Jun expected to see eldritch creatures beyond human comprehension—getting his memory wiped would be the best outcome. Instead, they stepped on soft, green grass and breathed in the crispest air imaginable.
The two stood on a small hill covered in hundreds of colourful flowers. Small rabbits peacefully ran along with hopping toads and crawling insects, all living in harmony.
To their left was a monochrome forest, and to their right was a black steel castle, rising high into the clouds, which seemed to be oddly solid.
‘Is that a fucking building in the clouds? That’s so awesome,’ Jun thought with wonder.
The terrain shifted the further one looked. Glacier-covered fields intersected with blue-flame plains right next to a desert made of swords. A training ground for each element, or so Jun guessed. Oddly, the place was deathly silent, and there was only one other person here with them.
Further down the hill was a small, blue lake, featuring a large canoe that gently rocked with the waves. Sleeping in it was a short and elderly-looking man, wearing rugged burlap clothes and thick sandals. He was tightly clutching a wooden stick, hugging it with all of his might. This had to be Xu Feng, the famous elder.
Jun took the first step, and Chen Hao soon followed. The grass parted ways as a cobblestone path rose beneath their feet. Spiritual force soon melted into soft and gentle water qi, making the boy grin.
“I’ve never felt so comfortable. So powerful. I could take on two Wu Qiangs without any worry,” he whispered to Jun, absorbing the qi like a whirlwind.
Even the lake parted ways when they approached, which caused the boat to shake back and forth. Disturbed by the sudden motion, the elder, quite like a raccoon, slowly peered over the boat’s edge and judged the approaching pair with his big, round eyes. His white hair was tied in a bun, and his similarly coloured beard reached all the way to his chest. The man had a slightly chubby face with gentle features that would put anyone at ease.
“I’ve told everyone countless times not to disturb me during my lazy float-on-boat time. Hmph. Who sent you? I bet it was that good-for-nothing fifth disciple of mine,” he said in an oddly rhythmic yet high-pitched voice.
“Greetings, honoured elder,” Chen Hao began, cupping his hands and bowing deeply. “My name is Chen Hao, and I’ve brought you your dear pet.”
With that, he extended his hands, presenting the sleeping cat like a trophy.
“Oh my! My dear Fei! She’s been gone for way too long,” his voice softened even more as the cat simply vanished from the boy’s hands, appearing next to the elder in an instant.
With one tap on the forehead, Fei stirred from her sleep. At first, she glared hatefully at Jun, but before she could say anything to him, she started shrieking like mad.
“It’s the fiend! The villain! Unhand me right this instant! I am a dignified immortal, and I will not be treated like a mere cat!” she yelled, struggling to escape Xu Feng’s grip.
“And I’m glad to see you too. We’ve got guests, so why don’t you go play a bit? Then, you can tell me all about your adventures.”
The elder snapped his fingers, and the proud immortal vanished from view, her scream cut comically short. Now this was proper magic—nothing on Earth could replicate this.
“She can be so silly sometimes. I wonder how long it’s going to be before one of my disciples goes to torment her again. I keep telling them that she doesn’t know anything important, yet they keep on trying various experiments,” he said, sighing and putting his chin on the wooden stick, lazily resting his head on it.
“Well, I can’t blame them. It’s not every day you get to work with the fragments of an immortal, no matter how small they are. After all, she was once the daughter of the Emperor of Red, as well as the ruler of the Eternal Phoenix Empire.”
The elder, seemingly forgetting that they were there, started going on a huge rant about the history of the empire, starting from when the Emperor of Red got too greedy by absorbing three other Emperors, and as a result, got sealed into the World’s Child, which inadvertently led to the Age of Spirituality and the World-Shattering Earthquake. He continued on and on, all the way until the Grand Phoenix Immortal of Seven Sins was torn to shreds by the angry descendants of Emperors of Orange, Yellow, and Violet, who devoured her corpse and split her empire, letting only fragments of her will escape into the wild.
They could’ve interrupted at any time, but Chen Hao was too scared, and Jun was too intrigued to do so. This was much more detailed than what he read in history books, which only vaguely mentioned the time after the Human Emperor disappeared from the world.
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“And that’s why you should always find someone important to suck up to. That’s always the moral of the lesson. Oh, you’re still here…” the elder snapped out of his reverie, his eyes wide at the boy and dog duo before him. “Right, I did promise to give anyone who caught her a reward. What do you want?”
Taking in a huge breath, Chen Hao puffed his chest and put his shoulders back.
“Dear elder, I sincerely wish to become your disciple,” he quickly said before shamelessly dropping into a kowtow.
“Hmm,” the elderly man mused, picking up his stick and poking at various parts of Chen Hao’s body. Despite how funny the scene looked from the outside, the boy was dead serious in his resolve.
“No. I don’t think so. Anything else?”
His eyes wide open, Chen Hao breathlessly stared at the ground. Then, a burst of energy prompted him to look up.
“Please reconsider, elder! I’ve got dual spirit roots, and I’ve reached the fifth stage in less than a year. I know many different techniques, and I’m very talented with blades. Wait, I’ll show you.”
As if in a frenzy, he took out the two knives from his ring and began the most breathtaking water dance of his life. Raindrops mixed with light and darkness as he showcased every single technique he had, ending the show with the Pig Butchering Blade and Nightfall. Panting from exhaustion, Chen Hao once again looked at the elder who was merely picking his nose, his head turned to the side.
“I don’t….” the boy didn't even know what to say.
“You’re alright, kid. Keep it up and you’ll definitely reach the inner sect someday,” the elder yawned, dangling his stick into the lake and playing with the fish.
“Did I do something wrong? I thought I was talented?”
Jun saw how the ego Chen Hao had built up during these four months came shattering down. He had the best cultivation amongst his peers, he had managed to learn several difficult magical techniques, and he had even beaten someone a whole stage above him in a sect-wide tournament. Yet, despite all of that, the elder couldn’t look more disinterested.
“Someone will want to take you in, but not me. Tell me, boy. Is there anything special about you?”
Chen Hao stammered over his words, once again listing the previous things.
“No, no. Something truly special. Perhaps it’s a goal or a burning ambition. Maybe you have some unusual skill, or you’re truly passionate about something. Better yet, unique family circumstances or a keen intellect. Tell me, do you possess any of those?”
Now the elder was talking. He leapt over the boat and stood next to Chen Hao. A strange mania had come over him as he stared directly into the boy’s eyes.
“I want to become strong. To cultivate until nothing and no one can tell me what to do! To be a master of my own fate!” he yelled now, desperate.
“You and everyone else. My first disciple—she’s frighteningly smart, so much so that half of the inner sect is already in her grasp. Yet, despite her status, her strength, or her intellect, she desperately fights day after day, growing her forces and raising a resistance force in the Abyss, all because she is the fallen princess of a ruined Abyss Kingdom. She weaves and twists lies because she is up against forces you could not even fathom, whose very existence would shatter your mind. Are you like her?”
Chen Hao shook his head.
“My second disciple was a mortal with no spirit roots, whose entire village was taken out by a cultivator who practised unspeakable techniques. He spent forty years kneeling and begging for someone to take revenge, yet no one would listen to a mere mortal. He tried everything in his power, until he stooped so low as to head to the Realm of Devils and seek a pact from the infernal princes. For a price much too large to bear, they twisted fate, and so, he became my disciple. For days and months on end, he hunts down evil cultivators, hellbent on revenge against the world. Are you like him?”
Chen Hao once again shook his head. “I could be! If only you give me a chance!”
“My third disciple snuck into the sect with a Five Element Dispersal Spirit Root. In a year, he barely became a first stage disciple, and was exiled to be a white-robed disciple. Yet, he was happy. Do you know why? It was because he was obsessed with the sword. Every single day, without proper rest or any entertainment, he would foolishly learn how to swing the sword and how to use the simple technique he picked out when he joined the sect. For years on years, he only did this one thing. And when he comprehended a fraction of the grand sword dao, he soared through the realms, eventually becoming my disciple. Are you like him?”
“I’ve only been here for a year! I will swing my knife every day if I have to, all for the chance to be your disciple,” Chen Hao yelled. It was more than becoming a disciple at this point. It was about validating hours and hours of his hard work.
“Do you truly want to become my disciple? Even if you have to undergo hardship?” the elder finally asked, a spark in his eyes.
“Yes. No matter what,” the boy responded.
“Alright then. I will give you one chance. Prove yourself to me, and I will grant you a spot as one of my disciples.” The elder started to maniacally laugh, muttering ‘good’ to himself over and over. With a snap of his fingers, they emerged back in the outer sect.
A day later, a notice was posted on their door.
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Chen Hao.
You have been selected to head to Demon Prince’s Ravine.
Departure is tomorrow. Refusal shall be met with extreme violence.
Make your sect proud!
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