Twelve Paths To Glory

Chapter Six: A Fight For Your Life

Jade Rain's struggle

They trained vigorously.

For a week, the rabbits plunged themselves into ferocious and frenetic preparation. The experienced adepts and practitioners had already set off to look for the Elixir and the evil pigs who stole it. The novices and initiates trained daily with their blades and honed their skills against such a dangerous enemy. The training hall rang with their voices and shouts as they went through drill after drill after drill.

"I don't like fighting other cultivators," Autumn Moon said one day when they paused for a brief rest. "I hate it."

"But there're unorthodox clans out there. They harm others," Jade Rain listened to Windsong's soft hum. "They are not good people. It's weird. Rats poison people, but they've an orthodox branch of healers. Snakes also have assassins. They kill for coin. Yet, they're considered orthodox. But if we go after the pigs, aren't we killing them too? Aren't we considered unorthodox? too" They mused aloud.

Autumn Moon had a perturbed look on her face: furrowed brows. "That's why Father says it's an necessary evil."

"Necessary evil? Then what the pigs did was necessary for them."

"Shhh, don't let Father hear you. That's heresy!"

Jade Rain inhaled and flowed easily into the combat stance. Drawing energy from the earth, feeling the dan tian - the body's center - warm up with the fire of chi.

"From what I've read, the pigs were exiled because of a crime they did a long time ago. They wanted to redeem themselves..."

"By stealing the Elixir? Now, that's a bold move."

"Bold, but imagine. Our clan's disgraced, exiled. Would you do anything to bring its honour back? Would you?"

"I would... But not with unscrupulous means!"

"You see what I'm trying to say..."

"Yes, but... that's so wrong! You can't do that. We are people of honour. We are cultivators!"

"Idle tongues do not sharpen the blade!" Old Bing's voice jarred them from their conversation. The two quickly began working on their drills again, wary of Old Bing's roving eyes. "Beware of loose focus!" the warrior intoned.

Jade Rain still struggled through the drills, especially the ones that required them to use the skills. They still couldn't see the strands, no matter how they recited the Steps To Serenity. Jade Rain hated feeling blocked, as if they had hit an invisible hall.

Were they being blocked?

What was blocking them?

*

Lady Chao Feng laughed victoriously as she held the relic in her hands. It pulsated with its own silverish light. She felt strong just holding it. Its power was already filling her. Her muscles buzzed with strength. The chi within her burned like the mid-day sun and growing even hotter. And she felt so much younger. The vitality! She could run and feel no fatigue, no exhaustion.

It was such a curious thing: a silver bracelet made of mysterious metals which flowed like mercury. Not a true elixir where you imbibed it as if it were some potion. The ornate carvings reminded her of creatures of the primordial sea, sinuous serpentine beasts that breathed fire and shaped air with their claws. Not the arrogant dragons... but more of an alien breed. Why did the Celestial Court ever create such a strange relic? And why did it contain so much power?

Why did they seal the relic in Hei Shan?

Now she knew why: power.

Sheer power.