Act 2

Bluecrest Village disappeared behind the horizon as the two cultivators began their long trek toward the center of the island. Shao hadn’t been walking for very long before the only visual evidence of his village was the large plume of smoke rising from the east. It might have just been his imagination, but Shao would’ve sworn that he could still hear the barely-perceptible sound of lamentation on the edge of his enhanced hearing.

The two men walked in silence for several hours. Shen Jian led his horse by the reins rather than ride atop its saddle. Shao would have asked Shen Jian for some gold to buy a horse for their trip, but he would have significant trouble riding a horse with one of his arms in a sling and the other arm holding a heavy iron staff.

Just as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, the two cultivators stopped and made camp on the side of the road. Shen Jian used a piece of flint and a short metal bar to start a fire, and they sat wordlessly next to this fire for several long minutes.

Eventually, Shao was the first one to break the silence. His thoughts had been focused on the thoughts of the past day and the fact that his life would never be the same, but the blazing fire shook him out of this reverie of thought.

“Why didn’t you use ki to start the fire? Wouldn’t that have been more convenient?” Shao asked these questions just to break the suffocating silence.

“I don’t use my katana to hunt squirrels,” Shen Jian said, though his words were hard to make out due to the salted meat he was chewing on.

“What?” Shao asked even though he knew what the older cultivator said. There was some deeper significance to those words that Shao couldn’t parse.

Shen Jian swallowed before saying, “Sacred arts are meant to be used against other cultivators. If I used Lance of the Screaming Immortal to light a campfire, the wood and the dirt beneath it would be completely destroyed.”

“That move you used to burn the pile of corpses is called the Lance of the Suffering Immortal?”

With a smile, Shen Jian said, “I just noticed something. You’re a lot more insightful whenever the subject interests you.”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’”

There was a break in the conversation, and the two cultivators sat in an awkward silence for nearly a minute. Shen Jian broke the silence, saying, “I can tell there’s something you want to ask me. Spit it out.”

Shao grunted in annoyance before asking, “There are several things, actually. Do you know Shen Zaifu Ming?”

“Vaguely. He’s the leader of the Shen Zaifu family and, last I heard, a seven-star Zhouji.”

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“Is he strong?”

“Relative to most cultivators of Haishan, yes. He’s a powerful disciple of the Path of the Concealing Shadow. Why do you ask?”

Shao weighed his options, considering whether it would be a good idea to reveal the truth to Shen Jian. If the older cultivator had told him that Shen Ming was his brother, or something, then Shao certainly wouldn’t have revealed the truth. As it was, however, he decided to tell the truth.

“He killed my parents ten years ago. Granny Daiyu just now revealed his identity to me.”

Shen Jian closed his eyes as if deep in thought. With his eyes still closed, he said, “Then you would be more than justified in killing him. I’m not supposed to help you kill someone in my clan, but it should be fine as long as I’m not there when you actually do it.”

“You’ll help me?” Shao asked, incredulous. “I was concerned you would try to stop me.”

“When you shake a tree, don’t be surprised when leaves fall,” Shen Jian muttered, and Shao had no idea what he was talking about.

“What?”

“My first piece of advice: don’t fight him right now.”

“I knew that, obviously. I need to reach - what - the seventh step of the second realm before I fight him? I just need to advance a realm before then.”

Shen Jian chuckled. “‘Just.’ Oh, the folly of youth. A normal person would be immensely lucky to advance a full realm after ten years of intense training.”

“You keep telling me that I’m different. How long do you think it’ll take me to advance a full realm?”

With a sly smile on his face, Shen Jian said, “You? I bet you can do it in six months.”

Shao shook his head to shake the prideful smile off his face. “That’s all well-and-good, but I should probably know what I’m in for before I get there. You keep talking about “Paths” like the Path of the Divine Sword or Path of the Concealing Shadow. I have no idea what a “Path” even is.”

“Right…” Shen Jian said, frowning deeply. “For some reason, I could have sworn I had already explained that.”

“Well, you haven’t.”

“We’re going out of order, I guess. Typically, you’re supposed to learn this first. In the pursuit of self-perfection, every cultivator follows a ‘Path,’ which is sometimes called a ‘Dao.’ At Shigong Temple, for example, we follow the Path of the Divine Sword, which means that we pursue self-perfection through swordsmanship and the relationship between the cultivator and his sword. At lower levels, the cultivator strengthens his body through sword training. At higher levels, the cultivator learns how to project ki through the sword in order to strengthen it to a level where it can cut through ki-empowered flesh. My katana,” Shen Jian unsheathed his sword just far enough that Shao could see a small part of the blade, “is made of normal steel. In the hands of a normal person, it’s no more effective than any other katana.”

“So this philosophy is what differentiates you from someone who follows the Path of the Concealing Shadow?”

“Exactly. It’s useful to know what Path a cultivator follows, because that lets you know what kind of techniques they’re likely to know. Disciples of the Path of the Concealing Shadow can create illusions or shapeshift, while disciples from Shigong Temple typically know dozens of sword techniques.”

“Since I’m your student, I guess that means I’m on the ‘Path of the Divine Sword.’ Isn’t it going to be a problem that I know absolutely nothing about swords, though?”

“I’m sure you’ll pick it up,” Shen Jian said, yawning deeply. “Anyway, I’m sure you have plenty of more questions, but they can wait until tomorrow. For now, I need to go to sleep.”