Bab 84: Stone Masters
The sun was getting high in the sky, the wind on the mountain's face was howling, beckoning the first winter moon to come all the sooner.
Sha Ku and Yu Shi had left the cliff face, going to seek out their fellow brothers in who were still exploring Spirit Hall.
The moment Sha Ku and Yu Shi arrived they were both impressed.
Spirit Hall was carved into the heart of the mountain, the entrance of which had nine rows of nine-thirty feet white marble pillars! This was nicknamed by the students as the 'stone forest'.
Each of the columns had a different makeup. Varying patterns and markings were on each.
Some were filled with the meritorious deeds of past disciples. Providing eulogies of their lives and their heroic final moments in service to the Sect. Others had inscriptions and paintings of ancient legendary beasts! Dragons, Phoenixes, Qilins, Manticores and other Legendary Beasts!
The final and closest of these pillars had even more splendorous things. They had both writings and sayings from the former heads of the Spirit Sword Sect!
'The elegance of the sword shines where the negligence of the blade seeps into the abyss. The beauty of blood has little to offer when spilt upon the single-edged trash." – Yao Zindu 7th Sect Master of the Spirit Sword Sect – Former Prime Elder from Demonic Peak.
"Ha!" Sha Ku burst out laughing as he read the words etched into the wall with sword intent.
He knew of the deep-set, bone-deep rivalry between both sword and blade cultivators! Often, they would hate one another more so than Evil and Righteous cultivators!
The pride of their weapon was deeply embedded into each of them, how marvellously frightening the battles between Sword and Blade Immortals were. The likes of which are often seen in ancient battlefields.
The past rulers of the Spirit Sword Sect are indeed ones you could imagine wanting to cave in the heads of their greatest rivals – Blade Cultivators.
'While my Sect still stands, so shall the world. But if my Sect falls, so shall the world; this I promise you.' – Yan Kai 3rd Sect Master of the Spirit Sword Sect – Inheritor of the Righteous Sword Shard and Prime Elder of Righteous Peak.
"Wow, people of Righteous Peak are still serious even back then…" Sha Ku tilted his head, slightly reminded of his friend Liu Bei and his almost cast-iron demeanour.
"Come, let us go in." Yu Shi waved to Sha Ku, pushing open the twelve-by-six-foot dark wooden doors open, walking into Spirit Hall's Lobby.
The Lobby wasn't big, it was only a small room. It had a counter made of a warmly painted wood, with shelves behind it. Each had a lid though, with a keyhole in the middle.
Behind the counter, on an old stool reading, a dusty book was an old man, a grey beard down to his stomach and a warm look adorned his jolly fat face.
Sha Ku and Yu Shi walked up to the counter, dinging the bell that sat on upon it.
Ding!
"Oh. Oh my. Sorry boys I didn't see you come in there." The old man smacked his lips and smiled with his eyes closed as he put the dusty book to one side.
"What can I do for you today, young men? Do you perhaps want to look for a technique? Or could you be seeking books on another subject?" The man laughed, rubbing his stomach and taking a bite of a biscuit resting on the counter.
"We've come looking for our friends, a mute fellow and another one… he's a bit icy." Yu Shi stepped forwards as both he and Sha Ku made a small bow to the Spirit Hall Senior.
"Burp!" The Spirit Hall Manager let out a loud burp, rubbing his belly, "Oh h hoo. That was a big one." He chuckled to himself, a highly satisfied smile on his face.
He then looked sharply at the two boys, shedding his soft and friendly attitude, "So, you're looking for the Song Yi and Bing Yuanshan. Those two wanted to find an Earth Ranked Body technique for that boy to practice. So, I sent them to the eighth-floor trial."
"Trial? Senior, what trial?" Yu Shi asked, a little anxious for his friends.
"You didn't know?" The old man stroked his beard, "My Spirit Hall doesn't use contribution points as a method of trading goods. No, we don't even accept money: Silver; Gold; Spirit Stones, it's all useless here. What we do accept though, is a disciple's blood, sweat and tears. There's a trial for each rank of technique. The first two are Mortal Ranked, the next two Yellow, then two Black Ranked, then we get to five for Earth Ranked, where I sent the… the mute and the iceman, as you so eloquently stated, hehe."
The old man chuckled, "And there are many above that, too. But, my young disciples, you don't want to even think about that. Only Prime Disciples are allowed up there." The pot belled man took another ravenous chunk from the hand-sized biscuit, giggling all the while.
"Delicious. Madame Dai Chi may be a fantastic alchemist, but her baked goods may even exceed that." The old man finished off the biscuit with another swift bite.
Nom! Nom! Nom!
He chewed it up, swallowing it down with a smile on his face.
"Oh, a few bits in my beard." He chuckled, picking a few pastry crumbs out of his beard; placing them in his mouth and gobbling them up.
"You there!" the fat old man raised his voice, pointing at Sha Ku.
"Don't I know you?!" The man said with a huff.
"Err… no senior… wait, are you?"
"That tone of voice, a bright-eyed child barely the age of seven. Yes, I remember you! Did you get the Fungus?" the old man said, putting a pipe in his mouth taking a big 'ol puff on it.
"It went well senior." Sha Ku took a deep bow.
"Seeing as you survived, I'll tell you my name – Ki Panglong." The old man smiled, stroking his beard whilst taking in a lungful of smoke.
"Wait, you're a member of the Ki Clan?!" Both Sha Ku and Yu Shi blurted out in shock.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone