AN: Extra long 5k chapter! I would really appreciate it if someone could give me a review of this story, so I can work on improving it.
Now then, have fun with the new chapter!
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Chapter 2
“Man, you guys sure know how to cook.”
Before him was a big table filled to the brim with all kinds of meat, prepared in almost every way imaginable.
Song Lien and Song Ho let out a sigh of relief.
They had already experienced what happened when they incurred this individual’s ire and were glad to provide something which would make him have a good impression of them.
Though he would not change his impression of Song Lien, at least her father still had a chance to get on his good side.
This was what they believed in their hearts at least.
After half an hour where only sound to be heard was that of Wu Jie digging in the table, which initially looked like it was about to break under the weight of the food, was completely empty.
“Baah, that was fucking delicious! Especially the that black bread you served it all on, it added a very interesting crispness and crispiness to the whole thing, even if they were rather bland in regards to their own taste. What are they called?”
That was the table ware and not something you are supposed to eat! (Lien & Ho)
Seeing the expressions on their faces he seemed to realize something.
“I ate the table ware, didn’t I?”
They both nodded weakly.
“Well, damn. Meh, I guess not eating for what feels like eons does that to you. Now then, let’s get to the point.”
They both paled a little and looked at him expectantly.
“To reassure you, I won’t kill your daughter…”
Immediately they wanted to thank him for his mercy, but were cut short, paling a little more again.
“…but, punishment is still appropriate and since you seem to dote on her very much I will handle it. Don’t worry there will be now scars or anything like that after it, no physical ones at least.”
Song Ho instinctively opened his mouth to beg for his daughter, Lien doing the same, before they closed them again after a single glance from Wu Jie, which told them that this point was not up for debate.
“Furthermore I want to look at your archives, including cultivation and skill manuals. I won’t steal them, maybe, but I would like to know the state of the art of this world. Oh yeah, technique books for various weapons too. The corresponding weapons would be a great goodbye gift by the way, don’t you think so?”
Lien and Ho almost vomited blood at the shamelessness of this fiend.
Look at all their manuscripts!? That was equivalent to giving away the very foundation pf their clan! Though they soon realized that, what was a supreme technique to them was most likely less than a piece of dirt under his shoes to this master.
“Please go on, we would be honoured to have a master such as yourself evaluate our family martial arts.” Squeezing out those words took all of Ho’s willpower.
“Well thank you, give me just a second…” For a moment Wu Jie’s eyes seemed to look into nothingness, before he recollected himself.
An expression of disappointment had appeared on his face.
In an instant he had used his soul sense to scour through the entirety of the archives in the city, perfectly remembering it thanks to his ridiculously powerful soul.
“I don’t know if I should pity you or laugh at you… I mean I expected them to be bad, but they are all simply…wrong, so very wrong…”
Hearing that statement the air seemed to be frozen.
“What…what do you mean by wrong?”
A terrifying possibility had surfaced in Song Ho’s mind, which was promptly confirmed by Wu Jie.
“Anyone who trains in one of these, will only be lead onto a wrong path. Not one of them even hints at anything close to a True Dao Path.”
…
“Pfft, hahahahaha…”
Wu Jie began to laugh so hard, tears were streaming down his eyes.
*snicker* “You should see your expressions, they’re hilarious! Hahah…”
The sound of grinding teeth could be heard inside the hall, as Song Ho had to try his utmost not to lose his temper.
“Don’t worry, I am no monster and always repay what others have done for me. Say, which of the techniques do you train in?”
“That would be the Ancient Mountain Arts…”
“Hmm, alright, I changed it a bit and it now points one in the correct direction, if one can understand it of course. There are still many wrong ways contained within it, but now there is at least a chance.”
“You changed it…” Shock could again be seen on the faces of the people present.
Reading using one’s senses was one thing and even if all of their archives were behind barriers, they could accept that they did not have the ability to block this monster.
But changing the contents by mere will from more than a kilometre away… the possibilities of such an ability let cold shivers run down their spines.
“Soo, what else is there… Oh yeah, are there any requirements for founding a school or academy of sorts?”
“Well, schools are, most of the time, founded a certain principle and/or cultivation technique, which is why they are often backed and founded by family clans.
Academies offer a wider variety of education and are often founded by experts.
When it comes to requirements, beside the strength to get the respect of others and defend your property you have to have, well property.
Many make the mistake of just going somewhere in an empire and claiming the surroundings to found their academies there, which leads to the empire sending its experts and obliterating everyone affiliated with it.”
“Damn, that’s pretty harsh, isn’t it?”
“Not really, what would you do if someone simply claims your land as his own?”
“Kill the- Ooh… I get it, alright.”
“If one wishes to acquire land you can either render merits in the empire until they give it to you as a present. That leads to you being under that empire’s protection, but also means that the land can be taken from you again at any time.
The other way is to go into the wilderness which is not controlled by any faction and claim the land there.
It will then truly belong to you if you can handle the profound beasts there and, most importantly, their kings which rule the region and will most likely act against you.”
“Marvellous! Now that all that is clear, we are almost done with each other. Song Ho, you might want to go and get my weapons, one of each kind please and as sturdy as possible, because you will certainly not like to see the punishment I have thought up for your daughter.”
“No, please, I have to watch…”
“Your choice, let’s begin.”
Wu Jie waved his hand and two formations the size of half a palm flew out. One landing on Lien’s forehead, the other on her stomach.
“Now we sit back and watch. By the way, I have already isolated the air around us, as the smell would be really unpleasant otherwise.”
Suddenly her stomach began to grow at a remarkable speed as if she were pregnant, though it was nothing as pleasant as that.
After only a few seconds she began to choke on something before everything went south.
Blood poured out of her throat first, after that came her stomach and finally intestines, which went on and on.
Blood and innards continued to pour out for several minutes.
One would think that she should have passed out and suffocated long ago, and that would be the case indeed if it wasn’t for the second seal which landed on her forehead which kept her alive and conscious.
The seal on her stomach on the other hand regenerated her blood and insides the moment they left her body, creating a terrible vicious circle.
Her father had long since lost any and all colour in his face and puked until there was nothing left in his stomach.
After an entire ten minutes which felt like an eternity to them it finally ended.
It ended so suddenly that everything seemed to have been nothing more than a bad dream.
The blood and intestines were gone and everything looked like normal.
“Was that an illusion?”
“Most certainly not, I would just hate to walk through blood to the door, so this is more convenient.”
Song Ho looked towards his daughter who had finally lost consciousness.
“I’ll wait at the door so get me my stuff please. Oh and put it in a big bag, have to carry it somehow right?”
The devil spoke with a carefree tone.
Song Ho was shaken awake from is stupor and almost tripped as he tried to follow the request as fast as possible.
No matter what, he did not dare to let this man wait.
Only minutes later Wu Jie saw Song Ho hurrying towards him, carrying a gigantic backpack in his arms.
“Excuse me for making you wait Senior. Those are the weapons. A longsword, a sabre, a bow with an enchanted quiver holding one million arrows, a long staff, a double edged war axe, a war hammer, a flexible sword and other sub categories of weapons. This backpack is also enchanted to make everything you put into it 100 times smaller.”
Wu Jie’s smile grew broader with each new mentioned weapon. The reason was very simple. He came from a world in which most big weapons were banned for the general public and now he had so many of them to play with.
Though he looked a little dejected at the backpack.
“Excellent! Thank you! But aren’t there things like special rings in this world?”
At those words Song Ho’s eyes grew wide.
“Senior, those certainly exist. But they’re classified as ancient artefacts as the method to craft them has been lost for eons. In this empire I know of only one person who owns one and that is the emperor himself.”
“What a bummer, but I guess this bag is pretty nice too.”
NICE!? That is the most heavily enchanted bag in the entire city and could almost count as a heirloom of my family.
“I’m sorry I cannot provide Senior with something better.”
“No it’s fine, really…Anyway have a nice evening!”
Wu Jie waved his hand as he began to move in the direction of the wilderness.
This continent sure is terrifyingly huge, the forest I landed in alone is half a million kilometres in diameter and is regarded as a small to medium sized one.
Oh well, more things to explore for me.
He was back in a joyful mood of wanderlust in an instant.
While humming a happy tune back from earth he left the city. His mind began to wander as he travelled on the desolate road.
It seems people do not travel during the night in this world. I wonder why?
“Hey pretty boy, surrender all your belongings without resistance and we will grant you a quick, almost painless death!”
Who would have guessed…
But wait, this is an excellent opportunity. I have so many new weapons to test and there are…
He spread out his senses to know how many bandits there were exactly.
…wow those are some numbers. Approximately one thousand I guess? Hehe, the more the merrier…
He put his hand behind his back and into the enchanted backpack.
Let’s see, I’ll stay classy so I’m gonna start with the long sword.
What came out of the bag was a double edged, straight long sword, its handle jade green adorned with a multitude of profound inscriptions.
He swung the sword three times through the air.
What a nice sword…
“Now then, my dear bandits, thank you for participating in this little experiment of mine.”
The expressions of the people before him changed from aggression to disdain at those words.
“You think you have any chance to survive? Fool, now we will skin you alive! Men! Get him!”
Completely ignoring the one thousand enemies approaching him Wu Jie was contemplating.
Simply killing them by swinging this thing around would be pointless. I have all True Paths at my disposal…hmm…First the Path of the Sword as a foundation, second the “Speed” aspect of the Path of Light. What else?
At this moment the first bandit had reached him.
There was a short flash of light before he simply fell down in two parts, cleanly bisected from his shoulder to his waist.
The others were shocked when seeing this. They did not see what happened at all, their comrade was simply dead from one moment to another.
This shock made them stop for a few moments to process this information.
Nonono, it’s far too crude and not beautiful at all, the power is also really bad.
Alright, I’ll add the “Flowing” aspect of the Path of Water and the Path of Wind in its entirety that should extend my reach by quite a bit and make this technique nice to look at.
Last but not least the “Growing” Aspect of the Supreme Path of Life, which I will balance with the “Death by Time” Aspect of the Supreme Path of Death.
The small army had once again regained their composure by this time.
“So what if he knows some techniques! That sword has to be a high grade one! Brothers! The one who slays him shall receive the sword as a reward!”
The leader’s voice one again resounded in the night.
Just when the bandits prepared to attack Wu Jie swung his sword a second time. Though this time they could see it clearly.
It seemed to move very slowly but in an instant the swing was complete. What remained was an unimaginably thin thread of light which flowed in the air like a ribbon woven from the finest of silk.
But before they could appreciate its sight it had already reached their frontlines and simply went through them before they fell down in pieces.
The light cut through anything it touched and began to grow.
It flowed through the air like smoke in an invisible wind.
This continued for around seven seconds before it was obvious that it was losing power rapidly and finally dissipated.
Wu Jie frowned for a moment before face palming at his own stupidity.
“Shit, I forgot the ‘Devouring’ Aspect…Obviously it can’t grow if it doesn’t eat. Hahaha…”
The bandits on the other hand were utterly terrified now.
In a mere seven seconds dozens of their brothers had died without the chance to resist at all.
The expression of the leader had also turned unsightly.
Shit it’s an expert, we really screwed up this time.
He gritted his teeth.
But he ought to have used up a big amount of his energy with that attack, though I don’t really understand his last statement.
He must be bluffing, yes, that’s it.
He raised his voice to recover his troop’s morale.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“He is hanging on by thread by now! That attack has used most of his energy! Get him!”
The bandits began to move again though this time with more care.
It is quite interesting. It seems like the speed of light in this universe isn’t fixed. Hehe. I want to see a good show so…the speed of sound should be appropriate and 11 seconds should be enough.
The leader of the bandits saw the young man wave his sword again and could feel cold sweat flowing down his back.
There appeared this dreadful sword light again, though it felt distinctly different this time.
The first one felt like every other sword light he had seen, sharp, indomitable.
But this one had a savage feeling to it, like a demon looking at its prey, soon to be devoured.
It reached the first one of his comrades in the blink of an eye and cut him down like before, but at the same time seemed to consume all his blood, as what fell down was but a mummy.
This light too, began to grow at extreme speeds, doubling its size with every passing second.
But to his horror, it did not become weaker this time, quite the opposite, it seemed to grow stronger with each person slain.
After nine seconds all his men were dead and the light was before his eyes.
With a wry smile on his face he prepared himself for the pain to come.
It never came. Everything simply went black.
This terrifying technique brought death at such a speed that the soul did not even have time to realize it died until it found itself in the river of Styx.
“Hmm, faster than I expected. But it is a fine skill indeed.”
A happy smile was on Wu Jie’s face as he moved through the field of corpses and watched his sword light dissipate.
“The only thing missing is a name. I want to teach it after all. Hmm…Flowing Sword … Flowing Light Sword…damn this is hard and my terrible naming sense doesn’t help one bit. Meh, I’ll think of something eventually. It has time until I have to actually write it down.”
What’s next… Oh yeah they need to have some kind of base right?
Nice, only a few thousand metres and… slaves. God dammit.
A few kilometres away from the road a hole was dug inside the side of a small hill.
Two men stood beside it, guarding the entrance.
“You think they will bring back a decent catch again tonight?”
“Hope so man. The other women from a week ago are already overused as fuck. We could need some fresh material.”
“Yeah that’s true. Maybe a few children will be with them too. Then we could finally finish another batch and go to the slave market again.”
“Argh, don’t remind me of those screaming little bastards. I’d even go without a new woman for another week if we could get rid of them instead.”
“Anyway, we’ll se- Hey who’s that?”
Before them a youth seemed to have appeared out of thin air, in his hand he held a straight long sword.
The next moment, he had disappeared again and the world began to spin before the two of them.
With a delay of one second two heads and bodies hit the floor, the faces still displaying a lack of understanding of what happened to them.
The base of the bandits was a simple underground hall beneath a hill with a few side chambers which were used as storage or prison.
There was also a second even bigger one which was used solely as a place to sleep.
Inside the main hall a big bonfire burned in the middle.
The slaves were held in several of the side rooms, divided by gender and age.
Around the fire sat 50 people, all clothed in rough leather armour.
“Hey, isn’t it time for the shift change? Where the hell are those two idiots again?”
“Oh don’t worry about them, you’ll join them soon for a nice long swim in the river of souls.”
All of them froze before jumping up in surprise, their weapons in hand, when they heard the unfamiliar voice from the direction of the entrance.
“Who ar-”
“5 Seconds…”
The voice echoed out with extreme coldness, sending shivers down their spines.
They saw him swing his sword in a slow, relaxed arc, before a thread of light appeared before them almost instantly.
After taking care of the remaining bandits Wu Jie approached the rooms in which the salves were held.
Cutting open the heavy doors he told them to gather at the bonfire.
Due to the fact that most of them had injuries of varying degrees, both physical and psychological, it took a few minutes for them to do so.
In their eyes he could see distrust and fear.
It was understandable. He had no idea how long they had been held captive and what they had to live through during that period of time.
“Now then… Ehm… Right. To get to the point, the bandits are all dead and you are free to go wherever you want. The next town is only a few hours down the street and there should be more than enough supplies and money in this lair for all of you.. So, have a nice life! Ciao!”
With that he turned around and waved at the crowd of 150 ex slaves who were string at him like he was a madman.
He had almost reached the exit when he heard the high voice of a child which had not yet reached puberty.
“Pl…Please wait! Make me your disciple!”
“Huh?”
Astounded he turned around and looked at the young boy who had called out to him.
Well I intended to found a school eventually anyway, but isn’t it a little early? Hmm…
Wait a second! I’ll need elders and guardians and all that stuff for my school! I wouldn’t want to do all the work by myself. Or even better, not have to work at all, only when I feel like it.
If I take personal disciples now it might take longer to get everything started but they will be loyal and in the long run I have less work to do. Once they are at the point where they can improve by themselves I would only need to give them an occasional pointer.
Hehehehe, and I can even make all those arrogant sects eat their words when one of my unknown disciples squishes their top disciples like flies… Muhahahaha!
I’ll also be able to build a reputation for me and myself, making it easier to recruit new people once I found the school in the wilderness.
Last but not least I may be able to make one of them strong enough to give me a decent fight eventually! Though that might very well take a few eons, but still, I’ve got all the time in the world after all!
Oh this is good, good, good! But I can’t just take anyone, they should have a very good comprehension ability at least, anything else is easy to change, but that one is a hassle to increase. But most importantly I hate to talk to dumb people who are all brawn and no brain.
Okay let’s do this, but how should I test them?
Damn that’s difficult…
Oh that could work!
He turned his attention back to the crowd before him which had moved to the back of the hall, away from him.
“Ehrm… why are all of you over there?”
If you had seen your own expression while you were thinking you would do the same!(All of them)
“W-We just couldn’t stand your presence up close venerable Senior.”
All of the ex-slaves gave the old man who spoke up a thumps up in their minds.
Nice save old man!
“Alright? Well it doesn’t matter. All children between the age of 5 and 15, please come forward. I will test if you have the capability to become my disciple, and those who have can then decide for themselves whether they want to or not.”
23 Kids came forward after his request.
Some striding with confidence, mostly the stronger ones of the bunch, while the other had a slight hesitation in their steps.
They stood side by side before him.
“The boy in the back, who is hidden beneath a rag of cloth, why are you still not here?”
The children froze at those words.
They had intentionally put him away while the expert was thinking, hoping he didn’t notice.
The boy was the only one who was not part of their village before the bandits raided them and thus he was shunned.
The fact that he was the weakest, the most frail of all of them only made it worse in a world in which the strong rule.
One of the strongest looking boys who is around 14 years old spoke up after his request.
“Senior, that trash isn’t worthy of yo-”
“Shut up.”
Wu Jie cut him off with a tone so cold, all those present began to shiver. Though if it was from fear or coldness, they themselves didn’t know for sure.
After a few moments one of the adults carried the boy to the front.
He was weakened to the point where he couldn’t even stand by himself, much less walk.
He had a very pale skin which was contrasted by pitch black hair and truly peculiar blue eyes which gave the impression of everlasting ice.
He erected a soundproof barrier around either of them so nobody could hear what was said, not even the other kids.
The weak boy was on the very right, while he walked to the other side of the row.
He came to stand before a petite looking girl, which looked at him with a mixture of curiosity, hope, fear and admiration.
Her hair was a fiery red and one look was enough to know that she had matching temper.
With the sound barrier up and working he looked the maiden in the eye and began the test.
“What is the meaning of life?”
The young woman was caught off guard by this question, but quickly regained her composure.
“Beauty.”
The other children only saw Wu Jies lips move before the girl displayed an astonished expression which was followed by a resolute answer.
Wu Jie said nothing and showed no expression whatsoever and simply moved on to the next in line to repeat the process.
“What is the meaning of life?”
“Power?”
…
“Wealth.”
…
Soon he arrived before the interesting boy on the ground.
None of them have ever thought about it. Maybe I’m too harsh? Nah, I want to train true geniuses, this is the least they should be able to do.
I myself found the answer to this question when I was still on earth at the age of 19 and I am by no means a genius. This is the bottom line.
Though it would be cliché as fuck if it was him who could answer it… But oh well, I’ll see in a few moments anyway.
He looked at the one lying on the ground and asked the same question.
“What is the meaning of life?”
*mumble*
There it was. The one word he had been waiting for.
He had to do his utmost to not his expression slip.
The first step was done.
Let’s see if you really understand what you are saying.
“What gives life its worth?”
*mumble*
Again. Again an almost inaudible whisper and again spot on. How old was this boy? 6? 7 years old?
Wu Jie knew that he had found a true gem at his first try.
He will be a truly worthy first disciple.
Maybe he has even found the answer to that question already?
I have to ask.
“What is death?”
*mumble*
Hah, what a pity, he has not yet found his answer to that one, but this is already for beyond my expectations.
He dispelled the barrier and asked the boy in a formal tone.
“What is your name?”
“He doesn’t have one, Senior.”
One of the adults spoke up. It was the old man who had talked before, he seemed to be the head of the village or something similar.
“He simply came to our village a few days before the bandits raided us. He only wore a few shreds of pelt and collapsed in the middle of the street because of starvation. We tried to get a name too, but he seems to have forgotten who he is.”
Well, that’s interesting.
Wu Jie bent down and touched the boy’s forehead with his index finger.
*whistle*
That is one massive soul for a boy of his age. I guess that is also the reason for his sickness. His body simply isn’t strong enough to handle his soul.
The laws of this world do allow reincarnation, but normally only the core of a soul is reincarnated and not the entire thing.
Maybe something went wrong during the entire process? If not I’ll have a nice little word with the person in charge.
You had one job man!
That is the soul of a what? Around 50 year old man in the body of a 6 or 7 year old? If I hadn’t found him he would be dead in another year.
Luckily for him he doesn’t seem to have cultivated in his previous life or he would be long dead by now, hell he might’ve not even survived the pregnancy.
Though this whole ordeal is easy to fix on my part. Phew, I already feared I’d have to put massive amounts of work into this boy in case his soul was damaged somehow.
Repairing and healing a damaged soul is one pain in the ass, even if you know exactly what to do.
“I’ll skip this part then, you can simply give yourself whatever name you like later. The important question is: Do you want to be my disciple?”
A weak nod and a whispered “Yes” was all it needed to make this one of those rare ‘good’ days.
With a wide smile on his face Wu Jie bent down to pick him up and prepared to leave, now that everything was finished.
“Wait!”
“Oh gosh, what else is it?”
“I can’t accept this! That trash can’t even sit on his own! Every one of us is better than him!”
It was the girl with the fiery hair and temper, he had asked first.
I seemed like she was kind of the boss of the children here.
“I have no obligation to justify my actions, not mentioning that a brat such as yourself has no right to question me.”
“Anybody with eyes can see that what I said is true! I bet you aren’t even that strong to begin with or you wouldn’t have done something so stupid.”
The adults in the back began getting uneasy and ushering the maiden to stop, before their saviour turned against them in the end because they angered him.
“Do what you want…”
With those words he turned around and finally left the cave.
The adults let out a unified sigh of relief at this development. The next moment a woman in her mid-thirties who looked very similar to the girl rushed forward and slapped her, hard.
“What is wrong with you!? You could have gotten all of us killed!”
The others had already begun to scavenge the lair of the bandits and soon the entire group was on the way back to their village, hoping there was enough left of it to rebuild it.