Chapter 19: Leaving the forest
Very deep in the Tang Mountains, inside a forbidden area. A majestic sect lay atop one of the mountain's peaks. It was grand and awe-inspiring, with countless pagodas surrounding the main building.
A hazy mist hung over the sect, giving the entire place an euphorical feeling that made it seem as if it were from a dream.
Cultivators were flying all over the place, giving the place an immortal air that seemed ethereal and unreal, it was if this place was Heaven itself. Something untained by the dust of the mortal world. However, all of this was just a facade.
This was a place dwelled by cold-blooded Devils, their sole purpose in life was to slaughter and massacre the mass.
Their Core Daoist Teachings are based on killing.
Their Doctrines are based on killing.
Their Dao, is based on killing.
This was the esteemed and illustrious Immortal Devil Sect, one of the top ten sects in the entirety of Divine Star Continent, a powerhouse that many fear and hold in awe and reverence. They recruit weak and homeless children, and groom them into killing machines in order to solidify their Dao.
Deep inside this illustrious sect, was a restricted area no one except for the Sect Elders and the Sect Leader could enter.
It was a graveyard in the deepest levels of the main building, an aura of death and doom loomed over this graveyard, and the light of the sun couldn't enter this place even if it wanted to.
It was as if this place was banned by the Heavens itself, if one entered it, he would feel a feeling of expungement and abolishment. As if the Heavens wanted to kick him out of this place.
Deep inside this graveyard, was a giant nameless tombstone.
Around the tombstone swirled an air of demise and extermination, making it almost impossible for any living thing to get near this thing.
Currently, something unexpected was happening that no one took notice of, even the Sect Leader did not notice what was happening in this deadly graveyard.
The giant tombstone was trembling violently, cracks spread all over it and howling voices could be heard all over the graveyard. They sounded like the mourns of discarnate souls, it felt as if they were welcoming the arrival of something, someone.
Then, all of a sudden the entire graveyard stopped shaking, the tombstone stopped trembling and the discarnate souls stopped mourning.
An undernourished hand emerged from the dirt, emitting a very condensed aura of death that seemed to oversaturate the entire place.
The hand was pale white and super skinny, yet it brimmed with unprecedented power that shook Heaven and Earth alike. Then slowly but surely, a figure emerged.
It was an old man that looked almost like a skeleton, he was pale, unhealthy white and it seemed as if a gust of wind could blow him into oblivion. The old man's eyes were hazy and unfocused, yet very quickly they gained clarity and stared off into the far distance.
He murmured in his archaic, ancient voice.
"White Bones is alive, he's still clinging onto dear life."
He breathed in a huge mouthful of air, absorbing all the Qi and nutrients in the surroundings.
"White Bones met him.. And unexpected occurrences happened."
"Was this fated to happen?"
"Is he fated not to cultivate the magic of the League of the Devils?"
"Either way, this child is our only hope. He should not die!"
With that, he took a step forward. Appearing outside the Immortal Devil Sect. Despite multiple cultivators passing by him, no one noticed his presence.
The old man looked up towards the sky, sighing in helplessness.
"Despite reaching the peak of the Heavens, I died."
"Even my clones can not live forever, and they're forever stuck down here. Unable to transcend."
He took another step forward, appearing outside the Desolate Astral Forest. His gaze piercing through the lush trees all the way to land on the Devil's Den.
"My clones unleashed destruction upon these lands, yet the most they can achieve is the fifth rank."
He sighed once again as he took... another step forward, landing directly in front of Bai Gu Jing!
"White Bones."
Called out the old man.
Bai Gu Jing was startled, but when he saw who it was, he smiled.
"Old brother."
The old man looked towards Ximen Wei, his fleshly body was healed but his soul was dispersing into the surroundings, if nothing was done about it now, then it would be lost for all eternity.
"Allow me."
With that, the old man pointed his finger towards Ximen Wei, and power burst out. His body was remoulded, ridding it of any blemishes or imperfections, his soul was gathered and healed, closing up any soul wounds or injuries.
His Extraordinary Meridians appeared, seven of them! Which implanted themselves onto him, restoring his cultivation base and the Qi flow in his body.
Ximen Wei was now perfectly normal, and in fact, his body and foundation seemed ever stronger than before.
"It'll take days for him to wake up."
Said the old man, after pulling off that miracle, he seemed even older than before, his emaciated figure became more scrawny and he felt weaker. A thick aura of death loomed over him, yet he didn't care.
Both the brothers looked at each other for a while, before Bai Gu Jing broke the silence.
"Old brother, what exactly is this kid?"
The old man closed his eyes and sat down cross-legged, he nonchalantly replied as he started recovering his powers.
"They've brought him from outside, and are planning to use him as a weapon against that... and against him I guess."
Bai Gu Jing was confused about who the old man was referring to, yet he did not dare to give voice to his confusions. Some things were better off left unknown.
"They too are afraid of us, they don't want us to ruin their plan despite sharing the same goal."
The old man abruptly opened his eyes as he stared towards Bai Gu Jing.
"White Bones. We're all from the same source, you know that very well."
"I've been stuck at this stage for far too long, this is their doing!"
"Even in death, they don't want us to make any progress, they don't want us to leave these skies!"
"White Bones, what do you think about.. merging?"
"White Bones, I have the feeling that.. if all of us merged back, we'll transcend!"
The old man's eyes shone brilliantly, however Bai Gu Jing smiled bitterly as he looked towards him, towards his elder brother.
"Old Brother, HE died eons ago."
"You still don't understand, White Bones.. We're but an extension of HIM... And our sole purpose here is for this guy."
Said the old man as he pointed towards the unconcious Ximen Wei.
"If his plans succeed, then we'll return to our true self, our ultimate form. And we'll enjoy the fruits of eternal life."
Bai Gu Jing's breath grew ragged, he knew what the old man entailed however, he still stuck to his decision as he politely declined the offer.
"I'm sorry, Old Brother."
"What a shame."
Said the old man, disappointed.
"I guess he's our only hope."
The old man looked towards Bai Gu Jing before saying.
"Come with me, I made us a small hideout from them, they won't be able to find us in the Immortal Devil Sect."
"Plus..." Said the Immortal Devil Sect's Patriarch as he looked towards Ximen Wei's unmoving body.
"We should not invoke Karma with him, least something unexpected happens."
Then the two men disappeared into the far distance...
Ximen Wei spent two days unconscious before he woke up, his vision was blurry and his head hurt. The last thing he remembers was him initiating the self-detonation of his cutlivation base in order to take down Dongfang.
He did it without any hesitation whatsoever, and he wasn't afraid of dying or anything. In fact, he was sure he'll live because Bai Gu Jing was with him!
To Ximen Wei, Bai Gu Jing was an entity shrouded in mysteries. He felt the White Devil to have powers beyond his comprehension, he made a body for himself out of nothing, he stopped time in place and was able to exterminate the Song Family Young Master in body and soul with just the tap of a finger.
Not only that, Bai Gu Jing said that Ximen Wei is connected to him by Karma. And if he managed to kill Dongfang, he'll pass on his legacy.
That's why he was sure he'll live even if he detonated his cultivation base, he knew that Bai Gu Jing will heal him and bring him back.
However, when he looked around, Ximen Wei found no White Devil. He got up to his feet and scratched his head in confusion.
"Where was the legacy he promised?" Frowned Ximen Wei.
He picked his stuff from the ground and searched the entire place clean, there was not a single trace of Bai Gu Jing and there was no legacy left behind, and no magical items or Qi Artifacts either, in fact, the bronze lamp carried by the Song Family Young Master was nowhere to be seen either.
Ximen Wei sighed as he realized that he got scammed, but he didn't let that dishearten him.
He grabbed the Immortal Devil Sect Medallion tightly as he continued on his journey, once he gets back to the Immortal Devil Sect, he'll cultivate their magic and after getting strong enough, he'll look for a way to go back to his former world.
His eyes burned with passion as he realized that, it won't take two days to leave this forest!
Time passed, and two days went quickly.
Ximen Wei finally made it out of the Desolate Astral Forest, unfortunately he did not stumble across any suitable Qi Beasts that he can harvest their Beast Cores.
His cultivation base was still stuck at the first level and his seventh Extraordinary Meridian was still 70% complete, if he had a cultivation base breakthrough to the second level, the energy from the breakthrough will propel his seventh Extraordinary Meridian to completion!
But he didn't want that, he felt it was such a waste to his the energy from his breakthrough to finish his seventh Extraordinary Meridian, he wants to use resources and Beast Cores to finish that meridian, and use the breakthrough energy to open another Extraordinary Meridian, the eight Extraordinary Meridian.
He knew the importance of having more Extraordinary Meridian, yet he had no choice other than to leave the forest. He just hoped that he will find something suitable in the way to the Immortal Devil Sect that can help with his cultivation.
After leaving the forest, what welcomed Ximen Wei was a vast plain that stretched endlessly in all directions, and far off in the distance, Ximen Wei can make the faint outlines of a village.
So he decided to head there for some food and clean water, after all he got tired of eating berries and mushrooms drinking dirty river waters for the past couple days. Plus he was super tired from all the adventures he had, he wanted to sleep somewhere safe without having to worry about pursuers or wild animals.
After spending some time walking, Ximen Wei arrived at the village.
It was a small village where a hundred people lived, farmers mostly inhabited it, going about their daily work as usual. When Ximen Wei arrived, he smiled faintly.
He's been away from civilization for quite some time, and meeting people who did not want to kill him put him at ease. He went to an open stable and laid down in it, he thought about the deadly encounters in the Desolate Astral Forest, the two men who tried to kill him, and most importantly, the mysterious White Devil Bai Gu Jing.
He thought about what Bai Gu Jing said, he said that he's connected to the League of the Devils by Karma. Although Ximen Wei did not know what he means by that, he saw opportunity in it.
He's fated to become a Devil, someone on par with Bai Gu Jing or the Immortal Devil Sect's Patriarch, an entity that can shake Heaven and Earth.
To Ximen Wei, he didn't care whether he's a Devil or a Saint, as long as he's able to return back to his old world, that's sufficient!
Ximen Wei drifted in his sea of thoughts, eventually closing his eyes and passing onto sleep.
During his sleep, Ximen Wei dreamed of something... of someone.
A lonely white-robed figure stood atop a mountain peak, his robe fluttered alongside the wind as he looked towards a horde of cultivators.
His face was beautiful, almost like that of a woman, and his silky smooth hair draped over his shoulders, dancing wildly in the air.
Despite that, his energy was Heaven-shaking and extremely sinister, it reeked of death and killing intent, and it was domineering to the extreme!
This man was the White Devil, White Bones Bai Gu Jing.
He looked towards the horde of cultivators in front of him with no fear, and in fact, he looked at them with derision and disdain, apparently he did not take them seriously at all despite there being almost a hundred thousand cultivators!
Bai Gu Jing spoke a few words before a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering fight ensued!
Rivers of blood flowed and corpses were being stacked atop each other until they formed a mountain. Bai Gu Jing was single-handedly going up against hundreds of thousands of Qi Cultivators, and yet he was winning! All he had to do was wave his sleeve and people will collapse, his power seemed to have no limits!
Nine days and nine nights passed in this fashion, the mountain Bai Gu Jing stood atop was gone long ago, and the entire place was stained red and littered with corpses, yet the cultivators seemed unending, charging madly towards the White Devil.
Suddenly, the sky shook and split in half, where four men shinning in white emerged from the crack.
Bai Gu Jing looked up and said something to the four men, before the dream ended abruptly.
Ximen Wei woke up, he remembered the dream as clear as day and he had the feeling that, if he contemplated it, he would gain enlightenment of one of White Devil's techniques. But at the moment, he didn't want to.
It was late at night, the bright moon hung in the night sky and shone with dazzling light.
Surprisingly, he found a set of clothes next to him, apparently when he was sleeping, a kind gentleman noticed his state and gave him a change of clothes.
He smiled warmly as he changed into them, he didn't know who gave him the set of clothes but he was grateful to say the least.
'Some nice people still exist in this world!'
Thought Ximen Wei, it's been a while for him to come across a person who genuinely showed kindness towards people.
He got up and looked towards the moon in the sky, his eyes flickered with a strange light as he murmured something to himself before heading in the direction of the Immortal Devil Sect.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone