Sixteen-hundred meters above the ground, with a cool autumn breeze flowing through his dark chocolate hair, Liwei looked back over the shoulder of his black robes. Even though he was a great distance away, he finally felt at home.

“This place is truly as beautiful as I remember it.”

“It’s almost overwhelming,” Xiuying was slightly younger than her companion. Her eyes never descried such an enchanting sight. The wind’s might forced her to constantly keep her bubblegum hair from blocking her view.

“Before long, our voices will finally be heard,” Liwei let out a passionate smile. The sunlight reflected off the clouds, illuminating a beautiful monastery. “And everything we’ve gone through will be for a reason.”

There were few things in the Celestial Empire more beautiful than the Wudang Mountains…

The mandate of heaven. Its blessing decides the fate of whatever dynasty rules over the Celestial Empire. The Jade Emperor sends five heavenly apparitions, each containing a fifth of his power, to execute the will of the gods in the mortal realm.

Spirit servants, also called shishen, are the innate soul of not only martial artists, but priests and even normal people. Through cultivation, a person shall connect with their inner spirits, and therefore connect with the heavenly realm from whence it came.

Strength, mind, and spirit amalgamate to reach the pathway. This road is called the Dao.

The Wudang Mountains were decorated with numerous luscious, green trees surrounding the famous temple. This sect was one of the four sacred sects of cultivation, where people learned to harness the martial and mystical arts for power and longevity.

A cobblestone pathway lead into the monastery’s gates and the courtyard, where plenty cultivators practiced their skills.

The sect was performing normally. Nothing interesting that the cultivators didn’t experience daily, for the most part. They were hard workers, and only because they respected themselves.

The patriarch was Liqiang, a stern middle-aged man with plenty of years with experience. Every day he would sit in his wooden office with the same austere expression and do all the boring planning that nobody else wanted to do.

Except for Daiwen. He was most likely the sect’s greatest teacher in decades. He stood out from the crowd because of his thick, golden hair, but no matter the situation he always had a friendly smile on his pale face.

This was one of the very few times he was actually late. “Good morning! I apologize for—”

“Don’t worry about it. There’s no major ceremonies coming up. I think we can finally catch a break.”

“How was your night’s sleep?”

“Could’ve been better,” Liqiang started to pour tea for not only himself, but Daiwen as well. “You?”

“I’d have to say the same for myself,” Daiwen laughed. “The elders wanted me to pick weeds in the garden again. I thought that sounded easy until I realized—”

“Their garden is several miles away?” Liqiang predicted, handing a cup of tea to his attendant. “Must’ve taken you a while, especially since all the horses were sick.”

“I heard their caretaker fed them something they weren’t supposed to.” Daiwen joked, slowly taking a sip of his tea. The two started laughing.

“Actually, you’re not wrong. Milk…” Liqiang held the cup of tea to his mouth. “He should’ve known that horses can’t handle lactose too well.”

“I’ll take care of the horses from now on.” Daiwen poured sugar into his tea. Liqiang was dissimilar; the sight of someone adding sugar almost made the patriarch gag.

For a moment, he was baffled.

“No, it’s alright. You already have so much on your plate.” Liqiang candidly understood the stress his attendant must’ve suffered. Daiwen was pretty much given all the boring jobs that nobody else wanted to do…

Yet he did them all with a bright smile. He just liked to help others. Even though his schedule was always full with teaching, he still found time for things like preparing meals and yardwork and cleaning.

All cultivators had to clean, but nobody cleaned as much as Daiwen. It didn’t really make sense to anybody. Not even himself.

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At the worst moment possible, a cultivator barged into the room while panting. From the look on his face, it was evident that he wasn’t the herald of good news.

“Have you ever heard of knocking?” Liqiang was initially aggravated, but he could tell something was off.

“Someone just entered the temple grounds. I think it’s him.” The cultivator said, catching his breath; and with that revelation, Daiwen’s smile began to fade.

Cultivators watched on as two shocking figures walked past.

Before the patriarch could even reach the courtyard, the sect elders met the approaching Liwei and Xiuying with bewilderment. They had no idea who the girl was, but Liwei was very familiar…

“What the hell? This can’t be happening.” One of the elders cried. It was rare for someone like him to use profane language, but even the others felt the same way.

Liwei had grown plenty since the last time they saw him. “You’re all weak.” He declared.

The elders were flabbergasted. “How dare you say such a thing?! Do I need to teach you some manners, young man?!”

“I’m not here to learn.” Liwei grinned, pointing his fingers at the elders accusingly. “I’m here to shape this sect into something the world could revere!”

Xiuying commented, “I don’t think I should introduce myself. My strength tells the whole story.”

“If you feel you are worthy, then prove it!” An elder shouted as ten cultivators appeared in front of the accusers. Some were skinny with reflexes as fast as lightning, while some were bulky and looked like they could crush mountains with a single push.

“Very well then.” Liwei’s expression didn’t change. It seemed he had confidence in his abilities that even worried the elders, despite the fact he was outnumbered.

Liwei's black eyes looked extremely cold. The qi surrounding him became intense, embellished with an aura of black and purple. The sheer might of his powerful shishen, Xuanwu, which took the form of a black tortoise alongside a purple serpent, almost swept the cultivators off their feet.

“You’re so quick to show off.” Xiuying grinned and followed suit. The ferocity of her shishen, Baihu, which took the form of a white tiger, shook the nearby stone temples with a pink qi as intense as Xuanwu’s.

Liwei and Xiuying dropped into fighting stances, intimidating the opposing cultivators. In the minds of the vagabonds, triumph was already certain.

Among the ten disciples, nothing but desperation to earn respect from the elders clouded their conscious. Seeing his opponents release their spirits, Liwei’s cold eyes felt a bit more satisfaction.

“Your qi is a lot more impressive than I expected. Please, make this a challenge for me.”

The battle cries of ten disciples filled the atmosphere as they sprinted toward their targets.

Although the vagabonds’ power was out of the ordinary, they were still young and relatively inexperienced compared to the disciples they were facing.

Xiuying’s hazel eyes sparkled for a moment. There was no way her assassin training was in vain. After all, she considered herself the deadliest young girl in the Celestial Empire.

Liwei countered a punch from the first disciple, coiling his arm to immobilize and grant an opening. His fingers jabbed eye sockets, and the ball of his foot collided with the disciple’s gut.

When a second disciple sprinted, Xiuying took this as an opportunity to pounce with hands shaped like claws, scarring her prey’s face. As the disciple fell to the ground, the back of his head felt another lethal swipe of her paw.

The third disciple soared through the air like a bird taking flight, but Liwei was nonchalant. How could someone be so calm in the middle of an intense fight, especially when outnumbered?

Then at last, a tiny smile crept across his face. His eyes widened in surprise, and although he tried not to show it, admiration for the revered Wudang sect’s grandeur. “That pride…”

Liwei evaded his attacker with imposing quickness, assaulting him with a barrage of virulent strikes to pressure points faster than the disciple could even perceive.

He continued, “It reminds me of when I was a child.”

Xiuying was overburdened with similar veneration. Although she never had the chance to grow up at a monastery, she often dreamed she could. It would be a million times better than the conditions she was raised in…

As a result, she almost let her guard down for a split second when a fourth disciple assailed her. She caught the strike with her forearm, subsequently breaking skin with her claws, and leaped backwards.

Liwei and Xiuying were now back to back.

A fifth disciple dropped from the sky with a wooden staff, but the vagabonds were already prepared to retaliate. Xiuying snapped the stick in half with a wild drop kick, while Liwei swooped under her with an explosive strike to the disciple’s stomach.

The other five disciples were stunned, but failure didn’t seem like an option, so they rushed in anyway. One by one, they were outmatched by the prowess of Xuanwu and Baihu and landed uncomfortably on their backs.

The vagabonds just stayed in the same place like immovable rocks, or trees with roots deeply implanted into the soil. Once their challenge was won, the vagabonds were ecstatic.

However, the elders didn’t feel the same way. They were pissed off watching the fight go down. How could ten of the Wudang sect’s profound cultivators lose to those renegades?

But one thing was certain. The strength of their heavenly spirits frightened the elders terribly.

“I assume I’ve proven my point.” Liwei confidently lifted his head toward the elders. “From this day forward, Xiuying and I will nurture the Wudang sect into something of legends! Something even the imperial family will fear, and the Celestial Empire will be under our grasp!”

An unexpectedly familiar voice startled him, leaving him utterly frozen in place. No words could escape his mouth, and his body was completely immobilized and shaken.

“Liwei… This path you undertook…” Daiwen arrived at the courtyard, alongside the patriarch, and it was clear this reunion of sorts wasn’t too ebullient. “I’m disappointed, yet I take full responsibility for the way things ended up.”

A tear streamed down Liwei’s cheek like a river, and he felt as though all he could do was clench his fist. After a few seconds of silence, he hurled a swift punch, but Daiwen caught it with finesse. Even Xiuying was speechless.

Liwei dropped to his knees, and more tears poured from his eyes. “What the hell are you saying, you bastard?!” The words that followed really did strike a chord, leaving Liwei defeated.

“I’m sorry… For not being there to protect you.”

Those words had sparked an abundance of tragic memories, and a recollection ensued…