Three weeks before the South Aislan Empire's Victory in the Defense of Caroxtel City.
950km West of New Hope Port City.
The southern part of the Lowlands of the South Aislan Continent was an area littered with lush and lonely mountains, gentle and picturesque streams, and scattered explosions of forest features. While the forests made home for the local wildlife, the mountain foot and mountain waist made homes for the local human population. Unfortunately, due to the war for unification raging across the continent, many such mountain communities had been forced to relocate, abandoning hundreds of small hamlets and dozens of villages.
In such a certain unnamed, abandoned hamlet, the solitary figure of a slim scholar was found. Holding a long bamboo pole in his hands, the scholar sat fishing at a local brook. A hand-weaved wooden basket half-filled with fresh water sat next to him and held within it two fat fishes; his prize after fishing for half a day.
The scholar's serene figure, his solitary surroundings, and the picturesque scene all made for a wonderful composition that seemed straight out of a fairytale. Oddly enough, while he wasn't wearing anything on his head to hide his features, the crisscrossing shadows somehow made it impossible to see the scholar's face. This added the attribute of secrecy and mystery to the picture.
Plop! The water beneath his line broke and slight pulling tension could be felt on his rod. Having learned his lesson in the morning, Wuzhi waited patiently. He allowed the fish to tug the hook and test his line; not making any forceful attempts to reel it in. After a dozen or so minutes of patient waiting, Wuzhi felt the resistance on the other end of the line, weaken. This meant that the fish's guard had weakened. Without wasting any time, Wuzhi pulled on the bamboo pole.
Caught off-guard, the fish was pulled beyond the waterline and into the air. Twisting his wrist slightly, he manoeuvred the bamboo pole and threw the fish onto the shore.
Plap! With a fat noise, the catch landed squarely on the rich, earthen soil and started to struggle almost immediately. Wuzhi let out a playful laugh at this sight and quickly moved to collect his catch. Grabbing the struggling fish with his hands, he gently unhooked the tip piercing its mouth and threw the fish into the water-filled basket before closing it. Done with that, he then heavily sat on the ground next to it.
"An entire morning's worth of fishing and my haul is three fat fishes," Wuzhi gently muttered. A smile of satisfaction filled his face as he remarked, "Not bad."
Given that today was his first time fishing, this result was indeed not bad; excellent even.
"Though, I must admit. Fishing is quite the physical activity." He said as he massaged his sore arms and shoulders. He then reclined onto the pleasantly damp earth and lay there surrounded by warm coolness. The immortal sight of Wuzhi lying on the ground next to a brook underneath the shade of lush trees created a sight that was beyond description.
As he lay there with his eyes closed, Wuzhi recalled all that he had learned today.
Fishing was an activity that required three components to succeed. Firstly, the bait; without a sufficiently alluring bait, no creature could be attracted into stepping into his trap. Secondly, the trap had to be harmless at sight but lethal in effect. Finally, a fisherman's patience; without sufficient patience, it did not matter how alluring the bait was nor how cunning the trap was.
As he consolidated this knowledge, a mysterious light flashed within the depths of Wuzhi's pupils. With a soft voice, he recited, "A myriad paths lead to Heaven; many become one. The Heavens have always been the same; it is our interpretation that differs."
"Then where does my Path stand?" he asked himself. "Where does it lead?"
The young scholar felt that he had vaguely grasped something. He did not understand what exactly this thing was but only knew that it was important for the establishment of his Path. Helpless, he could only engrave this feeling in his mind.
Such an incident might seem incomprehensible and beyond strange to an ordinary person. They might even ask, 'How did the act of fishing suddenly turn into a discussion about the Heavens and the Paths?'
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To Wuzhi, however, such an event was a regular occurrence. He had been having such incidents since his childhood years. Rolling in the mud would cause him to realize the vastness of heaven and earth. Drinking a cup of water would result in him comprehending the life cycle of living organisms.
It was said that the 'Stars' or 'Heaven's Chosen' were often mind-numbing geniuses whose intellects went beyond traditional common sense. They seemed to have an innate gift that allowed them to comprehend the Paths in ways that were never thought of before; hence resulting in the creation of new Paths.
And even amongst these heaven-blessed Stars, Wuzhi seemed to be a special case. He was a very special Star.
After lying down for a few minutes, Wuzhi suddenly shot up. A mysterious light shined from his eyes as unknown characters began revolving within their depths. Subconsciously, Wuzhi began moving his hands and started drawing on the ground. He seemed to be calculating something.
It was only after ten full minutes did he snapped out of this mystical state. An enigmatic smile occupied his face and a strange twinkle shined in his eyes. "Haha," he laughed. "The rabbit is finally here."
Rising to his feet, Wuzhi grabbed the wooden basket and entered one of the abandoned houses that he had appropriated for his use. After putting down the basket in one corner, he started readying himself for the upcoming encounter.
It was time to hunt a rabbit.
---
"Damn it! Damn it!! Damn those ungrateful whelps! Damn those traitorous curs!! Damn that pipsqueak who still smells of his mother's milk! Damn it! Damn them all!!!" Ferdinand cursed up to the heavens with furious breath. His entire face was red-hot with anger and frustration.
His backstabbing had failed and he had been ousted by his very own men. As a leader and a nobleman, there was nothing more insulting than this to him.
Gripping tightly the reins of his horse, which was half-dead from exhaustion, Ferdinand continued his cursing. "This is all the b*tch's fault! She was the one who sold me the wrong information and caused me to lose! If I could just get my hands on her! I would strip her bare, whip her back, and throw her to the lowest of brothels to be violated until death! That damned b*tch!!"
"Hyah!" He furiously whipped his horse once again, poorly venting his overflowing emotions. The creature underneath him let out a mournful neigh before speeding up once again. From the way its eyes were spinning, it was evident that the steed would not see the light of the next dawn.
"Damn horse too! Quicker! Be quicker, you--!" The rest of his words were caught in his throat. Ferdinand felt the balance underneath his legs, shift. An unstoppable force overcame his body, causing him to lean forward. And before he could make sense of what was happening, Ferdinand was thrown forward.
"ARGHH!!" Caught by surprise, Ferdinand screamed his lungs out while flying forward with irresistible momentum. His body tore through the air, heading towards certain doom.
However, Ferdinand was no novice. While he had been initially caught by surprise, he regained his calm quickly enough and managed to react in time. Activating his Core and rousing his Energy, he forcibly twisted his body and blunted his momentum. The initial trajectory, which should have resulted in him crashing face-first into a boulder, was abruptly changed to awkwardly fall directly down. It was akin to a flying ball suddenly gaining massive weight and falling right down.
Ferdinand used some Path Techniques to achieve this effect.
SPLASH! Ferdinand fell straight down with a large splash. As it turned out, directly underneath him was a small marsh; a mud swamp. Falling directly into the filthy, stinking mud, Ferdinand was covered head-to-toe in filth.
"ARRGHH!!" With a heavens-shaking scream, Ferdinand roused his energy once again and directly leapt out of the swamp. He quickly landed on the nearby solid ground and began coughing out the filth that he had accidentally swallowed upon entry.
After a good ten seconds of spitting out the contents of his mouth and stomach, Ferdinand turned his eyes toward his whimpering horse. He found it some distance away, twitching on the ground while letting out whimpering neighs. A close look at its body revealed its horribly mangled legs. They were broken.
Being an experienced man, Ferdinand soon pieced together the events which had unfolded. And just as he thought, he spotted a cleverly hidden rope trap which was the cause behind his sudden accident.
"What a shame." A sudden voice sounded. Ferdinand immediately sharpened his senses and roused his caution.
The bushes next to his dying horse parted and out came a tall, slim figure dressed in long scholarly robes and a bamboo hat that hid his face. The scholarly figure seemed to be a multitude of different items on his body, chief among which were six long swords positioned by his waist.
The figure cast a pitying glance at the struggling horse. He then unsheathed one of the six blades by his waist and plunged the armament into the horse's chest; precisely stabbing its heart.
"A horse with its legs broken is no different from a dead horse," the figure softly spoke. "Shush. Don't struggle." The steed quickly grew still.
Having granted the pitiful creature its release, the figure then turned to face Ferdinand.
Finally gaining sight of the figure, Ferdinand found him to be a young scholarly youth. Strangely, however, he just could not seem to pinpoint how this youth looked. This strangeness, coupled with the fact that he had clearly fallen into a trap laid by the other party, Ferdinand cautiously asked, "Who are you?"
The scholarly youth did not reply to his question. Instead, he said, "Ferdinand Sinna de Auberville, for your crimes against the heavens you will be swiftly executed. Please do not resist."
Taking a step forward, the figure finished, "For this is the will of the heavens!"