Novel Ambitions of an Immortal ( Chapter 16 is up! )

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Chapter 9: A Bad Feeling


The main road to the Palace was as smooth as a carpet, not once did the carriage veer off course due to cracks or potholes. Due to its frequent usage, the main road of the City of Chen was the most well-maintained road in the city. Or at least Wei thought so. Not even once were he and Lady jostled or startled by even the smallest bump. If he had brought his brush and pad Wei would’ve painted but since he had forgotten them in his room Wei occupied himself by looking out the side of the carriage – trying to estimate the time until arrival by looking at the landmarks.

The City of Chen was a city that very active – it was as busy in the middle of the night as it was in the day. Tonight, proved to be an exception. The usually bustling streets had become quiet and desolate save for the occasional small squad of soldiers from the imperial army who were on night patrol.

Ten minutes later they appeared at the entrance of the palace. The palace was extremely large, towering over everything near it and dwarfing even the guard towers which surrounded it in each of the cardinal directions. The architecture of the palace itself and the surrounding buildings was an exquisite style that was currently impossible to replicate by mortal means. Wei was personally very impressed by the magnificent work of art that was the royal palace. Apparently, there is actual truth to the rumors. This palace goes back many years.

Every time Wei saw the palace he always felt that the ancient and beautiful palace didn’t fit the royal family. Perhaps he was biased but after seeing the third prince in person and listening to the king weekly, what he saw only validated the other unsavory rumors he heard about the rest of the royal family. After passing a checkpoint – which didn’t actually check any of them. Wei and Lady Seer followed the third prince as he walked with easy familiarity through the maze-like corridors toward the throne room. Every single person Is being monitored by those hidden presences I can always feel watching me.

Entering through the wide doors with the name ‘Chen’ written in wonderful calligraphy, Wei heard a loud voice announcing the entrance of the third prince, Lady Seer and himself. Looking at the announcer in the corner who seemed to have a respectful look permanently etched onto his features made Wei even more certain that this meeting was immensely important. I wonder what kind of life he leads. Announcing names for a living. I hope he’s at least being paid well for it.

The Throne Room completely dwarfed the Court Hall. It would be more accurate to refer to it as the Throne Hall due to its immense size. Three hundred or so of the most elite nobles, merchants and officials gathered together in the middle of the night stopping whatever they may have been doing, however important it may be to attend this ‘meeting’.

All because of the King’s Decree. Not a single person dared be absent. Even old man Sen the oldest noble in the city at a hundred and twenty years of age had rushed over to the palace, being carried in his custom-made chair by his retainers. The throne room was buzzing with low conversation as the elite of the kingdom formed small cliques talking about whatever struck they’re fancy, most of them however inevitably veered of topic and found themselves guessing the purpose of the mysterious meeting they had been summoned to.

The king should be here any minute. But that could be a short wait or a long one and I’m bored, other than old man Cheng none of the people in this room really interest me. While I’m sure in a place as full of elites as this I could find someone worth interacting with. But hopefully I will not be a mortal much longer so it’s a moot point. May as well find old man Cheng and see if he’ll teach me any more tricks. Where is that old man?

His thoughts were interrupted by a particular shift in his mental qi that he knew meant danger. It was not as gradual as his bouts of intuition nor as wild as when he fought the spirit beast, it a kind of angry buzzing sound like a bee trapped in his skull. It was there all the same a feeling of danger, of violence and blood. He knew that this meeting was mandatory but he felt like leaving. Just as quickly as it came it was gone.

Is the danger gone? Delayed? Was it a single person or a group? Aimed at many people or only me?

Endless questions bubbled up in Weis mind. With no way to confirm his guesses Wei’s mind once again went back to the topic of Old Cheng.

Looking around the wide room Wei tried to pick Cheng Chao out of the mass of bodies but realized that such an attempt wouldn’t work due to the constantly shifting people. So, he started moving through them, politely nodding to the few people he recognized as Lady Seer’s clients. Brushing past many slightly familiar faces Wei kept a look out for the old man. Maybe he will teach me something even more impressive than reading people. Maybe it’s too much to ask for since I still haven’t completely mastered that yet but hopefully I’m good enough that he teaches me something new.

Old man Cheng was someone who left Wei more intrigued every time they met. A man of many skills, vast experience and of mysterious origin. All of them were great qualities for a person to have in Weis opinion but he was probably one of the only few who thought so.

Cheng Chao was not liked by the nobility. In fact, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say they wished him dead.

But there was nothing they could do to him without permission from the royal family. This irked the nobles even more so because they knew even their own businesses depended on continued dealings with the merchants all of who were bosom friends of Cheng Chao. A year ago, he had become the De facto head of the merchants who were rumored to be forming some sort of coalition.

Knowing that he would most likely find Cheng wherever the most merchants were Wei continued advancing through the throng of people towards the merchants ‘area’. Although both the nobles and merchants were gathered for their overall importance there was still a noticeable divide. An amicable interaction between a merchant and a noble who had no business relationship was an almost impossible site - and it showed. There were a few nobles and merchants who were conversing together but the rest of the room was clearly divided into two halves.

The moment Wei walked into the merchant’s side of the room there was a slight change that occurred in the room. Nobles and merchants alike adjusted their postures slightly to get a better look at him – all while seeming casual. Or at least some tried to. Wei clearly noticed, their movements not escaping his keen sight. Almost instinctively Wei sent more of his mental qi coursing through himself to increase his focus. Smiling pleasantly at any merchant who looked his way, Wei was could feel many burning gazes boring into his medallion. Why the hell did I wear it on the outside today?

Ignoring the gazes with a calm indifference Wei perked up when he saw a merchant who was old Cheng’s acquaintances. His name was Ah Hai, he was a fat man with a thin mustache. He wore a luxurious robe and an even more luxurious hat. Smoking from his pipe he looked like any other successful money grubbing merchant but Wei knew him for what he really was – a criminal who was involved with illegal smuggling and other unsavory acts. At this moment, however he was only someone who knew where old Cheng was, nothing more nothing less and Wei fully intended to get that information.

Just as he was about to start moving towards the fat merchant Wei felt a feather-light tap on his shoulder, he turned around to see Lady Seer looking past him with an expression that told him she was clearly distracted and in a hurry “I need to leave this gathering, someone very influential just gave me very important information that is very time sensitive I need to act on it now.” Lady Seer said. Wei saw that Lady Seer had barely been paying any attention while speaking to him.

“Ok,” Wei replied simply.

In truth Wei was touched, a few months ago when they started living together Lady Seer was very aloof to him and treated him like a stranger. That she told him beforehand instead of just vanishing without a word showed the regard she had for him. Very few people had Lady Seer’s regard and Wei didn’t intend to take it for granted. Out of idle curiosity Wei tracked Lady Seer and instantly noticed she wasn’t heading towards the exit. How interesting! So, Lady Seer can access a side exit? Or does she have another way to exit.

Leaving Lady Seer to her business Wei headed towards Ah Hai. However, the moment Wei started approaching, he saw Ah Hai signal the two muscular merchants next to him, they quickly formed a wall in between Wei and Ah Hai. I thought it was odd that those muscle men were merchants. Who would’ve thought Ah Hai has big enough balls to bring in disguised bodyguards. He really is brazen. Well, while ballsy it’s a useless move. In the palace, no matter how many weapons or bodyguards he brings a single wrong move and he’s dead.

Not worried that Ah Hai would try anything Wei continued forward until he was at a ‘polite’ distance. He probably doesn’t know me and has no interest in talking. I should be as straight-forward as possible-he won’t appreciate any small talk “Mister Ah Hai could you please let me know where old Cheng is?” Wei asked politely. To his surprise the two bodyguards moved out of the way and Ah Hai answered him in a dismissive tone “he left a little while back with a lady friend, said he had more important things to do than go to a meeting he was already told about, now please leave I am expecting someone to come to negotiate any mom—“.

Wei never even heard the end of the sentence, he was already heading towards the exit with hurried steps. His heart beat thundered and his breath was labored. Wei could feel his sickness acting up, to make things worse his mental qi was had started buzzing angrily again. He was having trouble staying on his feet, but Wei didn’t care stumbling like a drunk he tried to keep the exit in his sight. At this moment, he deeply felt the lack of his walking stick. How could I be so stupid. Lady Seer and old Cheng are the smartest and most cunning people I know and they both aren’t present. Something is off about this meeting. I have to get out of here!

Despite feeling like he would keel over at any moment Wei continued his rush toward the exit, ignoring the angry exclamations and outraged gasps that occurred when he bumped into someone with no apology or word of excuse. But his rudeness was paying off, he was almost at the exit. Seeing the exit in front of him was like a shining beacon, a miracle that Wei was glad to see, he was almost out of the throne room and whatever dangers it held.

Alas it was not to be.

A clear and loud voice rang out encompassing the entire room. “His royal highness Chen An ‘The Bold’ has arrived. Long live the king.” Repeating his chant, the entire room was filled with the exclamations of ‘long live the king’. The King entered from the main entrance, accompanied by his entourage looking majestic and commanding. His entrance heralded an increase in the chants.

The moment the king entered Wei’s mental qi started shifting and buzzing angrily. Chanting along with the rest of the room Wei felt regret for it was too late.

The danger was the king, and Wei had no way to leave now that the king had arrived.

 

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Chapter 10: The Kings Plot

The entire room of elites grew quiet in the face of the king’s arrival. The casual conversations and business talks were cut off immediately as everyone found a place to be seated. Their eyes followed the king as he sauntered to his throne and sat. Wei suppressed his pain and once more cursed his sickness, he scanned the room and found a seat for himself at the back of the room, out of sight and at a perfect vantage to observe most of the room. Wei was put on guard due to King Chen An’s uncharacteristic behavior. Even letting people sit in his presence. What is the king planning?

Before he witnessed the people sitting Wei had subconsciously ignored the chairs that lined the walls. I don’t care about anyone else, but I hope this meeting doesn’t have anything to do with me. There’s only a month or so before the awakening ceremony I can’t let anything stop me before then. Sitting down in a plush chair Wei observed the king, trying to glean any small clue from him. Knowledge is power and even the slightest foreknowledge of what was to come could be of tremendous help to Wei.

King Chen An was dressed in vibrant red robes that were simple and clean, made of coarse material – something you would expect from a well off commoner, completely unfit for royalty but no one said a word.

His beard was trimmed into a small goatee and a glimmering golden crown sat upon his greying hair. His throne was made of a type of material that was black as obsidian yet had none of its shine. The throne was raised high above allowing the king to look down on everything in the room from above. It was a blatant tactic to establish his dominance over his subjects - but an effective one. The king looked at all of his subjects his dark gaze sharp and unkind. The atmosphere became heavy, everyone waiting for the king to say something but no one daring enough to speak to him without being spoken to.

Wei watched them cower, their gazes flicking away time and again in fear. Not one of the nobles could even hold his gaze for a moment. Real life is so different than books, none of these nobles are the cunning and charismatic nobles in the books. I couldn’t imagine these nobles criticizing the king if showed up to court naked, let alone do anything as daring planning a rebellion. Wei coughed hard, pain erupting from every part of his body. Whenever his sickness flared up every small thing became more painful. His sickness usually felt like a constant ache, a feeling of weakness, but when it flared up it was a hundred times worse. His eyes blurred, his ears rang and his bone creaked from the smallest strain. His insides sometimes burned with pain so fierce that he felt like they would just stop working and he would die right then and there.

Recovering from his cough, Wei took in a deep breath of sweet air gratefully, he felt his sickness die down and turned back to watch the king, hoping that he hadn’t missed anything vital during his ‘episode’. The king stood up his face resolute. “the cultivators have sent a messenger,” he said face grim. There was a small bit of commotion at that, never before had the awakening ceremony occurred early.

“They are sending representatives from the most powerful sects to conduct the awakening ceremony. They will be arriving in two days, in two days all preparations must be complete so that the ceremony can happen with no delay,” the king continued.

“Since we are going to need to work extremely hard to make the deadline, I came here today to deal with an issue that I planned to resolve later but have been forced by circumstances to address now.” He said with a sigh sounding regretful.

It was a ploy Wei knew, the king had never sounded regretful in all the times Wei had heard him speak. The only thing Wei could do was to try to avoid getting involved.

For now, he would wait and see.



For the last three years I’ve put in so much effort, today I put myself at ease once more. A king shouldn’t need to put in so much effort alone. Alas, everyone thinks of themselves first and nowadays loyalty is scarcely found. After tonight will I be happy and free once more.

Or was the very freedom I sought a lie?

A king who takes orders. Is he really a king? Nevertheless, it is sadly the harsh reality. The cultivators will forever remain high above the mortals. Due to their immense power, it is only right. While I follow the orders of the cultivators I will never follow the orders of another mortal.

And for that, the traitorous nobles who are trying to usurp my power will be culled here and now!

For as long as he could remember Chen An was satisfied. He was the second prince of the Kingdom of Chen and whatever he wanted was his. The only bleak aspect of his life was the lack of a mother. The Queen had died giving birth to him and because of this his father had always treated him very coldly. They weren’t even on speaking terms most of the time. Only his brother was close to him, his only true family.

As a member of royalty Chen An enjoyed the finest things life had to offer, while ordinary people dreamt of what they would do if they could, Chen An spend his days thinking of what to do next. All of his whims and wants were all made reality, simply because of his birth.

Because he was royalty.

He visited the finest restaurants, enjoyed the most beautiful women and visited the finest establishments for music and entertainment. As a second son, he had no obligations except to uphold the prestige of the royal family. Life was at an all-time high for Chen An, he had married the top beauty of Chen as his wife and she had birthed him a wonderful young heir. Everything was going perfectly.

On the birthday of his third son Chen Zi tragedy struck. His brother and father were found dead in a secret meeting room. Chen An never expected to become king. While it was obvious that if anything ever happened to his brother he would become king, he had never even considered it to be a possibility until that moment. His brother had always been an inspiring figure in his eyes. He was a genius, the best person to lead the Kingdom of Chen – to do anything really.

And what about himself. He had no special talents and was content to simply enjoy life with no worries. He was not worthy to be king.

But he would have to try. For the Kingdom of Chen. And for his big brother.

On the day of his coronation Chen An promised himself that he would try his best to be a great ruler. That very night a maid brought him a letter. It was from his brother, a detailed account of every single important fact that he felt Chen An needed to know. Chief amongst was the covert actions of the nobility.

His father in his short-sightedness had allowed the nobles to gain a foothold in the court. His brother had fiercely opposed this leading to his death. His brother also indicated that the cultivators had always supported the royal family of Chen due to their obedience. He encouraged Chen An to use his powers as king to the fullest and that as long as he didn’t disobey the cultivators he could cripple the nobility with no repercussions.

His first meeting with the cultivators was a memory he wished to forget to this day. It was the first time he had bowed to anyone. It was a clear reminder of the world order. Cultivators ruled over mortals, that was a simple fact.

The Enlightened Realm was a world of ‘might is right’. Cultivators stood above him, but no noble ever would!

From that day on Chen An was completely dedicated to suppressing the nobility. He introduced laws that were blatantly geared towards limiting the powers of the nobility. He was the first king in the history of Chen to completely oppose the nobility. His wholehearted dedication to stamping out the traitorous members of nobility had gained him a title ‘the bold’.

It was a title meant to mock his reckless approach. Many officials, nobles and merchants believed that without the support and connections of the nobility the royal family of Chens’s rulership of the kingdom would come to an end.

He paid them no mind. He would establish a dynasty that would put the nobility where they belonged! As loyal dogs to the royal family, never to gain power and glory again.

It had taken many years but finally he had pulled it off. Every single one of the steps had been difficult for an inexperienced and spoiled second prince, but he had no choice. He was now the King of Chen and to be king he had to rule and control! He couldn’t let the nobles who were so blatant about killing his brother continue to have their way. It took plenty of time but Chen An did it, all to fulfill his dream. Gaining contacts, training spies and eliminating as many weaknesses as possible. All in pursuit of being in control. To have revenge for his brother and establish his dream dynasty.

He had swayed many of the merchants and low members of nobility and even had one spy in the so called ‘high council’- the most powerful of the nobility with business and connections in every part of the Kingdom of Chen. About seventy percent of the merchants and nobility were his ‘loyal’ followers. They followed him out of ambition, they believed that after he dealt with the most powerful nobles they would fill their place. They were dead wrong. By the time he was done they would be absolutely loyal or they too would be replaced

The other thirty percent were his true oppositions and also the ones who caused his brother’s death.

The ambitious traitors – the high council.

Ideally, he would’ve liked nothing more than to have them turn on each other and slowly pick them off one by one but time waits for no man. Just a week ago his spy in the high council had reported that the council had finally managed to make a decision to get rid of him. They wanted to use the current low standing he had in the eyes of the cultivators to replace him. Accumulating all the power and experience he possessed had taken him much time and effort, so his orders from the cultivators was done much less efficiently than before. They were going to use that to justify replacing him with a group of people (the high council) who could share the burden of completing the cultivators orders much quicker than his current speed. This had forced him to speed up his plans.

But he had to do it.

Today was the day he implemented his plan. To get his revenge and bring the nobility completely under his control.

Today I will paint the floor red with the blood of arrogant traitors. This will serve as a lesson for all who come after. The Kingdom of Chen belongs to the royal family of Chen!

Chen An stood from his throne and looked at his enemies. He could see them pretend to cower, not meeting his eyes in supposed fear. They were fools. He saw them, saw their arrogance, their assurance of their safety. The knowledge that no matter what reason there was for his meeting it wasn’t worth their time.

Chen An saw their confidence. Now I will tear it down. Every last piece of confidence and assurance will be destroyed this day.

Feeling a pleasant warmth in his chest Chen An felt that his coming words were set in stone – an inevitable truth. My words will mean their deaths. “the cultivators have sent a messenger,” Chen An said ignoring the small sparks of conversation they set off. “They are sending representatives from the most powerful sects to conduct the awakening ceremony. They will be arriving in two days, in two days all preparations must be complete so that the ceremony can happen with no delay. Since we are going to need to work extremely hard to make the deadline, I came here today to deal with an issue that I planned to resolve later but have been forced by circumstances to address now.” Here it was the moment he had been waiting for.

He could feel the tension slowly rising. He waited until it reached a breaking point and then spoke over the labored breathing of his subjects “It is my duty as the ruler of this kingdom to uphold justice and work for the welfare and betterment of the people, every one of my subjects has a role in the kingdom and the greatest role is that of the nobles and the merchants. All of the most important issues are dealt with, with the help of you, my most hard-working subjects.”

He could see it, the smug faces of the high council and the excited faces of those loyal to him, however much they tried to conceal it he could tell. Its amazing how much more you can see when you already have the information.

“However, there have been some among the nobility and merchants who have been undermining my authority,” sharp gasps echoed throughout the room. “Allying with criminal elements and causing problems for the kingdom. Today I will execute them so that stability and order may be maintained and so that the criminal element they have introduced will cease to function. I have all the information of their accomplices and they are being dealt with right now by the imperial enforcers,” Chen An’s voice echoed through ought the room.

“Every single one of the people I had personal meetings with over the last month please move to the front, right next to my throne immediately. Everyone else remain where you are, “king Chen An ordered. The loyal nobles and merchants hastened to obey. Not questioning anything as they scurried to surround the king in a crowd, they were kept several feet away from the king by the imperial guard.

Fifty or so nobles and merchants remained huddled together, looking out of place and very isolated. At that moment, an old noble from the remaining elites stepped forward. Finally, you show yourself Luo Lei. “Your majesty we have been up for a while waiting for you and it is very late, how about we convene tomorrow to settle this matter? Luo Lei tried to persuade Chen An. Sure enough my diligent planning has finally circumvented his spy network. Never have I heard him speak such weak words. Tomorrow. As if, I won’t give you the slightest chance old man. “Luo Lei you were an advisor to my father and a great asset to the Kingdom of Chen but sadly you were lured by the promise of riches and power and betrayed me and the entire kingdom.” Chen An rebuked.

“Your majesty! That is definitely not true, please think on this topic more before you cause irreparable damage to the Kingdom. I will be more than happy to consult with you on the topic of the traitors, but for now I must be going,” Luo Lei said expression undisturbed, sounding as if everything was fine.

This old man truly has unending amounts of arrogance. Even at this moment he isn’t worried. Does he think I won’t act because of his contingency plans?

He doesn’t know the lengths I am willing to go to.

When someone becomes assured in their own intelligence and planning they become blind to any chance of failure. I should take him as an example lest I be on the other side of this situation in the future.

Look at him calmly turning his back on me. Today you have miscalculated old bastard! Now despair for your death is at hand.

Every eye in the room was on king Chen An watching how he was going to react to this slight to his authority. Was Luo Lei’s hold on the Kingdom of Chen as tight as he thought. Chen An’s next decision would decide the future of Chen. When Luo Lei neared the exit Chen An made his move.

Without a word Chen An raised his right hand and pointed at the back of Luo Lei in a casual manner. Immediately a swooshing sound cut through the air. An arrow struck Luo Lei right in the back. He stumbled and fell, barely catching himself with his hands. He tried to reach back to pull out the arrow but it was evident that the archer had chosen his spot wisely. The position of the arrow made it impossible to reach.
At this moment Luo Lei finally realized that the king was already prepared to deal with his contengencies.
How had his spy network not known?
He turned back towards the king face slack in disbelief “ b-b-but I am th— “ the king pointed again and a second arrow impaled him right in the head instantly killing him.

Shrill cries and shrieks of protests filled the air as the nobles and merchants of the high council saw their leader killed as easily as livestock. Almost as if Luo Lei’s death was a signal, the high council members scattered trying to head towards all of the exits simultaneously. A few even headed towards secret passages that they thought only they knew of.

“Cover all the exits. Not a single one of these traitors will escape today,” King Chen An yelled his voice filled with righteous anger. All of the loyalists looked at each other in confusion. Who was the king talking to? The imperial guards were nowhere near fast nor numerous to stop all of the fleeing traitors.

King Chen An features however was calm as marble. The fleeing traitors were delighted to see the inaction of the imperial guards. Their hope of escape however was short lived as men in dark armor seemingly appeared out of nowhere and blocked every single exit.

These are my elite enforcers. They will leave no survivors.

By the end of tonight the high councils will be no more. And my long-awaited revenge will be complete.

Brother rest in peace. I will lead the Kingdom of Chen in your place. The royal family of Chen will never fall.

 

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Comment and Enjoy!



Chapter 11: A Question Amidst A Massacre


Wei stood stiff in between a fat noble and an effeminate looking merchant. They squished him from both sides trying to stay as far away as they could from the men in the dark armor. The loyalists were staying as close to the king’s throne as possible but they still maintained a healthy distance from the imperial guards.

Luckily escaping the encirclement hadn’t been difficult.

From the fiercely burning hatred that the king was no longer even trying to conceal We deduced that every single one of his targets were known and accounted for. When the king had ordered those, who had meetings with him to come to his side Wei had immediately moved along with them.

Clearly the king had been planning this for a while and had clear targets in mind. There were about one hundred and fifty armed enforcers covering all exits. They all clearly had designated targets. With a few easy strides Wei moved along with the rest of the loyalist under the protection of the king.

The air was still and the entire room held a teetering balance. Violence could erupt at any time.

The traitorous nobles and merchants were surrounded. Boxed in all sides.

“Cut them down! They are the last of the traitors, their families have already been dealt with to the last man. Show them no mercy,” the king ordered. His words sealing their fates.

He already killed their families did he really have to tell them about it in their last moments? This is why I don’t like King Chen An. His needless cruelty will come back to bite him one day.

The enforcers moved slowly, step by step – seeming in no particular hurry, mentally tormenting the traitors. They traitor were indecisive about whether they should fight or make another bid to escape. Their hesitance cost them greatly. From the beginning Wei knew how the coming confrontation would end. He could see the fear practically pouring off of them. They were like skittish animal’s ready to bolt at the slightest movement.

The enforcers faces were filled with a deranged fanaticism, no anticipation or dread was visible on their faces. Wei found this to be very disturbing.

Wei really hated things he didn’t understand. He started to pay close attention to every move of the enforcers. They didn’t move, simply grinning seemingly idly waiting for something.

This didn’t seem to correlate with what he had heard about people whose only job was to kill. The consensus was that usually these people either derived pleasure from killing – the psychos or were completely detached from it and viewed it as simply a job – the professional. At first glance Wei thought that they may have been ‘professionals’ but upon looking a bit longer he noticed that they were too excited.

They were eager to start.

It showed from the twitching of their hands and the constant flicker of their eyes in a single direction. So, they have a leader. If I wasn’t watching closely I wouldn’t have noticed he doesn’t have anything different about him that sets him apart. Even his uniform is standard.

Interesting. Why is he the leader?

Just as Wei was observing the leader of the enforcers it happened.

A break in the stalemate.

A young merchant wearing light yellow robes made a run for it. Dashing with surprising speed he headed towards a side exit with only two enforcers guarding it. He had not made it ten steps when one of the enforcers moved to intercept him. The enforcer moved with a strange gait every step seemed to put him directly in the young merchant’s path. The young merchant tried to shake him off but quickly found out it was impossible.

Seeing no other choice, the young merchant resolutely drew his sword. Wei could see it in his eyes, the determination and will to never give up without a fight. His conviction.

He intends to take the enforcer down with him. Wei found himself watching the face-off with baited breath, hoping for the young man to overcome the odds, to show him something spectacular, a miracle. Something that could convince Wei that he wasn’t only lucky. That other people could change their fates too.

The merchant lunged and the enforcer blocked his sword with one of his own. The exchange was loud the clanging of the two swords filling the room.

There was no second exchange.

A sick squelch sounded out suddenly, the young merchant had been stabbed right through the back, the second enforcer having circled around the moment the young man’s eyes were off him. Wei saw him smile, his eyes filled with glee. “At least pay attention when your surrounded ya dumb fuck. Do you think this is an honor duel or something? Every one of you bastards listen up. You have to make this a bit of a challenge for us otherwise it would be very boring. An easy victory has no meaning. Understand! Now who’s next.” He shouted looking around eagerly for his next victim. With a slight grunt, he pulled his sword from the young man’s chest, the movement looking very practiced and natural.

With nothing supporting him the young man fell down with a small thud. The enforcer paid him no mind seemingly preoccupied with the blood on his blade. His sword was covered in crimson blood, every couple of seconds a drop of blood would form at the tip and fall.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The young man’s death set off the rest of the traitors. They all drew their weapons and charged towards the enforcers. Trying to make their deaths and that of their children mean something. Anything was preferable to standing around and doing nothing. Their only desire now was to try to kill their executioners.


Hm. In the end only power matters first and foremost. Especially when there are people like this in the world willing to kill at a single world from a monarch who’s never fought a day in his life.

But that too is a kind of power.

The throne room quickly devolved into chaos. The clashing and clanking of weapons mixed with the wails and cries of the dying to form an eerie melody. The fighting was quick and dirty. The traitors were being killed like curs. Not a whit of mercy or even swift deaths were granted in the savagery of the enforcers onslaught. Men, women, the elderly all fell before them like wheat before a scythe. None were spared.

And from above his lavish throne the king watched every moment with a genuinely happy smile. His face shining like that of a man released of a heavy burden. All the while the traitors continued to be whittled down. Dying ignoble deaths while their killers smiled their armor stained red.

While the traitors panicked and begged entreaties to the king the enforcers kept on butchering everything in their way. However, this alone wasn’t enough to explain the utter destruction of the traitors. Logically amidst the chaos at least two or three enforcers should have fallen, however the results spoke of something completely different.

Not a single enforcer had died. The worst any of them had was a deep stab wound in his shoulder and that was more likely due to luck than anything else.

The biggest reason Wei realized was due to skill and mindset. Most of the nobles fought with flowery moves designed more to look impressive than to deal actual damage. They also never regained their composure, from the first death until the current situation the traitors had been panicking. Meanwhile the enforcers used any means necessary to kill their targets. No mercy or hesitation was shown and every blow was a killing blow.

The fighting started to die down as the last of the traitors were disposed of in increasingly grotesque and creative ways.

All the while Wei watched them. Especially the leader. Early on Wei had realized why the leader was the leader.

Simply put he was an excellent killer. He was just very good at it. Whereas sometimes one of the enforcers struggled to make a quick kill due to interference or some other circumstance. Their leader who Wei had mentally dubbed Smoke moved like a snake every one of his blows lethal. He seemed to be trying to perfect some type of movement in battle, but Wei with his meager experience couldn’t tell what.

In his eyes smoke was one of the most terrifying mortal he had met up to date. I wonder if he could take Lady Seer he thought absently and almost laughed at the notion. Oops better be more contentious, laughing at a massacre is not acceptable Wei he reprimanded himself.

It was a disturbed face that Wei realized that he felt nothing at the sight of the ensuing massacre. When I seriously need to look into this heavenly treasure it is changing me more and more every day. But I’d still take who I am now over who I was before any day.

Still, anything that affects my mind needs to be thoroughly understood or else it’ll really screw me over one day.

A few minutes later the last of the traitors died impaled through the mouth and out of his rear like a spit pig. Wei found that to be in poor taste especially considering how fat the man in question was. Immediately all the enforcers dropped to one knee in tandem leaving only the leader standing.

“We have disposed of all the traitors your majesty. I hope we have met your expectations,” the leader said voice reverent.

“You have done well, I am very impressed by your men Shuang Min. You have exceeded all of my expectations. I will reward you accordingly,” King Chen An said voice filled with barely concealed joy.

“All we require is your thanks your majesty. That is more than enough,” Shuang Min replied sounding even more zealous.

“We will discuss later, for now stand aside, Imperial guards, clean up this mess.” The King ordered imperiously. “Yes, your majesty,” they replied and head off towards the edge of the hall and the bodies respectively.

Watching this exchange Wei felt intrigued. What could Chen An whose a fairly run of the mill king have done to earn the devout loyalty of such a dangerous individual. According to the rumors King Chen An is a reckless king who cares little for the rumors about him. Unlike the majority of Chen’s throughout recent history who valued their reputation above all else. He is neither skilled in strategy, politics or combat so how has he acquired the loyalty of this dangerous individual and his highly capable men?

Wei’s eyes darted between Chen An and Shuang Min quickly. Seeing the wide smile on King Chen An’s face Wei couldn’t withhold his curiosity. Weighing the chances Wei decided that risking it was worth it. It was a simple plan and to the point.

Since the king is in such a great mood after crushing his enemies.

I’ll just ask him directly.

 

Just read a few chapters, this was a pretty interesting read.

 

Thanks for the comment.
Hope you keep reading.

 

Any and all feedback is appreciated.

Comment and Enjoy!


Chapter 12: The Ultimatum


Wei’s burning question died when a dismembered corpse was dragged right in front of him, the imperial guard dragging it looked like he would rather be doing anything other than corpse clean up duty. Since Wei had been paying attention to the king and the leader of the enforcers he had missed most of the cleanup being done by the imperial guards.

There were large pools of blood, the only evidence of the massacre that had just occurred. The pristine floor of the throne was covered in streaks from the many bodies that had been dragged and disposed of ‘somewhere’.

The sight of bodies being callously dragged like trash woke Wei up from his reverie. Well, that would have ended badly. Standing out from the crowd today, after what just happened is not a good idea. Wei reaffirmed his decision in thinking twice before doing or saying something life threatening, ever. Now that the massacre was over all of the loyalists started slowly moving away from each other. No one wanted to admit how scared they had been, so naturally they acted like nothing had happened.

The surviving nobles and merchants faced the king with slouched postures and stiff faces. Originally, they planned on using the elimination of the high council to replace them and gain even more power, now that plan was seeming very unlikely. The entire throne room was silent everyone was waiting – for whatever the king would do next.

King Chen An got off of his throne and came down the steps two at a time face beaming like a happy child. His face seemed to have regained some of its youth and his eyes shone with vigor. “Finally, those who plotted against me and my kingdom have been vanquished, moving forward everything will be better. The Kingdom of Chen will prosper and all within it will also prosper. This I promise you,” the king said his voice barely containing his glee.

“However, I absolutely will never ever tolerate traitors. They are a disease, a rot that infests everything they touch. They are backstabbers and the type of people I hate the most,” he continued his visage becoming grim, his voice filled with venom. “I will NOT have traitors in my court, no matter how insignificant, treachery is still treachery and treason is still treason.

In my kingdom, there is only one end for traitors. Death. The only thing traitors deserve.” He shouted eyes full of something malicious and quite mad. “Is that understood?” he asked looking to the remaining nobles and merchants who were ‘loyal’. Stammers and panicked yells of acknowledgement filled the room as everyone strove to be the first to pledge their never-ending loyalty to Chen An.

Wei watched all of this, pretending to mouth allegiances of loyalty while still observing the king. What will he do know? From the looks of him he has no intention of letting this end here. Another major flaw of his, he never knows when to stop. People like him usually end up with horrible endings. But lo and behold he is a king! How wonderful for him and how shitty for his subjects. I’m really tired of standing here waiting in suspense for whatever idea the king is thinking up right now. I should’ve just left with Lady Seer.

With a tired sigh Wei fought off his exhaustion and resisted the urge to go sit on one of the very inviting and comfortable looking chairs. The king paced around the throne room stroking his beard, appearing to be deep in thought. Suddenly he stopped midstride and straightened his back. Quickly he scanned the crowd of loyalists looking hard for something. Finally, he seemed to give up, still scanning but not as attentively as before King Chen called out “Chen Ming, Chen Ping, Chen Zi. What are you waiting for? Hurry up and come here.”

Immediately the three princes emerged from the crowd not even glancing at each other, without a word they stood behind their father. Seeing his sons behind him a huge smile appeared on the king’s face. “The royal family of Chen are the rightful rulers of Chen, I expect all of you to show true loyalty to my family as befits its station as the rulers and protectors of the kingdom. Will that be a problem?” he asked in a genial voice.

The throne room once more was full of profuse acknowledgments of loyalty raising a loud ruckus and causing Wei to smile in amusement. I’ve never seen such insincere ass-kissing in my life. But it is funny to watch. His slight amusement was snuffed out very quickly when he saw the knowing smile on the third prince Chen Zi’s face. It was a knowing smile, smug in the face of the loyalists’ ignorance.

“I’m very happy to see how loyal and thoughtful you all are. It sets my heart at ease knowing I have all of you to help and support me, as we all endeavor to raise the Kingdom of Chen to its rightful place at the top of our continent,” he said smiling widely. Hearing this the loyalists started to relax, all around Wei could see people regaining their composure, some put on apathetic faces while others showed their relief plainly, grinning happily and sighing in relief.

“However,” the king interrupted their rejoicing. “Words are well and good, but at the end of the day they are simply words. Without the conviction and determination to prove them true they are useless! So today, my loyal subject you will demonstrate your loyalty without empty promises, instead you will do so with irrefutable actions!”

Wei felt a strong sense of unease what could he possibly be getting at. The surrounding noble’s and merchants seemed to share his unease, finally someone from amidst the crowd quickly questioned “what actions?” The question echoed out in the throne room seeming to convey what everyone was thinking at the moment. Even the enforcers had slightly curious look on their faces. So, this part is obviously unscripted if even the enforcers don’t know about it. So only the royal family does? Wait a minute! The first and third prince seem to be in the know but what about the second prince. Why is he not even paying attention?

The second prince of Chen stood silently his features obscured by his long hair. He stood as still as a statue and was the only member of the royal family who carried a weapon. A longsword with a beautiful green sheath was strapped to his back.

The second prince of Chen was a figure clouded in mystery. The crown prince’s position for the throne seemed secure but Wei had heard whispers in the gambling dens that the second prince was dangerously influential and that he may one day wind up taking the throne, even with the evident animosity between him and the rest of the royal family.

Wei stopped paying attention to the seemingly daydreaming second prince and refocused instead on the king, but not before briefly flicking his gaze towards the crown prince whose eyes were closed – seemingly in concentration and the third prince who still had the same annoying smug smile on his face.

“The action you need to prove your sincerity is simple, kneel down on both knees and acknowledge your eternal allegiance to the royal family. That is all.” The king words immediately silenced the entire room. Every single person was shocked by the exaggerated nature of the king’s loyalty test. Why was it such an exaggerated test? The king truly lived up to his title the ‘bold’. No one else would have thought of such a plan after just having massacred a bunch of his enemies. Most had expected him to be more open to negotiation after the council members were killed. They were wrong, dead wrong!

Here and now the King wanted to clearly gain complete control of the court. So that no other ‘council’ could ever emerge again.

A few people clearly resigned themselves to death knowing that they would never kneel to another mortal regardless of whether they were king or not. While the minority prepared themselves to die the majority of the loyalists prepared to kneel down.

It didn’t matter that it was humiliating or that it was unprecedented. All that mattered was there choice and many of the loyalists wanted to live. As Wei watched the people resigning themselves to either dying or humiliating themselves he felt rather sad. Whether it was due to personal choice or just a coincidence everyone in the throne was having their fate tied to that of Chen An in some way. Whether it was due to pride, cowardice or just self-preservation everyone was forced into making one of two decisions on this day. But I won’t be!

Again, many people are suffering due to the whims of one man. I know that this an occurrence everywhere. Those with power rule those without.

It still doesn’t stop me from feeling sad or my heart from aching. Without the mental coin could I too have been so easily trapped in a corner.

Everyone wants to live. It is human nature nevertheless I have no intention of either dying due to pride or living in humiliation. I have something none of them do, mental qi!

And with it I will leave this room with both pride and life intact.

Because my fate is my own. And no one can force me to choose between two shitty choices.

 

Sorry for the delay.

Any and all feedback is appreciated.
Enjoy!


Chapter 13: Interference

Wei was alone in his thoughts. Once more his sickness was acting up, his insides burned and his head hurt but he didn’t let it distract him. He tried to ignore the shaking of his hands. He thrummed his fingers in a set rhythm and clenched his fingers every once in a while, but no matter what he couldn’t lessen the nervousness and anxiety he felt.

Calm. Calm. As long as I focus I can think up a feasible plan no problem.

The clock was ticking, soon he would have to decide on a plan. And it had to be a good one. Otherwise if he made a mistake, well he had seen the speed of the enforcers, they would have no problem wiping out the rest of the room and himself before he could take down even a couple of them. His mental qi at the moment was nowhere near fast enough to save him. The greatest advantage he had was that only he could see his mental qi. The question was how best to use that.

The simplest option would be to just shatter the mind of the king. Chen An was a detestable person and Wei would shed no tears if he was mentally broken. But it was clear as day that if the king just stopped and became a vegetable, the loyalists including himself would have a hard time avoiding being imprisoned or worse. I should make it seem like it is happening to everyone, first a noble, then an enforcer, a merchant and then finally the king. It will seem entirely random and very terrifying! Hopefully. After witnessing that everyone will scatter and leave. Leaving me free to make my exit. Whatever happens in the aftermath has nothing to do with me.

But who? Who should I condemn to being mentally broken?

Thinking carefully Wei contemplated deeply on his choice. Do I really have to condemn someone due to an idiotic king? I don’t even know who it should be? Those who are the most infamous are either the most careless or are just so despicable that you can hear about them no matter where you are. Both types of people are bad but…

Looking at the fat merchant Ah Hai, Wei questioned whether he could go through with it. Does he really deserve to die? Doubtless there are more despicable people but I don’t know them. I can only take action here and now to save myself.

If the king is adamant as I expect he will be then I will have to do it. The entire situation was absurd. Coming along with Lady Seer today was supposed to be a final outing that they shared together before he became a cultivator. Now Lady Seer had left and he was left in this despicable situation. He felt sick to his stomach imagining the empty blank faces that would be left in his wake.

It was bad enough seeing a spirit beast that only had mediocre intelligence turned into a mindless thing but a human is going to probably be even worse. Looking around the throne room and seeing the people – who would be crippled by him everything seemed to gain a surreal quality to it, he could feel his heart beating faster like a drum in his chest, his temple was throbbing and he was finding it impossible to breathe. The lights in the bright room seemed to dim and he could see nonexistent shadows dancing along the walls. I have to stop panicking. I’m hallucinating, and rather vividly at that.

Am I having a panic attack? Me! Wei thought incredulously. Never in his life had he cared enough about an issue or thought about one long enough to even worry for long let alone have a panic attack. But here he was worrying over the fates of random scumbag nobles and merchants. Since when was I such a saint. When it comes down to I have to choose. Me or five scummy people. An easy choice.

I choose myself. I will always choose myself first. Mind made up Wei concentrated on pulling his refined mental qi out of his body. The pain of his illness and his anxiety were both pushed into the back of his mind. Right now, he needed all of his focus if his plan was going to work.

“Your time is up! Those of you who are loyal, kneel and acknowledge your allegiance. Everyone who doesn’t will be cut down. Enforcers ready yourselves! anyone not kneeling in the span of three breaths cut them down.” The king had clearly pushed forward the time allotted but who could call him out on it?

One after another proud and privileged members of the upper class kneeled in front of the king their haughty faces full of shame. For every person who kneeled the king’s eyes grew brighter a deranged smile seemingly permanently etched on his features. Three breaths of time passed almost instantly in Wei’s eyes and he readied himself mentally, his refined mental qi roiled ready to be used at any time. The enforcers quickly went into action rushing forth in a competition of who could kill one of the handful of the people stupid enough to disobey the king. The enforcers at the back stayed where they were. Whether that was because someone had to block the exits or because they knew they wouldn’t be able to catch up to their comrades. Wei didn’t know.

But he had much bigger problems. His plan had been disrupted by the king starting the execution earlier than he expected. Now he would have to fend of the enforcers and escape on foot. For someone of his physical capabilities it was basically impossible. His future had just become much less uncertain. So much for my master plan. The king couldn’t even stick to the plan that he devised. What an utter idiot.

While he was bemoaning the ruining of his master plan Wei had still been paying attention to each of the enforcers near him. Almost all of the enforcers were ignoring the back since most of the people were kneeling, only the odd person like Wei stood out like a sore thumb. noticed two enforcers were rushing towards him clearly competing to see who could kill him first. This is the moment where I have to remain calm. Although they have the advantage of numbers. I will still prevail. Because I have an invisible weapon. One none of you can hide from. Come just a little bit closer. The enforcers all had impressive speed, far faster than the likes of Wei could match with his sickness addled body. But, he didn’t intend to compete with speed. At least not of the body.

Wei took a single step back and focused his mental qi preparing to unleash it in one burst and turn the two enforcers into mentally broken husks. At that exact moment everyone stopped moving

Two different sets of footsteps accompanied by the rattling of some material interrupted the massacre that was about to begin. Everyone froze. The enforcers listened carefully. Clearly there was something odd about the fact that above all the ruckus of the throne room, mere footsteps could be heard. Four enforcers quickly encircled the King protecting him in a diamond formation.

Everyone waited, even the enforcers who were mere steps away from there to be targets stopped what they were doing. Seemingly involuntarily. The two enforcers stopped mere steps away from Wei. Looking towards the now identified location of the sounds – the main entrance. As the sounds came closer, the tension within the throne room reached an all-time high.

For a single instant Wei felt like making his move and attacking them while they were immobilized, some of the enforcers could clearly move but the two in front of him clearly couldn’t. It was clear in the awkward placing of their footing and how they didn’t move even a bit to be more stable.

It was literally the best scenario that could happen. Immobile, clearly vulnerable targets. This is clearly an opportune moment. I won’t waste. Wei reached for his refined mental qi. Smoothly like he’d done it a thousand times. It was an easy, comfortable feeling.

However, when he tried to active his refined mental qi, it seemed to move sluggishly, It didn’t disobey him but it was almost as if mental qi was scared.

Wei immediately stopped. To him his refined mental qi was the highest power he had ever seen. Invisible, quick and directly attacking the most vulnerable part of an enemy.

The mind.

But now his best and most formidable weapon was cautioning him. Who on earth was walking towards the throne rooms entrance?

The footsteps and rattling slowly echoed out until they couldn’t be heard anymore. The enforcers perked up their ears waiting with baited breath for anything to happen, nothing happened. The sound of footsteps and the odd rattling sound completely disappeared, as if having never existed in the first place.

The sudden quiet was disturbing, no moves were made and the only sound was from the rasping breath of an old man kneeling in a corner. A few long moments passed and everyone was still when one of the enforcers near the entrance made an exasperated sound. Ignoring the stillness of the throne room he pounced towards the entrance planning do deal with whoever was interfering with their orders.

Trusting in one of their own to settle the issue the rest of the enforcers once more prepared to attack. Readying their weapons, they signaled each other, to move as one. In this strange situation, their well ingrained instincts of only acting after receiving their leaders’ orders had left them.

They followed their instincts and started to move once more. Intent on fulfilling their mission.

It was a huge mistake.

“SETTLE DOWN,” a voice loud enough to shake the foundations of the palace reverberated through the entire palace. Every single person in the palace heard the voice and stopped what they were doing. The enforcer near the entrance however was unperturbed and opened the door.

“No, don’t.” Yelled Shuang Min not moving from his position beside the king but still having sensed something wrong about the situation. The words had just left his mouth when the enforcers was struck by some force none of the spectators could see. He hurtled through the air sideways for a single moment before hitting the floor with a hard thud and skidding across the floor before coming to a stop before the king and his protectors.

Seeing his unconscious subordinate, the leader of the enforcer rallied his followers “Protect the king,” he roared and many of the enforcers quickly rushed back to surround the king. Within a few seconds the king was protected by so many enforcers Wei couldn’t even see his gleaming crown.

The king, his enforcers, those who knelt and those who stood defiant all experienced many different emotions and expectations as they heard the sounds restart again. Everyone felt a feeling of fear that always came with the unknown. But even those who had resigned themselves to gruesome deaths felt a small sense of curiosity. Who were the two people outside? Everyone had their own suspicions but after the massacre everyone had repositioned themselves near the throne room blocking their vision of what had just occurred.

Wei himself felt sure they were cultivators but there still existed many things he was unaware of so he watched the entrance waiting until ‘they’ came into view eyes filled with curiosity.

‘They’ stepped in entering the sight of everyone in the room.

They were a pair of men. Powerful and radiating a sense of superiority. They were cultivators.

A swordsman and a monk.

 

Sorry for the long absence. Many changes occured and I completely had no time to write. New year new resolve. WRITE MORE.

Any and all feedback is appreciated.

Comment and Enjoy!


Chapter 14: Test of Will

The buzz of conversation in the throne room had completely died down. Everyone was completely occupied with staring at the monk and swordsman who had so brazenly entered the throne room. Wei was completely unable to tear his gaze from the two cultivators. And they were cultivators- he knew it in his heart as sure as he knew the sky was blue. They could have been any number of beings but for some reason Wei just knew they were human cultivators.

It was something about them, he couldn’t place his finger on it but he just knew without a doubt they were what he was going to become; a cultivator. Wei stared at them intently, trying to find what it was about them that made him so sure of what they were. He felt some vague familiarity coming from them that he couldn’t quite place. It annoyed him like a word on the tip of his tongue that he couldn’t quite remember. The two cultivators had entered the room together but know the monk stood in front while the swordsman stood respectfully to his side a few steps behind him.

The monk was nothing like the monks Wei had read about in his many books. He was young –seeming to be in his twenties. He was not bald; his hair was luxurious and long stopping midway down his back. He had a kind face, with lines that could only be gained from smiling a lot. His eyes were squinted and made it difficult to know where he was looking at. He wore plain robes of black lined white with prayer beads hanging from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist.

The swordsman was an old man with a long beard and long luxurious white robes. The left sleeve of his robe was cut off at the shoulder, clearly indicating that he only had one hand. He had a strict face and hard eyes. And most glaring of all was the sheer arrogance he radiated. It was especially evident in contrast to the kind, gentle aura the monk exuded. He carried a sword in a blue sheath in his only hand, idly tapping his index finger on it as he waited for the monk to make a move.

This didn’t surprise Wei as there were many explanations as to why the monk was in charge. In many of the stories he had read about cultivators. Not judging a book by its cover was a common theme. The young monk could be much older than the swordsman or just simply more powerful.

While the entirety of the throne room stared at them the cultivators made no move of acknowledging them. Instead they scanned the room casually and exchanged glances a few times with each other.

The swordsman spoke up and addressed the monk sounding annoyed “alright senior, you have proven to me once again that your eyesight is truly unparalleled, here you go.” With a speed too fast for Wei to see clearly a small object shot out from the sheath of the swordsman and zipped toward the monk where it seemingly disappeared.

“My young friend, to be young is to be ambitious, reckless and daring. However these attributes must be tempered and used in moderation lest they bring you problems in the future. This is the reasons why your elders told you to come under my tutelage.” The monk replied his voice smooth and soothing. It was truly odd to see the young man address the old man as his young friend.

I knew it they are cultivators. What could they possibly be doing here?

King Chen An seemed to have the same question “respected immortals, please identify yourselves,” he said somehow managing to sound both cautious and polite.

The monk finally turned towards the king and looked at him closely for a second “we are here to find a fitting core disciple for the Supreme Sword Sect, does that answer your question?” he asked amusement clear in his voice.

“The Kingdom of Chen is under the protection of the Supreme Sword Sect and any cultivators not having their permission to enter my kingdom will face the consequences. Not to be disrespectful immortals but do you have any proof to back up your claim?” He asked sweat dripping from his brow. Wei could practically see the kings shaking from his position.

So he’s finally realized the merit of thought before action. How funny. I didn’t think he had it in him.

The swordsman stepped forward in answer to the question “how interesting, you follow our instructions to the letter, but only when it suits you. Do you recognize what this is?” he asked. Suddenly a small wooden sword appeared floating atop his head, on it Wei could barely see the faded image of a sword pointing upward as if piercing through the heavens.

Before Wei could analyze it more clearly the small wooden sword floated towards the king, startling the enforcers flanking him. A few enforcers fidgeted but seeing as the king did not order them to act; they opened ranks and let the wooden sword head toward the king.

The king stood his ground admirably only flinching slightly when the sword came to a stop mere inches from his face. Wei saw the moment he fully understood what the sigil meant. “I apologize for my rudeness, I was simply following the orders I was given by your sect honored immortal,” he said.

“Oh, is that so? Then why did you disobey our orders?” the swordsman asked. The king seemed to struggle to find a suitable answer but thought better of it. “Immortals, I have no excuse for my actions, I know that I shouldn’t have killed the people who hadn’t gone through the ceremony yet. I intended to imprison them but couldn’t contain my anger. Please forgive me.” The king briefly bowed his head which was as good as groveling considering his position and then looked up at the swordsman face hopeful.

“It is not my place to forgive you or punish you, the official personnel from the sect will be here in a few days, and you will take it up with them. Considering this is the first time your family has made a mistake in many generations, if you show the same humility you showed me today they may forgive you.”

Hearing this king seemed to calm down slightly his pale face regaining a bit of its color “Then if not because of my misconduct, why did you come great immortal?” he asked puzzled. The swordsman opened his mouth to answer when the monk interrupted with a wave of his hand. “I know you like to be referred to as an immortal Xing but now isn’t the right time to socialize. Stop stalling, have you found him?”

“Okay senior Zixin it’s that youngster over there, “he said nodding towards the second prince Chen Ping. The second prince seemed to have not heard a word being spoken, his gaze being focused as it was on the sword in Xing’s single hand.

“Impressive, Xing I never expected you would understand my lessons so quickly, but then again your problem has never been your talent, only your demeanor and patience. I’m glad to see you are improving. It will only be a few more days before I am satisfied with your progress and you can go back to your sword training.” He said.

“It was all thanks to your tutelage senior. Without you it may have taken me many years’ perhaps even decades before my demeanor changed. By then my sword arts would have stagnated and I would never reach my goal. Thank you.” He said raw sincerity in his voice.

The heartfelt student and teacher moment seemed to make the people in the throne room feel awkward and everyone pointedly averted their gaze from the one armed old man bowing to the youthful monk.

They’re completely treating us as furniture. Still I can’t blame them, who would’ve thought they came here to choose a core disciple.

Huh. Guess the second prince really is as talented as the people say. He’s even cultivator material. He must be the first imperial of any significance to ever become a cultivator. If there were any others the royal family would’ve proudly made note of them in their records.

So what now? Wei wanted to have a chat with the cultivators very badly, especially the monk but doing so now would be incomparably rude and so he waited patiently, ignoring the pain in his chest and focusing on the cultivators once more.

Xing once more respectfully stood behind Zixin who stared at the second prince intently “youngster do you wish to enter the Supreme Sword Sect?” he asked.

The second prince looked up at the monk and answered with a question of his own “so I am a chosen?” “Yes you are a chosen and one with a particular talent towards the sword. A special sword physique if I was to guess”

Upon hearing the answer the second prince had a wide smile on his face “so I am special even among chosen, I knew it! I always knew” How strong is the Supreme Sword Sect.?” He asked voice brimming with happiness, barely able to contain his excitement.

“The Supreme Sword Sect is one of the most powerful Sects in the Enlightened Realm,” he said.

“Then I’m in.” Chen Ping replied simply.

“It’s admirable that you’re so decisive but it’s not entirely up to you.” He nodded towards Xing who gave Chen Ping a casual look and then a more searching one when he saw how Chen Ping’s gaze seemed to always flicker to his sword every few seconds.

A few seconds later Xing seemed to have made a decision and changed his look from a searching one to a full on glare. Chen Ping’s head immediately snapped up startled, and without conscious thought took a few hurried steps back away from Xing.

“Do I have your attention?” Xing said while walking forward slowly. Chen Ping made to step backwards again but something stopped him and he simply nodded while visibly shaking. “Not everyone is cut out to follow the path of the sword. In fact while many people use swords they are not swordsman.” He suddenly paused in his walk towards Chen Ping.

“Do you want to be a swordsman?” The weight Xing put behind the question was evident. The second prince with great effort looked once more at Xing’s sword and gathered himself, he exhaled loud enough to be heard by everyone and then yelled “YES. I want to be the greatest swordsman”.

The loud answer had barely finished its final echo when Xing’s sword materialized in his hand his sheath nowhere to be found. Upon seeing his sword Wei grew extremely excited. It was the first time that he had ever seen a magical technique after all.

The sword was elegant and lethal. Its presence seemed to chill the room and when the light hit it at an angle it almost seemed alive. If Chen Ping was giving the odd glance before, now he was unashamedly staring at the sword, hungrily, as if he wanted to run up and snatch the sword from Xing’s hand consequences be damned. Seeing his gaze Xing nodded slowly “your deep respect and admiration for swords is clear.” With a swish of his sleeve his sword disappeared from his hand to ‘somewhere’ and he walked back to stand behind Zixin once more.

Chen Ping stood there not knowing what to do until after a few seconds Zixin waved him over. Feeling inwardly confused but very grateful that his ‘test’ was over so quickly, Chen Ping jogged over to the two cultivators and stood respectfully behind both of them still in shock.

Wei meanwhile was experiencing the exact same thing. That’s it! So Quick! I thought I would have more time to think of a way to approach them. What should I do?

Zixin gently cleared his throat – drawing the attention of everyone in the throne room and spoke. “Chen An, we have what we came for. We’ll be leaving now.” His soft voice had a great amount of authority and unconsciously everyone in the throne room nodded together. Without another word he slowly started walking away Xing and Chen Ping following close behind him.

“Immortal Zixin please wait.” Wei’s voice reverberated throughout the throne room. It was even louder than Chen Ping’s previous yell. I was scared he wouldn’t hear me because of my weak lungs but looks like he heard me loud and clear. In fact everyone probably did. I hope this works.

Zixin turned around and faced Wei. Instantly Wei felt his mental qi begin to roil and seethe warning him not to provoke the person in front of him. As if I need a warning. Anyone with any sort of decent instincts can tell. This monk is definitely more dangerous than that swordsman.

Seeing Wei’s silence the monk did nothing except look at him a smile on his face. A few seconds passed by and the king started to get anxious worried that if Wei annoyed the immortals he could be punished along with him. He quickly whispered an order to an enforcer who boldly broke the silence “what are you doing young man? After calling the immortal back, instead of being thankful and quickly stating your business you’re wasting his time instead! How bold. Fellow enforcers capt—“ “Silence. If senior Zixin thought he was wasting his time would he wait?” Xing glared at the enforcer his eyes like sharp steel, and the enforcers properly cowed, shrank back and rejoined his fellow enforcers.

However after a few more seconds even Xing started to show signs of impatience in fact everyone in the throne room excluding Wei and Zixin were expressing their impatience in numerous ways. It’s only a few seconds. I thought cultivators lived much longer than mortals, why so stingy when it comes to a few seconds?

Although Wei was angry about Xing’s inclusion in the group of impatient people he didn’t show any of it on his face. After a short sweep of the throne room and seeing how many of the faces were changing from annoyed to hostile he decided to go for it. “Immortal Zixin I feel that I have a talent for cultivation do you think I can also accompany you?” Wei’s simple question caused a few people in the throne room to gasp. Everyone knew that only the successful undergoing of an awakening ceremony or the powerful sight of an immortal could tell what mortals were chosen and even then they could still be wrong.

How could Wei, a young mortal know that he was Chosen. The enforcer who had spoken up previously had a slight smile on his face after seeing that Wei really was wasting Zixin’s time, but seeing the tension present in the throne room he kept his mouth shut and resisted his urge to gloat.

“This is why I can never stop visiting the mortal world. There is always something interesting to see. With no assurances, no guarantee you stake everything for the small chance that you are Chosen. You must know that for your slight against Chen An, if you aren’t Chosen then your life is forfeit right” he asked voice brimming with curiosity. “Then why do you still risk it?”

Wei responded with a forced laugh, “I have a terminal illness. No doctor I’ve talked to can cure it.” Wei almost didn’t recognize the empty voice as his own. “In a story I read, a cultivator said ‘The Heavens always leave a way, a chance.’ So I’m gambling that I won’t die to my illness or Chen An but instead live as a Chosen, as a cultivator.” What followed was an audible silence and Wei could almost feel the tangible ridicule that people had for his words.

Scoff, jeer even laugh I don’t care what you think. Only what he does. At this moment only his thoughts matters, his decision. Everything else in this moment is meaningless, empty. What will you do monk Zixin?

Wei intently observed the monk like he was a puzzle to be solved but the monk gave away nothing keeping his infectious smile on his face while gently counting his prayer beads in a way that Wei could clearly tell he did quite often. Finally after what felt like an eternity of waiting “Very well, does anyone else think they are Chosen? Who else thinks they have been acknowledged by Heaven.” Suddenly the still silence shattered and many of the youth present in the throne room stepped forward eager, the crowd cleared around them as they all moved to stand near Wei and then looked towards Zixin for further instruction.

Zixin eyes looked at each of the mortals in turn, lingering briefly and then moving on. Although he was still smiling his gentle smile, something in his gaze seemed to make the excited group of youth very uneasy. A few moments later and only a small handful of them were left, the rest having returned into the crowd in shame.

“Being thoughtful is very important. If you always act impulsively you won’t achieve much,” Zixin said seemingly to the air. Everyone got his message. “Step forward,” he gestured to the remaining seven people including Wei.

Wei stepped forward filtering out everything except for the monk. He didn’t react when dozens of hopeful youths reentered the crowd with downcast gazes nor did he blink an eye when out of his group of seven two were also told to step back as they weren’t Chosen. Only when Zixin told them that the five of them were Chosen did Wei finally react.

Finally, even though I just found out that I would be a cultivator for sure a couple of days ago it feels like I’ve been waiting forever.

“Although the five of you are Chosen it doesn’t mean that you will come with me. This time the awakening ceremony is special, every day you go early is a day you have an advantage over all the other new Chosen. However instead of talent for cultivation, the thing I value most is willpower. If you want me to do you this favor then you will show me you are worthy. Is that understood?”

Quickly everyone agreed. Zixin after a moment’s pause called for Chen Ping who eagerly went forward and stood in front of him. “Chen Ping since Xing decided you fit the requirements for inner disciple of the Supreme Sword Sect I will use you as a measuring stick. Walk towards that flag over there and bring it to me,” he said gesturing to a flag on the other side of the throne room.

When did he…

Everyone except Xing seemed to share Wei’s sentiment wondering when the bright red flag had appeared in the throne room. Without asking any questions Chen Ping started walking towards the flag. A few seconds after he started he paused and then started walking again. This scene repeated itself with the distance covered become increasingly shorter and the pauses in between becoming increasingly larger. Five minutes later after making it about sixty percent of the way there Chen Ping returned dejected.

“Senior Zixin I can’t get it. Every time I start heading towards it I feel many distracting thoughts and can’t focus. The closer I got the more it affected my thought until finally I couldn’t move forward.” The entire time he was narrating his experience many people were giving the inconspicuous red flag intrigued looks wondering if it were perhaps one of the legendary spirit weapons that possessed magical powers.

“No worries. That flag is a formation flag that has a bewildering formation in it, a fairly weak one at that. Its meant to be used to keep mortals away from specific places. Although this one was a weak one you did rather well by getting almost three quarters of the way to it.” His voice had a faint hint of praise to it and Chen Ping instantly brightened up.

“If any of you can pass the half way mark then that will mean we have karma between us and you can come with me,” he said.

Alright this is good. Although I’m sure I have good talent I don’t know for sure, but will, I think I can do that. Will, ambition. mental qi I have them all, now to see how much.

Including Wei there were two young men and two young women. The two young men and the shorter of the young women seemed to have come to an agreement moving towards the flag together while keeping an eye on Zixin for his reaction.

Zixin made no move to stop them but his gentle smile turned into a slightly mocking one. The group of three paused slightly but seeing that he hadn’t said it was forbidden they continued on. Their clever plan was doomed to failure. Not even a few steps in they completely grew still, almost in tandem and then one by one they fainted. Muffled thuds sounded out alongside a sharp crack as one of the young men hit his head on the hard floor. They were quickly carried out of the throne room.

It was obvious that working together increased the intensity of the flags effect. Seeing three people try together and fail made Chen Ping stand taller his stiff posture relaxing.

The final young woman moved forward but her efforts were fruitless. Almost immediately she returned anger and sadness on her face.

Going halfway should be easy. I need to make sure not to draw any mental qi out of my body. My mental qi reacted for a reason. I have to be cautious.

Wei walked forward heading straight towards the flag. He was much slower than everyone before him due to the pain brought by his illness. He also didn’t have his walking stick. After a few steps he felt his thoughts begin to wander but because of the high caution he was proceeding with the first few distractions were easily dismissed and he continued forward. With each step he took the distractions become more and more subtle linking seemingly insignificant things into more prevalent thoughts.

I wonder were Lady Seer went. I should have gone with her. Today might have been the day I found out more about her. What was I even doing here? I still haven’t even showed my painting to Madam Song she will be so mad. I could …

Wait a minute…

With a start Wei cleared his thoughts and saw that he had been standing still. He seemed to be only a few steps away from the halfway point and the entire throne room was so quiet the only thing he could hear was his own haggard breaths.

Wei knew that he wasn’t very disciplined and that very few things interested him. That was why he preferred to stay alone, read books and gamble. Only very interesting stories and people could stir his thoughts. That was precisely the reason the people at the orphanage hated him. When a boring, vain person talked to him he simply couldn’t muster the energy to engage them in conversation and simply nodded while absorbed in his own thoughts.

Was he empty as one of the old caretakers said or merely apathetic he didn’t know. The only thing he knew was if the flag used triggered his most deep thoughts he could become lost for hours and then he would lose his chance.

I have to risk it.

With a thought his small store of refined mental qi swirled around his body. He made sure that not even a trickle escaped outside of his body. As he intensely focused on his refined mental qi he noticed that his thought were as clear as a mountain stream. With ease he crossed the halfway point and the entire throne room erupted into conversation. Just as quickly silence reemerged. Wei was curios what had been done to silence them so quickly but he didn’t look around lest he distract himself.

Having past the halfway he wanted to stop and return secure in his position as someone with ‘good karma’ with Zixin however the same feeling as when he had merged with the silver coin. A desire, no an ambition to excel. To strive and succeed. It fueled him and he revolved his mental qi faster until he struggled to keep it from seeping out. He quickly passed Chen Pings record and continued on. His mental qi had stopped moving faster but instead stabilized at an extremely fast speed.

It filled him with a warm feeling like a mothers embrace. He remembered the feeling from when he was a child and Madam Song would soothe him to sleep. At night his sickness would flare up and only her embrace and soft singing had let him fall sleep.

He felt so comfortable that his sharp pain dulled to a slight ache. Within a few seconds he was almost near the flag. The distractions were easily ignored his mental qi crushing them as easily as breathing. A moment later he reached out and grabbed the flag. It was cool to the touch and very light. Wei resisted the urge to wave it around a few times.

He walked back enjoying the awe on many of the people’s faces. He absentmindedly took note of Chen Pings sour face and stood before Zixin. He still had the same gentle smile on his face. “Congratulation young man you were indeed right. So much talent and willpower I am truly impressed,” he said voice full of praise.

“Your words humble me Senior Zixin,” Wei said altering his method of addressing Zixin whose smile grew wider. “For taking your time to listen to my request I am very grateful.”

“Think nothing of it. Everything is due to Karma. Now let us depart we are behind schedule,” he said motioning for Wei to walk beside him. Xing and Chen Ping trailed behind them as they walked towards the throne room exit.

Wei’s sickness started to flare up bringing with it the usual pain but not even that could curb his excitement. Not once did any of the mortals make a sound. Even the king kept his silence. However none of that mattered to Wei. He had done it.

Finally I take my first major step towards cultivation. I will find a cure. Maybe I’ll even become immortal.

 

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Chapter 15: Leaving the Mortal World Entering the Shattered Grove

When the four of them exited the throne it was late at night. With all the things that had happened in the throne room to Wei it had felt like much longer. As Wei walked alongside Zixin he felt a rare burst of pure satisfaction. I am finally stepping onto the path to become an immortal. For as long as he could remember Wei had always felt empty and hollow inside however he always tried not to dwell on it instead choosing to focus on the pain of his illness and how to cure it. Still it was not always so easy, the emptiness was sometimes even worse than the pain.

While Wei sometimes felt emotions they were almost always faint and extremely short lived as if he simply couldn’t be influenced by them for long. Ever since he had entered his ‘mindscape’ he had speculated with increasing surety that it was directly linked with his illness, his body’s frailty and his mental qi.

As he walked alongside Zixin feeling as light as a feather Wei felt that the world of cultivators would do much to alleviate him from his emptiness. He waved the flag to and fro entranced by its vivid color and the way the fluttering cloth seemed to absorb the surrounding light. It doesn’t seem to be distracting me anymore I wonder how he deactivated it.

Looking away from the flag Wei saw that Zixin was walking rather slowly, studying the surrounding building with an expression of nostalgia. “Senior Zixin here is your flag,” Wei said handing it to him. Zixin grabbed the flag without looking and continued his observations. Seeing that they were getting closer and closer to unfamiliar territory and that Zixin didn’t want to be disturbed Wei kept quiet and simply kept walking. A few minutes later they reached a completely deserted area and stopped. With a single fluid motion he sat on the floor cross-legged and beckoned for them to join him. Xing and Wei sat down immediately copying him but Chen Ping looked distastefully at the dusty ground and when he saw everyone sitting he squatted down seemingly to avoid dirtying himself a fact that didn’t escape Zixin who narrowed his eyes at him.

I wonder how long he can keep that up for. Wei wondered idly. His amusement at Chen Pings actions were cut off when Zixin began to speak drawing his attention.

“To be a cultivator is to go against heaven. Even though heaven selected you as Chosen, it is more of a curse then a blessing. The heavens see all mortals as specks of dirt. Our lives have no meaning to the heavens” As he said this his smile strained slightly and he sighed deeply looking at that moment like a tired old man.

“In the countless years that cultivation has been practiced very few cultivators have flourished and those who were satisfied with the lives they have lived are even fewer. In the mortal world death is the end in the world of cultivation that is not always so. Sometimes death is only the beginning of great torment. It is a cruel yet beautiful world.” Saying this he paused looking up at the stars as if looking for answers in them.

“In the world of cultivation power comes above all. In the cultivation world power is the same as the mortal world except the scale is greater than you could possibly imagine. Perhaps I will have the chance to show you. Most importantly however are the opportunities to gain powers and move forward in your path and having the will to seize them.”

Hearing the sincerity in Zixin’s advice Wei and Chen Ping watched Zixin intently and even Xing who had been half paying attention listened closely. “When an opportunity presents itself to you, take it! Be smart, decisive, and cunning and even then you still may fail. But perhaps, perhaps one day you will achieve something great,” he made to speak more but decided not to and with a final look around Zixin stood up prompting everyone else to as well.

With a flick of his fingers a wooden boat the size of a pebble flew out with a dull blue glow and swiftly expanded until it was around thirty feet tall floating a few feet above the ground. Wei’s slightly enhanced vision let him barely see what had happened. Chen Ping on the other hand gasped loudly having witnessed a huge boat appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

A magic transportation treasure, very nice, still compared to the silver coin it doesn’t measure up. Its energy is weaker? No the feeling it gives off is much weaker.

“Come along Wei, Chen Ping,” with a casual jump he soared through the air and landed gracefully on the boat. The action was effortless and was quickly mimicked by Xing. Chen Ping looked at the boat seemingly trying to figure out a way to get on board Wei on the other was thinking of whether he should just up and leave.

He really didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye. Lady Seer and Madam Song would surely get the news soon if they hadn’t already. Still it bothered him greatly a fact that Zixin seemed to see. “Wei, you will have a chance to do whatever it is you need to do and say whatever it is you need to say. The ties we had in the mortal world usually have little effect on our future paths but there are always exceptions.

You will have a chance to return, if you survive the trial.” That’s not ominous at all. What trial? I guess I’ll find out later. The information Madam Song was supposed to give me will have to wait until I return.

“Senior Zixin I need help,” as soon as he said the words a sharp wave of self-loathing and disgust hit him as if he had lowered himself to the level of a beggar.

I really need to get access to more knowledge. The treasure may still have some sentience left. It has been warping my personality more noticeably than the first time.

The boat floated downwards until it touched the ground. As soon as the two chosen got on, the boat shot towards the sky and quickly disappeared.

High above the clouds the magical boat zoomed across the sky towards lands unknown. The wind howled every so often as it blew past the boat and added sharp bursts of cold that chilled Wei to the bone. Looking around for anything to distract himself Wei quickly came to the realization that he would be very bored for the majority of the trip. He had not a single thing to amuse him. The only things he had were the clothes on his back and his purse full of coins. Everything else including his painting materials and books he had left behind.

He couldn’t even talk to anyone.



As soon as they had started flying Xing had taken Chen Ping to a corner of the boat and had been speaking to him ever since. Zixin on the other hand was sitting cross legged on the bow of the boat seemingly in deep meditation.

Meditation is something that cultivators do often. I should get try and get used to it.

Watching his step Wei walked to the front of the large boat and observed Zixin for a while then he sat next to him. The bow of the boat easily accommodated them. Wei sat still and cross-legged for what felt like a long time but when he opened his eyes the sky was still as dark.

For a short while Wei tried to focus his mind and meditate but to no avail. Slowly he allowed his thoughts to wander and contemplated many things; his painting, gambling, Madam Song, Lady Seer, mental qi and cultivation. Unconsciously he started resolving his mental qi and entered a state of deep meditation.

Deep as he was in his meditation Wei didn’t hear his name being called until the fifth time Zixin did so. “Yes Senior Zixin what is it?” He asked. “Enough of your games child the next time Senior Zixin calls on you and you don’t answer immediately I will teach you a lesson you won’t forget,” Xing threatened. Before Wei could even think of a response Zixin who was standing next to him raised a hand “Peace Xing. You will not speak this way to him again or I will punish you. Do not undue the progress you have made by falling into bad habits” While Zixins voice was kind his message was hard as iron and Xing hurriedly bowed and asked forgiveness.

“You question why I was so sharp with you,” When Xing made to interrupt Zixin continued on unhurried “This child is special. In just a few days he entered deep meditation. He did nothing wrong and yet you took him to be faking. Did you stop to question why he would even do such a thing? Think before you act and if you are angry think thrice. Understand?”

Xing bowed his head once more and went to stand next to Chen Ping. Wei meanwhile was shocked by what he heard. Deep meditation what is that? Several days without food how is that possible with my body I wouldn’t last a day.

When Wei voiced his thoughts Zixin explained that the reason he had been able to last was due to fasting pills. A single pill left one without need of food and water for two weeks. Deep meditation helped cultivators to absorb and replenish true qi faster as well as understand magical techniques quicker and later on even meditate on the concepts of the laws faster. When Wei asked him what the laws were exactly Zixin laughed at him “It will do you little good to know now, when it is time to know you will. Until then focus on the upcoming trial.”

“And what trial exactly will we be undertaking Senior Zixin,” asked Chen Ping. Wei listened carefully as he would also be participating in these ‘trials’. This time his it was Xing who spoke up “The blood trial is a proving ground where Chosen fight with dangerous mortal criminals and mercenaries to the death. The winners will have a chance to join the top sects and cults without having to go through any examinations or needing any references as for the losers;” he turned his head to look Wei in the eyes “they die.”

Although he wasn’t threatening Wei he was blatantly provoking him but since Zixin didn’t rebuke him again he smiled taking his small victory .

What a petty guy. No wonder he needs special training. Why else would it be called the blood trials? Still I will have to do a lot of research before then so as to make the most of my mental qi.

“The trials will occur in a month and that is why by coming with me you will have a great fortune. The first is that I will take you early to the House of Survival so that you awaken early and have ample time to train and prepare for the trials and second I will take you to a place where you will see the pinnacle of power in the Enlightened Realm so that you may feel an earnest desire to seek it,” he said this his voice heavy and terrible.

“Now be silent all of you and prepare your hearts and minds. For tomorrow we see the birth of a False God.”

The entire boat became as silent as a graveyard and only the odd howl of the wind could be heard that night. It was as if the words Zixin had spoken had affected everyone inexplicably. The rest of the night the question of where they were going and what a False God was agitated Wei like an itch he couldn’t scratch so to distract himself he tried to enter deep meditation again. Two hours later and he hadn’t made any progress. Giving up for the time being Wei laid down on the cold wooden floor of the boat and watched the stars. They shone and glittered like gems full of power beckoning Wei towards them and feeling tired he did.

For the second time in as many days Wei woke up to his name being called. This time he woke up before any repetition it still didn’t stop him from being annoyed at being woken up so early. “Were you in deep meditation again?” Chen Ping mocked. It seemed that he had joined Xing in his dislike of Wei for no apparent reason. Wei paid him no heed the entire trip Xing had been conversing with Chen Ping it was no surprise they shared the same opinion of him. The only thing he could pay attention to was the movement of his mental qi. Before in the presence of Zixin Wei’s mental qi had been a bit skittish and sluggish but now it roiled and seethed in excitement. Wei searched for the cause but couldn’t find it.

While searching he immediately he noticed that the boat was now surrounded by a thin blue dome of true qi. No wonder I could sleep at all. Otherwise considering how damn cold it was last night there’s no way I could’ve dozed off.

“We are entering the Shattered grove. For your own sake know your limits if you don’t then your mind will shatter like glass and I won’t be able to save you.”

With those final foreboding words the boat flew towards the Shattered Grove.

 

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Chapter 16: The Three Children and the First Favor

Wei felt it when ‘something’ changed around him and he wrapped his hands himself tightly around himself as if to shield himself from whatever it was that was causing the change. Zixin too felt it, his posture revealing his alert state. Wei revolved his mental qi hoping to find out what was causing him to feel so insecure when his mental qi showed no reaction whatsoever. Wei smelt it before he saw it. The sharp acrid smell of smoke and ashes, it burned his nostrils and caused to break into hacking coughs and dry heaves. When his short episode was over and he looked up over his sweat covered hair the sight he saw was a startling one.

The ground that had been a long swathe of deserts and empty plains had suddenly become a beautiful land full of luscious trees and clear rivers. It was the most beautiful scenery Wei had ever seen and he was struck with the urge to paint. The beautiful image was marred by the large layer of smoke looking much like a masterpiece that had been scribbled on by a child. Zixin seemed very familiar with the phenomenon and had stopped his boat well before it made contact with the smoke.

The smoke was like a barrier keeping everything out. It occurred to Wei that maybe that was perhaps exactly the function it served. No sooner had he thought this that the smoke started to twist and turn in on itself. Three shapes came out of the smoke at first indistinct but they quickly solidified into three large floating hooded figures. Cultivators with transformation magic, what a marvelous technique. It seems that the books were mostly true many things mortals can only imagine cultivators can accomplish. This is my world now. My mental qi has been acting odds, are they not a threat? Or can they simply not harm me with Zixin around?

The three figures removed their hoods and Wei was startled by Chen Pings accompanying scream. Come now it’s not that bad. However Wei had a hard time convincing even himself, his hands shook and he fought the urge to run away knowing that at this height he would be running only to his death. The visages under the hood were indeed horrifying; they had the faces of three identical young children. As if that was not strange enough considering their very large bodies they also had bright yellow eyes reminiscent of desert sand and mouths full of sharp red serrated fangs the color of rust.

“What are those things?” Chen Ping whispered to Xing his voice horrified. Zixin let out an exasperated sound and Xing sharply inhaled. He’s done it now. If I with my barely enhanced hearing heard that then these monsters definitely did too.

“What did you say child?” the trio asked as one in a disturbingly childlike tone as they focused all their attention on him. Chen Ping shriveled under their stares then looked to Xing and Zixin and seemed to gather his nerves. “I said what are you?” He repeated a tad more forcefully.

“You speak with fake courage and hide behind false help. Today you have erred we will feast on your flesh and drink from your blood and your bones will keep us company for centuries till they turn to dust.” Their word spoken In tandem were eerie and disturbing and Chen Ping made no move to answer. With no response the trio of monsters with the face of children moved in for the kill. Xing looked to Zixin and saw that he wasn’t making a move to stop them only watching Xing.

When the monsters continued to advance and Zixin remained motionless Xing finally acted but it was in a way neither Wei nor Chen Ping expected. He laid down his favored sword on the boat and floated upward to hover between Chen Ping and the trio of abominations. “Do you seek to fight us child? Are you also full of false courage to challenge us?”

“No I wouldn’t dare face the Three Children, even if I cultivated for a thousand years. I know I am nowhere near your equal, even stalling you for an instance is beyond me but Senior Zixin on the other hand is another story. He has been entrusted to guide me and keep me safe by my seniors at the Supreme Sword Sect and will do so regardless of who he faces. I say this not as a threat but as a plea. He is young barely a newborn in your eyes please spare him.” Xing said his voice soft and humble.

It was the first time Wei felt a sliver of admiration for Xing. Since he had met the two cultivators Xing had always seemed to Wei a petty and foolish old man but seeing the depth of his loyalty to Chen Ping since he was a fellow member of the Supreme Sword Sect was surprising. I guess he has some good qualities after all standing up to the Three Children, If worse comes to worse and they decide to kill us can Zixin take them?

“Xing speaks the truth the child has just left the mortal world and is uneducated, on my behalf let the child live. We have known each other for a long time how about a small favor between friends?” Zixin said.

“Zixin we hold a small degree of respect for you. We will gift him his life.” Said the Three Children in sync making Xing sigh in relief, his relief however was cut short by the Three Children’s condition.

“However no slight to us can go unpunished even animals know. A youngling like this with no sense of caution and instinct and even less manners will die sooner or later. As his elders we will give him something to remember us and our lessons by. In honor of his fellow disciple who pleaded on his behalf we shall make the punishment fitting. Give us an arm. NOW!” They hissed.

Chen Pings face quickly went ashen not knowing what to do. “What hand will it be Chen Ping?” Asked Xing “I know that cutting off your own hand is something you don’t possess the resolve to do at the moment. I will do it for you. You should bite down on something.”

Chen Ping shook his head back and forth quickly not understanding or accepting what was happening. “Brother Xing I thought you said we were a righteous sect who slayed monsters, these creatures are monsters. They feast on human flesh and drink blood. They are completely evil. Why? Why? WHY DO WE NOT KILL THEM? Why not get senior Zixin to do it if you can’t. At least we sho─”

His rambling was cut off as Xings sword exited the sheath fired a sword light and cut his left arm straight off in one smooth motion cauterizing it in the process. The disgusting smell of cooked human flesh made itself known to Wei for the first time and he forced down the vomit in his throat lest he attract the attention of the Children to himself.

The gut wrenching scream that followed from Chen Ping was so horrible that even Wei felt some sympathy for him. “The price has been paid are we free to leave?” Zixin asked.

“Of course now that they price has been paid you may be on your way. We just came to greet you and catch up a bit but it seems you’re busy. Perhaps next time, but remember you can observe only for a day after that you have to leave.”

Zixin nodded and the boat flew into the smoke without even a smudge. The last thing Wei heard was the Three Children debating whether it would be worth it to split the small arm in three and lamenting how sharing would be easier if they had the whole of Chen Pings body instead of a piece.

The boat quickly flew through the bog – like smoke. No one could see anything due to the smoke but Zixin clearly knew the path and navigated the boat smoothly the entire way. With no warning the boat burst out of the smoke into an empty garden right in the center of the grove. From the inside of the smoke looking out Wei realized that he could see the outside perfectly. It was as if no smoke existed at all. The surrounding environment was much larger than it seemed from the outside.

When the boat landed Zixin quickly disembarked in a hurry. “Wei, Xing you can find any spot you like and meditate see if you can gain any type of understanding. The sun is about to rise and when it does our time starts we will have until midnight to make any gains. You can go wherever you want but be back here by midnight. Leave Chen Ping in the boat and he will be safe.”

Not like I can go far, guess I’ll stay in the boat too.

Zixin flew out of the boat and into the night sky heading to parts unknown. Xing quickly flew after him and within a few seconds Wei could see them no longer.

Wish I could fly away and find a quiet place to meditate on this awesome place. Even now I can feel something powerful and enticing pulling at my senses and mental qi. I’m getting a feeling of curiosity and eagerness from my mental qi. It doesn’t seem dangerous so I’ll give it a try.

Mind made up Wei sat cross – legged in the lotus position and attempted to meditate. An hour later he was still trying. Why do I keep on failing? Last time I entered deep meditation without even realizing it and now I can’t even do basic meditation with the help of whatever is calling to me.

The sun came out in its majestic splendor and lit up the grove bringing with it a new kind of beauty. The surrounding flora and fauna seemed to come alive in a completely different but just as unique way as the night. When two more hours passed Wei decided to try to take a break and think about why he couldn’t seem to meditate.

I need to be calm and relaxed. Not distracted but not focused either. I need to find a balance and just be.

To his annoyance he found that he couldn’t be relaxed because of small annoyances. The sun would hit him from a glaring angle causing his eyes to sting and for sweat to flow, other times the wind blew strongly and stirred up the scent of Chen Pings drying blood. Knowing that he couldn’t meditate in his current environment Wei got up with a grimace and slowly hobbled away into the woods of the grove. In the last few days his illness had gradually been making its reappearance with a vengeance and he could scarcely walk.

Although he was slow and his feet constantly ached Wei eventually left behind the boat and found a small clearing with a single huge oak tree in the center. A small stream flowed nearby and a gentle breeze breathed life into the scenery.

Know this is a place to meditate.

Wei was about to randomly sit down in the clearing when his natural laziness flared its head. Who says you have to endure heat to meditate and gain some enlightenment?! I think that I should follow the example of Buddha and meditate under the tree until I achieve some results.

In the ancient text Wei had read the Buddha was a powerful cultivator in the Golden Era who some claimed had surpassed Immortality and attained godhood. The difference was not expounded on in most books but in most written counts Wei had found out that the reason that Buddha had impressed and awed so many and been labeled a god was because he had completed a never before seen feat in the Enlightened Realm. Supposedly one day while on his path to find true enlightenment and gain true understanding of the universe the mortal who would later be called Buddha (already a master of deep meditation) had meditated under a legendary Bodhi tree. For seven days and seven nights he meditated and on the eighth day he woke up as an immortal. Because he ascended immediately afterwards no one knew how he did it and the only remaining clue, the Bodhi tree disappeared.

Ever since reading that book Wei had wondered whether it could possibly be true. Sure there were Buddhist monks who believed it, even Zixin probably did but could Buddha’s story actually be real? Could Buddha accomplish in seven days and nights what it took talented geniuses centuries to accomplish?

Regardless of the answers Wei used the excuse of testing the theory to rest under the large oak tree. Well you’re no Bodhi Tree but I guess you’ll suffice. If I gain enlightenment and become immortal here you’ll be legendary too.

With a tired yawn Wei leaned against the oak tree and relaxed as the shade mercifully shielded him from the cruel rays of the sun. Thinking of Buddha’s story who was supremely compassionate made Wei almost want to bring Chen Ping over under the shade as well. Considering how quickly the grove had turned from chilly to sweltering Chen Ping’s unconscious and wounded body must have been suffering greatly but in the end he decided against it. Not only did Wei not like Chen Ping due to his attitude but he simply couldn’t be bothered to waste his piddling amount of strength to drag over someone who disliked him.

Remember I’m here to meditate. I need to stop having all these distracted thoughts. Wait that’s it!

Last time when he had entered deep meditation he had also allowed his thoughts to roam. Only with a free and wandering mind is there a slight chance at something clicking and entering deep meditation. This time I have to focus on my mental qi and follow it back to the source of the sensation.

At first his idea of letting his mind wander had the opposite effect and he constantly thought about it leading to nothing happening but then after a while he found himself feeling ‘aware’ of himself as if he was floating on drifting clouds. It felt like he was inspecting himself from the outside looking in.

This must be deep meditation. How intriguing. Immediately Wei brought out his mental qi and directed it in the direction of the sensation. The moment the mental qi started heading in that direction Wei felt something click in his mind as if he knew something had been activated or some condition fulfilled.

A gigantic suction force from the source pulled vigorously on Weis mental qi and dragged it miles away in a few seconds. The connection between Wei and his mental qi snapped like a taut string but instead of separating Wei’s consciousness stayed with the bit of mental qi lingering on inside of it. Finally hundreds of miles away in a cave the mental qi came to a stop in front of a large mirror that glittered like stars at night.

Why is a mirror the source of the pull? Although he didn’t understand what it was intended for Wei urged his mental qi towards the mirror. With a sudden jerk the mirror absorbed the sliver of mental qi and Wei alongside it.

As he was entering the mirror Wei saw a bright shining light like a thousand suns that seared into his eyes and made him feel like his brain would melt out of his ears. He instantly closed the ‘eyes’ of his consciousness and waited in pain for the burning sensation to wear off.

When he opened his eyes after he was sucked in the mirror he was once more in the grove far away from the cave the mirror was located in but this time it wasn’t daytime it was night. And while the stars above glittered it wasn’t with their normal light instead everyone one of them was the color of blood.

 

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