Qingxao Sect was located on the foot of Qingxao Mountain. When Feng arrived there with Tang, he was left awestruck by the beauty of the landscape. The landscape was every vivid color. The brilliant greens banished every dark thought. The flowers lay scattered on the grass like frozen flames. Their petals were delicate works of art. The air was perfumed by their heavy scent; it was exquisite, fragrant.

Tang smiled when he saw Feng’s reaction. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It is…”

“Well, if the Immortal Masters of Qingxao agree to take you in, you will be able to see this view every day.”

As soon as Feng and Tang reached the Qingxao Sect, they were led to the Main Hall where the Immortal Masters of the Sect were waiting for them. The hall was spacious and the ceiling seemed to be twenty feet high. The five Immortal Masters were sitting on golden seats and wearing long blue silk robes. On the left were Master Xuan, a short man with long grey beard and bald head, and Master Rong, the best swordswoman of Qingxao Sect. On the right were Master Jing, a tall and sturdy man, and Master Peng, who had the looks of a refined scholar and looked far younger than he really was. On the center was Sect Leader Sheng, a tall man with long white hair and an aura of authority in him.

Tang bowed before the Masters and Feng quickly did the same.

“Mr. Tang, you may rise.”, Master Sheng said. “You are a friend of our Sect, so there is no need for such formalities.”

Tang got up and replied, “Immortal Masters, I want to ask you a favor. I found this young man on the foot of Changsan Mountain. He had been injured and has lost his memories. He has no place to stay but he looks like a hardworking and decent man. So I would like to ask you on his behalf to allow him to join your Sect.”

Hearing this request, the Masters whispered among themselves for a few moments. Feng was nervous and his heart beat fast. He was doubtful that the Sect would accept him, especially since they knew nothing about his background.

“Why was he injured so badly?”, Master Rong asked Tang.

The old man thought for a moment before replying. “I…really do not know. It seems that he was injured by a martial arts technique of awesome power.”

“He may have been injured by Yang Jiang.”, Master Xuan said. “That Demon was on that mountain at that time. During his escape, he might have encountered this young man and attacked him.”

“Possibly.”, Master Sheng said. He then turned to Feng and asked, “What is your name?”

“My name is Qiang Feng.”

“So, Qiang Feng, you seem to me like a decent person. You are accepted to our Sect. You will be placed under Master Xuan.”

Hearing this, Feng smiled and frantically kowtowed. “Thank you Masters! I shall not let you down!”

Feng followed Master Xuan to the Hall of his Sector. Master Xuan was the head of the ‘Fast Sword’ Sector, one the five Sectors of the Qingxao Sect. That Sector focused on agility and speed to overwhelm the enemy. Master Xuan himself had a reputation of a strict but caring teacher.

That hall was far less spacious than the Main Hall of the Sect and was much more modest. Xuan sat on a wooden seat and Feng kowtowed thrice before him. “Master, I shall do my best to work hard and not disappoint you.”

“Do you know what we in the ‘Fast Sword’ Sector value the most?”, Master Xuan said. “Honesty and hard work. If you want to be a student here, you will have to be honest and hardworking. Otherwise, I will kick you out of the Sector!”

“I understand.”

“Good. Now, tell me, why do you want to learn martial arts?”

Feng had never really thought much about this before and so he was taken aback by the question. He was mostly dazzled by the reputation of Qingxao Sect and how awesome their martial arts were. “To be honest, I want to learn martial arts because I have heard how awesome the martial arts of Qingxao Sect are.”

Xuan sighed. “Learning martial arts is not for showing off! It is for standing up for the weak and battling injustice. You have must have the whole world in your heart, not just yourself. Do you understand this? Because I do not want to have a student who thinks only about himself and does not have the world in his heart.”

Before, Feng had never thought about the world; about standing up to injustice and protecting the weak. ‘Maybe this is my purpose in life?’, he thought. As he had lost all his past memories, he felt that he missed a purpose in his life; he did not have goals to achieve. Now, at last, he had. “I understand Master. I will have the whole world in my heart and will always think of the greater good.”

“Good. Now, go get some rest. Tomorrow morning you will begin training.”

Feng left behind the hall and began strolling in the Sector’s garden. The garden was relaxing and calming. Bonsai trees lined the perfect lawn in their wooden boxes. In the center there was a pond as large as a small lake with flowering lily pads and a wooden bridge that crossed the middle. Feng marveled at the beauty of the garden and was able to empty his mind of all thoughts and just relax. Too many things had happened recently; he lost his memories, he was accepted into the Qingxao Sect. So he needed a moment of relaxation and calmness.

As Feng was strolling in the garden, a young man approached him. He had thick eyebrows, large eyes and a sturdy and strong stature. He greeted Feng and said, “My name is Zhang Xiao. I am a fellow disciple of Master Xuan.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Feng smiled. So far, aside from Master Xuan, no one else had approached him, so he was delighted that at last someone was willing to be friendly. “My name is Qiang Feng. I am glad to meet you.”

“I heard what Master Xuan said to you; he may look strict and harsh but he cares deeply about all his students. Anyway, since you are new here, let me show you around.”

Feng followed Xiao around as he showed him around the buildings.

“So”, Feng said, “how many years have you been here?”

“About ten years. My father was a friend of Master Xuan, so he asked him to teach me. My father was a great martial artist, but he thought he could not instill me enough discipline; that’s why he asked Master Xuan to teach me.”

When he was talking about his father, Xiao was smiling. But his smile was sour and Feng could notice that something was troubling him.

“Don’t want to be nosy in your personal affairs, but you do look kind of sad when you talk about your father.”

Xiao grinned. “Sorry, I didn’t want to sour your day. It’s been two years since my father was killed but I still cannot help but feel sad when I talk about him.”

“I am sorry to hear that. If you don’t mind me asking this, how was he killed?”

Xiao clenched his fists. “That evil Demon Yang Jiang killed him. Master Xuan says that I should not think of revenge but if one day that bastard falls in my hands, I will make him pay for what he did to me…”

“If that day comes, I will help you kill him. You are the only student here who seems to be friendly to me, so even though I know you for less than an hour, I guess that I can consider you a friend.”

“Well said!”, Xiao said and laughed. “We can be considered friends.”

Next morning, Feng began practicing the Sector’s swordsmanship in the garden. Master Xuan was instructing him. “Our Sector’s sword technique relies on speed and agility. What you need to do is to be fast and strike precisely. Be quicker than the enemy and overwhelm him with constant attacks. He will not have time to think how to defend himself or where the next strike will be and thus you will be able to defeat him.”

Feng followed his Master’s instructions. He performed intricate and fast sword forms. The whooshing sound of the sword revealed the great strength put into each form. One attack came after another in quick succession. Feng was fast, precise and overwhelming. The next few days, Feng improved his swordsmanship even more; he became faster, more agile, his movements were more intricate and his attacks seemed more unexpected. Master Xuan was surprised to see how easily Feng seemed to have mastered the sword forms.

“You have managed to master in three weeks what many cannot master in years.”, he said to his student. “I have never in my life seen a student progress as fast as you have. I am pretty sure that before you lost your memories, you were an experienced swordsman. That’s the only logical explanation.”

Feng thought about it for a moment. “I do believe so. I do not remember anything about my past life, but I do feel I may have been a swordsman.”

“Now that you have mastered our sword style, you must cultivate your Qi and learn to use your internal energy.”

Xuan explained him the breathing technique and how one’s internal energy can be used. Feng listened with the utmost attention and breathed as Xuan instructed him to. But he could feel that something wasn’t right.

“I want you to try and fly with your sword!”, Xuan said.

Feng tried to use his internal energy to lift the sword but nothing happened. He tried again with the same result. “Why I cannot use internal energy?”, Feng wondered.

“Maybe you need more practice.”, Xuan replied. “You may have been able to learn fast the sword forms, but you may want to take this more slowly.”

Feng practiced the whole day but to no avail. The sun fell behind the horizon. The twilight faded to blackness. It was late in the night yet Feng was still practicing under the starless, moonless sky. He was still trying to understand what was wrong with his internal energy. He was sweat and exhausted. But most of all, he was frustrated. He felt as he might explode. He sighed and took a deep breath. “Why I can’t use my internal energy at all?”

“You should get some rest.”, someone said. Feng turned around and saw that it was Xiao.

“Having trouble sleeping?”, Feng asked.

“Yes. So I went to take a walk and found you here still training. You should rest a bit. You have been training too much.”

“I guess so.”, Feng admitted. “But I do not understand why I cannot use my internal energy.”

“I don’t get it either. You were able to learn the sword forms of our Sector pretty fast, so you are neither dumb nor talentless. But for some reason you cannot use your internal energy despite the fact that less talented students than you have been able to learn the basics of it in only a few hours.”

Suddenly, someone screamed. The scream wasn’t loud enough to wake up those who were sleeping, but Feng and Xiao were able to hear it.

“What was that?”, Feng asked.

“Don’t know. It seemed to come from there.”, Xiao replied and pointed at one of the buildings. “We should go check it.”

Before they could do so, suddenly a shadowy figure appeared in the garden and flung darts at the two students. Xiao dodged the darts while Feng used his sword to parry them. “Who are you?!”, Feng shouted.