Chapter 1 - The Dream that Lasted a Thousand Autumns (1/2)
Volume One - The Mortal World
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The sky was still in the claws of the shadow. There was a hundred thousand miles of great darkness, but the first ray of sunlight had shone down on the mountain of Swords Gate. The misty clouds surrounded the mountainside, curling and floating around it. The sunlight fell onto the summit of the mountain, covering it in a dazzling golden light.
A golden-roofed palace gave off a million shining rays. A breathtaking scene formed as that radiance was reflected on the sea of clouds about the peak.
A number of magnificent palaces floated between the mountains, surrounded by a sea of clouds. They were sacred, solemn, and dignified.
This was the hundred thousand miles of the Great Wilderness; the common holy land for the three thousand tribes of humanity—the Swords Gate!
Countless Qi Practitioners were born in the Swords Gate. They acted as the guardians of the hundred thousand miles of the Great Wilderness. Every man and woman from the three thousand human tribes all looked up to them and swore that one day, they would also hold the supreme glory of being a Qi Practitioner themselves.
The environment and conditions of the Great Wilderness were poor and inhospitable, while the humans were a weak and fragile race. Without Swords Gate watching over the Great Wilderness, the three thousand tribes might have long since faded into history.
Behind the tall and high mountain gate were the homes of tens of thousands of Swords Gate outer hall disciples. There were a great number of Qi Practitioners in Swords Gate. Among the teenagers that were sent to the mountain by the three thousand tribes, those that came from the weaker tribes would normally stay here.
Meanwhile, the more powerful tribes would usually have one or more Qi Practitioners in the Swords Gate Mountain. Their teenagers would be sent to cultivate directly under them.
…
Zhong Yue woke up from his sleep early in the morning. He stood shirtless beside the well as he drew a bucket of water up from it. The bucket of well-water was poured down onto his head, washing away the final vestiges of his lethargy.
The clear well-water flowed down his body before splashing onto the quartz floor.
His muscles were strong and well-proportioned. His skin was tightly stretched over his muscles, showing his great conditioning. On his chest, were three deep claw scars that were left behind by some type of beast.
Zhong Yue turned around. A road of claw marks crawled across his back, and even his left arm were marked by the scars of beast bites. There were dozens of large and small scars all over him; it was nothing like a body that would belong to a normal fifteen-year-old teenager.
Zhong Yue picked up and carried a medicine basket as he quietly walked out of the gate and went down the mountain slopes.
The status of the outer disciples was extremely low; they could only learn the most primitive and superficial techniques of Swords Gate. Only when they had succeeded in manifesting their spirit could they become a nominal disciple of the inner hall. After that, they would then be able to become an apprentice under the heads of the inner hall, and they would be able to practice the true inheritances of the Swords Gate. However, it was not hard to imagine the difficulty of being promoted to an inner disciple from an outer disciple.
Of the three thousand human tribes in the Great Wilderness, the tribesmen of the smaller tribes numbered in the tens of thousands, while the bigger tribes numbered in the millions; all of whom were vying for a place in the Swords Gate. They all wanted to become one of the nominal inner disciples and eventually become a Qi Practitioner; one could guess how intense the competition was.
Swords Gate had its own rule: if the disciple could not manifest their spirit before the age of sixteen, they would be remove from the list of Swords Gate disciples. The sons and daughters of the powerful tribes would naturally be given all kinds of medicinal pellets to help their cultivations so that they could acquire their spirits before the age limit.
With a constant supply of medicinal pellets, even a disciple with the most ordinary talent could become a Qi Practitioner!
Sadly, the children of the poor could never enjoy such luxurious treatment. The only thing they could rely on was themselves.
A poor family could not give birth to a rich child; it was indescribably difficult for the poor to become a Qi Practitioner.
Zhong Yue was born in the Zhong Shan tribe, one of such small and insignificant tribes that had suffered years of natural disasters. They had only a few hundred surviving tribesmen and could be said to be the smallest tribe in the Great Wilderness.
A tribe like that could not even protect itself, how could it even have the ability to support and raise a Qi Practitioner?
Therefore, even with a hundred times more effort than the others, Zhong Yue was still far away from being able to manifest a spirit.
This was why he had trekked down the mountain this early; he had done so to search for spirit herbs to make the Feather Spirit Pellets that could help nourish his soul.
The Feather spirit Pellets were the most common medicinal pellets. The required herbs were also commonly seen herbs. Despite this, he still could not afford to buy one of the pellets. Instead, he could only gather the herbs and concoct the pellets himself.
Compared to the other disciples that enjoyed the supplement of medicinal pills, gathering herbs to make his own pellets would of course be more troublesome and time-consuming.
Four hours after he left Swords Gate Mountain, the sky had turned bright and sunny. The disciples of Swords Gate had all gotten up from their beds and begun to practice their cultivation techniques.
Suddenly, a wave of hurried and rapid ringing bell sounds could be heard from the top of the mountain. One after one, Qi practitioners flew down from the top of the mountain and shouted, "The Devil Soul Yin Effluvium is coming, all disciples of Swords Gate are not allowed to leave the mountain!"
"All personnel are forbidden to leave Swords Gate Mountain!"
"The Devil Soul Yin Effluvium is extremely dangerous, only Swords Gate Mountain can guard and defend against it. No one shall leave Swords Gate Mountain or your only ending would be death!"
The news caused a surge of commotion among the disciples, and they could hear a loud boom as the mountain gate was completely shut. Swords Gate Mountain floated in the air, surrounded by the clouds. The palaces gave off immense light rays and the golden summit shone brighter and farther than ever as it began to glimmer with a new luminous radiance!
This was the first time the outer disciples had come across such a serious and solemn situation, but it was nothing new to the inner disciples.
Every ten years, the Devil Soul Yin Effluvium would occur. It was the very definition of danger, and even a Qi Practitioner could not stand against it. They would only end up dying horribly.
Every time it occurred, it would wash a thousand miles of land with the blood of those that had the misfortune of being present at the time of eruption. Not even a single grass would ever grow on the land it passed through!
"Why is the Devil Soul Yin Effluvium erupting so early? According to the estimations, it should have happened in another five days," one of the inner disciples mumbled to himself.
At this moment, a series of loud noises could be heard below them, it was as though monsters were revolting and causing chaos underground. Suddenly, dark black smoke came bursting out of a deep valley not far away from Swords Gate Mountain. The black smoke sprayed up into the sky like an endless fountain!
The dark black pillar of smoke soon rose taller than Swords Gate Mountain, shooting straight up into the clouds before spreading in all directions. The scene from afar was like a huge and massive dark black umbrella opening up!
Very quickly, the world became blanketed by pitch darkness. The only exception was the bright golden rays that illuminated Swords Gate Mountain.
Surging waves of darkness came spurting down. They reached the sides of Swords Gate Mountain, and were blocked by the rays, as if there was a radiant barrier protecting it. The dark black haze was prevented from seeping into Swords Gate Mountain.
Additionally, there seemed to be horrible creatures living in the dark haze, making fearful howls and furious roars. Those who could hear them were terrified. From time to time, they would ram into the radiant barrier of Swords Gate Mountain, causing a series of low pitched rumbles that struck fear and horror to those within.
On the top of Swords Gate Mountain, in front of a palace, a few Qi Practitioners raised their heads and gazed at the terrifying Devil Soul Yin Effluvium. One of them whispered, "The outer disciples that left the mountain gate have yet to return, I'm afraid they will never be able to now…"
Zhong Yue's destination was a place called Juyun Mountain. It was a place rich in spirit herbs that was located in the southeast area of Swords Gate Mountain. Although he was unable to learn and practice any profound cultivation techniques during the years he had spent as a Swords Gate outer disciple, he had trained his body's physique. Each of his strides could cover ten feet. With this, he was easily able to trek across the mountains.
The day was already sunny and bright when he set foot on the Juyun Mountain. Occasionally, he could hear the howls and growls of beasts coming from the mountain woods.
The place was off the beaten track, there were not any hunting activities around the area, and the mountain was filled with beasts. Zhong Yue cautiously traversed through the jungle paths, searching and looking around. Soon, he had plucked a few spirit herbs.