《Guiding the Way》 1. Prologue Prologue Numerous lines of code flicker across the screens in front of me. Finally, I¡¯m done. Two hundred work hours, ending with 24 hours without sleep or rest, but the program finally works. Sighing silently I open my internet browser and send my work to my professor. Looking at the clock, I realise that I was lucky this time around. Only 10 minutes remained until the deadline of my assignment. I should really work on my working morale, we had an entire two months for this shit, but NO, dumb Mr. Sebastian here had to procrastinate until the last week. Hah, well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m going to change. This mentality has been with me for a long time now and I can cope with it, somehow. Turning off both my beast of a PC and my two monitors, I stand up from my desk and make the three steps to my bed. Feeling the exhaustion wash over me, I can feel my mind slipping into the desired and very much needed dreamless sleep. As I am waking up, I notice the abnormal smell that is permeating around me. It is in no way a bad one, reminding me of a wide field of grass, shortly after a short summer rain. The problem lies with me living in a student hostel in a rather big city. Even though there are parks, there are none even close to where I live. The idea of a lucid dream comes to my mind and considering the tranquility which comes with the scent, my eyes stay closed, savouring this moment as long as it may last. It feels like only five minutes have passed by, as I am rudely awoken by a tickling feeling at the tip of nose. Unable to suppress the natural urge, a heavy sneezing ends my peaceful time. Rubbing my eyes to remove the remaining sleepiness, I stand up, noticing that I was lying on the ground the whole time. Looking down I see the little one who disturbed me: A tiny blade of grass, swaying in a breeze so soft I cannot feel it. It is not alone. Raising my eyes I find myself on top of a platform, covered by a fine natural carpet of grass, each as graceful in the wind as the one which woke me up. Though small, they are growing very densely, covering the entirety of the plateau in a flowing field of emerald. But what truly stuns me, making my mind go blank is the view in front of me as my focus rises to the sky above. Eternal fields of white clouds stretch into the distance. There is a moon, shining in a cold, calm radiance. It is enormous, looking several times larger than the one we see on earth. Stars cover the heavens with their brilliance, making even the grandest and purest of diamonds pale. Turning my head I can see them vanishing from my sight as the sky brightens up. There is a sun, burning in yellow flames, hot and fierce, directly opposite of the moon. I do not know how long I simply stood there, on the border of night and day with the celestial bodies above my head, the moon to my left and the sun to my right. It felt like an eternity and like an instant. Slowly my senses come back to me, ending the mysterious trance. And with this there come the thoughts. I know for certain that this is not earth. This realisation hits me, hard. Pictures and memories flood my mind: My family, my mother and father, my siblings, my grandparents. I see their smiling faces in my mind, replaying the memories we shared. Happy and sad, angry and forgiving and all those countless more. I do not know what happened to the me back on earth. Did I simply vanish? Did I die and only my soul crossed over? Either way, I can see them before me, crying at my grave, whether empty or not. Tears flow down my cheeks, and I kneel down and weep at the loss of my loved ones, knowing I will never see them again. Will never see my little siblings graduate school or get into their first relationship. Will never be an Uncle and play with my nieces and nephews. I can feel my heart and soul wrench in agony. Again I did not know how long I mourned before calming down and managing to come terms with my situation. It seemed like time did not matter in this place, as even now I did not feel the slightest hunger or thirst. For the first time since coming to this place I have a conscious look around where I ended up. The plateau is not as empty as I initially assumed, noticing not only a pond with a diameter of 10 meters in its centre, but also two truly strange looking trees, growing on either side of the pond. One is so white, it hurts my eyes as they focus on it, while the other is of a black so absolute, light simply seems to vanish when it comes near it. But at the same time, they are identical when looking at their form. Even after searching for a good while I do not manage to make out a single branch or knot which is not mirrored by the other. The pond on the other hand is very shallow, the water being only a few centimetres deep while giving the impression that it has never been disturbed in its entire time of existence. Beneath this crystal clear liquid there is a pattern which is very familiar to me from earth: Yin and Yang. Spanning the entirety of the small body of water it seems to represent the very realm I am in, a perfect balance of light and darkness. Taking all of this in, I squat down, grabbing one of the small blades of grass, trying to pull it out to inspect it further. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.Though to my astonishment, it doesn''t budge in the slightest, on the contrary, it still sways in the invisible wind, like all the others. Even after I put the weight of my whole body into it, there isn''t any effect at all. Last but not least I go to the edge of the platform which is approximately 50 meters in diameter, walking along its border, looking for a way down. There is none. Realising the fact I am stuck here, I sit down in front of the pond, contemplating on what to do now. As my mind starts to wander my eyes focus on the symbol before me. Feeling the deep mysteries hidden in it, its image begins to fill my mind, slowly at first, but with increasing speed until all thought vanishes and there is only yin and yang. With each step I take towards its secrets my understanding grows, while only deepening my respect, as the ocean of insights before me only continues to grow. Unbeknownst to me, my body grows old, dying. At my last breath, one of the blades of grass near me begins to glow a deathly green light, before withering away. The old male body begins to shrink, the skin becoming young and soft, until there sits a small child, still staring at the symbol without rest. It is a girl. For a lifetime I had gained insights into the aspect of yang, when the focus of my mind changes, taking my first steps onto the path of yin. The circle continues like this, time and time again, my body dies of age before changing into a child of around three years old again, also switching my gender to uphold the eternal balance of this place. Like this I spend countless lifetimes on comprehending the essence of yin and yang, the image still occupying every corner of my being. It is after the last blade of grass has withered away, my body once again becoming male, that the pattern in my mind begins to fade away. I blink, coming to the realisation of being only one step away from my goal. I see it, there right in front of me in my mind, the last piece to the puzzle of life and death. Why am I unable to reach it? I look back at the countless paths I have walked, the ways I have traversed, all leading to this one place. They define me, making me who I am right now... I see it, the first path I ever walked... In my mind I walk it again, from the first moment of life, when the DNA of my mother and father fused together to the moment when I reached this realm. My expression changes as memories and the corresponding emotions flash through my mind at inconceivable speeds. This is my life, this is who I am. I answer finally dawns on me and with a smile on my face I take the last step, all paths behind me vanish. There are no paths. There is only me. I am me. I am the way. In an instant, the world becomes clear before me. I can see a strange energy wafting through the air in front of me. But I''m not just seeing, I can feel all of my surroundings with an incomparable clarity. My sense reaches over the edge of the platform, and further down into a depth of around 10 km. The outside of it is as smooth as it can possibly be, with no roughness whatsoever. I also discover that it is far higher than I initially thought, with my heightened senses there is still an inconceivable distance to reach the layer of clouds. At the very least I''m confident in surviving the fall now. But before there is something I want to try. The only remaining things here now are the two trees and the pond. By now I see the trees for what they really are: One, the utmost extreme of Yin, the other the most extreme of Yang. Normally it would be impossible to bring the two together, but with my current complete understanding of these two concepts it becomes possible. I walk onto the pond, not a single wave gets created. After reaching the centre, my arms raised, I summon the very essence of them into my hands. Slowly they begin to shrink in the corner of my eyes, until both are nothing but small spheres which fly towards my open palms. Once there I slowly, ever so slowly bring them together. The very foundations of this world begin to tremble as they begin to merge in front of me. They need a new form, one not too distant from what they were moments before. A simple shape comes to my mind, and they follow my will, as a staff materializes before me. Unadorned and still of incomparable beauty, as black and white light seem to flow endlessly in it. After some time they begin to stabilize in this form and with a small final nudge from my will, begin to merge. In the end, a grey staff, 2 meters in length lies in my hands. "From today onwards, you shall be called ''Bal''." Still standing in the pond, the staff moves to my right hand and with a gentle tap, I shatter the symbol of yin and yang, leaving behind only a normal body of ordinary water. With my last objective being achieved I walk to the edge of this small realm and, without looking back, jump into the unknown, only my voice echoing in the empty space: "Life is there to be enjoyed. I shall live this life to its fullest." Chapter 1 Chapter 1 The wind pressed against his body, stopping his acceleration. Now falling with a constant speed a he frowned. Shit, I should have thought of a few plans beforehand. What if I come down in the middle of a city? A guy coming crushing down with extreme speed and not getting so much as a single scratch is probably very weird. I also don¡¯t know how strong the people here are, I could very well be the weakest being in this world right now. Hmm¡­Alright I will look for a deserted place to land as soon as I can see the ground and then it¡¯s laying low until I have more information. ¡­ Seriously though how far up was that thing? If feels like I¡¯ve been falling for hours and I haven¡¯t even reached the cloud layer. You know what? Fuck it. Let¡¯s try manipulating this weird stuff around me. He began to concentrate on the energy in the air around him. As he tried to move it, it instantly obeyed. Following his will, he turned his body in a way so his face was pointing downwards and gathered it at the soles of his feet. From there he simply imagined himself being pushed forward like a rocket though the result was far less pleasant than he expected. He could hear his bones break and his muscles rip as 50 G tore them apart. Quickly shutting down his perception of pain one sonic boom after another resounds through the skies. In an instant all his injuries were healed. The moment something broke, it was immediately recovered by his insights into life. There was also the feeling that this wasn¡¯t even close to the limit he could heal, not even to one thousandth of what he was capable of. It didn¡¯t end there. Breaking down and healing. With this endless circle, he noticed his entire body becoming stronger and stronger with each second. A crazed grin spread across his face. Due to shutting his pain down, he only felt the exhilaration of growing stronger. Just a little faster, and faster and faster. Let¡¯s see how far I can go. A streak of light could be seen falling from the heavens as he tried to reach his limit. It still took an entire day to reach the layer of clouds. At this point his body had already been reconstructed millions of times. Not lessening his speed in the least bit he broke through and suddenly saw himself face to face with the ground. Shi- It was only an instant before a thundering sound echoed throughout the boundless forest. A hole, one metre in diameter, had appeared in the centre of a circular clearing. After a few seconds a naked man climbed out of it. Sebas looked down on himself. Well, damn it. Obviously my clothes wouldn¡¯t survive something like that. What do I do now? A naked man trying to enter a city isn¡¯t exactly low key, is it? He spread out his Soul Sense and ¡­ ¡°The hell?! How does it go that far?! Up there it was only a few kilometres and now it just keeps going¡­¡± One thousand, ten-thousand, one-hundred-thousand, one million kilometres. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me¡­ Well at least I now know where the nearest city is. But first I need some clothes. Leather should do.¡± He had discovered several hundred beasts in the surrounding kilometres and decided to use their hide to make his provisional clothes. After contemplating for a few moments a white bear located a few kilometres to the west was decided to be his target. There were numerous beasts in the vicinity but strangely enough they all avoided him as soon as they noticed his presence. He did not know at this point but the impression he gave to other living things more than justified this. Beast POV: A black panther, with a shoulder height of over two metres, watched the weird human walk away in the direction of the king of this region. It was confused. This being before it looked so incredibly weak but at the same time its instincts told it to stay away as far as possible. But there was more. He felt different. There was both, the same feeling given off by the very forest it was born in, one of being save and at the same time it knew, the very moment any aggression was shown death was guaranteed. This small man before it could erase its existence from this world without even lifting a finger. Its hairs stood on end. Slowly, as to not make him know of its presence it turned around and left. MC: Haha, so he simply left, huh? A little disappointing, I wanted to see just how strong I am compared to the other beasts but at least I won¡¯t have to wait much longer for this experience. After a few minutes of walking with a speed that would put Bolt to shame he reached the cave of his prey. On the way he had tried to coat his hands in essence, as he had decided to call the energy around him. It worked very well. They began to glow a faint grey and when he did a light chop against a tree beside him, it cut it without any resistance whatsoever. Satisfied, Bal got stored in his body, because even he with no knowledge of this world was sure that a weapon forged from essences of life and death was sure to arouse suspicion and greed. It truly is fascinating. The moment I created Bal I instinctively knew of its capabilities and uses. And those beasts¡­I can feel their strength when I cover them with Soul Sense¡­They are true monsters when compared to anything back on earth, but I can¡¯t help but think of them as weak, so incredibly weak. Anyway, let¡¯s make a few shirts and jeans. The bear was already expecting him and it was huge. Easily 10 metres in height and four wide he was a sight to behold. With an ear shattering roar it charged¡­ and fell, Sebas standing behind it. A drip of blood fell from his fingers. He had directly burrowed his entire hand in the monsters skull, completely destroying its brain. At least this seems to be same as on earth. But there might be others like me who can recover from such injuries with ease. It took a few minutes to skin the animal, but at least he had a nice big piece of hide. Now then¡­Change! The material in his hands began to transform, first into leather and then into five sets of identical clothes. The shirts with the same white colour as the bear, while he morphed the colour of his pants to a pleasant black. The remaining pieces were used for a backpack to store the change sets, which was a normal dark brown with a single strap to hold on to it with one hand. It actually wasn¡¯t much more than a simple bag. On this day a black and white blur moved through the crowns of the trees with agile movements, jumping from branch to branch. Suddenly he stopped, looking up to a small streak of light, which was travelling at extreme speeds towards the direction he came from. Hmm, seems to be an expert, or at least he is far stronger than the bear I killed, still not a threat to me though. I should move with a little more care, I don¡¯t want to explain where I came from and what not. With these thoughts in mind Sebas continued his journey to the town he had deigned as his target. Flying Guy POV: Earlier that day a big shockwave hit the city of Flowing Leaf, making everything shake for a few seconds before calming down. He was the guardian of the city and thus also its strongest expert. Looking like a middle aged man wearing a fine yellow robe, even though he recently had his 250th birthday. He himself was a Master level mage, which granted him a lifespan of around 1000 years. Training in the Ways of the Earth made his body extremely resilient and attuned to the earth. Due to this he had already discovered an anomaly before the blast reached them. He felt another slight rumbling of the ground a few seconds prior to the main event. It was very far away so he couldn¡¯t pinpoint its exact location, but he was sure it came from the centre regions of Flowing Leaf Forest. It wasn¡¯t a very dangerous place in general, but the innermost parts of it still held a few decently formidable beasts, though none were capable of challenging him. Finally he arrived at the place of the tremors¡¯ origin. Drifting down he approached the small hole in the middle of the clearing. The closer he got, the more an excited look appeared on his face. The walls of the hole showed signs of melting due to extreme friction. Something fell down and burrowed into the earth. That explains the shockwave. Incredible. Even now I cannot fathom the depth of this thing. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.The thought that maybe some sort of treasure had appeared here instantly made him smile. Without another ounce of hesitation he jumped down, letting himself fall down the perfectly straight tunnel. ¡°There is¡­ nothing? No that isn¡¯t true. This indentation on the bottom¡­a face!? And the marks of human hands and feet on the walls¡­¡± After he had reached the bottom he suddenly became utterly terrified. He simply could not imagine the speed necessary to plunge several kilometres into the solid ground. And this being had done so headfirst without shedding so much as a single drop of blood! A whisper escaped his lips. ¡°Expert¡­A supreme Expert has appeared here.¡± A chill ran down his spine as his eyes widened in realization. ¡°The city! If anyone of those fools offends this expert by accident the whole city might be wiped out!¡± He returned to the surface and returned to the town he was entitled to protect as fast as he could, hoping to prevent the worst case from happening. MC: A few kilometres were left before leaving the forest when he heard the sound of running water beneath him. What he saw caused him to lose focus for a moment, because of which he stumbled and crashed into the next tree. Quickly regaining his composure he swiftly landed on his feet, before the small pond with the small waterfall beside it. Looking at his own reflection he saw a youth with long dark brown hair reaching a little past his shoulders and brown eyes which exuded an otherworldly calmness and charm. If he had to guess he would estimate himself to be around 20 years of age, though the way he carried himself gave the impression of being far older than that. Long hair is troublesome¡­ With but an intention his hair shortened to a few centimetres while leaving his face completely free. That should do it for now. I should probably check out the town a little more carefully instead of simply going in. Spreading his Soul Sense the town was encased instantly, nothing could escape his senses. While doing this he began to walk again. Hm, so the culture seems to be similar to ancient China, including the names. An Alias would be a good idea since my current name might arouse suspicion, let¡¯s see¡­ Surname Wu, first name Jie? Wu Jie? Sounds nice, I¡¯ll go with that. Maybe I will even form my own Wu Clan, man that would be awesome, or an academy? Wu Martial Academy, no, Wu Academy? Something like that¡­God I¡¯m excited for this world. Soon after exiting the forest he had encountered a road which lead directly to his goal. With a broad smile on his face he finally approached the gates of the city. Since there is an entrance fee¡­ With a flicker, disappeared from the side of the road and appeared in a deserted alley. His before empty hand held a thick purse, filled to the brink with money. ¡°Haha, I feel like Robin Hood, stealing from the rich, well not exactly though, not gonna give it to the poor, at least not yet.¡± Since he had already observed everything for quite some time, he knew the Flowing Leaf City like the back of his hand. Not even the Vault of the Song Clan, which seemed to be the ruling faction in this city was able to hinder his probing. The main question now is¡­how should I proceed from now? Meh, I¡¯ll take a walk around here first. Wu Jie walked out of the alley and onto the main street. It wasn¡¯t long before he heard a carriage coming up the street from behind him. Naturally he moved to the side to let it pass and continued walking while immersed in his own thoughts. I wonder what the food is like here, I need to find a good inn, the guards might kno- ¡°What do you think you are doing!?¡± Suddenly a high pitched voice interrupted his inner monologue. Turning around he noticed all the people kneeling while the carriage stood still in the middle of the road. Beside it stood a young woman, looking to be around 18 years old. Hair as dark as the void cascaded down to the middle of her back, while her eyes were an intriguing mix of green and red. She was, by any standard, an absolute beauty, if it wasn¡¯t for that extreme arrogance which seemed to seep out of her very bones. Her face which was a pure and healthy white under normal circumstances was a deep red from rage, her expression only supplementing this impression. An expensive looking red robe adorned her seducing body, leaving few things to imagination. Currently that very teen was pointing her delicate hand at him. ¡°Taking a walk in the streets, what do you think I did?¡± Another vein popped up on her forehead. ¡°You seem to be new around here to not know who I am¡­¡± One could hear the suppressed anger at those words. ¡°I am the daughter of the Head of the Song Clan, Song Lien.¡± ¡°¡­ Get to the point, I¡¯m hungry.¡± ¡°How dare you!? Hmpf, at least you are good looking. I have taken a liking to you, so become my servant and I¡¯ll forgive you this time and let you keep your life.¡± As Wu Jie opened his mouth to refuse, she already continued. ¡°Yes, I know I am a Saint and what not, come over here so my guards can give you the slave collar.¡± Now it was him who began to pop a vein on his forehead. Arrogance, slavery and political power heh? ¡°What you want to refuse? Guards! Get him!¡± Before anyone could take a single step they froze on the spot with cold sweat running down their backs like rivers. A baleful aura full of killing intent had descended onto the whole city, making everyone choke in fear, many even fainting on the spot. The source was a single ordinary looking black and white clothed youth. His eyes were staring directly at Song Lien and she could almost feel her soul freezing over from terror. When he opened his mouth, words full of disgust and wrath spilled out. ¡°Listen here, you little piece of shit. You should really, REALLY think about the attitude you have around other people. I actually have to commend you for making me this angry this easily, there are few who could do that.¡± Wu Jie started walking towards her exuding a black deathly mist, visible to the naked eye, increasing the pressure several fold once again. ¡°I wanted to lay low for a while and then you come up, spouting nonsense about slavery, all while being so ridiculously weak¡­¡± Song Ho was almost back at the city when he felt a suffocating pressure. His face paled as he realized that the worst case most likely already happened. No! Please, I have to make it! The closer he got, the harder it was for him to act against his natural instincts which all told him to run away from there as fast as possible. Finally he saw the situation of the main street and his heart skipped more than one beat at the sight. He raised his speed to the max while sending a voice transmission to the youth who was the source of this otherworldly pressure. ¡°Senior, would you give me face and spare my daughter?¡± ¡°Senior, would you give me face and spare my daughter?¡± A voice sounded in his ears. It was the old man who investigated his landing place. Wu Jie glanced at him with a cold glint in his eyes. The old man instantly froze where he was when he saw those eyes. They contained a promise of death, death without reincarnation. Of a simple irreversible, irresistible end. A grin almost seemed to split the youth¡¯s face in half. ¡°How did you like the little hole I made?¡± All the colour that was left, left the man¡¯s face. There was no doubt anymore. Before him stood the very being he feared. He could feel the brown eyes looking at him, looking through him, looking at his very soul. ¡°Very well, we will talk but not here, lead the way. Oh and I¡¯m really hungry, so could you prepare one of every dish of every kind of meat you have here?¡± In but a moment it was all gone. The heavy air, the aura of death, everything. Before him stood, what looked like a young man who could not be more ordinary grinning with a joyfully. This in fact terrified Song Ho even more, as he could not even begin to guess this man¡¯s strength. But at the same time he was glad that he didn¡¯t seem like one to engage in mindless killing. Thus he led them to his personal estate, while sending a transmission to his housekeeper to prepare the requested food. ¡°Oh right most of your population passed out as I lost myself a little, I¡¯ll fix it in a second.¡± Speaking as such he stamped his foot on the ground. HONG The sound of a titanic bell resounded in the space of the city, revitalizing and healing each and every one of them. ¡°That should do it.¡± With a satisfied smile he continued to follow behind the old man, who only cringed at the thought about what kind of monster his spoiled daughter had provoked. Chapter 2 AN: Extra long 5k chapter! I would really appreciate it if someone could give me a review of this story, so I can work on improving it. Now then, have fun with the new chapter! ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 ¡°Man, you guys sure know how to cook.¡± Before him was a big table filled to the brim with all kinds of meat, prepared in almost every way imaginable. Song Lien and Song Ho let out a sigh of relief. They had already experienced what happened when they incurred this individual¡¯s ire and were glad to provide something which would make him have a good impression of them. Though he would not change his impression of Song Lien, at least her father still had a chance to get on his good side. This was what they believed in their hearts at least. After half an hour where only sound to be heard was that of Wu Jie digging in the table, which initially looked like it was about to break under the weight of the food, was completely empty. ¡°Baah, that was fucking delicious! Especially the that black bread you served it all on, it added a very interesting crispness and crispiness to the whole thing, even if they were rather bland in regards to their own taste. What are they called?¡± That was the table ware and not something you are supposed to eat! (Lien & Ho) Seeing the expressions on their faces he seemed to realize something. ¡°I ate the table ware, didn¡¯t I?¡± They both nodded weakly. ¡°Well, damn. Meh, I guess not eating for what feels like eons does that to you. Now then, let¡¯s get to the point.¡± They both paled a little and looked at him expectantly. ¡°To reassure you, I won¡¯t kill your daughter¡­¡± Immediately they wanted to thank him for his mercy, but were cut short, paling a little more again. ¡°¡­but, punishment is still appropriate and since you seem to dote on her very much I will handle it. Don¡¯t worry there will be now scars or anything like that after it, no physical ones at least.¡± Song Ho instinctively opened his mouth to beg for his daughter, Lien doing the same, before they closed them again after a single glance from Wu Jie, which told them that this point was not up for debate. ¡°Furthermore I want to look at your archives, including cultivation and skill manuals. I won¡¯t steal them, maybe, but I would like to know the state of the art of this world. Oh yeah, technique books for various weapons too. The corresponding weapons would be a great goodbye gift by the way, don¡¯t you think so?¡± Lien and Ho almost vomited blood at the shamelessness of this fiend. Look at all their manuscripts!? That was equivalent to giving away the very foundation pf their clan! Though they soon realized that, what was a supreme technique to them was most likely less than a piece of dirt under his shoes to this master. ¡°Please go on, we would be honoured to have a master such as yourself evaluate our family martial arts.¡± Squeezing out those words took all of Ho¡¯s willpower. ¡°Well thank you, give me just a second¡­¡± For a moment Wu Jie¡¯s eyes seemed to look into nothingness, before he recollected himself. An expression of disappointment had appeared on his face. In an instant he had used his soul sense to scour through the entirety of the archives in the city, perfectly remembering it thanks to his ridiculously powerful soul. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should pity you or laugh at you¡­ I mean I expected them to be bad, but they are all simply¡­wrong, so very wrong¡­¡± Hearing that statement the air seemed to be frozen. ¡°What¡­what do you mean by wrong?¡± A terrifying possibility had surfaced in Song Ho¡¯s mind, which was promptly confirmed by Wu Jie. ¡°Anyone who trains in one of these, will only be lead onto a wrong path. Not one of them even hints at anything close to a True Dao Path.¡± ¡­ ¡°Pfft, hahahahaha¡­¡± Wu Jie began to laugh so hard, tears were streaming down his eyes. *snicker* ¡°You should see your expressions, they¡¯re hilarious! Hahah¡­¡± The sound of grinding teeth could be heard inside the hall, as Song Ho had to try his utmost not to lose his temper. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I am no monster and always repay what others have done for me. Say, which of the techniques do you train in?¡± ¡°That would be the Ancient Mountain Arts¡­¡± ¡°Hmm, alright, I changed it a bit and it now points one in the correct direction, if one can understand it of course. There are still many wrong ways contained within it, but now there is at least a chance.¡± ¡°You changed it¡­¡± Shock could again be seen on the faces of the people present. Reading using one¡¯s senses was one thing and even if all of their archives were behind barriers, they could accept that they did not have the ability to block this monster. But changing the contents by mere will from more than a kilometre away¡­ the possibilities of such an ability let cold shivers run down their spines. ¡°Soo, what else is there¡­ Oh yeah, are there any requirements for founding a school or academy of sorts?¡± ¡°Well, schools are, most of the time, founded a certain principle and/or cultivation technique, which is why they are often backed and founded by family clans. Academies offer a wider variety of education and are often founded by experts. When it comes to requirements, beside the strength to get the respect of others and defend your property you have to have, well property. Many make the mistake of just going somewhere in an empire and claiming the surroundings to found their academies there, which leads to the empire sending its experts and obliterating everyone affiliated with it.¡± ¡°Damn, that¡¯s pretty harsh, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Not really, what would you do if someone simply claims your land as his own?¡± ¡°Kill the- Ooh¡­ I get it, alright.¡± ¡°If one wishes to acquire land you can either render merits in the empire until they give it to you as a present. That leads to you being under that empire¡¯s protection, but also means that the land can be taken from you again at any time. The other way is to go into the wilderness which is not controlled by any faction and claim the land there. It will then truly belong to you if you can handle the profound beasts there and, most importantly, their kings which rule the region and will most likely act against you.¡± ¡°Marvellous! Now that all that is clear, we are almost done with each other. Song Ho, you might want to go and get my weapons, one of each kind please and as sturdy as possible, because you will certainly not like to see the punishment I have thought up for your daughter.¡± ¡°No, please, I have to watch¡­¡± ¡°Your choice, let¡¯s begin.¡± Wu Jie waved his hand and two formations the size of half a palm flew out. One landing on Lien¡¯s forehead, the other on her stomach. ¡°Now we sit back and watch. By the way, I have already isolated the air around us, as the smell would be really unpleasant otherwise.¡± Suddenly her stomach began to grow at a remarkable speed as if she were pregnant, though it was nothing as pleasant as that. After only a few seconds she began to choke on something before everything went south. Blood poured out of her throat first, after that came her stomach and finally intestines, which went on and on. Blood and innards continued to pour out for several minutes. One would think that she should have passed out and suffocated long ago, and that would be the case indeed if it wasn¡¯t for the second seal which landed on her forehead which kept her alive and conscious. The seal on her stomach on the other hand regenerated her blood and insides the moment they left her body, creating a terrible vicious circle. Her father had long since lost any and all colour in his face and puked until there was nothing left in his stomach. After an entire ten minutes which felt like an eternity to them it finally ended. It ended so suddenly that everything seemed to have been nothing more than a bad dream. The blood and intestines were gone and everything looked like normal. ¡°Was that an illusion?¡± ¡°Most certainly not, I would just hate to walk through blood to the door, so this is more convenient.¡± Song Ho looked towards his daughter who had finally lost consciousness. ¡°I¡¯ll wait at the door so get me my stuff please. Oh and put it in a big bag, have to carry it somehow right?¡± The devil spoke with a carefree tone. Song Ho was shaken awake from is stupor and almost tripped as he tried to follow the request as fast as possible. No matter what, he did not dare to let this man wait. Only minutes later Wu Jie saw Song Ho hurrying towards him, carrying a gigantic backpack in his arms. ¡°Excuse me for making you wait Senior. Those are the weapons. A longsword, a sabre, a bow with an enchanted quiver holding one million arrows, a long staff, a double edged war axe, a war hammer, a flexible sword and other sub categories of weapons. This backpack is also enchanted to make everything you put into it 100 times smaller.¡± Wu Jie¡¯s smile grew broader with each new mentioned weapon. The reason was very simple. He came from a world in which most big weapons were banned for the general public and now he had so many of them to play with. Though he looked a little dejected at the backpack. ¡°Excellent! Thank you! But aren¡¯t there things like special rings in this world?¡± At those words Song Ho¡¯s eyes grew wide. ¡°Senior, those certainly exist. But they¡¯re classified as ancient artefacts as the method to craft them has been lost for eons. In this empire I know of only one person who owns one and that is the emperor himself.¡± ¡°What a bummer, but I guess this bag is pretty nice too.¡± NICE!? That is the most heavily enchanted bag in the entire city and could almost count as a heirloom of my family. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I cannot provide Senior with something better.¡± ¡°No it¡¯s fine, really¡­Anyway have a nice evening!¡± Wu Jie waved his hand as he began to move in the direction of the wilderness. This continent sure is terrifyingly huge, the forest I landed in alone is half a million kilometres in diameter and is regarded as a small to medium sized one. Oh well, more things to explore for me. He was back in a joyful mood of wanderlust in an instant. While humming a happy tune back from earth he left the city. His mind began to wander as he travelled on the desolate road. It seems people do not travel during the night in this world. I wonder why? ¡°Hey pretty boy, surrender all your belongings without resistance and we will grant you a quick, almost painless death!¡± Who would have guessed¡­ But wait, this is an excellent opportunity. I have so many new weapons to test and there are¡­ He spread out his senses to know how many bandits there were exactly. ¡­wow those are some numbers. Approximately one thousand I guess? Hehe, the more the merrier¡­ He put his hand behind his back and into the enchanted backpack. Let¡¯s see, I¡¯ll stay classy so I¡¯m gonna start with the long sword. What came out of the bag was a double edged, straight long sword, its handle jade green adorned with a multitude of profound inscriptions. He swung the sword three times through the air. What a nice sword¡­ ¡°Now then, my dear bandits, thank you for participating in this little experiment of mine.¡± The expressions of the people before him changed from aggression to disdain at those words. ¡°You think you have any chance to survive? Fool, now we will skin you alive! Men! Get him!¡± Completely ignoring the one thousand enemies approaching him Wu Jie was contemplating. Simply killing them by swinging this thing around would be pointless. I have all True Paths at my disposal¡­hmm¡­First the Path of the Sword as a foundation, second the ¡°Speed¡± aspect of the Path of Light. What else? At this moment the first bandit had reached him. There was a short flash of light before he simply fell down in two parts, cleanly bisected from his shoulder to his waist. The others were shocked when seeing this. They did not see what happened at all, their comrade was simply dead from one moment to another. This shock made them stop for a few moments to process this information. Nonono, it¡¯s far too crude and not beautiful at all, the power is also really bad. Alright, I¡¯ll add the ¡°Flowing¡± aspect of the Path of Water and the Path of Wind in its entirety that should extend my reach by quite a bit and make this technique nice to look at. Last but not least the ¡°Growing¡± Aspect of the Supreme Path of Life, which I will balance with the ¡°Death by Time¡± Aspect of the Supreme Path of Death. The small army had once again regained their composure by this time. ¡°So what if he knows some techniques! That sword has to be a high grade one! Brothers! The one who slays him shall receive the sword as a reward!¡± The leader¡¯s voice one again resounded in the night. Just when the bandits prepared to attack Wu Jie swung his sword a second time. Though this time they could see it clearly. It seemed to move very slowly but in an instant the swing was complete. What remained was an unimaginably thin thread of light which flowed in the air like a ribbon woven from the finest of silk. But before they could appreciate its sight it had already reached their frontlines and simply went through them before they fell down in pieces. The light cut through anything it touched and began to grow. It flowed through the air like smoke in an invisible wind. This continued for around seven seconds before it was obvious that it was losing power rapidly and finally dissipated. Wu Jie frowned for a moment before face palming at his own stupidity. ¡°Shit, I forgot the ¡®Devouring¡¯ Aspect¡­Obviously it can¡¯t grow if it doesn¡¯t eat. Hahaha¡­¡± The bandits on the other hand were utterly terrified now. In a mere seven seconds dozens of their brothers had died without the chance to resist at all. The expression of the leader had also turned unsightly. Shit it¡¯s an expert, we really screwed up this time. He gritted his teeth. But he ought to have used up a big amount of his energy with that attack, though I don¡¯t really understand his last statement. He must be bluffing, yes, that¡¯s it. He raised his voice to recover his troop¡¯s morale. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.¡°He is hanging on by thread by now! That attack has used most of his energy! Get him!¡± The bandits began to move again though this time with more care. It is quite interesting. It seems like the speed of light in this universe isn¡¯t fixed. Hehe. I want to see a good show so¡­the speed of sound should be appropriate and 11 seconds should be enough. The leader of the bandits saw the young man wave his sword again and could feel cold sweat flowing down his back. There appeared this dreadful sword light again, though it felt distinctly different this time. The first one felt like every other sword light he had seen, sharp, indomitable. But this one had a savage feeling to it, like a demon looking at its prey, soon to be devoured. It reached the first one of his comrades in the blink of an eye and cut him down like before, but at the same time seemed to consume all his blood, as what fell down was but a mummy. This light too, began to grow at extreme speeds, doubling its size with every passing second. But to his horror, it did not become weaker this time, quite the opposite, it seemed to grow stronger with each person slain. After nine seconds all his men were dead and the light was before his eyes. With a wry smile on his face he prepared himself for the pain to come. It never came. Everything simply went black. This terrifying technique brought death at such a speed that the soul did not even have time to realize it died until it found itself in the river of Styx. ¡°Hmm, faster than I expected. But it is a fine skill indeed.¡± A happy smile was on Wu Jie¡¯s face as he moved through the field of corpses and watched his sword light dissipate. ¡°The only thing missing is a name. I want to teach it after all. Hmm¡­Flowing Sword ¡­ Flowing Light Sword¡­damn this is hard and my terrible naming sense doesn¡¯t help one bit. Meh, I¡¯ll think of something eventually. It has time until I have to actually write it down.¡± What¡¯s next¡­ Oh yeah they need to have some kind of base right? Nice, only a few thousand metres and¡­ slaves. God dammit. A few kilometres away from the road a hole was dug inside the side of a small hill. Two men stood beside it, guarding the entrance. ¡°You think they will bring back a decent catch again tonight?¡± ¡°Hope so man. The other women from a week ago are already overused as fuck. We could need some fresh material.¡± ¡°Yeah that¡¯s true. Maybe a few children will be with them too. Then we could finally finish another batch and go to the slave market again.¡± ¡°Argh, don¡¯t remind me of those screaming little bastards. I¡¯d even go without a new woman for another week if we could get rid of them instead.¡± ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ll se- Hey who¡¯s that?¡± Before them a youth seemed to have appeared out of thin air, in his hand he held a straight long sword. The next moment, he had disappeared again and the world began to spin before the two of them. With a delay of one second two heads and bodies hit the floor, the faces still displaying a lack of understanding of what happened to them. The base of the bandits was a simple underground hall beneath a hill with a few side chambers which were used as storage or prison. There was also a second even bigger one which was used solely as a place to sleep. Inside the main hall a big bonfire burned in the middle. The slaves were held in several of the side rooms, divided by gender and age. Around the fire sat 50 people, all clothed in rough leather armour. ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t it time for the shift change? Where the hell are those two idiots again?¡± ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry about them, you¡¯ll join them soon for a nice long swim in the river of souls.¡± All of them froze before jumping up in surprise, their weapons in hand, when they heard the unfamiliar voice from the direction of the entrance. ¡°Who ar-¡± ¡°5 Seconds¡­¡± The voice echoed out with extreme coldness, sending shivers down their spines. They saw him swing his sword in a slow, relaxed arc, before a thread of light appeared before them almost instantly. After taking care of the remaining bandits Wu Jie approached the rooms in which the salves were held. Cutting open the heavy doors he told them to gather at the bonfire. Due to the fact that most of them had injuries of varying degrees, both physical and psychological, it took a few minutes for them to do so. In their eyes he could see distrust and fear. It was understandable. He had no idea how long they had been held captive and what they had to live through during that period of time. ¡°Now then¡­ Ehm¡­ Right. To get to the point, the bandits are all dead and you are free to go wherever you want. The next town is only a few hours down the street and there should be more than enough supplies and money in this lair for all of you.. So, have a nice life! Ciao!¡± With that he turned around and waved at the crowd of 150 ex slaves who were string at him like he was a madman. He had almost reached the exit when he heard the high voice of a child which had not yet reached puberty. ¡°Pl¡­Please wait! Make me your disciple!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Astounded he turned around and looked at the young boy who had called out to him. Well I intended to found a school eventually anyway, but isn¡¯t it a little early? Hmm¡­ Wait a second! I¡¯ll need elders and guardians and all that stuff for my school! I wouldn¡¯t want to do all the work by myself. Or even better, not have to work at all, only when I feel like it. If I take personal disciples now it might take longer to get everything started but they will be loyal and in the long run I have less work to do. Once they are at the point where they can improve by themselves I would only need to give them an occasional pointer. Hehehehe, and I can even make all those arrogant sects eat their words when one of my unknown disciples squishes their top disciples like flies¡­ Muhahahaha! I¡¯ll also be able to build a reputation for me and myself, making it easier to recruit new people once I found the school in the wilderness. Last but not least I may be able to make one of them strong enough to give me a decent fight eventually! Though that might very well take a few eons, but still, I¡¯ve got all the time in the world after all! Oh this is good, good, good! But I can¡¯t just take anyone, they should have a very good comprehension ability at least, anything else is easy to change, but that one is a hassle to increase. But most importantly I hate to talk to dumb people who are all brawn and no brain. Okay let¡¯s do this, but how should I test them? Damn that¡¯s difficult¡­ Oh that could work! He turned his attention back to the crowd before him which had moved to the back of the hall, away from him. ¡°Ehrm¡­ why are all of you over there?¡± If you had seen your own expression while you were thinking you would do the same!(All of them) ¡°W-We just couldn¡¯t stand your presence up close venerable Senior.¡± All of the ex-slaves gave the old man who spoke up a thumps up in their minds. Nice save old man! ¡°Alright? Well it doesn¡¯t matter. All children between the age of 5 and 15, please come forward. I will test if you have the capability to become my disciple, and those who have can then decide for themselves whether they want to or not.¡± 23 Kids came forward after his request. Some striding with confidence, mostly the stronger ones of the bunch, while the other had a slight hesitation in their steps. They stood side by side before him. ¡°The boy in the back, who is hidden beneath a rag of cloth, why are you still not here?¡± The children froze at those words. They had intentionally put him away while the expert was thinking, hoping he didn¡¯t notice. The boy was the only one who was not part of their village before the bandits raided them and thus he was shunned. The fact that he was the weakest, the most frail of all of them only made it worse in a world in which the strong rule. One of the strongest looking boys who is around 14 years old spoke up after his request. ¡°Senior, that trash isn¡¯t worthy of yo-¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± Wu Jie cut him off with a tone so cold, all those present began to shiver. Though if it was from fear or coldness, they themselves didn¡¯t know for sure. After a few moments one of the adults carried the boy to the front. He was weakened to the point where he couldn¡¯t even stand by himself, much less walk. He had a very pale skin which was contrasted by pitch black hair and truly peculiar blue eyes which gave the impression of everlasting ice. He erected a soundproof barrier around either of them so nobody could hear what was said, not even the other kids. The weak boy was on the very right, while he walked to the other side of the row. He came to stand before a petite looking girl, which looked at him with a mixture of curiosity, hope, fear and admiration. Her hair was a fiery red and one look was enough to know that she had matching temper. With the sound barrier up and working he looked the maiden in the eye and began the test. ¡°What is the meaning of life?¡± The young woman was caught off guard by this question, but quickly regained her composure. ¡°Beauty.¡± The other children only saw Wu Jies lips move before the girl displayed an astonished expression which was followed by a resolute answer. Wu Jie said nothing and showed no expression whatsoever and simply moved on to the next in line to repeat the process. ¡°What is the meaning of life?¡± ¡°Power?¡± ¡­ ¡°Wealth.¡± ¡­ Soon he arrived before the interesting boy on the ground. None of them have ever thought about it. Maybe I¡¯m too harsh? Nah, I want to train true geniuses, this is the least they should be able to do. I myself found the answer to this question when I was still on earth at the age of 19 and I am by no means a genius. This is the bottom line. Though it would be clich¨¦ as fuck if it was him who could answer it¡­ But oh well, I¡¯ll see in a few moments anyway. He looked at the one lying on the ground and asked the same question. ¡°What is the meaning of life?¡± *mumble* There it was. The one word he had been waiting for. He had to do his utmost to not his expression slip. The first step was done. Let¡¯s see if you really understand what you are saying. ¡°What gives life its worth?¡± *mumble* Again. Again an almost inaudible whisper and again spot on. How old was this boy? 6? 7 years old? Wu Jie knew that he had found a true gem at his first try. He will be a truly worthy first disciple. Maybe he has even found the answer to that question already? I have to ask. ¡°What is death?¡± *mumble* Hah, what a pity, he has not yet found his answer to that one, but this is already for beyond my expectations. He dispelled the barrier and asked the boy in a formal tone. ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t have one, Senior.¡± One of the adults spoke up. It was the old man who had talked before, he seemed to be the head of the village or something similar. ¡°He simply came to our village a few days before the bandits raided us. He only wore a few shreds of pelt and collapsed in the middle of the street because of starvation. We tried to get a name too, but he seems to have forgotten who he is.¡± Well, that¡¯s interesting. Wu Jie bent down and touched the boy¡¯s forehead with his index finger. *whistle* That is one massive soul for a boy of his age. I guess that is also the reason for his sickness. His body simply isn¡¯t strong enough to handle his soul. The laws of this world do allow reincarnation, but normally only the core of a soul is reincarnated and not the entire thing. Maybe something went wrong during the entire process? If not I¡¯ll have a nice little word with the person in charge. You had one job man! That is the soul of a what? Around 50 year old man in the body of a 6 or 7 year old? If I hadn¡¯t found him he would be dead in another year. Luckily for him he doesn¡¯t seem to have cultivated in his previous life or he would be long dead by now, hell he might¡¯ve not even survived the pregnancy. Though this whole ordeal is easy to fix on my part. Phew, I already feared I¡¯d have to put massive amounts of work into this boy in case his soul was damaged somehow. Repairing and healing a damaged soul is one pain in the ass, even if you know exactly what to do. ¡°I¡¯ll skip this part then, you can simply give yourself whatever name you like later. The important question is: Do you want to be my disciple?¡± A weak nod and a whispered ¡°Yes¡± was all it needed to make this one of those rare ¡®good¡¯ days. With a wide smile on his face Wu Jie bent down to pick him up and prepared to leave, now that everything was finished. ¡°Wait!¡± ¡°Oh gosh, what else is it?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t accept this! That trash can¡¯t even sit on his own! Every one of us is better than him!¡± It was the girl with the fiery hair and temper, he had asked first. I seemed like she was kind of the boss of the children here. ¡°I have no obligation to justify my actions, not mentioning that a brat such as yourself has no right to question me.¡± ¡°Anybody with eyes can see that what I said is true! I bet you aren¡¯t even that strong to begin with or you wouldn¡¯t have done something so stupid.¡± The adults in the back began getting uneasy and ushering the maiden to stop, before their saviour turned against them in the end because they angered him. ¡°Do what you want¡­¡± With those words he turned around and finally left the cave. The adults let out a unified sigh of relief at this development. The next moment a woman in her mid-thirties who looked very similar to the girl rushed forward and slapped her, hard. ¡°What is wrong with you!? You could have gotten all of us killed!¡± The others had already begun to scavenge the lair of the bandits and soon the entire group was on the way back to their village, hoping there was enough left of it to rebuild it.