Chapter 17: Unexpected Reunion

Winter drifted by silently, and before long, spring had arrived. The wildlife surrounding Heavenly Path Mountain gained new life after coming out from its hibernation and hiding during the harsh winter months.

The core sect stayed much the same, the weather atop the mountain didn't fluctuate at all.

Yaan finally felt like the road ahead of him was clear and stable, allowing him to settle into a comfortable routine.

He was steadily making his way towards the Mid Qi Gathering Realm. With just another two months of cultivation, he was sure to reach this stage!

During the initial stage, the Innate Qi in the dantian rose from 1% to 4%. After accumulating 5% Innate Qi in his dantian, Yaan entered the early stage. He would reach the mid stage after his Innate Qi was half-way towards reaching the maximum limit for the Innate Qi Realm.

Everyday, he executed ten mortal prisoners. Every ten days, he was escorted to the third layer of the underground dungeon, where he was brought a single Qi Gathering Realm prisoner to kill.

He could only execute a single cultivator prisoner every ten days due to the lack of prisoners. If he killed one of these people every single day, there would soon be no cultivator prisoners remaining in the dungeons, which would be no good for the sect as a whole. These prisoners provided an excellent opportunity for the core disciples to hone their skills on a living target, and also to steel their mind and will by slaying their enemies.

By encouraging disciples to kill the sect's enemies, the young disciples would grow closer to the sect and assimilate into the system. A righteous sect operated on a foundation of trust in its members. Whilst there were naturally some internal disputes, these never escalated to the point of murder between fellow sect members. It was crucial that the sect remained united against outside forces. This was the one and only way for a righteous cultivation sect to survive through the ages.

Whilst the sect would continually push the disciples into developing feelings of loyalty for the sect through ideals like 'honour' and 'camaraderie', in Yaan's case, these feelings never took hold. Such a mindset was not something that Rui wanted to see, and for this reason, she regularly pushed him away from this feeling of unity.

"Don't forget, this sect is responsible for the massacre of your family."

"…I know. Please stop reminding me everyday."

Yaan replied wryly to Rui as he made his way towards the core sect's Grand Hall. A messenger arrived at his home earlier today, informing him that all disciples needed to gather for an important meeting. The contents of this meeting were still unknown, so he could only head over to find out more.

As he climbed higher up the steady incline of Heavenly Path Mountain, a crowd came into view surrounding the Grand Hall's main entrance. The crowd was steadily growing in size, whilst very gradually edging into the palace-sized building.

Yaan could only see disciples gathered in this crowd, the elders were nowhere to be seen. As he slowly reduced the distance between himself and the sea of people, someone happened to glance back and spot him.

"Junior Disciple Yaan!" The disciple called out with a wave. Yaan nodded towards the energetic young man with a light smile. He altered his course ever so slightly, choosing to approach the man who called out to him

Yaan was relatively well known in the core sect by now, and most people felt well-inclined towards him. There were only a few who found his daily habit of executing ten mortals to be too strange, and thus avoided him. The person currently waving at Yaan didn't care at all. Like many cultivators, he viewed mortal lives like grass, and the life of a prisoner in the sect dungeons was merely a single dying blade.

This person was called Boln. He was a core sect disciple at the Peak Innate Qi Realm. He had a fairly impressive reputation, thanks to his status as the strongest Innate Qi Realm disciple in the sect.

"Senior Disciple Boln, Senior Disciple Kaila." Yaan greeted Boln and the girl by his side as he clasped his hands.

"No need to be so polite little Yaan." Kaila laughed, her small mouth turning up cutely.

Kaila was a beauty at the Late Innate Qi Realm. Her long chestnut hair flowed down her tight robes seductively, but nobody around dared to have any lecherous thoughts towards this girl, after all, she was Boln's woman. Very few men would even dare to look at her if Boln was around, but Yaan was an exception. He was only seven years old, it would be ridiculous for anyone to consider him a rival in love.

Most female cultivators were usually quite reserved around men and wouldn't lead them on thoughtlessly, but Yaan was still just a small child and didn't warrant such caution.

"Do either of you know what's going on?" Yaan asked curiously.

"No idea." Boln shrugged.

Since none of the three knew why this meeting was being held, they could only follow the crowd into the Grand Hall.

This place was called a 'hall', but it really felt closer to a palace. The inside room was like a cathedral, large enough to fit over one thousand people comfortably. There were not even 200 core disciples, so everyone managed to find a space without any struggle or discomfort.

Yaan peered past the crowd curiously as he made his way inside. The opposite side of the hall, beyond the crowd of disciples, was elevated by a few feet, forming oak stands where the elders all stood, wearing indifferent and ethereal expressions befitting of cultivators of their status. Their auras were powerful and imposing, so nobody dared to make too much of a fuss under the silent and invisible pressure.

As the last disciples arrived, the hall grew quiet. Now that everyone was here, Yaan noticed that the three most famous disciples were stood at the front of the hall, beside the sect lord, Great Elder Tajin of the Punishment Hall, and Great Elder Yayli of the Medicine Hall.

Aside from the sect lord and Yaan's own teacher, Great Elder Tajin and Great Elder Yayli were the two most renowned figures in the sect. They both flaunted Mid Spirit Core Realm cultivations, a stage above the other great elders, who were all at the early stage of the Spirit Core Realm.

The younger people by their sides were their three respective disciples. Each of these disciples was at the Qi Temple Realm, they were true geniuses nurtured by the sect with the utmost care.

These were the only three Qi Temple Realm disciples in the the Heavenly Path Sect. To be a disicple, you needed to be below 50 years of age. Achieving the Qi Temple Realm at that young age was truly an achievement to behold. However, Yaan was more stunned when he noticed that they each looked even younger than this! Could it be that they were all in their early thirties…?

Seeing his confusion, Rui took it upon herself to explain. Her voice appeared in Yaan's mind, heard only by him.

"The further you cultivate, the more significant the increase to your lifespan and vitality. If you attain a higher realm at a younger age, then you will retain your youthful appearance for a longer period of time. Cultivators maintain the same appearance across the extra years added to their lifespan, until their appearance and vitality rapidly deteriorates towards the end of their life. In truth, all three of those disciples are in their early to mid forties."

Yaan nodded subtly, but he couldn't reply to her out loud in this place, since he was surrounded by so many others.

Cultivators possessed greater lifespans than mortals; this improvement in longevity was one of the main pursuits in cultivation.

At the Qi Gathering Realm, there was no clear extension in lifespan. That said, it was common for such cultivators to live beyond 100 years of age, whilst Qi Gathering Realm cultivators possessed much greater resistance against illness and disease compared to mortals. Even so, their maximum lifespan was limited to 120 years. This was a boundary that no mortal or Qi Gathering Realm practitioner could cross, no matter their luck and attentiveness to their own health.

Innate Qi Realm cultivators all possessed lifespans of 120-150 years. At the Qi Temple Realm, this increased to 160-200. It was only at the Spirit Core Realm that the difference would become more significant, increasing to 300-400 years.

Rui added a final point, giving Yaan something to think about.

"Ascending at a younger age results in a cultivator living towards the latter end of these ranges. This is why strong cultivators with younger appearances are to be feared. A youthful face and body shows a person's talent, but a longer lifespan also gives them more time to cultivate to the next stage."

Yaan realised again that Rui was someone quite amazing. She exuded the aura of a mature woman, but her appearance was actually that of a twenty year old girl. Well, in Yaan's young eyes, that still qualified as a mature woman.

Compared to those three disciples, Rui was definitely far superior. He had once asked Rui about her cultivation, and how she ended up falling to a state where her soul was attached to a stone ring, but she completely refused to explain anything.

As Yaan came to understand these three core disciples, he examined them with intrigue.

The first and strongest of the three, Sect Lord Shin's personal disciple and son, was named Owan Shin. He was rumoured to have inherited his father's talent for cultivation, a high talent that verged on an extreme talent. He was said to be the most likely candidate for the next generation sect lord.

The second, the head Punishment Hall disciple, Inhi. It was obvious from his calm expression that Great Elder Tajin's stoic attitude had worn off on him. There were some rumours circulating that he was actually taken in as Tajin's adopted son at an early age, but Yaan couldn't confirm the validity of said rumours.

The final disciple, Xin Tia. The youngest and most recent to ascend to the Qi Temple Realm, she could be defined as a typical cold beauty. Despising of most men and diligent to a fault, not much else was known about her other than her talent for alchemy.

Seeing these three side by side with their respective masters nearby, Yaan was reminded again of the vast diversity present around this lone mountain. Each isolated village developed different customs over the ages, affecting their naming sense and even appearances. The sect itself was a hotpot of diversity because of this.

As his gaze swept past these people, Yaan's eyes paused on someone who made him freeze. He hadn't noticed before because she was stood to the back, behind the sect lord…now though, there was no mistaking it.

"Elia?!"

Yaan's mouth hung agape in disbelief as he stared at his closest childhood friend. That silky blonde hair and those sparkling blue eyes, there was no mistaking it, she was Elia!

'But how? She should be in the inner sect somewhere, what on earth is she doing with the sect lord?!'

Since she was standing behind the sect lord whilst wearing a shy expression, it was clear that they had some relationship.

"Eh, you know that girl Yaan?" Boln, observant as ever, noticed his gaze and asked.

Yaan slowly nodded.

"She's from my village, I just don't know what she's doing here…"

As if to answer his questions, Sect Lord Shin began speaking, causing Boln and everyone else to fall silent.

"Everyone, we have gathered you all here today to announce two matters. Let us start with the smaller but joyous matter. Elia, come forwards."

Following the sect lord's instructions, Elia walked to the front and trembled slightly under near-200 curious gazes.

"Elia will be joining the core sect. She has a high talent, but that isn't important. Young Elia actually possesses the Heavenly Light Constitution!"

"Oh, a heavenly grade constitution? Yaan, you must bed this girl, it will bring you great benefits." Rui's voice sounded out through his mind, stunning him into silence for a moment.

'I'm only seven years old you irresponsible woman!' Is what he wanted to yell out, but he needed to keep his silence right now.

Sect Lord Shin saw the confused looks amongst the crowd of disciples, but also the stunned expressions on the faces of the more knowledgable elders. He paused for a few moments, before going on to explain this matter.

"This heavenly constitution is gifted only to those favoured by the heavens. Those with the Heavenly Light Constitution benefit from a ten fold increase in cultivation speed when cultivating light based techniques! Their efficiency and comprehension rate with light based spells is also far greater than any normal cultivator!"

"What?!"

"There's really such a crazy constitution in this world?"

"Incredible, just amazing…"

"…"

The hall immediately burst out into chatter as everyone discussed this shocking news. A ten fold increase in cultivation speed for a high talent…this meant that her cultivation speed would increase to the level of an extreme talent!

It should be known that there were currently no extreme talents in the entire Heavenly Path Sect, meaning that Elia would certainly become the number 1 genius of the new generation!

"Wow, to think that two people with heavenly constitutions would be found in the same village, what an incredible coincidence!" Boln commented with a grin as he looked down at Yaan.

Yaan smiled and nodded, but his eye twitched slightly as he forced himself to put up this act. The heavenly constitution was something that he understood already, because Great Elder Wan had used this exact excuse to explain Yaan's rapid cultivation speed and his unusual physical strength.

In this world, there were those blessed by the heavens at birth, gifted with innate constitutions which could benefit their cultivation greatly. Heavenly constitutions were extremely rare…it was extremely unusual for there to be two such people with a heavenly constitution present in a single sect.

"Now, onto the next matter, the main reason for everyone being gathered here today."

Yaan was pulled from his thoughts as the sect lord continued and the energetic discussions immediately stopped.

"Exactly five years from today, there will be a combat tournament held between the younger generation in the Greenwood Mountain Range. The level of this competition will be extremely high, as the young geniuses of the entire Greenwood Mountain Range will all be attending. This competition will be split into two leagues: Innate Qi league, and Qi Temple league."

Hearing this, discussion burst out once again. Even many elders couldn't help themselves, they knew just how important this competition was.

"Greenwood Mountain Range? What's that?" Yaan felt confused once again.

"Little Yaan, you don't know about this?" Kaila asked in surprise.

When Yaan shook his head, Boln and Kaila quickly explained to him that the Greenwood Mountain Range was the name of this region. It was a large place consisting of nine mountains across the Northern border of the Ghu Province, one of which was of course Heavenly Path Mountain.

The most shocking characteristic of this mountain range, was that each of the nine mountains contained a Spirit Vein below the surface! This led to the unusual situation where each mountain was occupied by a separate cultivation organisation, be it a sect, a school or a clan.

Heavenly Path Sect, Fire Dragon Sect, Undead Coffin Sect, Swift Sword School, Thunder Sword School, Lin Clan, Bo Clan, Yuso Clan and Zue Clan.

To leave Yaan even more speechless, it turned out that the Heavenly Path Sect was currently ranked 7th out of these nine groups! This was unthinkable to him, who had always thought of the Heavenly Path Sect as the absolute power of this world!

When the Heavenly Path Sect was first established, it was a ferocious entity, lording over all the rest. Now though, many generations had passed by and the sect had slowly declined to its current position.

In the current day, the four clans claimed the top four spots.

Yaan wanted to ask more, but the sect lord wasn't yet finished.

"This competition is an opportunity to boost our political standing in the mountain range, and to gain honour and status for the sect! Because of this, it is also a grand opportunity for every core disciple. From today until the date of the tournament, all core disciples will receive twice their usual allowance of resources! The sect will do its best to provide everything you need to increase your strength over these five years. I hope that you can all excel and prove your worth at the tournament!"

This grand speech stirred something up within the hot-blooded youths present. Which one of them didn't want honour? Fame? Glory?

At this tournament, they could prove themselves before the greatest organisations and the most venerated cultivators across the Northern border! Their emotions had been stirred, they all started to imagine themselves on the grand stage, standing above the rest as they received looks of praise from their elders, respect and admiration from their peers…

Of course, Yaan had a certain someone to kill off any potential hot-bloodedness.

"A typical tactic, playing on the naive emotions of the young to further their agenda. At least this high-pressure environment will be good for you; you will be able to kill more prisoners without people paying much attention. If you show results, they will turn a blind eye to any misgivings, this will allow you to thrive."

Yaan smiled wryly as Rui's cynical words crushed his dreams before they even sprouted. To be honest though, he didn't feel much towards this tournament, since five years felt like it was a long way off to him.

The meeting came to an end and everyone soon dispersed.

After taking a final glance back, Yaan tried his best to leave with haste. There was a reason that he hadn't sought out Elia, despite his ability to do so now that he was officially a core sect disciple…

He felt ashamed. Ashamed that he had failed everyone.

He had failed Elia, he had failed the helpless families back at Lightstone Village. Not only that, but he had even turned into a demon, his sense of morality blurring further by the day. Because of this shame, he couldn't bring himself to face Elia…he didn't even know what he would say to her.

"Ah, Yaan!"

Yaan froze. His heart dropped as her familiar yet distant voice rang out in his ears. He slowly turned around and forced a smile, facing his childhood friend for the first time in over a year.

"Yaan, it really is you!" Elia skipped towards him excitedly. The two of them drew much attention from the surrounding disciples, even attracting adoring gazes. When people saw these two talented little ones, they thought that the pair looked cute together.

"Hey, Elia…" His expression was strained, but nobody seemed to notice. The two of them moved to the side of the crowd, Elia with excitement and Yaan with reluctance.

"Yaan, I…I'm so sorry!" She suddenly cried out. She lowered her head, shut her eyes tight shut, and clapped her hands together as her arms trembled.

"Huh?" Yaan was startled. Why was she suddenly apologising? His expectation was that she would berate him, or maybe even hate him for not being able to protect the others from Lightstone Village. But this…?

"I was taken away to the inner sect and forced to stay there, so I couldn't help you at all! Jash, Una, Falca…they all died to that horrible beast! You must have suffered so much! I, I can't even imagine…" She trailed off towards the end and began tearing up, then suddenly threw herself forwards and hugged Yaan tightly.

Yaan was completely frozen. Somehow, this felt even worse than being yelled at. He wondered what Elia would do if she were to learn the truth…

How would she react if she knew that it wasn't actually a beast, but that he was responsible for their deaths? He neglected to protect Una from starvation and Falca from murder, but beyond that, Jash was actually killed by his own blood-stained hands…

He was not some innocent victim, he was a murderer…he was a demon.

As Elia hugged him tightly, letting out all of her emotions whilst crying on his shoulder, Yaan felt distant and alone…his heart felt numb, yet pained all the same.

He realised in this moment that he could not go back…things could not go back to the way they were. He had changed.