As soon as the sun dawned on the sky, the party woke up and continued their journey through the Great Forest. Yuan was tired as he had stayed awake last night to watch if anyone approached. Luckily, no one tried to rob or kill them, but staying awake at night had taken its toll on him. As the party walked through the thick vegetation of the forest, they found a man in his mid-thirties lying on the ground. He looked injured; there was blood on his clothes and he groaned.

Yuan was about to go see what happened to him and aid him when Aaren stopped him. "There is not much we can do for him. Looking after a person that will certainly die will be a waste of time and shall slow us down."

"I cannot just leave him there to die!" Yuan protested.

"He is already sure to die. There are millions of people though who are not certain to die but they will if the medallion does not get to Mount Kunlun in time."

Yuan let out a deep sigh. He was in a dilemma. On the one hand, he could see Aaren's point of view. On the other hand, he couldn't just let this man to his fate and leave him to die if he had even the slightest of a chance to save him. Elder Rong had taught him that every life was valuable and worth saving. Leaving the man to die would go against everything Yuan stood for. From a brief moment, he vacillated but hearing the man screaming forced him to take action.

"It will only take a few minutes!" Yuan said as he rushed towards the man.

Aaren humphed. "Very well... waste time, since you believe we have the luxury to do so."

As Yuan approached the man, suddenly he tried to grab him by the neck. With a swift move, Yuan moved to the right and dodged the attack. "Who are you?!" he shouted.

Instead of replying, the man grabbed a knife he had hidden and slashed frantically at Yuan. Yuan's chest was cut but he swiftly kicked the attacker with a powerful back kick. The man let go of his knife and groaned in pain, this time for real. "I surrender!" he shouted.

"All this was an act?!"

The man smiled. "Well, what can I say? I need to make a living! I don't know any craft and I'm not educated, so robbing travelers is the only way I can make some money. The name is Zhu Ping by the way."

"Brother," Harald interrupted, "shall I chop him to pieces?"

"I would love to see that," Hua said with a smirk on her face.

Yuan clenched his fists. He had to admit that Aaren was right. Not only did he not help anyone, but he wasted time with a fool and almost got robbed by him. 'All this is my fault,' he thought. 'I am far too trusting. Serves me right for believing anyone. I acted like a child.'

Aaren could tell what Yuan was thinking and she smiled. "Take this as a lesson. Never trust someone you don't know. There are far more bad people in this world than good people and you will easily get swindled if you trust everyone."

Seeing Yuan thinking, Ping tried to quietly escape but Harald rushed forward and grabbed him by the hair. He threw him on the ground and put his feet on his neck. "Bastard!" Harald barked as he grabbed his axe.

Ping's face turned pale and he trembled. "Please spare me!" he shouted. "I... I can be of help."

"How so?" Yuan asked

"I know this forest like the palm of my hand. I can be your guide."

"Well... we do need a guide."

"Are you sure we can trust this imbecile?" Aaren asked. "This fool is treacherous by his very nature."

Ping was about to voice his protest when Yuan replied. "I am taking a risk in having him as a guide but we do need someone who knows the forest if we are to make it through without getting lost or ambushed by bandits."

"He is right!" Ping exclaimed. "You do need me."

Hua approached him and pointed her sword at his neck. "Listen scumbag, do not try to fool us. This idiot Yuan may be too kindhearted and not willing to kill you, but I am. I am Lin Hua, Sect Leader of the Blood Sect."

There was cold sweat on Ping's forehead. "Blood Sect?!"

"Yes. I am not known as the Demoness for no reason. So if you try anything funny or lead us to a trap, I will kill you in the most horrible way imaginable."

Ping gulped. "I get your point."

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The sun shone brightly in the sky and birds chirped. Yao and six Kunlun disciples were walking in the grassland, searching for traces of where Cheng Yuan could be. Although Yao was maintaining a calm composure, he was nervous. He hadn't heard from the other groups. He also did not want to disappoint his teacher. His last mission of bringing to Mount Kunlun the Flaming Medallion had gone terribly wrong. Now he had a chance to redeem himself and he wasn't going to waste it. As he walked forward, suddenly a pigeon flew in his direction. It was sent by one of the Kunlun groups. It delivered to Yao a tiny roll of paper stored in a small wooden tube. Yao opened the tube and read the letter.

"It seems that Cheng Yuan is in the Great Forest," Yao said.

"Have they spotted him?" a disciple asked.

"No, but they have discovered traces of where he and his company camped last night. We should message the other groups, so we can all head together in the forest."

Yao had his disciples write letters and send them to the other three groups through carrier pigeons. He also had his personal pigeon deliver another message whose contents and receiver he did not make known to the rest of his group. When the pigeons flew away, he smiled. 'Now, Cheng Yuan, you are finished!'

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"Move!" someone barked. "Move forward!"

The voice came from Yuan's left. "Who is shouting?" he whispered.

"Some bandit most likely," Ping replied. "He must be shouting to a captive. Those unfortunate enough to get caught here become slaves."

Yuan moved to his left a bit and saw a group of bandits. Thanks to the thick vegetation and trees, the bandits did not notice him and the rest of the party. "You are right," he said.

"We should leave," Hua whispered. "There is no need to lose time battling with bandits."

As Yuan was about to agree, he noticed one of the captives. He widened his eyes and gasped. It was none other than General Li, the man who had led the imperial soldiers in the extermination of the Yang Clan. Uncle Luo had told Yuan about Li and reminded him many times that he should seek revenge. This man took away everything Yuan had in previous life as Yang Jing: he massacred his entire family, burned the Yang mansion, desecrated the ancestral hall, laughed at the plight of the Yang family. Yuan felt his blood boiling. His face turned red and he fumed with anger. He clenched his fists and teeth.

Elder Rong had taught him to let go of hatred, stop seeking revenge; he should be seeking justice instead. Yuan, for the most part, managed to follow those instructions when he was on Mount Kunlun. Yet seeing in front of him that man who destroyed his past life and carried out the extermination of his clan, he lost his self-control. He unsheathed his sword and was about to jump forward when Hua stopped him.

"What are you doing?!"

"I... have a personal score to settle with this bastard!"

Hua slapped him. "Come to your senses! This isn't the time for pursuing your own personal agenda. The Orthodox Sects and the Demonic Cult sooner or later will find out where we are. We cannot waste any time."

"She is right," Aaren said. "You pride yourself on being righteous; where is the righteousness in putting the fate of the world at stake in order to pursue some vendetta? I do not know why you hate this man, but you can hunt him down when the Flaming Medallion is in safe hands."

Yuan let out a deep breath. He knew that Hua and Aaren were right. Elder Rong had taught him to think of the greater good. He summoned all his mental strength in order to calm down. "Fine... You are right. We should get going."

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Atop the black tower in the frozen plains, the Demon of Doom was waiting for a report. He was certain that sooner or later his underlings would find out where Cheng Yuan had gone.

A man clad in black rushed towards him, bowed and said, "My Lord, I have news about Cheng Yuan."

"Do tell."

"I've been informed that he and his friends are in the Great Forest."

The Demon smiled. "Good. Order immediately all our men in that area to carefully monitor Yuan and set an ambush. Do not fail me; I want this medallion to be brought here as soon as possible. Young Master Deng won't accept any more delays."

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The sun was sinking lower in the sky, slowly giving way to the darkness of night. The party had been traveling for hours. Everyone was tired by now.

"We should camp here for the night," Ping said. "Further to the north is where most bandits are; we need rest before going into such territory."

"I agree," Aaren said. "Bandits in this place are no ordinary criminals; most of them are battle-hardened veterans and trained in martial arts."

"I will be preparing the fire for the camp!" Harald exclaimed. He then used his axe to cut down a tree. Meanwhile, Hua began practicing her swordsmanship while Ping lied on the ground, resting after such a long day.

Yuan was still thinking about General Li. He finally had a chance to fulfill, at least in part, the oath he gave before the memorial tablets of his ancestors and he threw it away. He knew that this was the right thing to do but he still felt troubled.

"We should meditate," Aaren said.

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"What?"

"Aren't I your teacher? I will be teaching you how to master the levels of Force Formation. Aside from swordsmanship, you will also need to wield the internal energy at your will if you are to safely deliver the medallion to Mount Kunlun. For a start, you need to break through to Level 1 of Force Formation."

Aaren sat cross-legged and Yuan did the same.

"Close your eyes. Clear your mind of all thoughts. Do not let anything distract you. Just feel the essence of the world," Aaren said. "Qi exists in all things. It exists in the trees, the rocks, the dirt, everywhere and anywhere. Breath deeply...feel the Qi of the natural world and it shall be drawn to you."

Yuan was reminded of the first time he had meditated on Mount Kunlun with Elder Rong. He quickly dismissed that thought though as he had to clear his mind of all distracting thoughts. He allowed himself to feel the Qi in all things, to sense the vastness of the universe. On Mount Kunlun Elder Rong had told him about the world's vastness, "we are like dust in a beach, water in the ocean". Now he understood what he meant. He inhaled and then exhaled for hours. His muscles relaxed, his heartbeat slowed. He felt a sense of calmness and peace.

"Good," Aaren said. "You will need to cultivate further but you have taken the first step."

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It was late at night. Yuan couldn't sleep. He gazed at the millions of bright stars and the silver glow of the moon in the dark sky. The stars looked like fireflies, illuminating the atramentous curtain of sky. He could remember his father, Yang Wanli, riding on horseback in charge of troops. He was heading to the north. In his shining armor and with a confident smile on his face, he dazzled all. The people of the capital waved and cheered at their hero. Before leaving, Wanli had told his son that when he would return from the north, he would teach him how to use the spear and lead men into combat. Yuan smiled thinking of those words; they were the last words his father spoke to him. Not long after Wanli's triumph over the Swagen raiders, the Emperor ordered his execution. Yuan clenched his fists thinking about the extermination of his clan. He thought that he could put it behind for now; yet, he simply couldn't. He had to find where Li was and kill him.

He got up and rushed to Ping. "Wake up," he whispered. Before Ping could ask any questions, he shushed him. "Follow me."

Ping followed Yuan as he moved away from the camp. After a few minutes, Yuan could speak without fear of being heard by the others. "The bandits we saw earlier, do you think they have gotten far away by now?"

"No," Ping replied. "Groups that have captives rarely travel fast. They should have camped by now for the night, so in a few hours we should be able to catch up to them."

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For hours, Yuan and Ping traveled through the forest in search for the bandits. Although the darkness of night made it difficult for the two of them to see, as Ping had spent years in this forest he knew where they should be going. After much walking, they finally reached the camp where the bandits had encamped for the night. A small fire lightened up the place, allowing the two men to inspect it from a distance. Li and five other captives were chained to a tree; they had fallen asleep. Yuan could also see the bandits; there were seven of them. Six were asleep and only one was awake; he was guarding the place.

"Give me your knife," Yuan whispered and Ping gave him his knife.

Yuan gripped the handle of the knife by placing the handle across his open palm near his knuckles, wrapping his four fingers underneath and around the handle, and placing his thumb over the top. Yuan then slowly approached the lone guard; his movements were careful and silent. As he got in position, he kept his wrist unbent in order to keep the knife from turning over too much in the air. He placed his weight on his right leg and rested his left foot in front of him. He then raised his right arm and bend at the elbow so that the knife was raised alongside his head. He then shifted his weight from his right to his left leg to create forward momentum. At the same time, he swung his forearm forward from the elbow and released the knife. The knife stabbed the guard's forehead. He let out a cry and died instantly.

The other six bandits, who were sleeping, did not wake up as the cry wasn't loud enough. This gave Yuan the element of surprise. He drew his sword and, walking on his toes, walked towards the bandits. He approached one of them and slit his throat. All this time, Ping was hiding behind a tree and silently watching Yuan. While he was too afraid to try to escape, he wasn't going to risk his life for Yuan either. He would simply wait.

Yuan walked towards a second bandit, who was lying on the ground. As he approached, the bandit suddenly opened his eyes. Seeing Yuan, he was about to warm his comrades when Yuan stabbed his sword into the man's chest. His cry woke up the other four bandits. While the three bandits he had killed were of average height and not very muscled, those four bandits were a good two heads taller than most ordinary men and heavily build.

"Who are you?" one of them asked.

"My name is Cheng Yuan. I want this man," he said, pointing at Li. At this point, Li and the rest of the captives had woke up due to the noise. "If you give him to me, I am willing to spare you. There is no need for further bloodshed."

"Ha!" the man laughed. "You think you can terrify us because you know some martial arts? I will show you what real power is."

The man grasped the trunk of a tree in his arms and after a few rigorous tugs, pulled the entire tree bodily out of the ground and threw it at Yuan. He was barely able to dodge it and fell to the ground. 'That was close,' Yuan thought.

"Attack him!" the man shouted and two of the bandits charged at Yuan with a blood curdling roar of rage. Yuan skipped nimbly around behind the first bandit and shoved him at the second. The two men smashed into each other, toppled to the ground and lost their consciousness. A third bandit attacked Yuan; he slashed downward at him with his sword. Yuan met the bandit's sword with his; the two swords clashed and a 'clang' sound was heard. Yuan remembered Aaren's teachings. He cleared his mind of all distracting thoughts and allowed himself to feel the Qi in nature. He gathered his internal energy and directed it onto his sword. He then struck at the bandit. The man tried to defend himself but his sword was cut in half. Yuan stabbed his chest; the man vomited blood and collapsed on the ground.

"Bastard!" the last remaining bandit barked. "You may think you have won but you are wrong. Aside from us, there is also my Master. He likes to stroll when it is dark but sooner or later he will return to the camp and will kill you. If I do not kill you first, that is..."

He then charged forward with the force of an avalanche. Yuan somersaulted, landed behind the man and slashed at him. The bandit dodged Yuan's sword and managed to pick up the sword of his dead friend. He then struck at Yuan but his swordsmanship was no match for Yuan's. Yuan moved agilely and slashed his sword across the bandit's right cheek. Then he attacked and stabbed his thigh. The bandit cried out in pain; seeing an opening, Yuan slashed his throat. The man fell to the ground, dead.

"Bravo!" Ping exclaimed.

Yuan smiled. "Where have you been all this time? Hiding?"

"No, not at all. I was just making sure that no one was coming," Ping replied.

Yuan sheathed his sword. He then walked towards the captives. He directed his internal energy into his hands and with a swift move broke the chains. Finding themselves freed, the captives bowed before Yuan and began kowtowing. "Thank you!" they said.

"You can all leave except for General Li."

The other captives did not bother to ask why Yuan wanted Li; as soon as Yuan told them to leave, they rushed away. Li himself was surprised that this man wanted him specifically. He figured that he must have been sent by the Imperial Court to rescue him.

"Thank you for rescuing me," Li said. "I was sent here along with troops to bring back an imperial minister who had been captured by bandits but I was ambushed by those bastards. When we return to the capital, I shall make sure to reward you."

Yuan pushed Li to the ground. "I am not here to rescue you; do you know who I am?"

"No, but remember I am an imperial officer; you cannot treat me like that!"

Yuan slapped him hard across the face. "Shut up! You may be a tyrant in the capital where you have the backing of the court and your troops, but here you are nobody. I was- no, I am Yang Jing, a descendant of the Yang Clan. You killed my mother, my brothers, all my relatives and burned my mansion while your Emperor forced my father to kill himself. Now it's payback time."

Yuan punched Li right in the face, bleeding his nose. Yuan would kill enemies only when necessary and would never torture someone, but this time it was different. He wanted with all his heart to slowly and tortuously kill this man. Li had destroyed his life and now he was going to destroy his. Yuan elbowed Li's jaw. He then grabbed him by the hair and punched him thrice in the face; by this time Li's face was bloodied. Still grabbing him by his hair, Yuan pulled Li's face down onto his knee and then kicked him a couple of times.

Ping was surprised at Yuan's anger. Although he did not know him well, from what he had seen Yuan wasn't keen on killing and when he had to, he would do so quickly and with precision. Yet now he seemed to be taking pleasure in slowly beating this man to death. 'Don't know what this Li guy did to him, but it must have been something pretty terrible for him to be so angry,' Ping thought.

"Please...please spare me!" Li cried out.

"Did you spare anyone of the Yang family?" Yuan said. "You killed not only the men but also the women and children. You laughed at our plight, you desecrated our ancestral hall, destroyed the memorial tablets of our ancestors. You showed no mercy. Why should I show any mercy?"

"It was the Emperor who ordered the attack. I didn't want to do this."

"Lies!" Yuan shouted and punched Li's chest, causing him to vomit blood. "You were only too happy to do this. Uncle Luo told me how you were laughing while your soldiers were massacring my kin."

Li fell on his knees. "Please spare me! I will give you all of my wealth! I know was wrong!"

Yuan was about to punch again the man when he remembered Elder Rong's words; "You must remember that every being has innate goodness in it. Subduing wicked people or demons alone does not make you praiseworthy; making them turn over a new leaf will. As such, I expect you not to use your powers irresponsibly, even when you have to deal with the wickedest persons."

Yuan sighed. He slapped Li and said, "If you agree to repent and join a monastery as a monk, I will spare you."

"I promise! I will immediately go join a monastery."

"Good," Yuan said and unsheathed his sword. With a swift move, he cut Li's left hand. Li screamed in pain. "That is payback for your evil deeds. If I find out you reneged on your oath, I will kill you even if it means charging into the Imperial Court."

"You must be pretty good since you managed to kill all my disciples," a voice was heard saying. Yuan turned around and saw a middle-aged man with long black hair and beard wearing a green silk robe. He was armed with a Guandao, a pole weapon which consists of a heavy blade with a spike at the back. The blade was mounted atop a long metal pole. The blade was very deeply curved and therefore solely useful for sweeping cuts. Yuan remembered what the bandit had told him about their master.

"I do not wish any further bloodshed," Yuan said.

"It's too late now to back down," the man said. "I cannot have people say that I let the man who killed my disciples go unpunished. I will become the laughing stock of the Martial Arts World."

"Fine. It is your choice."

Without waiting any further, the man charged forward and with great force slashed his Guandao at Yuan. Yuan was barely able to parry the attack. With two more slashes, Yuan was on the defensive. He directed his internal energy onto his blade, but this had no effect; the man was a master swordsman and his attacks only got more ferocious and fast. Yuan recognized that the man's internal energy was vaster than his. With a swift move, the man slashed his blade across Yuan's upper body.

Ping, seeing how things were going, was about to leave but when he turned around, he saw Aaren. "I was going to inform you," he said with a forced smile on his face. "I wasn't going to leave you."

"Whatever," Aaren said and with a wave of her hand send an internal energy wave at Ping that threw him to the ground.

As the man was about to kill Yuan with his Guandao, Aaren used her internal energy to create a shield around Yuan, thus deflecting the man's blade.

The man gaped in astonishment. "Who are you? You have great command of internal energy."

"I am Aaren. Once I was known as the Lady of Darkness. My command of the internal energy is indeed great; it allows me to manipulate the forces of nature.. and use them against my enemies!"

Suddenly, lightning exploded from her hands. The man convulsed as the violent electrical current pulsed through him.

"Aaah! Please... spare me!" the man shouted.

Unlike Yuan, Aaren was in no mood to spare the man. He was electrocuted to death; as he was dying, his screams could be heard from miles away.

Yuan and Ping were put aback by this brutal display of raw power. Ping was shivering and his heart was throbbing in fear while Yuan closed his ears. Once Aaren was finished with the man, she sent an invincible internal energy wave at Yuan. He was pushed back.

"You truly are an idiot!" she said. "If I hadn't wakened up and found you in time, you would have been killed. The Flaming Medallion would have fallen in the hands of this brute or, even worse, it could have been found by the Demonic Cult. Tens of millions would die then as without the medallion no one can stop the Dark Lord if he is revived. And all of this would have happened because you wanted to pursue some personal vendetta. You put your own emotions before the fate of the entire world. Do not think of yourself as being righteous just because you spout some nonsense about righteousness you heard from your teacher or because you spared that idiot you wanted dead; if you want to be righteous, you must think of the greater good."

Aaren paused for a moment. "Think about all this while we travel. Learn from your foolishness. For next time, I may not be around to save you. And then, you will suffer the full consequences of your actions. Do not expect to be constantly absolved of the consequences of your foolishness. You may be lucky once or twice, but eventually, you will run out of luck."

Yuan nodded in agreement. "You are right. I did act foolishly. I let my hatred blind me. I will learn from my mistakes."

"Good. That is all I ask of you."