Lu Ye had taken a bath. Just a while ago, the junior assistants were complaining of how badly he smelled and how dare he present himself in such a state to Qing Zhu Jun. Truthfully, he was ashamed but was that really his fault? He didn't know anything after all!
After a warm bath, Lu Ye quickly dumped himself onto the bed. It was his first proper rest after two days!
Lu Ye was surprised that it didn't take a lot of work to ask Damu Lan to be his master. The worst thing he thought he had to do was to kneel and beg him.
However, Lu Ye soon realized that he had been blindly following the instructions in the letter, despite not knowing who wrote it or why he was supposed to seek out Damu Lan as his master. He couldn't recall the details of why he had come to the Qing Shan Sect, but he was too mentally exhausted to dwell on it further. With that, he decided to call it a night and get some rest —
Lu Ye found himself in a desolated realm, standing on a pitch black ground, and surrounded by impenetrable obsidian walls. It felt like a wide open space, however, it also seemed like he was stuck in a regular sized room. When he tried to touch things, it was like they were all illusions, including himself.
Suddenly, a multitude of eerie hands grew from the darkness, grabbing his legs and dragging him downward. The sensation of being pulled into the abyss left him utterly bewildered. Despite his efforts to free himself, he found himself powerless to resist the overwhelming force. "Wh-what," he stammered, his mind began reeling in fear and confusion.
After being yanked down, he fell into an endless darkness at a high speed. Powerless to find anything to cling onto, he was left with no recourse.
During the endless descent, a horrifying sight greeted him. A horde of unrecognizable figures, more of a living corpses, their bodies drenched in fresh blood and their skin hanging loosely, viciously grasped his neck, squeezing the life out of him while the haunting echoes of countless screams filled the voice tormenting his senses.
Desperately gasping for air, he struggled to free himself from the relentless grip, but his attempts were futile. His touch was useless, leaving him at the mercy of his assailants.
"He...help," he choked out, sensing that his final moment was near. Darkness crept over his face as his consciousness slipped away.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice pierced through, shattering the bleak surroundings.
" My lord. You must remember your purpose. "
That was the only line that entered and ended his dream before he woke up. He had been sleeping for a long time even though the dream had only lasted for a few moments that it felt surreal to Lu Ye. His heart raced, and his body was drenched in sweat. He wiped away the moisture from his eyes with the back of his sleeve and took a deep breath, trying to steady himself before he moved on for the day.
"It was just a nightmare..."
.
Lu Ye was led to the courtyard where Damu Lan would start his teachings early in the morning. Damu Lan appeared to stand very elegantly as he held a book folded to one side as he read.
"Good morning, master."
"..." Damu Lan didn't bother to look at Lu Ye but he knew exactly that he had arrived. Without sparing Lu Ye a glance, Damu Lan proceeded to ask, "What is your name?"
Lu Ye merely replied, "Lu Ye."
With such a brief introduction, Damu Lan figured Lu Ye must be a youth of few words. Yet, unbothered by this observation, he casually proceeded to the next question. "Are you new to martial arts? Have you ever trained yourself before?"
"I don't think I have."
"Understood." Damu Lan replied.
"I have my own way of teaching. So I will ask you. Do you know what your spirit animal is?"
"No..." Lu Ye shook his head marking that he didn't.
"Understood."
Damu Lan closed the book he was currently holding and passed it to Lu Ye.
"I wrote this book which contains the fundamental information required for a proper training with me. You will have two weeks to practice on your own, after which I will test you. Is that clear?"
"Thank you, master." Lu Ye replied as he took the book and bowed again.
Damu Lan left whilst Lu Ye remained standing stiffly in place. But he was smiling, though briefly.
As the wind passed by greeting the trees with a gentle breeze, Lu Ye sat on a perfectly carved rock as he read the book. For some reason, he could completely understand the content of the book despite being a beginner martial artist. Was he originally a genius? He wondered kiddingly.
After a long time of sitting and reading, he stood up.
"Ack!" He could feel as if his bones were cracking and his spine was relocating.
Despite his initial doubts, Lu Ye decided to follow the guidance provided in the book. After some experimentation and setbacks, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he was able to quickly amass a significant amount of qi. He couldn't be sure if this was a common occurrence, but he resolved to continue with his diligent practice and see where it would lead him.
As Lu Ye looked around, he found himself surrounded by a lush forest of bamboo, the tranquil surroundings offering a sense of peace and serenity. That is the Qing Shan Sect which had been painstakingly rebuilt after a devastating massacre.
Moments later, the same disciples who had greeted Lu Ye with a splash of water the day before walked past him.
"Oh! Look! It's that smelly newcomer!" One of the disciples shouted as he pointed his finger to Lu Ye.
Lu Ye smiled even if that remark was kind of hurting his pride.
"Enough with that. It's natural to be smelly when he strays outside for two days." Another disciple spoke up for Lu Ye.
"Greetings, senior disciples." Lu Ye said as he bowed.
"Ohh.. he is a respectful one. I like him."
"We have yet to exchange names. I'm Cuo Yi. This one with a lousy mouth is Fei Yi. What about you?"
"Hey! At least introduce me properly!" Fei Yi nagged.
"I'm Lu Ye."
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance!" Both Cuo Yi and Fei Yi replied in sync.
After that brief introduction, Lu Ye's eyes focused on the books Cuo Yi was holding.
"What is that?" He asked as he pointed at them.
"These books? It's a compilation of Qing Zhu Jun's glory and history. I was going to return it to the library pavilion."
Lu Ye didn't say any more words but only stared at them. Cuo Yi figured that he must be interested but too bashful to speak up. So he handed the book to Lu Ye and encouraged him to take a look.
"Thank you."
The three of them sat down at a bench farther than the place they met. With Lu Ye in the middle while the other two by his sides.
Lu Ye read the book earnestly as the two only smiled at one another and joined him for another read.
Damu Lan was an Honor Disciple whose reputation preceded him wherever he went, having achieved great success and fame in his youth. His reputation was widespread, and it was as if his very presence had become a permanent fixture in the sky of the cultivation world. Not to mention, he is renowned to be the strongest cultivation master. The most powerful martial artist.
Lu Ye's eyes zoomed on the title as he slid the pages through.
Failed Companions
The next few pages tell a story of the massacre that took place in Qing Shan Sect. It described how countless residents had been brutally slain by none other than Bai Chang, also known as "The Devil," the ruthless lord of The Grim City.
In short, Bai Chang disguised himself to be one of the Qing Shan Sect Sect's disciples and pretended to study under the same master as Damu Lan to plot his revenge.
Whereas Damu Lan truthfully thought of him as a family he never had, that betrayal took a toll on him that he eventually put a stop to Bai Chang's evil doing, by beheading him.
That was basically the content of the story.
"There were so many holes in the story! Why did the target of his revenge have to be the Qing Shan Sect Sect? This book is incomplete!"
"Who knows? Maybe that was also the question Qing Zhu Jun had to ask himself for 1000 years." Cuo Yi stepped in.
Lu Ye's eyes widened at that claim. "1000 years?" He asked.
"As silly as it may sounds, surprisingly, Qing Zhu Jun is 1000+ years old. And that massacre took place 1000 years ago."
"True true, other than Qing Zhu Jun, master Jin An and two other masters are the only disciples that have reached the peak of immortality at the time."
"Then who is the current sect leader?"
"The sect leader couldn't be saved thousand years ago, but his one and only grandson was saved by my master, Zhang XiYi. So the current sect leader we have now is the grandson's offspring!" Fei Yi explained excitedly.
"But our current sect leader had reached the peak of immortality unlike previous sect leaders. so I don't think there will be any more pass down-to-generation."
"When I got to that information I was surprised by how strong that devil was! Almost a match to our glorious Qing Zhu Jun!"
Lu Ye was silent after that as he closed the book. Refused to read any more of Damu Lan's history.
"Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me, senior disciples. I'll pardon myself and go back to training." Lu Ye said respectfully as he bowed with a smile.
"We are family now. Feel at ease to refer to us by name!" Fei Yi spoke.
But Lu Ye only smiled, nodded and left.
As Lu Ye made his way through the bamboo forest, he suddenly felt a sharp headache, followed by a rush of inexplicable emotions that overwhelmed him. Without warning, he found himself crouching down and covering his face, trying to cope with the sudden surge of feelings.
"I am Lu Ye." He said.