The cave entrance was in a very remote location on the mountain. Its entrance was so hidden that even if you lived on the mountain for years, the chance of you stumbling upon it was slim.  Hidden behind a wide variety of vegetation was a small almost unnoticeable entrance and beside it stood Jian together with the same two retainers as he used yesterday when walking up the mountain.

“Light a torch and let’s check it out”

“Are you sure young master?”

“It might be dangerous!” The other one said. They would usually not usher out any concerns regarding their young master’s actions but loitering around in a cave was one of the most unsafe actions they had seen him taking. He was known for remaining in the shadows, instructing people to do his bidding while he was focusing on other things, but not this time. As soon as he had gotten the report of where the cave entrance was, he had rushed off to explore.

“The only person to enter this cave in the last ten hours was the young man named Yun, am I correct?”

“Yes, Young Master”

“Then we are fine. The chance that they have hidden forces beforehand in this cave is very low.”

“And even if that is the case, you are both in the Ki Realm of martial cultivation and adept fighters.”

The retainers could only nod in response. The young master’s remarks were indeed spot on and were hard to repute. Their master was determined to explore the cave even to the degree of presenting counter arguments, how could they as retainers continue to rebuke their master?

As they stepped in their shadows dissolve into the surrounding darkness. It was dank and the only sound that could be heard was the dripping water. Small, loose stones littered the floor and the torch shone a beam across the darkness. Even if the torch’s light was heavy they had to move around by following the damp wall of the cave with their hands.

“It’s surprisingly large in here” Jian remarked as the torch beam illuminated their surroundings.

“Watch out for that rugged stone young master” One of the retainers said as he caught glance of a sharp stone on the floor. This was actually the second time he had seen one, some stones were actually lethally sharp.

“No need to remind me, as I said I have rather keen senses.” This was indeed true. Jian had caught the stone even before the Ki Realm retainers had caught a glimmer of it.  Navigating in the caves proved harder then he first though as the cave width was bigger than first anticipated.

The three men continued their journey down the damp cave. 

“The heavenly Ki is actually getting thicker by the minute!” Jian couldn’t be happier by this point. Would they soon come upon a hidden treasure or the center of the entire spirit vein? The prospect of finding either of those things made Jian happy. Cramped up in the city had left many things to the imagination; the thought of an adventure had sparked a flame inside Jian very being.

Soon they came up a crossing, before them were two paths. The cave was splitting in two directions.

“Hmm, two paths”

Suddenly a heavy wave of Heavenly Ki came pouring out from the left entrance, the degree of thickness was seriously shocking.

“Young Master, the left entrance is probably leading to the heart of the spirit vein.” Both the retainers were shocked by the pure amount of Heavenly Ki that had come pouring out and waves of equal amount of Heavenly Ki was continously coming their way. The rhythm almost like a heartbeat, the prospect of cultivating in such a location made both of the retainers sweat.

But Jian was not in the least drawn by the massive Ki waves that kept pouring out from the left entrance. Instead his eyes kept looking in the right direction as a weird feeling came rushing over him.

“I want to go right” Was the word that left his mouth.

The retainers stared at each other in confusion as they looked over at their young master. One of them couldn’t help but ask.

“Why Young Master? The Ki from the left direction is definitely leading to the center of the spirit vein.” The center of the spirit vein meant the place where Heavenly Ki was most abundant a godsend location for any martial cultivator. But for some reason their young master wanted to go in another direction..

“I don’t really know. It feels like something is calling upon me.” Jian couldn’t really put the feeling into words. Never had he been so confused regarding his own feelings.

The retainer could only nod. They had no authority of this young masters actions, he was the successor of the Bai Family and his status incredibly high. 

The path was dark and eerie as they walked along its path the eerie feeling continued to grow. It didn’t take long before the retainers understood why their master had chosen to walk this path, only after a couple of meters along the path a thick miasma could be felt in the air. A minute later the miasma was so thick that walking was actually becoming harder.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“Young master I have a bad feeling about this”

One of the retainers couldn’t help voicing out. His breathing was slightly off sounding almost out of breath. It was worth noticing that this retainer was Ki realm cultivator and was not easily out of breath. But there was something off with this tunnel, something that kept draining their energy. As soon as the effect had become apparent they voiced out.

“I agree. This tunnel is actually draining our energy.” It was hard to put into word. Their Ki lake was actually not affected but they kept getting more tired for some reason.

As Jian turned around a bright smile was actually looming on his face.

“I know it’s pretty amazing”

“The feeling of something calling me is only getting stronger the farther we go along this tunnel.”

This must mean something amazing is at the end of this tunnel was what Jian thought. The adventurer in him had flamed up.

The retainer could only frown. Instead of heeding their warning their young master had instead taken it as an encouragement and a call for adventure.

“We should turn back, young master”

“No we continue. If we spot any danger I promise we will turn back!” Jian said with firm certainty. Jian was not a reckless person in nature, but could not help but intrigue his curiosity. This feeling of something calling him was too great to leave in the dust.

A minute later a hard sound crept up Jian’s ear. This was very noticeable since the tunnel was entirely quiet. Surprisingly the sound came from behind him and not from the end of the tunnel. As Jian turned around he saw that one of his retainers had actually collapsed.

“What?” Jian asked in confusion. The pressure the atmosphere held was indeed mighty, but Jian did not even feel himself sweating. Yet his mighty Ki Realm retainer had actually collapsed on the floor and as his eyes wandered to the other retainer he caught sight of a man completely exhausted.

“Young master, the pressure is taking a toll” The now only standing retainer said. Clear worry could be seen in his eyes.

“Are you okay?” Jian said in confusion and slight concern. One had to know that these men were people of the Bai clan, his clan. As Jian ran over to assess their condition, the completely exhausted retainer also collapsed. As he fell both worry and fear could be seen across his face.

“Shit!” Jian could only voice out in response. As he laid his hands on their body he could still feel their heartbeat. It was normal, steady and healthy. Their bodies though seemed strained, like they had under gone a very intense body work out.

“Should I take them back?” Jian spoke out loud. As he turned around and gazed into the never-ending darkness that was the tunnel, the feeling of something calling him once again came upon him. It was mighty, even his heart was itching in longing, it told him to go and never look back. It was a weird situation since his brain was constantly screaming something different.

“hmph, what a weird adventure” Jian couldn’t help but sight, this was indeed a weird situation. He could be in danger but his senses told him otherwise, his brain told him to go back, but his heart told him to go.

Jian rose to his feet. Looked in both directions and scratched his head.

“I feel like if I don’t go I will regret it”

“I will come back for you!” Jian said truthfully as he continued to traverse along the dark eerie tunnel.

The miasma in the air grew fiercer and fiercer even Jian was beginning to sweat in the end. But a certain feeling kept making him press on, his heart was pounding wildly and his brain was working in overdrive. What the hell is this place?! Was the thought that kept pounding inside his brain. As the minutes passed the pressure continued to beckon, louder and louder. As Jian was beginning to regret his decision to continue on an opening could be seen with beam of light coming from the torch.

“YES!” Jian actually screamed out his frustration.

What came into view shocked him to his very core.

A hall came into view, pillars tens of meters high beckoned on the side, the cave floor disappeared and a dark plated floor came into view. In the center a majestic platform rose up, emitting an aura of despair. Below sat a youth, a youth with black hair and above him laid a sword,

A lonely sword.