Yi Shan stands motionless at the heart of the forest, his mind struggling to process the events that had just unfolded.
Before him, the Baek Clan members remain frozen in disbelief, their faces painted with awe at the spectacle they had recently witnessed.
Baek Meng rubs his eyes vigorously, trying to convince himself that what he witnessed wasn't a dream.
Baek Long, the first to stir, begins to approach Yi Shan—only to be halted by a sudden shout from Baek Meng.
"Stop!"
Baek Long then sensed a hand on his shoulder and noticed Baek Meng.
"Do you have a death wish, Long?"
Baek Meng locked eyes with Baek Long, his gaze stern yet flickering with a subtle glint of despair.
"His sword's broken, now's our chance, Meng."
Baek Meng's voice cuts through sharply.
"Muscle-head, think for a moment."
Baek Long's face drains of color at Baek Meng's words.
"You mean he—?" Baek Long stammers, his voice unsteady.
"He defended against a Core Formation-level attack." he finishes swiftly, disbelief creeping into his tone.
Baek Meng gives a curt nod and strides away, leaving Baek Long behind to explain the situation to Baek Wu.
Baek Long shifts his gaze back to Yi Shan, panting like a haggard beast, each breath rattling through his exhausted body.
Yi Shan hadn't moved an inch since the shattering of his sword. He remained frozen in the same stance he used to repel the beam of rainbow light as if locked in time.
Around him, the pieces of his broken sword lie scattered, each fragment casting shimmering reflections onto his face.
Among the glittering shards, Yi Shan's eyes settle on one particular piece. In its glimmer, he sees the image of a small boy wearing a beanie, staring back at him.
The boy's face is a blend of fear and confusion, emotions swirling together like the perfect, volatile concoction.
Behind him, a small dagger—no bigger than an adult's hand—rests precariously close, glinting dully in the dim light.
The boy's back is pressed against a towering stone wall, his small frame dwarfed by its imposing presence.
Before him stands a rugged mountain bandit, his rough features twisted into a menacing grin, exuding the kind of cruelty born from a lifetime of crime.
The bandit moves closer, step by step until he stands just inches from the boy.
The boy, gathering what little courage he has, reaches for the dagger behind him, but the bandit notices and swings his sword swiftly at the child.
Clang.
The sword and dagger collide in mid-air.
The boy parries the sword, and in one fluid motion, lunges for the bandit's abdomen.
The bandit, however, is too quick, and dodges the strike with ease.
'Runt! I'll make mince meat out of yo—'
Before he can finish, his head is severed cleanly from his neck.
As the bandit's body slumps to the ground, the figure of a woman steps forward, her sword dripping with blood.
She rushes to the boy, her eyes frantically surveying his body for injuries.
"Young Master, are you okay? Were you hurt? Did that bandit do anything to you?"
The boy, drops his dagger and mumbles, "I'm fine, Auntie."
The woman pulls him into a tight embrace.
"I said I'm fine," the boy insists, wriggling slightly in her arms.
The woman strokes his head gently, soothing him.
"I'm fin—"
Sniff
"Uwa!"
"You don't have to worry. Auntie's here now."
The boy's cries echoed through the stillness of the night.
"Take my hand, and we'll leave, okay?"
The woman grips the hand of the boy and begins moving.
Bodies are piled and littered everywhere, both friend and foe.
The boy soon arrives at the entrance of the Shan family estate.
His gaze locks on a familiar couple—his parents—who are frantically searching for him.
As soon as their eyes meet, his mother rushes toward him, pulling him into a tight embrace.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Shan-er, you're okay."
Tears leak out of Yi Shan's mother like a towering waterfall.
"You're okay."
Yi Shan hugs his mother tightly.
"I'm okay, mother, I'm okay."
The scene changes to Yi Shan sitting inside a guest room, as the Shan family estate was recently ransacked by the bandits and is in a terrible state.
The small boy's eyes are hollow as he keeps pondering the same question, reliving the same scene, and remembering the bodies piled outside the estate.
'Could they have been saved?'
The Shan family had increased security ever since the attack.
The security around Yi Shan had also increased, because of the close call he had previously.
Yi Shan spent the next decade studying rigorously in the Shan estate under the strict surveillance of his parents.
Upon reaching the age of 17, after much convincing, his parents gave in and let him take the official exam to become a state-recognized scholar.
Yi Shan hugs both of his parents tightly before saying goodbye to his aunt, Li Shi.
"Be safe, Young Master," she says, gently tousling Yi Shan's hair.
"I will. After all, who wouldn't want to keep this handsome face safe?."
"Goodbye, Mother and Father. I'll come back with good news, hopefully."
Yi Shan waves farewell to his parents and climbs into the carriage.
"We can move now, Mr. Fang."
"Understood, Master Shan."
With a firm pull on the reins, the carriage driver sets the horses in motion, and the carriage begins to roll away.
The scene changes to a ginormous city.
Yi Shan strolls through the bustling streets of Gyushan, his gaze wandering over every detail, mesmerized by the beauty surrounding him. His mind, like that of a child seeing the world for the first time, is captivated by the city's grandeur. Each new sight is a marvel—vibrant markets, intricate stonework, and towering pagodas—eye candy for someone who had lived most of his life in isolation since the fateful bandit attack.
Gyushan, the pride of the Bong Clan, stands as the heart of Bong Clan territory and the hub for the prestigious imperial exams. The city's splendor is envied by many, and its architecture is praised even by the most skilled artisans.
The Bong Clan's legacy lies in its unmatched ability to produce talents that shatter the heavens with their artistry. Yet the secret behind their gift remains a mystery, even to the clan itself. Some whisper it to be a blessing from an ancient ancestor, long gone and forgotten, though such claims are little more than speculation.
But none of this matters to Yi Shan as he wanders the streets, his heart lightened by the city's wonders, soaking in every experience he had been denied for so long.
As he strolls through the streets, new sword in hand, his eyes come to rest upon a particular stall.
[Martial Arts Manuals: Saint Edition]
After a bit of hesitation, Yi Shan arrives at the stall and locks eyes with the vendor.
The vender's face instantly glows upon seeing Yi Shan's bemused face and he bolts upright.
"Ah, welcome friend, to my wonderful stall."
The bandit shakes hands with Yi Shan and continues.
"What brings you today to my humble stall today?"
"Um, I, uh, wish to buy a martial art-"
The vendor, a bit sly, stops him from completing and immediately replies.
"Ah, a martial arts manual."
"Yes."
The vendor sizes up Yi Shan and begins rummaging through a chest inside his stall.
"I have the perfect thing for you, my friend."
From the chest, he pulls out a red book, its cover embroidered with intricate red beetles, their glossy patterns catching the light as if they were alive.
"The Red Beetle's Symphony."
Yi Shan snapped back to reality upon hearing the word "beetle".
"Do you have anything else?"
"You don't want this? It's the perfect technique for beginner martial artists. They say the Great Saint, Jiachong, obliterated an entire army using chopsticks."
The vendor inches closer to Yi Shan, separated only by a hair's length and adds.
"He was the creator of this manual, by the way."
At his words, Yi Shan gulps.
This was all the vendor needed to see as he had already started to pull out more and more books.
"The Dancing Grasshopper"
He then went on to explain the story of the Great Warrior Zhameng and how he saved a city from Hualing's army.
The vendor didn't stop there, oh no, he went on for an hour advertising ten different manuals with overblown stories.
Like the story of Taegang and how he overturned a mountain using only his martial arts skills.
In the end, Yi Shan could be seen strolling through the streets of Gyushan holding a stack of manuals in both hands.
Yi Shan finds a nearby inn, books a room for a week, and hits the hay.
A few hours pass.
Yi Shan is seen tossing and turning in his bed.
He finally stops thrashing and lies flat on his back, staring at the ceiling.
His head turns toward the manuals he bought earlier.
For a moment, Yi Shan hesitates—but then, he gives in to the intrusive thoughts.
He jumps out of bed, hastily, and grabs The Red Beetle's Symphony.
Holding the book, he flips through the pages of The Red Beetle's Symphony.
With each turn, a pleasant surprise washes over him, and his initial skepticism fades as his opinion of the manual shifts.
"This isn't half bad."
He eagerly continues reading until his eyes land on a particular page, and his enthusiasm suddenly pauses.
"A THOUSAND DIFFERENT STANCES?"
His eyes hover over a certain stance among them all.
His eyes lock onto one particular stance—a man balancing upside down on his hands.
"Huh? How is that going to help?"
As Yi Shan reads more and more, doubt seeps into him.
With each new stance he examines, frustration builds, and the urge to curse out the vendor grows stronger.
The final straw is when his eyes settle on a certain stance.
Overwhelmed with frustration, he builds up momentum and hurls the manual across the room.
"You call that a martial arts stance?" he shouts, exasperation thick in his voice. "The illustration was sipping orange juice! It was straight out of a children's playbook!"
Yi Shan looks over to the other manuals.
He picks up the Dancing Grasshopper and flips through the pages.
The manual is well-crafted at the start, but this quality doesn't last long. As Yi Shan delves into the martial arts section, the content begins to degrade significantly.
"Wait a minute..."
Yi Shan puts the manual down and begins reading the remaining martial art manuals.
He read the manuals one by one from top to bottom.
"I feel a strange sense of deja vu."
Yi Shan continues flipping until he reaches the fateful page.
The glorious illustration of a man drinking orange juice.
Yi Shan finally realized a crucial fact.
Each manuals martial arts page was the exact same.
Angered by the obvious scam he had just fallen into, he picks up a random manual and readies himself to tear it apart.
"That vendor better pray fate keeps us apart." said Yi Shan with a massive bulging vein on his forehead.
This anger, however, is quickly subdued by the thought of the money he spent to buy these.
"I can't waste so much money." said Yi Shan with genuine pain in his heart.
Yi Shan finally put the manual down and decided to try his luck out on the remaining manuals.
"One of these oughta be a genuine copy right?."
Yi Shan swiftly made his way from the third manual to the ninth.
Upon finishing the ninth manual, his gaze settled on the last manual left.
A pinkish manual, one with flowers embroidered onto the cover.
Its pinkish color was dulled in several spots, indicating the passage of time.
He grabs the book and begins to read.
"Heavens Above! Please don't let my money go to waste.", Yi Shan prayed.
As he flipped through the pages, a miracle happened.
"This has a different martial arts page." Yi Shan mumbled enthusiastically.
As Yi Shan continued to read, a light shone onto the pages of the book.
Snapping out of his trance, he jumped out of bed and opened the window, only to see the rising sun.
"Shit, I didn't get any sleep."
Yi Shan turned around and was about to hit the hay until...
[IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO ALL ASPIRING SCHOLARS:
The Imperial Exams, originally scheduled for the 622nd year of the Gyu Calendar, will be held earlier than planned due to unforeseen circumstances. Please report to the exam hall within four hours to sit for your exam.
And finally—no retakes will be offered!]
Chapter 9: Thousand Demon Blade (5)