Bai Yun walked down to the garden in the mansion. There, his parents were sitting and chatting with each other. When they saw Bai Yun approaching they smiled.
"I haven't seen you in a while." Xiao Mei-er said. "You have been quite busy lately. Why don't you sit down and we can talk for a bit."
Bai Yun smiled and sat down. Then the three of them sat down to talk. The talk was mostly on what Bai Yun had been up to in the past few weeks. After hearing about Bai Yun's improvements in cultivation, his parents were quite pleased.
The chat also included Bai Mu's investigation into the devil rituals. Bai Mu had found more instances of devil rituals and had caught quite a few devil cultivators by following the clues they had left behind. But the news that they found from them was disheartening. The only thing that the devil cultivators could tell the investigators was that they had gained the devil rituals from an eerie masked man. After they got their hands on devil rituals, they all decided to practice them.
The people who were captured were true scum. Most of them had committed great evils. Thus they no second thought about doing such evil acts.
But they could find no information about the person who supplied them with the devil ritual. The person behind it just seemed to spread the devil rituals without asking anything in return. Even Bai Yun could not understand the reasoning behind it.
After a while, the talk changed to more banal topics. Soon they started to talk about their friends and gossip about the happenings in the clan. Now that the important matters had been dealt with it was time for Bai Yun to talk about his matter.
"Is there anything you want to tell us?" Bai Mu asked after seeing the way Bai Yun was behaving.
Bai Yun then took a deep breath. It was time to tell them about his plan.
"I have been here for a few months. My cultivation has improved rapidly in the past few months." Bai Yun said. "I have reached the four circle level in the soul path and the peak of both skin sewin and qi condensation."
"But I have the feeling that my cultivation is stagnating a bit. And this is only my instinct, but I think that if I wish to reach the peak of cultivation, I need to experience more things in life. If I stay in the clan, then there is no danger to me. I can definitely increase my cultivation with the help of the clan, but I won't be able to stimulate my potential under stress."
"And it is not only a matter of stimulating my potential under danger. My status in the clan is quite high. And that restricts the way in which I can grow."
"And I have a feeling that only by experiencing many things, love and friendship, pain and loss, can I grow as a person."
When Bai Yun finally finished speaking, there was a silence. "What are you planning." Bai Mu asked. "You wouldn't have brought it all up if you hadn't thought of doing something."
Bai Yun took a deep breath. It was the moment of truth.
"I want to go on a journey alone for two years." Bai Yun finally said his plan.
"Excuse me, did you say something. I couldn't hear anything." Xiao Mei-er said with a smile.
Bai Yun turned to look at Xiao Mei-er. He felt goosebumps looking at her cold smile.
"I want to go on a journey alone for two years." Bai Yun once again said softly.
"Sory. I still can't hear you." Xiao Me-er once again.
'Bulls**t.' Bai Yun thought. With your cultivation, you can hear a mosquito on the other side of the mansion.
Bai Yun slowly sunk down in his chair. He truly felt fear at his mother currently.
"Journey. Two years." BAi Yun said again.
"Sorry. Can you say it once again?" Xiao Mei-er said again.
"Mei, just a moment." Bai Mu suddenly said. "Let's hear what he has to say."
"What are you talking about Mu." Xiao Mei-er snapped.
"I just want to know why he wants to go on a journey right now." Bai Mu said. "Why now. And why a journey. If he wanted to go outside the protection of the clan, he could hide his identity. Or join a school."
"It's true that I could hide my identity." Bai Yun said. "But it wouldn't be very effective. And the things that I can experience inside the clan are very limited anyway."
"And as for an academy, the academy I want to join is the number one academy in the city of scholars, the Shadow Stream academy. But the academy increases the difficulty of its test based on a person's age. And I have wasted quite a few years in my muddlehead years. If I go now I may not be able to pass the entrance test. But I am confident that I can reach the required level in about two years. But I don't want to waste the next two years in the clan."
"So I came up with a plan. I will travel to the city of scholars. The journey I am thinking about should take two years to complete."
"But I do not intend to take the main road. The main road has a lot of major forces and the cultivation of the people there are also very high. Thus though the path, there is more ordered, there is a higher chance of me running into danger."
"The path I am trying to follow is a string of routes along the southern foothills of the evergreen hills. By studying the various maps I was able to come up with a path that I can take to help me get to one of the entrance points to the plains of enlightenment. From there I can take a teleportation formation to the City of Scholars. The entire journey should only take a little more than a year, giving me enough time to travel as well as stay for a little while in each place."
There was once again a silence after Bai Yun's talk. But a short while later, Xiao Mei-er's voice broke the silence. "Impossible. There is no way I will agree to it."
"Yun, give us a moment." Bai Mu suddenly said. "I need to talk to Mei about it."
Bai Yun stared at his father for a moment. It seems as if his father was agreeing with him. He did not know why. But after a moment Bai Yun quickly left and went back to his room.
"Mu, why are you going along with this farce of his." Xiao Me-er said.
For a moment Bai Mu stayed silent. "I have been thinking about sending Yun away for a while."
Xiao Mei-er was shocked. "What? Why?"
Bai Mu sighed. "Have you seen how Yun behaves in the clan?" Bai Mu said. "There are only three people who he have a decent relationship with. They are Bai Shi, Bai Ling-er, and Zhang Zi. And two of them are in a subordinate relationship with him. And he only showed his real identity to Zhang Zi under extreme circumstances. It is obvious that he is not ready to form meaningful relationships. But I believe that moving him from the clan's enclosure and allowing him to interact with other people will allow him to grow him as a person."
"What makes you think that moving him from the safety of home will help him to change?" Xiao Mei-er said.
"I know it will." Bai Mu said with a smile. "I know because I was like that too once. It was by meeting you and our friends from the shadow stream academy that I changed. I believe that it would help him too."
"So you are going to send him straight into danger?" Xiao Mei-er said.
"I wasn't planning to do anything like that." Bai u said. "I thought that sending him to a school in the city of scholars was enough. With our power and influence, we can get him into a good enough school. But Yun wants to get into the Shadow Stream academy. He is not at a level where he can do so right now. But he should be able to do so in two years. You have seen how fast he grows too. So the question is what he can do in those two years. I think that the plan Yun has come up with is quite good."
"But Yun is such a weak child." Xiao Me-er said. "How can you send him into danger."
"Just think about this for a moment." Bai Mu said. "If Yun was not born with a damaged soul, and was a normal child, would you be against this? Just forget the past few years and think about what is best for him."
For a moment Xiao Mei-er was silent. She was against Bai Yun leaving. But once she calmed down, she could understand what the two men were talking about. Then the two of them continued to discuss for a while longer about how this would work.
"Yun." Suddenly Xiao Mei-er shouted.
Bai Yun heard the sound, and almost immediately ran back to the garden. He was a little bit anxious about the talk, but seeing his mother's fuming face, and his father's smile, Bai Yun could guess the outcome.
Xiao Mei-er took a deep breath before she started talking. "FIne. I agree with you going on a journey for a few years."
"But I have some conditions." XIao Mei-er said
Bai Yun nodded in understanding.
"First of all, you must carry a tracking talisman. This tracking talisman will allow us to track you and find you soon enough." Xiao Mei-er said.
"Secondly, you must send us messages at least once a month. If you miss even once, we will track you down and find you."
"Third, you have to use a false identity when you travel. We have a lot of enemies, if they find out that you are traveling without our protection, things could get ugly. It shouldn't be too difficult with your changing ability. If your true identity is ever leaked, you are to immediately contact us, and we will immediately come and take you home."
"Fourth, you have to bring with you some simple weapons and clothes. You have to hide your storage rings and all other valuable items. If someone finds out about them, you must kill them. Or else we will immediately come and take you back. And we better not find out that any secret of yours was leaked and you didn't inform us. If that happened, then I would lock you up, and you would never leave this house again.
"And finally you can only leave after two weeks. That would give your great grandfather enough time to make a couple of teleportation talismans. Once you use them up, that means that you can no longer continue your journey."
"Only if you can agree with all of these conditions will I agree for you to leave." Xiao Mei-er finished.
Bai Yun thought over the various conditions. Bai Yun found them all acceptable. He was more worried that they would ask old Hai to accompany him.
"Fine." Bai Yun finally said. "But you have agree that I am leaving by myself. You cannot ask anyone to follow me in secret."
For a moment Xiao Mei-er looked a little uncomfortable, but then a determined appearance appeared on her face. She finally nodded in acceptance.
"Okay then." Bai Mu said. "Now that we have agreed on some basic things, I want you to tell me more about the path you will be taking. I want to make sure that everything fine along that path. I have access to fresher and greater information than you have available. I want to make sure that there is nothing dangerous along your journey route."
Bai Yun then sat down to explain to his parents his route. As he quickly explained the various paths he had considered, a smile quickly flashed through his eyes.
He had succeeded in persuading his parents.
It was time to start phase two of his cultivation plan.
Bai Yun spent the next two weeks preparing for the journey. Bai Yun was trying to find various rare ingredients that he would need. Bai Yun's parents did not give him any more money or ingredients, so Bai Yun spend his nights crazily creating one pill after another to be sold. He knew that he would need money for the journey, but both of his parents felt that they had given him enough for now. Thankfully his alchemy skill had increased by leaps and bounds so he was able to make quite a good amount of money. Bai Yun would use the money from selling pills to buy rarer ingredients and then he would use those to make even more valuable pills. Thus his wealth grew day by day.
But this was not the only preparation Bai Yun had to make. Bai Yun also had to get used to the hundred beast flame. Bai Yun had already gotten a good control of them during alchemy thanks to the alchemy legacy, but using it to fight was a whole different thing. An earthly flame was a powerful force, but to use it proficiently was difficult. So Bai Yun practiced daily using some puppets for enemies.
The third thing that Bai Yun doing in that period of time was to study the assassin's legacy. Now that Bai Yun had broken through to the foundation established realm, more of the legacy and more tricks were available to him. So Bai Yun spent a lot of time studying them and perfecting his assassination techniques.
The three things kept Bai Yun pretty busy. In the blink of an eye over thirteen days passed. Thankfully Bai Yun had already studied the path he would be taking and he had made other preparations for the travel a long time ago. Thus Bai Yun was freed up to improve his skills.
But today was not a day of preparation. Bai Yun had asked Bai Shi, and Bai Ling-er to come to him. Bai Yun was about to leave and had to give them some things.
Bai Yun gave them the later parts of the cultivation techniques he had given them. Bai Yun also gave them some battle techniques. He then told them how to train for the next two years so that they could also get into the Shadow Stream academy. After making sure that they had completely grasped the various training methods he had given them, Bai Yun sent them back, after telling them to stay low for the foreseeable future. For now, Bai Yun did not need them. But from what he knew of the structure of Shadow stream academy, Bai Yun knew that he would need them there. In fact from the very beginning, Bai Yun was grooming them for it.
After this Bai Yun went to the Alchemy Association building. He was on his way to sell the last batch of pills and buy some more ingredients. He was leaving tomorrow, and so Bai Yun decided to rest for today.
His father and great grandfather had prepared some talismans for him. They bought a tracking talisman and a communication talisman. Bai Tianji had also made three teleportation talismans and handed it over to Bai Yun. Bai Yun also bought a few sets of common clothes and weapons. With this everything that Bai Yun needed had been collected.
Just as Bai Yun was leaving he suddenly stopped. Through the crowd at the Alchemist Association, he saw Zhang Zi. Zhang Zi also leaving the Alchemist association. But unlike Bai Yun who was leaving from the medical ingredient section of the building, Zhang Zi was leaving from the place for purchasing pills.
For a moment Bai Yun stood there staring at Zahnag Zi, who had not noticed him yet. Zhang Zi was the only person who had won Bai Yun's approval. It was not only because of his talent but also because of his character.
Bai Yun quickly walked through the crowd over to Zhang Zi. "Hello there." Bai Yun said after he approached Zhang Zi.
Zhang Zi turned around to look at Bai Yun with surprise. "Long time no see." Zhang Zi said with a smile.
"Are you free right now?" Bai Yun asked Zhang Zi. "I would like to talk."
Zhang Zi raised his eyebrows in response. He then nodded. "Sure. But what brought about this sudden desire to talk." Zhang Zi asked.
"I'll tell you later." Bai Yun responded.
The two of them quickly set off to an inn nearby. They got a private booth and quickly ordered some drinks.
"So, what do you want to talk about?" Zhang Zi asked.
For a moment Bai Yun thought about what he wanted to say. "What do you intend to do in the future?" Bai Yun finally asked.
Zhang Zi was confused by the question. "I intend to stay at home for a while longer, before leaving for the City of Scholars. I hope to join the Shadow stream academy, but anything else would be fine too."
Bai Yun nodded when he heard this. He paused for a moment and then continued. "I am intending to go on a journey for two years."
Zhang Zi seemed to be a little surprised. "Why?"
Bai Yun smiled. "Yellow city is too peaceful for me." Bai Yun said. "I have a feeling that I will not grow much if I stay here. So I decided to travel for a while. I will travel by myself to the city of scholars and then join the shadow stream academy. I think the journey will take about two years in total."
Zhang Zi was silent for a while. "I don't think it is necessary to go on a journey. There is plenty of excitement here."
Bai Yun chucked when he heard this. "Everyone has their own paths." Bai Yun said. "It's true that staying here is also fine. But it's not for me. I am not chasing the peak of the spear, like you. I am chasing freedom. Just staying here will be quite boring for me. That is why I decided to go."
Zhang Zi was silent for a short while. "Good luck on your journey." Zhang Zi said.
"Thanks." Bai Yun said.
"So, you called me here for a goodbye." Zhang Zi asked.
"Nope, I called you here to give something." Bai Yun said.
Zhang Zi looked at Bai Yun with a questing look. Bai Yun smiled when he saw this.
"Have you heard of a man named Fang Jin?" Bai Yun asked.
Zhang Zi shook his head.
"I thought so." Bai Yun said. "He was a spearman who lived a long time ago. He pursued the pinnacle of the spear. He lived for the spear and died for the spear. But even though he chased after the peak of the spear, he was never able to step over that final hill."
"It wasn't only him. There were many others who chased after the peak of the dao of weapons. There were many swordmen, sabermen, and staff users, who chased after the peak of weapon dao. But they all failed."
"It was at that time another man was born. Unlike the others, he did not have a teacher to teach him the dao of the sword. So he tried to walk a different path from all others before him. Everyone laughed at him, but he continued on, believing in himself. And he finally proved that he was right. He was the first person to step over that peak, and reached the pinnacle of the sword dao."
"The people who laughed at him were stunned. But they only grumbled and tried harder. These people had an indomitable will and did not change their paths just because of something as simple as that."
"But there were a few people who thought differently. They gave up on their dao, and started on the path the swordsman followed."
"But before they could do it, something happened. A war unlike any before began. Every one of them had to fight. And then they all died."
For a moment there was only silence in the room. Then Zhang Zi's jaw dropped.
"What kind of stupid story is that." Zhang Zi exploded. "A story is supposed to have a beginning, middle, and an end. What kind of stupid story has everyone dying in the middle."
Bai Yun laughed when he heard about this. "This story isn't something like that. This story about what path you will take in the future."
"What do you mean?" Zhang Zi asked.
"Are you going to take the mainstream path that no one has reached the peak of? Or will you take the path taken by the swordsman, who followed his own path? After all, no one knows which path is the correct path. Jut a single case cannot show which path is right. After all, it could be that the swordsman was a genius, who would have reached the peak regardless of the path he chose. Or it could be that his path was right." Bai Yun asked.
For a moment Zhang Zi was silent. "Is what you said true?" He finally asked.
"Every word. But the story is an old one. I don't know if it has changed since then." Bai Yun replied. After all, a weapon based titled god could have been born since his death. But Bai Yun did not sense anything like that when he was in the dao repository. Thus he thought that such a person hasn't been born yet.
Zhang Zi sat there thinking for a while. Bai Yun let him think before he suddenly interrupted. "Well, it's not something you need to think about right now. You still have a long time before you have to make that choice."
Zhang Zi nodded.
"Anyway, that brings me to why I wanted to talk to you." Bai Yun said. "I wanted to give this to you." After saying this he pulled out a small stone from his sleeve and handed it over to Zhang Zi.
"A memory stone." Zhang Zi said, surprised at the sudden object.
Memory stones were special stones carved by a special process. It could hold information, which could then be read by other people. The advantage of a memory stone was that it could both be created and read much faster than a book. But only people at the foundation establishment layer or higher could read or make them.
Also, most memory stones were one time use objects. Once the contents in them were read, they would break. If one wanted to make a reusable memory stone, it was both expensive and complicated. Thus, many people still preferred books for long term storage.
Zhang Zi played with the memory stone for a moment before he looked at Bai Yun. "What's in it?" He asked.
Bai Yun smiled when he heard this. "Do you remember me mentioning a spearman named Fang Jin earlier? He was one of those who changed his mind. In this is his understanding of the spear dao, along both paths he had traveled. It also contains a few good cultivation and battle techniques. You can study them and come to a decision yourself."
Zhang Zi was stunned by this. He then took the memory stone into his hands and slowly started to read up on it. Seeing Zhang Zi so engrossed Bai Yun started to leave.
"Wait." Zhang Zi called out just as Bai Yun reached the door. "Have you been walking around with this all this time?"
"Nope." Bai Yun replied. "I just got the idea to give this to you when I saw you just now. I made it when I was talking to you."
"Then I guess it was a lucky coincidence that I ran into you today." Zhang Zi said.
For a moment Bai Yun was silent. "Coincidence is just a word we use when we don't understand what fate has in store for us." Bai Yun said. "And I have heard from some very reliable sources, that fate is very powerful."
Bai Yun then left behind a confused Zhang Zi, and went home. The moment he reached home, he fell into a deep sleep. He had been working hard for the past two weeks and needed a good rest.
Tomorrow a hard journey begins.
With this vol 1: The reincarnator comes to a close. Tomorrow vol 2: The traveler begins
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