Capítulo 18: Pure White - Unknown Sage
'What's wrong with me?! I can't move!' Shu He's level of internal panic rose to degrees he never thought were possible.
His golden-brown eyes were fixated on the figure in front of him, no matter what he couldn't explain how this person had appeared out of nowhere before him, there was no sound or signs before he appeared and the moment he did, everything went creepily silent like nature itself was refusing to make any noise in front of this person.
He felt himself shake, not just physically but down to his very core, every inch of his body wanted to cover itself in a cold sweat but not even that was allowed to happen anymore, he hadn't even the strength to talk or speak let alone whether he would be able to do so.
As he was staring at the figure, it moved, and he locked eyes with it.
Two pale white eyes lacking any pigment, they carried with them an intent that seemed to exude the vicissitudes of time itself, he felt himself stop at that very moment, his panic and fear seemed to be washed away replaced with boundless calm.
The person's eyes were slowly covered with two wrinkled eyelids as the persons expression became clearer, they stepped closer to Shu He at a casual place but each step echoed around the area like they were standing in a large, empty room.
"Hm, it took a while to find you" An aged voice left the person's mouth, it was that of an old man, calm but filled with underlying power, a confidence built through ageless experience.
Step by step he made his way over until he stood only a meter in front of Shu He who was still locked still.
Now calm, Shu He observed the figure in full.
It was an old man seemingly in his late years, his skin was full of wrinkles and folds yet contained a pureness usually lacking in an elderly person, his eyes a pure white lacking a pupil and brows that gave off a soft and gentle impression.
His hair was pure white, matching the classic daoist robes that he donned, it was long, straight and carried itself past his waist and he had a beard that accompanied it, tied in crosses with a white string it almost touched the floor with its length, rather it should but it seemed to somehow avoid doing so.
If someone were to ask Shu He in the future, what was the symbol of 'Pure' in the future, he would remember this man before him.
The man observed Shu He up and down with excessive detail like he was assessing an expensive sculpture, Shu He couldn't help but feel vulnerable and naked beneath the man's gaze as if everything about him was exposed, as if those two white eyes contained an all seeing gaze.
Soon the man nodded to himself.
"A good seedling" He spoke with evident traces of joy, with a faint smile on his face.
His gaze returned to Shu He's body, specifically the right arm that he had just injured.
He stroked his beard in contemplation for a second before raising his other hand, with almost light speed he seemed to make some form of hand sign, ending with him swishing his index finger upward and holding it upright.
Shu He's body seemed in instinctively react and his Qi perception activated changing his view of the world, the first thing he noticed was that the man in front of him resembled a solid gold statue, like he was made of golden light, the second was that his right arm seemed to contain an excessive amount of light particles in comparison to the rest of his body, yet soon after they started moving, leaving and being attracted to the man's index finger.
"This explains it…" He spoke to himself again, before long the excessive light had been removed from his arm "Quite impressive" He spoke, observing the ball sitting at the tip of his finger "But…" he continued.
*Shiing* He grasped the ball of light and a shockwave lit up the area like a mini-super nova before looking back at Shu He once more.
"It's too soon for you" He locked eyes with Shu He again as he spoke those words.
Shu He, although unable to move and forced into an unusually calm state was captivated with the light shockwave, it was one of the most beautiful things he had seen in both lifetimes; The following words however engraved themselves on his soul, he knew he should take them seriously.
"Now then" The man continued on ignoring whether Shu He had anything to say, not that he could speak.
He proceeded to hold his hand out, on it a small silver ring he wore on his middle finger shone slightly and a tiny golden light rose above his palm, without waiting another second he flicked it towards Shu He and it shot forward entering his glabella.
As it did Shu He felt faint as a light filled his vision, before he knew it he was laying on his back to the floor, the sounds of the forest and stream once more filled his ears.
He sat up slowly, and like clockwork that had been stopped slowly starting once more his head spun as it recounted the events he just witnessed, his body quickly shook and became damp with cold sweat and his pupils dilated.
Without any hesitation he grabbed his stuff and shot off, no matter what the first thing he wanted to do was get well away from that area, there was nothing else in his mind at that moment other than abject fear, he ran faster than he ever had before ignoring everything on his way, not the calling of kids on the street nor the stares of adults as he rushed past them.
Even when he got home he didn't pause to speak to his parents, he didn't even check whether they were present, he entered his room, slammed his door shut, dumped everything off his body and dived in to his bed covering himself with his covers.
For nearly an hour the events span in his head as he laid still, eventually he managed to calm down some and formed his first proper thought since he returned.
'WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!' was the one question taking up most of his head.
'He appeared out of nowhere! everything froze like time had stopped! What in the living hell did I just witness?!'
'He was searching for me?! Why?!' He clearly remembered the man speaking as if he was looking for him specifically.
As his mind slowly stopped spinning from the internal venting, he realised something else.
"My arm is fine?!" He had been using both arms and hands to hold the cover over his head without thinking, but he now realised it no longer felt painful in any way.
He quickly remembered the scene of the lights leaving his arm and activated Qi perception once more, seeing an equal distribution pulsing across his body, his arm looked perfectly fine.
'So, he… healed me?' Remembering that made Shu He relax slightly; he had been so panicked earlier about how strange everything was he never considered whether the man was merely there to help him.
"It's too soon for me?" The words the man left were definitely a warning.
'What I did was dangerous, I don't really get it… these lights, are they Qi? I never thought to look after it happened with these eyes, but it looked like there were some 'lights' stuck in my arm, were they the cause of the pain? If so, why were they stuck there? Was my thinking flawed? Or am I lacking something else altogether'
He pondered many possibilities but in the end he gave up for now.
'I don't understand what I don't understand! Fine, I'll give up on that for now, I should listen to that man… But then where should I go from here?' was the question he had to answer now.
He touched the middle of his forehead, at the point of his glabella.
'Why does everything seem to cause me pain or faint… what was that at the end?'
He scratched at his skin like he was trying to dig out buried treasure.
'It's annoying, did that thing enter me? Where is it? What is it?'
He tried to 'find' it during meditation, like he would 'find' the golden flame inside him to no avail, it was nowhere to be found.
The pictured memory of the man floated in his mind.
'He had to be a cultivator, a true cultivator; Doing what he did without even breaking a sweat, he must be someone impressive! He was almost divine… like a saint, or maybe a sage? Yeah a sage.'
His encounter was filled with mystery he simply couldn't find any answers to right now, so he could only rationalise what he understood and everything else was something he looked forward to learning as a cultivator.
Of course, what Shu He wouldn't understand until a very long time in the future, just how 'impressive' that man was.
REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES 
ShiroN3K0
ShiroN3K0 Can't have a cultivation novel without unknown old men appearing can you?
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