que gave a sound of confirmation, her spirit ring flaring again. She wasn't confident at all that they could completely escape, but Gu Yan Ling always seemed to have some sort of plan. Even if they didn't they could call always for Teacher Cao to come and rescue them. Zu Que hung her head, a black cloud forming once thinking about that situation if it ever arose. How embarrassing.
"We got company," Gu Yan Ling said, noticing the burst of flames behind them, the ones not made by Zu Que. "This lady sure is persistent. Zu Que how much further do you think you can take us?"
"We were already not too far from the academy, it shouldn't be too long until we reach the outskirts of it. Do you think Teacher Cao could help us?" Bringing up Cao Li Yang, the dark cloud looming over her head seemed to become denser. Gu Yan Ling patted her on the shoulder, spirit energy thrumming under her fingers. "Not necessary, we can beat her ourselves. The Little Village 7." Now it was Gu Yan Lings' turn to have a dark cloud, saying this name out loud made her want to go back and immediately replace the schools' name, maybe even finding Old Man Zhuang and complaining some more. She gave a sigh, shaking her head. Forget it, forget it. Just gotta deal with it.
Zu Que laughed. Soon lowering them onto the ground. If they were to be fighting later, most likely so, then she should save some spirit energy. Gu Yan Ling immediately activated Shadow Doppelganger again before they even touched the ground. Another Gu Yan Ling stayed with Zu Que while the real one ran off ahead of them using Dash. Shadow Doppelgangers couldn't last for long, especially far away from the original so they were sure to try and keep up. Already being a considerable distance from the lady from Blazing Academy, it wasn't until they were back at the fields did they encounter her again.
"You kids are pretty mischievous," She remarked, immediately eliminating the doppelganger upon arrival. "This area is pretty far off from most places. Your home?"
Zu Que activated her second spirit ring. "Our home." She said, a flaming ball forming in her hand, igniting in a fiery burst once she threw it. And when the explosion and light from it disappeared, Gu Yan Ling had returned, but not alone.