“Looks like a little pipsqueak who’s too big for his britches to me,” the Warrior scowled.

The little girl remained silent.

The silence stretched.

“Not curious, boy?” asked the old man.

But Kai Lan had been thinking. Thinking of a conversation that he’d had with Xia Fei long ago.

“It is our will, our goals, our good qualities and our flaws. It is what drives our techniques and abilities, who we are, and both our place in the world and our defiance of it”.

Kai Lan spoke plainly, “You are my Dao…no…parts of my Dao”.

The three remained silent, but there seemed to be some sort of approval in their eyes.

Kai Lan looked at the Crown, the Sword and the Talisman in turn. Indications of his great potential, his combat prowess, and his knowledge of the Talisman Arts. Then Kai Lan looked back at the Crown.

No, a crown was not simply great potential. A crown was a symbol of leadership, of inheritance. Kai Lan’s eyes shifted again. The Talisman…the little girl stared back at him. Evoking something. Demonstrating power.

The Sword suddenly made sense between the two. Not simply combat prowess, but a warrior’s heart and dedication.

Greed, Ambition, Power. The implications were as numerous for those negative qualities as they were for the positive.

The three seemed to ask him silently from their positions, ‘this power that is yours…what will you do with it?’

Power without a goal was meaningless. He wanted to protect his family, but that did not seem selfish enough to forge as a part of his Dao…or maybe, if he looked at it from another angle it was just selfish enough.

“Authority,” said Kai Lan, “I want the authority to grant peace and prosperity to myself and my Clan. Not an authority granted by others, but the authority that I myself forge, earn and wield with my own abilities. A True Authority that will be unchallenged”.

The old man seemed to smile ever so slightly, “You might just be interesting…”

With that said, his spirit vanished along with the Crown. Kai Lan was not worthy of it. Not yet. He had not earned it. The same with the Sword Spirit, who grinned like he was blood crazed, “I can’t wait to enforce that authority with you”. Then he too vanished with a laugh.

Then Kai Lan turned to the little girl who had stepped forward and took Kai Lan’s hand, placing the Jade Talisman in his hand, then she stepped back and placed her wide sleeves together, giving him a 90-degree bow, “I swear allegiance to Shan Kai Lan and his Dao of True Authority, and I pledge to aid him in his endeavours”.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Then the little girl disappeared into the Jade Talisman in Kai Lan’s hand.

Kai Lan felt the Talisman heat up, then his world seemed to be blinded in a golden light.

Kai Lan felt himself return to the physical burden of his body all at once, and his meridians shattered, expanding far wider than before, then reforming. As Kai Lan checked each of them in order, the felt the Jade Talisman’s presence in the Primary Lung Meridian of his body. He contemplated for a moment before he let it remain there, its presence concealed within him as he stabilised his body in the First Step of the Profound Realm.

Opening his eyes, Xia Fei and Hei Hei smiled back at him, happy for his success. Kai Lan mentioned nothing of the Talisman, nor the spirit of the little girl he was sure was possessed within it. Instead, he continued on with his lessons with Xia Fei.

Now that he was in the Profound Realm, he had the capacity to Materialise his energies as elements. As such, in the months and years to follow as he improved in each step, Kai Lan would learn how to use each element in turn. He would also learn to use energy bursts, and would be able to practice properly in both Talisman and Formation arts via Hei Hei.

*

Meanwhile, in a city called Aili, a two-hour bus ride then a two-hour plane ride from Kai Lan and his continued training, a man who appeared to be no older than thirty opened his eyes quite suddenly. He turned his head, frowning a moment before he burst forth, the doors before him blowing open as he moved through them then turned left, sprinting down the corridor alongside a row of glass high above the flourishing city.

“Elder Tan Ling?”

“Elder Tan?”

Many whom he passed called out in confusion, worry and shock at the Great Elder’s sudden appearance after his five years of closed-door cultivation. While they didn’t dare to get in the Elder’s way, they couldn’t help it as their eyes tracked him, wondering if they should follow or not.

Tan Ling, Great Elder of the Tan Clan, threw open the doors of the God Sword Chamber, the guards hurriedly standing to attention at his surprise entrance. The Great Elder paused in the doorway, eyes fixed on the ancient sword in the centre of the chamber and the guards risked a glance at each other in confusion.

The Sword was right there, what was the Great Elder so worried about?

Suddenly, the Sword shook from where it hovered in the centre of the chamber, and a golden smoke poured from it and revealed a grinning, warrior-like man with a bare chest and a Ceremonial Duelling robe on his lower half. His blood-red hair, tied back by a single pin and hanging down his back, whipped to the side as he turned to look at Tan Ling, the grin never leaving his face.

Tan Ling addressed the Sword Spirit cautiously, “…Xiao Jian”.

The Spirit that had emerged from the sword spoke plainly, “The Successor has claimed Fa Bao”.

“Fa Bao…he found the Talisman?”

But the Spirit said nothing more, just laughed and evaporated into golden mist that returned to the hovering God Sword.

Tan Ling frowned. Then he heard footsteps behind him, and turned to find the current Patriarch of the Tan Clan, Tan Si Li, standing with many of the other high-ranking members of the Tan Clan.

“Elder Tan, is something the matter?”

Elder Tan thought for a moment longer before his eyes widened, “The disturbance in Laou Ren City, how long ago was it?”

“Laou Ren City?” asked Si Li, “Nearly eight years ago I would say, why, whatever is wrong, Elder?”

Elder Tan grinned, “I sensed that Xiao Jian’s spirit was called away”.

Si Li’s eyes widened and he looked behind Elder Tan to see that the God Sword was still present, “…and you have recovered it?”

“He returned on his own,” said Elder Tan, “With a message”.

“A message?” frowned Si Li.

“Summon the Great Clans, this concerns the Successor”.

Gasps of shock rippled through the Tan Clan.

“The Successor…exists?”

“More than that,” grinned Elder Tan, “The Successor has claimed the God Talisman, and if my conjectures are correct, they are only seven years of age”.