The view of the sunset from the mountains was always a treat for the eyes that had been focused on complicated diagrams for far too long. Han Xuhan too, appreciated the view as it took his mind off the new development inside his home, as well as his dao tower.
Today, he had reached the fourth layer of the physique transformation realm, right before which he had 'given life' to the dusty skeleton of a rattlesnake that he had painstakingly created during the last few weeks. It now was a part of his dao tower just like its two predecessors. Both Zhanxian and little Tian had welcomed their new housemate with open arms and wings. But that was where the good news stopped.
The first issue Han Xuhan hadn’t considered was what a moving snake skeleton would look like.
The crimson spine, along with the countless moving ribs on both sides gave the skeleton the exact appearance of a nightmarish centipede. A centipede that had the head of a dragon, fangs that could rip off meat from a limb, and a total length of two and a half meters.
When it had moved for the first time, Han Xuhan's brain dug up the most primal fear of annelids existent in human beings since time immemorial. The fact that he hadn’t gasped in shock and revulsion at that time was already an achievement he was proud of.
And then it had spoken. That was when the real nightmare had begun.
"Papa! Food!"
As his watering eyes kept their focus locked on the setting sun, an adorable, high-pitched voice that should belong to toddlers came from his neck where all of his hair was standing up straight.
Silently, Xuhan broke off a small piece of crystallized qi from his pocketful of 'minion food' and offered it toward the source of the voice, his hand shaking slightly the whole time.
A mouth full of sharp teeth and thick fangs brushed past his ear and gingerly picked up the piece of crystallized qi.
The serpentine form wrapped around his upper body lightly adjusted itself, pressuring Xuhan's nerves to react violently and throw off the predator resting on his body.
But he sat still like a sage contemplating the meaning of life. His eyes took in the last few rays of the sunken sun, the busy borders of the sect across the vast, green fields and rivers where hundreds of disciples of his generation were laying down formation after formation of various levels, guided by their elders.
He noticed Mu Ran laboring to finish both of their quotas by himself while Kong Ye hesitantly tried to dissuade him from executing the brilliant idea Xuhan had provided him with.
He saw the troubled expression on Xiao Wu's face as well as the thoughtful gaze Yuen Zhou was directing at Mu Ran.
"My eyesight has improved so much. I wonder, if I ever reach the limit of a cultivator's physical improvement, will I be able to peek at the surface of celestial bodies in the sky and observe the tiniest of viruses in the air? That would be so cool...."
Hai Yin Zhe couldn't quite understand his words, and she showed it by hissing lightly and tightening up around his neck, her sharpened tailbone lazily scraping along Xuhan's artery.
That's right. Han Xuhan had named the snake Hai Yin Zhe. He had actually run out of cool-sounding names for his minions, the dusty memories of his past dalliance amidst trashy xianxia novels proving themselves to be unreliable once again.
However, as a practitioner of the demonic arts of machine translation, Xuhan had learnt more than a few Chinese words that could mean several things. Besides, it wasn’t as if the language he used here itself followed every detail of the Mandarin language. Apart from a similar naming scheme and culturally close development, most of the language was a paraphrased version of various Asian languages. Had he been one of those instant transmigrators from novels, he'd probably have a stroke trying to navigate through the differences.
If memories served him right, Hai Yin Zhe roughly meant 'Drinker Of Seas'. The name had felt befitting of a serpent, if he were to overlook the irony of its skeletal form.
As the horizon lost its touch with the sun, Han Xuhan stood up and walked back to his hut carefully, avoiding stepping on the countless gateway formations all around him on the mountain back. The draconic head popping out from the back of his robe curiously observed their surroundings in silence.
The mountain peaks had changed their appearance fast under the fervent hard work of hundreds of disciples. The ethereal presence of qi saturated the air everywhere. Occasionally bursts of qi would alarm those working nearby, causing them to rush over and fix the issue. The entire sect had turned into something comparable to a spaceship under construction.
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The mental comparison slightly startled Xuhan. A spaceship in a world where basic metallurgy was run by magic spells? It would be truly a wonderful experience to be a part of the event.
The final execution of the spell was to be held tomorrow after a few experimental drills. During the last few days, many geniuses had shown their colors. Their sect now boasted of nine disciples in the third layer of the Celestial Gateway technique, a fact that all the elders seemed happy about. Some dissatisfied whispers had come toward the Heavenly Hailstorm peak for bagging two of those nine geniuses despite its shallow roots. But the sect master seemed to have taken care of the issue discreetly.
"Disciple Xuhan, congratulations on the breakthrough. I see your undead family has welcomed in a new member!" Exclaimed a hearty voice from inside his hut right when he was about to open the door.
Speak of the devil...
"Good evening, sect master. The chair you’re sitting on is broken. Please sit carefully," Han Xuhan, currently used to the random appearances of Xuan Zi in his hut, replied without missing a beat as he entered the hut.
Xuan Zi nodded appreciatively. "Oh yes, I'm aware. It almost broke apart the moment I sat. Currently, the only thing holding it together is my telekinesis."
"That is a very neat and impressive way to use telekinesis, sect master. This one is in awe," Xuhan replied.
"Not as impressive as your cultivation speed, disciple. I must admit, even with all the resources you’re practically robbing from Elder Shen, I never imagined you would reach the fourth layer so soon. It’s incredible how far innate comprehensive ability in its purest form can take a child. Almost makes me want to look specifically for others like you and guide them in different paths of the great dao, just to observe where each of them end up."
Han Xuhan gave a curt bow full of modesty, maintaining his silence and ignoring that bit about his 'robberies'.
"This chair seems to have been broken by physical force alone, disciple," Xuan Zi remarked off-handedly.
"....That is correct, sect master."
"Hmm, The origin point of the cracks suggests that it wasn’t intentional either. The applied force was uneven and spiky, with a poor choice of target area. You're having trouble adjusting to your improved physique, yes?"
Sometimes, figures like Xuan Zi and Kong Ye scared Xuhan in ways not even the scariest horror movies used to. The cliched xianxia term 'old monster' actually fitted them to some degree. The way they observed the world around them contained a hint of a razor-sharp analytical mindset that he couldn’t see ever being common in a regular society.
Granted, they weren’t some sort of terrifyingly intelligent beings beyond human weaknesses and errors, but considering the environment and social state they likely grew up in, being able to match in terms of intelligence and analytical skill with someone from the twenty-first century was already quite impressive.
Han Xuhan did not think people who grew up in ancient times were stupid in any way. But constant exposure to advanced scientific reasoning could do wonders for the mental growth of any average Wang.
"Once more, I must praise the sect master's discerning eyes," Xuhan said.
Even if Xuan Zi was taken aback by his uncharacteristically modest replies, it didn’t show on his face. The 'old' man maintained a standard smile that seemed just a few degrees more meaningful than Xuhan's own.
"Worry not, disciple Xuhan. You're not alone in finding your own body hard to control. This is a common phenomenon among youths in the physique transformation realm. And any sect worth their title knows that. In fact, our sect, as well as a few others, has a long-running tradition to deal with this exact problem.
However, this year we've run into a bit of a dilemma over how to conduct the program since almost the entire sect will be traveling to the Titanfall archipelago for the tournament. It has been decided that we shall have to cut some corners and let you disciples learn it the hard way, in the classic method that would never fail to give you the drive and ardor to learn like your life depends on it!"
Xuan Zi's solemn and grandiose declaration brought Han Xuhan nothing but bad premonitions. Briefly, he remembered a similar scene from his childhood. His father had made a declaration with the same phrases right before throwing him into the pool to make him learn how to swim...
'Yeah, that's how I learned it, boy! That's how my father learned it too! And his father, and the fathers before him! This is the classic style! If it doesn’t make you learn how to do it, you know what will happen, hahaha! Wait, damn-don't drink I- ah shit, hold on! Where the fuck is the lifejacket?'
Han Xuhan's face darkened with each second he spent relieving that memory. Was this what philosophers meant by 'mankind's history is forever doomed to repeat itself'?
Instead of drowning both his past and present self further amidst those memories, Xuhan decided to focus on the more important details of Xuan Zi's words.
"I wasn’t aware that our destination is called the Titanfall archipelago! I must admit, the name doesn't ring a bell...."
Xuan Zi's smile brightened. "Oh yes, it’s not a place you’ll find on maps in the mortal world. Even most cultivators wouldn’t know where it is. Let's just say it is a very special place, full of wonders that could kill a man or show him his path to heaven."
"Aren’t those two the same thing-ah, right, my mistake," Xuhan controlled himself from making a fool of himself with great effort.
"Hahaha! That's a good one, disciple," Xuan Zi burst into laughter, making Han Xuhan's dark premonitions grow stronger. The old man never looked this happy before. Something insidious was up.
"Sect master, might I ask a question about the test tomorrow?" Xuhan said, keeping his suspicion hidden. It was never a good idea to show animosity toward a figure who might just be his only shelter from a brutal death in this cruel world where overpowered cultivators like Fang Xie and Brother BB were eyeing him constantly.
Of course, he couldn’t completely throw away the possibility that Xuan Zi himself had some sort of a sinister scheme up inside his sleeves. But what he didn’t know wasn’t something he could deal with. His only choice, for now, was to stick by the man's side with an upright expression on his face.
"Oh sure, go ahead," Xuan Zi replied curiously.
"How are we to reach this secret archipelago? I understand that the Celestial Gateway technique is obviously going to be linked to our journey by some means. That much is obvious to the entire disciple body. But what exactly-"
"Ah, can't tell you that! That's a surprise better left for tomorrow. We left that part out of the instructions intentionally. For today, I have a more impactful surprise for you!"
One of Xuan Zi's hands reached within his robe and pulled out a small package carefully. He then offered it to Xuhan.
"Go on, take it. It comes from your mentally unstable nemesis, Fang Xie!" He dramatically revealed.
Han Xuhan took the package and was about to open it when he noticed the issue.
"This package....seems to have been opened already, sect master."
"How observant of you, disciple!"
Han Xuhan looked up at Xuan Zi, whose standard grandfatherly smile hadn’t receded at all the whole time. Looking up and down a couple more times as realization slowly dawned on him, Han Xuhan proceeded to open the thick wrapping and found a small box within.
There was also a paper full of tiny writings attached to it. He took a look at the paper. It contained two different handwritings, one of them recent enough to leave ink prints on his fingers.
The box too, had been unlocked despite there being a familiar locking technique cast on it. Xuhan himself owned a lot of gadgets with similar locking methods.
"Trust in the dignity of your sect master, disciple. The act of destroying a simple lock shouldn’t be a reason for you to look upon me with such distrust. I did it for your own good. That realization will occur to you in due time. Good night!"
Before Xuhan could apologize for his acting mishap, Xuan Zi vanished right in front of his eyes tracelessly.