Chapter 29 Zhang Long Returns Home: Part Three
In less than a minute the puzzle was now complete, but Zhang Long could not find an ounce of joy in him at this victory.
Instead, he sat there, dumbstruck as the puzzle formed the face of Jin Zhen!
"How in the world…?"
How did an inheritance that had supposedly been made at least decades, if not centuries, ago have a puzzle that formed the face of his fiancé on it?
Imagine, if you will, that you had decided to go on vacation to a different country. A country neither you nor any of your family had been to before, and a country you had no relation to beforehand. During your vacation there, your rental car suddenly broke down in the middle of the road, but thankfully, a kind stranger whom you had never met before who was passing by offered to give you a lift. You got into their car, only to find, as they were driving along, that they had a photo of your father on their dashboard.
Or to go a step further- imagine that you had chosen to become an astronaut and became part of the first manned mission to Mars. As you got off on the Red Planet, you noticed something lying in a crater on the planet's surface - and you approached it to find that it was your favorite childhood toy that you had lost twenty years ago, lying there, just like the day you had lost it.
To go even further, imagine if an alien spaceship landed on Earth. As part of the team tasked with exploring it, you went inside and saw heaps of alien technology - and also that one of the rooms was inexplicably an exact replica of your living room.
That was how Zhang Long felt in that instance!
His fiance's face, normally a welcome sight, stared back at him and gave him an uncomfortable feeling of jamais vu while looking at it.
Before, his mind had been somewhat turbulent since coming to this secret realm as he had been unsure of what to do, but he had managed to keep it under control until now. Much like a raft sailing down a turbulent river, he was able to just keep it steady.
Now though, it was like a sudden tidal wave had come out of nowhere, and all control over that vessel had left him, leaving him at the mercy of the river.
For a good minute - his brain felt as if it was being scrambled as he couldn't form a coherent thought.
When he slowly began to feel like the gears in his head were turning again, he went through what this could possibly mean.
Alright, this picture of Jin Zhen was rather recent and it was of her as an adult, so it should've been made in the past few years. This secret realm though, seemed to be far older than that.
Was this some kind of prank? If this had been a secret realm close to the sect, then he would have believed so, but out here - only two potential culprits came to mind.
One was Jin Zhen herself - but Zhang Long had known her since the two were three years old, and he didn't think she would do something like this. She wouldn't be able to, let alone would see a point in doing so. No, he discarded this possibility almost immediately. The idea that she was somehow involved in all of this was ludicrous.
The second was Tang Ze. He was also a cultivator, and had been in the area recently. Not to mention he knew what Jin Zhen looked like, and what she meant to Zhang Long.
However, as far as Zhang Long knew - Tang Ze had no way of doing something like this, unless one of his costumes could give him this kind of power. There was a slight possibility of that - was this just Tang Ze playing a prank on him? He didn't seem like the kind of person who would go to such an extent for a simple practical joke - but if it were Yin Tiang or Chen Yu it would be a different matter. However, those two had never been near his village as per his knowledge, and likely didn't even know its exact location.
So that also seemed highly unlikely.
What then could be the possible reasoning behind all of this?
One was that the person who had made this inheritance had been able to see the future, and knew that it was Zhang Long who would be the one to come here in the future, and so had designed this puzzle with this in mind.
As he took a few deep breaths and tried to calm himself down using some mental exercises he had been taught, another answer came to him.
It could be that these puzzle pieces were enchanted, and were made to show the face of someone who that person loved dearly.
In such a case, it was merely this fact that had led to her face being on this puzzle, and there was no weird conspiracy going on behind the scenes.
The only way he could test this though was if he had someone along with him, and asked them what they saw now that the puzzle was complete. If they saw something else other than Jin Zhen's face, that would prove this theory.
However, he had come into this secret realm alone.
Most people would come into such places alone - and perhaps that was the ultimate goal of this test? To unnerve whoever came here before the real trials began?
The other paths had disappeared, leaving only one before him, and one that led back.
Zhang Long was now more apprehensive about this place after what he had just discovered. Should he turn back?
If he did, depending on how this secret realm worked, there was a chance that it would not let him come back afterwards. And given that he had seen something that related to Jin Zhen, he wanted to get to the bottom of it if she was actually involved in all of this in any way - or if the person who made this knew something about her.
As such, there was only one way to go if he wanted those answers - forward.
He kept walking on that stone path, while the jungle around him was eerily silent. That would usually mean that many animals were keeping quiet as there was a very dangerous predator around, though he had strangely enough not seen any kind of wildlife in this secret realm.
Not only that, but there was nothing else in the forest of note other than rows and rows of trees. He saw no large gaps between them, or such features like rivers or ponds. It was an endless formation of tightly-knit trees each of which looked the exact same that seemed to go on forever.
Occasionally, one might find animals or plants within pocket realms that had either gone extinct or did not exist anywhere else. The panda population in the Raswatian Empire, for example, would have nearly gone extinct several time, but for people finding some groups within pocket realms like these. And now, more dedicated efforts were put in place to preserving that species.
Still, it was not unheard of to find pocket realms where there was no living creatures at all.
It was highly unnerving though, and soon enough Zhang Long found himself at another dais.
It was like the one that he had seen before, only this one, instead of having a table, had a pile of gold and silver coins on it.
As he approached the platform, the voice spoke to him again.
"Take only a single copper coin and move ahead."
This was a far more straightforward test than the one before him, to the point that Zhang Long was almost slightly disappointed.
In all of these gold and silver coins, there were only a few copper ones.
In this world, precious metals were used as currency, especially among mortals. Farmers might prefer to trade with produce, though in any place where commerce was more developed coinage was the way to go.
Among cultivators, prices could soar to the point where one might need mountains of coins to make transactions for certain things.
At that point, cultivators would also engage in bartering much like farmers and peasants, usually swapping pills as a standard or other such things among themselves.
At the Qi Condensation and Qi Refinement realms, gold coins were still valuable, and if someone were to stuff their pockets full of all of the gold coins here it would be worth quite a lot. Even someone at Golden Core might be tempted.
But, Zhang Long could see through all of that.
This was a test of honesty - and one that was far more standard than the initial one.
Unlike the one that came before, solving this was simple, and didn't disorient him with its result.
He took a copper coin, and then embarked on one of the six paths that were laid out before him.
The way that these things worked, by taking just a single copper coin, whichever path he embarked on would lead him to the correct destination.
Conversely, if he had gotten greedy and taken more, either he would be ejected out of the secret realm, sent somewhere not so pleasant, or his rewards at the end would be sharply decreased. Which of these happened would depend on the proclivity of the one who had set up this inheritance, as well as their skill in being able to design and influence the world of the secret realm.
Given how the trial had gone up till now, Zhang Long could get some insight as to what kind of person had set this inheritance up. They valued honesty, which meant that they were a righteous person. If they had been demonic, his life would have been in far more danger through these trials, but they had been relatively benign in terms of the dangers he had faced.
Yes, the first trial had been somewhat... strange in its result, and he hadn't as of now figured out what it was about, but it wasn't like his life had been in danger at the time.
Given that, he had a new surge of courage as he stepped forward.
But, he was a bit taken about at how easy this round had been.
Compared to the first, it was quite straightforward - which made him think that he had just been overthinking the result of that puzzle.
Perhaps it really was just meant to form a drawing of someone he knew - though, for what reason?
It was hard to tell how long he had been walking for, as the dais disappeared behind him, and the jungle seemed to be perfectly identical all around.
The lighting did not change whatsoever either, so it was very hard to figure this out. Zhang Long felt that it was well over two hours in total that he had spent in this secret realm, though it could be far shorter or longer than that.
All of a sudden, another platform appeared in front of him.
Chapter 30 Zhang Long Returns Home: Part Four
The voice spoke to Zhang Long again once he had reached this platform.
It was much smaller than the ones before it, being just big enough for someone to barely stand atop it comfortably.
"Stay on the platform for ten minutes."
That seemed to be easy enough, until a shadow emerged from the trees .
It was the first other living thing that Zhang Long had seen while in this secret realm.
A creature that he had seen only in paintings before - a manticore.
Its mere presence would've been enough to send grown men running. It had the main body of a lion, only the size of an elephant. Huge wings sprouted from its back, and its tail ended in the form of a snake which was as thick as a tree trunk.
Its gaze carried ferociousness and hatred, and it roared so loudly it felt like it would almost rupture Zhang Long's eardrums for an instant. Its muscled limbs could crush boulders like they were pebbles, and as it had opened its mouth, Zhang Long had seen canines as thick as his arm.
Faced with such a creature, even cultivators who were at the initial minor realms of Golden Core would hesitate to fight and be forced to turn tail and flee. Zhang Long could not even feel a drop of Qi from it, signifying that it far outclassed him in that regard.
However, Zhang Long did not run. The pathways leading to the platform had disappeared, and he still remembered what that voice had said.
He had to stay on this platform.
He knew he had no chance of beating this thing - the only ones in his squad who could last more than a few breath's time against this creature were Chen Yu thanks to his attribute, and Tang Ze depending on what costume he was wearing.
Even Chen Yu's defense would last for only but a few seconds before the manticore broke through it. Maybe Tang Ze could beat this creature depending on the circumstances.
Zhang Long did not have either Chen Yu's or Tang Ze's talent.
But, by now Zhang Long had a good understanding of this place and its inheritance.
In a way, the inheritance had communicated what to do in this round with the first two rounds.
Because it played an emphasis on honesty in the second round, it told Zhang Long that the person who had set up this inheritance put high value on virtue.
A demonic cultivator might've either set up a test that tested one's cruelty - such as offering a human sacrifice, or tested one's resilience, like forcing one to cut their right ear off to prove how badly they wanted the inheritance.
But, the person who had set up this inheritance had not made anything like that.
And such a person wouldn't have their applicant killed in the third round for no reason.
True to what he had expected, the manticore, though it did its best to look intimidating and growled, did not actually attempt to pounce upon him.
As it was, Zhang Long was not confident in his ability to run away from it anyway, and he sighed as he stood on the platform, not moving whatsoever.
The manticore now became more bold, approaching closer, and Zhang Long couldn't really say that he wasn't scared at all.
It was like being in the same room as a tiger and being just out of reach of its grasp while it was on a leash. The thought of what would happen if its leash had broken would constantly play in your mind - and it would be easy to take a few steps back, if only subconsciously.
But, Zhang Long did not take the bait and continued to stay there, as steadfast as a mountain.
This was a test of courage. He was sure of it now - the manticore would not actually attack him.
He had to stay there on the small platform for about a total of ten minutes, though every second seemed to feel like an hour as time moved at a glacial speed.
Right around the midpoint of this time, another manticore leaped out of the jungle, and began acting in a similar way, trying its best to get Zhang Long to step off the platform.
Both of them ended up orbiting the platform quite close to him, to the point that he could smell their rancid breath in the air. To the point where he could hear the sounds of them breathing - and even the beating of their hearts.
Or, was that actually his heart? Although he tried his best to control his emotions and fear, there was a limit to how successful that would be given his age and understanding of cultivation.
After what felt like an eternity, ten minutes were finally up and the two manticores retreated into the jungle, leaving no trace that they had ever been there in the first place.
Zhang Long had built up a huge layer of sweat on his forehead, and his clothes were soaked as well. HIs throat felt as dry as sandpaper, but at long last, the third trial was over.
A path now appeared, leading forward.
Nothing more came out of the forest to challenge him as he proceeded, and it was as eerily quiet as it was before.
This time though, rather than ending in another platform, the path led to a cliff, where there was what looked like the ruins of what once had been a large stone building.
Most conspicuous was the presence of a mirror on the outside.
As Zhang Long approached the mirror, he watched his reflection within it suddenly become distorted as the mirror rippled like a still pond that had just had a stone tossed into it.
A hand emerged from the mirror, then a leg, and finally the rest of the body, as Zhang Long's reflection walked out.
"Defeat your double image to advance."
Zhang Long's doppelganger charged at him.
Zhang Long avoided the initial kick, backing up slightly.
His mirror image did not let up, however, launching blow after blow in a fighting style that he recognized - because it was his own!
Zhang Long didn't even have room to think as he focused on blocking his enemy's strikes.
There were limits to how mirrors like this could copy one's abilities - he doubted that it could fully copy say, a Golden Core cultivator's strength, for example. However, Zhang Long was not a Golden Core cultivator. And unfortunately, it looked like this other Zhang Long was just as strong and skilled as he was.
The mirror image was also likely unable to copy any powerful treasures or secret techniques that Zhang Long knew - the issue was that he had none of those things. As such, the two of them were playing on an even field, with nothing available that could give Zhang Long an advantage.
The two of them exchanged blows for several minutes. Both of them ended up with bruises - though the original Zhang Long had more of them. He had already been somewhat exhausted, and was caught off guard by the ferocity with which his mirror image attacked him.
His mirror image was fully focused on defeating him without regard to its own safety, and in that, Zhang Long had a major disadvantage as it would not matter if he had won if it lead to him being given a fatal injury. Not to mention he had to watch out for the terrain - that cliff looked like it lead to a significant drop and he might end up pinned down against it if he was not careful. Sadly, it looked like his mirror image had realized the same thing.
They exchanged blows for several more rounds, with Zhang Long being forced back to the edge of the cliff despite his best efforts, until, all of a sudden, his mirror image stopped, and then collapsed to one knee.
Zhang Long chuckled.
So it had finally worked!
This might've been a challenge for Zhang Long in the past, but he had already engaged in a similar 'mirror-training' experiment three years ago.
They had had a different martial arts instructor at that time, and he had thought that such training would help them understand their own training styles. Not to mention, there were some techniques that cultivators could use that could achieve the same effect, so they all had to be wary of something like this in the future.
"So how do we deal with something like this?" Xu Feng had asked as his mirror image had knocked him down despite three attempts at beating it.
It was then that the martial arts instructor had taught them of a 'hidden method' to defeat one's body double if they did not have access to any unique treasures or techniques which could not easily be copied.
Such doubles were made using the user's own strength as a template - that included their Qi flows. If the user suppressed their Qi flow, a weak mirror image would appear. However, to counter that, when they would actually begin to use their Qi unrestrained in combat, they would also increase their power. But, vice-versa, should the opposite happen, it would also have to adapt. There was no such thing as a free lunch, after all, and that was how their internal systems were designed. Perhaps there were ways to patch up this design flaw, but that probably required a higher level of technique.
The mirror image needed to accommodate for fluctuations in the original owner's Qi.
Naturally, there was a limit to this ability.
That was what Zhang Long had been doing during their fight till now, wildly causing fluctuations in his Qi that he knew his mirror image wouldn't be able to keep up with.
And now, Zhang Long, had, by doing so, made it so that his mirror image could no longer keep up with the Qi fluctuations.
It was a creature entirely dependent on Qi in a way that Zhang Long wasn't, being a sort of construct made directly from Qi. As such, the fluctuations were causing it immense damage, and leading to it unraveling itself.
Zhang Long did not relent though, altering his Qi rapidly until finally, the mirror image broke down into a million pieces, and then these pieces turned into tiny motes of light which disappeared.
It was kind of odd seeing himself being destroyed.
"Congratulations - step forth and my treasure awaits you."
'So that was it, huh?'- Zhang Long thought to himself as he advanced past the cliff. 'Mirror images' were a pretty old-fashioned way of testing cultivators out, and he suspected that any high-ranked cultivator would have something to deal with them, even if the mirror image was of a higher grade than this which had this specific design flaw he had exploited patched up.
Overall, he would rank the difficulty of this inheritance, on a scale from one to ten, as a one or two.
There were far more deadly inheritances in this world, some that required weeks to get through, and could easily lead to death.
This by far, had been far more benign than some of the stories of inheritance's he had heard about in the past.
A book awaited him atop a desk inside the ruins of the abandoned building, and he took it. The moment he did so, the world changed, and he found himself back near his village.
The whole thing had likely been set up so that the secret realm would eject him the moment he got his hands on the treasure, or if he failed.
Out of curiosity, Zhang Long tried to enter the secret realm again, but found that he couldn't.
It was possible that the secret realm was designed to collapse and destroy itself once someone took the inheritance.
And so, it appeared that he had been overthinking that puzzle back in the beginning.
He still didn't understand the point of it showing him Jin Zhen's face though.
He opened up the book and saw that the first page had these words on it: "The True Treasure is Friendship."
That was it.
The next page was blank.
So was the one after that.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Zhang Long screamed.
Chapter 31 Zhang Long Returns Home: Part Five
So, this was a prank inheritance?
Such things did exist - there were people in this world who had far too much time on their hands and decided to get their kicks from setting up pointless or sometimes even dangerous inheritances.
Sometimes such troublemakers didn't set up a reward at all or put in a prank reward - looks like this was one of the latter cases.
The pranks could even be harmful at times. Everyone in this world by now was familiar with some of them.
'Castrate yourself!'
People would write this on the first page of a book, leave the second page blank, and hope that people assumed you needed to follow the instructions to read the rest of the book. The third page would then say, 'Do you really do anything that a random book instructs you to do?'; and that would be all.
Zhang Long doubted that anyone had fallen for such a prank in recent memory given that knowledge of this was widespread by this point, but there likely had been one such individual at some time in the past who had fallen for it which was why that kind of prank was so popular.
That wasn't the only kind of scam going around. There were stories of applicants being asked to put their hands into small slits within boxes, within which there would be scorpions or snakes - and a bite or sting would be the only 'inheritance' that those people got.
Zhang Long had to admit that some of the stories he'd heard really were quite funny though. There was a famous one about someone who had supposedly found the inheritance of a great alchemist, and were promised a special recipe so long as they could pass through a trial.
The trial was to catch and kiss one hundred frogs - this took place in a swamp, as you can imagine, so catching the frogs themselves was no easy feat either.
Once the applicant had done so, it turned out the reward was just the recipe for a regular fruit smoothie with a page attached to it that said, 'Hope this helps wash the bitter taste in your mouth down!'
Despite himself, Zhang Long couldn't help but snicker at the thought of Yin Tiang running around a swamp trying to catch frogs to kiss in order to receive a valuable alchemical recipe.
That said, once he was done laughing at that mental image, rage gripped him and he wanted to find the person who had set up this phony inheritance and give them a swift kick to the Mt. Tai!
Why did people go through so much trouble to set up such pranks? For mostly the same reason as to why people back on Earth made computer viruses that would break your computer - that is to say, for personal amusement.
Even if the inheritance was set up properly and with the intent of actually leaving something useful behind, there was a chance that someone had already taken it and the creator of said inheritance hadn't had the foresight or ability to close the secret realm off once it had been taken. However, had that been the case, Zhang Long wouldn't have been nearly as furious as he was right now.
Granted, the trials hadn't been too hard, so he really wasn't expecting anything spectacular, but still, it was annoying to be handed basically nothing.
No, actually, if he had found out that the prize was 'nothing' he might be disappointed that someone had gotten to it before him, but that would be somewhat within expectations for such an easy inheritance. He was not just disappointed now though - he was furious that someone had gone out of their way to pull this prank. Imagine all that time and effort spent setting all of that up - just so you could pull a 'gotcha!' on someone in the future.
That was what he thought, before he suddenly realized that there were more pages that he hadn't checked out yet.
"Oh, turns out I had jumped to conclusions too fast," he said to himself as he saw text on the other pages, which described a certain technique.
There was no name on the book or title, however, so all of this had likely been set up by a cultivator quite a long time ago. Their village was only two hundred years old, after all.
And it turned out there was a good reason for the words written down on the first page, Zhang Long discovered as he read more of what was in the book.
He spent most of the rest of his time in his village on this 'assignment' learning about what was written inside and how to practice the technique enshrined within.
Zhang Long discovered a few interesting things about the manual he had gotten from that inheritance. For one, once he turned a page, it stuck to the pages prior, so that he couldn't turn it back to see what had been written before. Yet, whatever he read seemed to 'stick' in his mind permanently once he was done reading it. This was likely a feature of the book.
The philosophy it expounded was quite different from what he was used to as well.
This was an excerpt from said text:
"Before the creation of the universe, and the separation of all, there was a single entity. There was a single soul, and we were all part of that soul. After the creation of the universe, that soul was splintered into countless pieces, and we all originate from this soul. But, at the beginning, it was all one - one body, one soul, and one mind. Humans are the creatures which are closest to comprehending the Dao, and as such, humans spend their entire lives as social creatures - trying to forge bonds with each other, in a form, attempting to reunite with these other souls of which we were once part of.
Since our souls have been split from each other, we constantly wander this earth, alone, trying to find company - though no matter how much we may seek companionship, the fact remains that nothing can truly fill in the gap, the true longing we have to one day merge with each other completely. Not even the most intimate or close relationship can compare to the fusion of two souls together. We all have the innate desire, perhaps subconsciously, to return to the state that we had once been in, when we were truly one with everything and with each other. And were that to happen, the loneliness that grips us, that surrounds us, and that we dread from the bottom of our souls would completely cease to exist.
However, through forming bonds with others, we can come closer to understanding each other - and come closer to understanding this 'supersoul' that had once existed."
Zhang Long contemplated the words in the text. Some of this philosophy ran counter to what he had been taught was the ideal way of learning the Dao.
Yes, cultivators did cooperate with each other - weren't sects just an example of that?
Yet, it was always said that the road to true enlightenment was a road that one had to walk alone.
That was why cultivators would oftentimes become ascetics - vowing to never marry or have children. They would meditate in caves away from society, sometimes for decades on end.
After all, no matter how much you might wish it, you could not give enlightenment to someone else - that was what his teachers had always taught him. It was something that they had to discover for themselves.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink!
Then again, this book was based off the life experiences and ruminations of its writer - it didn't necessarily mean that what was written was objectively fact.
There were as many interpretations of the Dao as there were cultivators, and many of these ideas outright contradicted each other.
There was a Nascent Soul cultivator, who one day, after emerging from a seven year secluded meditation session said, "There is no ultimate meaning to life, or grander truth that can be found through cultivating. One should spend as much time seeking as much pleasure as possible through activities like gambling, doing drugs, and fornication - because after death nothing remains." He then left his sect, and spent the rest of his days in debauchery.
This went against practically everything known about cultivation, but it was the 'truth' that this person had stumbled upon. It had caused him to stop cultivating entirely after denouncing the whole practice as 'inherently worthless.'
However, that did not mean that this person had been correct.
Oftentimes, the only true way to understand the Dao was to experience it for yourself. Zhang Long really didn't have enough life experience to come to any conclusions on his own - he could only rely on the teachings of those who had come before him. That was not to say that those teachings were absolute truths, of course - but there usually was at least a grain of truth to them, and it was easier to walk the beaten path rather than trudging through the wilderness on your own.
That is to say, that Zhang Long would take these words with a grain of salt. What was described was the truth that the writer of this manual had discovered, but it did not mean that it was The Truth. It might be a portion of the greater truth, or could even be completely false entirely, but only the truly enlightened knew the complete truth.
"We are born into this world alone, and also leave it alone. No one can accompany us into the next life, no matter how we may promise to stay with them for seven lifetimes. And yet, we spend our time in between these moments searching for others.
However, if enlightenment is truly possible, then it means that eventually, once it occurs, all living beings will achieve it at one point, and the supersoul will be formed once yet again. The universe cycles over and over, and with the eventuality that one can become enlightened given enough time - all will become enlightened in the very end."
Zhang Long read more and more of the philosophy until it finally turned into something that was more tangible in its use for cultivation - an actual technique.
'The True Treasure is Friendship'- the reason that was written on the manual's first page was because of the technique that was kept within. All souls had once been part of one another, and as such, were still connected to each other in a way.
This technique involved the use of a power granted through the formation of bonds between people.
Humans, throughout their lives tried to strengthen these bonds.
When this author described 'bonds' they started off by describing their function on a molecular level - bonds were what kept atoms from falling apart and how matter could exist in the world in the first place.
And yet, bonds did not exist in simply that kind of material regard - there were also those bonds between people. Between father and son, between friends, and even bonds that existed between humans and animals.
One can draw strength from these kinds of bonds - and in doing so, borrow a portion of another person's strength!
'Ah, so that is why I saw Jin Zhen's face in that puzzle. It was a clue about what kind of inheritance lay up ahead - it was showing me the face of my closest friend!' - Zhang Long realized. There had been a purpose to what the first trial had been about, rather than it being a portent of something malevolent going on behind the scenes.
But, he had overthought it to the point where it had nearly given him a headache at the time.
Once one had mastered the technique described in the text, they could draw on the techniques of their allies depending on how deep the bond between the two of them was.
Chapter 32 The Squad Is Reunited
Zhang Long had often times heard in stories of warriors drawing strength from their friends and families - a hero collapsing to the ground and then suddenly finding the strength to rise and fight as the memories of their allies ran through their minds was a well-known trope in stories in this world as well as back on Earth.
This, however, took 'the power of friendship' and made it quite literal.
There were still limits to this ability - it could 't copy bloodline-related abilities like Chen Yu's [Steelskin], and it probably couldn't copy things like Tang Ze's talent either now that Zhang Long thought about it, but still, this was quite useful.
Techniques took time to learn and master - and there was no one who could learn all of them. Some of them didn't suit certain cultivators or they lacked the kind of capacity needed in order to learn them - but this could bypass some of those issues.
Zhang Long thought it would be useful to teach this to everyone in the sect, or at least, to many people, but as he finished the text- it vanished, disappearing like the morning dew, as if it had never existed in the first place.
Zhang Long might've even thought that the whole thing was just in his imagination, were it not for the fact that everything that had been written in the manual was now completely engraved into his memory.
He felt that even if he tried to forget what was written on it, he wouldn't be able to.
Despite the manual containing pages and pages of the writer's philosophy on what enlightenment was, there was almost nothing on who had written it. They had not even left something like a signature for Zhang Long to try to piece together who it was - though their distinct writing style and language gave him some insight into what he thought that this person's character and personality were like.
Still, no name, and although he had asked around the village, no one remembered anyone of importance living there who could have written it.
This technique by itself was not that hard to learn, relatively speaking, so while it was somewhat unique in that Zhang Long had not heard of something like this before - it could be that the person who had made it had not been anyone outstanding. It might even be possible that there already was such a technique, and it was just Zhang Long who had never heard of it before.
But it didn't look like it would be easy to spread this technique, not until he had mastered it first himself.
Even after mastering it, it would be difficult to use, as this technique had a chance to fail - even if the bond between two people was quite deep, it could not be the same as them being a single soul!
Again, this was a relatively easy to learn low-level technique - there probably was a way to refine it and advance it further so that the odds of it succeeding were higher.
It was likely that that was the reason why the inheritance had been made in the first place, because the person who had developed it had been stumped, given up on it - and either died, or moved on to some other project. But, if it had been the latter case, they had likely hoped that someone would come along and finish their work for them which they themselves were unable to, which is why they left this manual there.
It was possible there was another version of this book, and this was just a copy of that one.
But, given how long ago the inheritance had been set up, it was safe to assume that the original maker had already long since passed away.
If Zhang Long knew more about secret realms, he could've investigated this a bit further - but as a Qi Condensation cultivator there was little he could do.
Those kinds of secrets could only be learnt at the Golden Core stage.
Before he knew it - just while dwelling on these small matters time had passed by quickly and Zhang Long made his way back to the sect, the taxes in the form of produce being hauled in the cart he was sitting in.
For the farmers, it was hard to get their hands on coinage. They often bartered among themselves, and as such, being able to pay taxes in the form of produce was quite convenient to them - not to mention they might suffer a loss if such produce was sold on the market when tax season was near and everyone was selling at that time.
They would have to pay a cut to whoever was helping to facilitate the deal, not to mention the travel expenses incurred.
Sometimes, sects would demand payment of taxes in coinage regardless, but because Zhang Long was a sect member himself, he was able to easily smooth things out when it came to this.
No wonder that there were many cheers and shouts when he had come to the village - he had been welcomed and sent off like a conquering hero.
Zhang Long was the only serious cultivator in the village - his father had some talent but had taken so long to accumulate resources in order to join a sect that before he knew it, his hair was already as white as snow, and so, he left this task to his son.
And the return on such investment was already evident - that was to say, in this year's taxation.
"Mother, father, Jin Zhen, I'll be sure to keep making you all proud!" Zhang Long said, as the visage of his home faded away in the distance.
Zhang Long was not satisfied with just his progress yet - he needed to go further.
Ideally, he wanted to reach Qi Refinement stage within the next three years, and then bring Jin Zhen along with him as a sect member.
That was quite ambitious - and likely to fail given his current lack of a strong backing. However, Zhang Long was not one to give up hope.
After all, who knew what surprises life had in store for him?
This inheritance was just one of the many unexpected things that could happen in the future!
hr
Back at the sect, the four Initiates - Zhang Long, Chen Yu, Yin Tiang, and Tang Ze were finally reunited after just under a month of staying apart.
Chen Yu and Yin Tiang, though they hadn't been treated as favorably as Zhang Long, had still had relatively enjoyable experiences with their solo missions.
Tang Ze on the other hand...
His face looked like that of man who had been left to wander the wilderness for several months on his own and who had just found his way back to civilization. Which was actually not too far from the condition he had been left in.
While Zhang Long had returned from his solo mission feeling revitalized, Tang Ze looked like the life had been sucked out of him instead.
Of all of them, Tang Ze was the happiest that they were finally together again!
Zhang Long felt an immense wave of guilt upon seeing Tang Ze's face like that - the difference in their treatment by the sect was like the difference between night and day!
Not only had Zhang Long gotten the opportunity to rest and relax, but he had also chanced upon an inheritance that granted a special technique! It could be said that his path had practically been paved with gold - his luck was just too good.
On the other hand, Tang Ze had clearly suffered.
Zhang Long had almost forgotten about Tang Ze's condition after finding that inheritance - he couldn't help but curse himself inwardly.
'Ah, even more so ironic that the inheritance was on friendship, and here I had completely neglected the suffering of one of my friends!'- Zhang Long had such thoughts.
It was like seeing a friend lose his job after you had just gotten a big promotion. On top of that, as Squad Leader, one of his responsibilities was to take care of the well-being of the other members as well as his own.
Zhang Long couldn't help but feel that he had failed in that regard.
"Ah, Tang Ze - did anything happen during your mission?" Zhang Long asked. Being posted out in the wilderness meant that one would be at risk of encountering not only the likes of bandits, but wild beasts as well. Had Tang Ze ran into one of them? The odds of such a thing happening were rather low, but never zero.
"Eh? No, it was quiet," Tang Ze said. "Too quiet!" He might've actually welcomed a small group of bandits attacking, because that would have at least meant that there was something for him to do. He was more than confident of being able to take on any ragtag group of ruffians.
Instead, he had just sat at that toll booth day in and day out. It was busy this time of year, but the people tended to come in waves so to speak, so sometimes, he would not get a single visitor, while other days he would be busy from sunup to sundown. The days where he was busy were far better than those days where he got no visitors.
Because then, he was all alone - with nothing but his thoughts to comfort him.
And none of Tang Ze's thoughts were positive.
While it could be said that Tang Ze had not suffered physically - his mental state, which had never been that stable coming into this world to begin with, had taken a huge toll from this task.
Also, there had been one incident that Tang Ze hadn't shared with them, because he didn't think it was worth talking about.
When he came back to the sect from his job, the prefects had asked him to turn out his pockets. "We just want to make sure that you didn't skim anything off the top," they told him.
Tang Ze had never heard of anyone else getting searched like this, not to mention they seemed to have been disappointed when they reviewed Tang Ze's performance and found nothing wrong with it that they could chastise him for.
It was clear as day now that they really were going out of their way to give Tang Ze a hard time.
Zhang Long had been a member of the sect for a while, and the prefects clearly approved of him and his performance, treating him like the golden child of the family. That was why he had gotten such a nice and cozy 'mission.'
Tang Ze on the other hand, felt like he was being treated much like Cinderella was by her stepmother.
Who knows - maybe if he dressed up as Cinderella, he'd get a pumpkin carriage and a fairy godmother who'd magic away all of his problems?
Or maybe he should just cut out the middleman and become the fairy godmother he wanted to see in this world?
"Oh, it's good to hear that you didn't have any problems..." Zhang Long said, though he could see from Tang Ze's expression that what Tang Ze was saying did not express the whole of it. Something was still clearly bothering Tang Ze.
But, what did all that matter now? Now, they were back together as a group! That was the important thing.
Hopefully that would cheer Tang Ze up, and hopefully he'd find a way to advance when it came to his cultivation.
Chapter 33 The Sect Janitor Enters: Part One
"Ah, well, that is the situation..." the prefect said, eyes slightly downcast as he wrapped up his explanation, to the sect janitor.
The sect janitor had only recently returned from meditating in seclusion, and to be told that there was a mess as large as this that needed to be cleaned the very moment that he walked back in?
Someone had broken a large part of the newly constructed martial arts dojo. A good portion of the ceiling had caved in, and there was rubble everywhere.
Effort had also been made to try to clean it up to a certain extent before the sect janitor got there, though, this could be said to only be a few light touches here and there.
The mess was still quite apparent - no, it was closer to a calamity than a mess. If he didn't know any better, it was like they had let a wild rhinoceros rampage in here.
The sect janitor was the only other Golden Core cultivator in the sect aside from Elder He Xuan. He was, as such, the second strongest in the sect.
Naturally, the prefect feared offending him because of this.
The sect janitor, however, did not seem angry whatsoever. "Well, this will take some time to clean up.... but... to cause this much damage in a single blow - and you tell me this was unintentional?"
The prefect nodded.
"Right - and who was it that caused this much damage?" the sect janitor asked.
"Tang Ze!" the prefect said. Being one of the prefects, he had no attachment to Tang Ze at all and did not hesitate for even an instant before throwing him under the bus. If the sect janitor chose to deal with him harshly - well, the prefect secretly hoped that would be the case!
"Tang Ze... Tang Ze..." the sect janitor said, committing that name to memory. "Very well - thank you. You may leave now."
The prefect scurried off with a wicked grin on his face. 'Tang Ze - just see what happens to you now!' is what he was thinking as he made his exit.
The sect janitor did not take any immediate action against or even try to seek out Tang Ze, instead working on clearing out the rubble.
He had been planning on checking on Guo Jia when he came back, and he would deal with that issue first.
Two incidents had made a very large impact on his life.
The first was losing both of his parents when he was ten years old. As he had no other relatives, he would've either been thrown on the streets or had to live in a public orphanage, both of which were close to death sentences. Especially for someone like him at the time, who would've known next to nothing about how to survive in such a place having been raised in a cozy environment up till then.
Instead, he had been taken in by the sect. After all, both of his parents had been regular members, and one couldn't say that such an upbringing was pleasant or even came close to how times had been when his parents had still been alive, but it was far preferable to the alternative. He had been old enough to understand that.
Since then, he felt like he owed the sect a great debt in return. The family was the upon which the world was built, sects attempted to take this a step further by creating a giant family - many people scoffed at such an idea, but the sect janitor was someone who took this to heart.
The second incident was one that had occurred when he had been an Initiate. Being a ward of the sect, he had been allowed to join without a fee or having to take an entrance test, that was thanks to the legacy of his parents. He had trained in an outer division of the Rising Phoenix sect, a division which had been much like this one.
His youth had been spent having fun and cultivating with his squad members, when one night, calamity struck.
He did not know this at the time, but one of his friends had been harboring a heart demon. This heart demon took corporeal form, and rampaged all over that division, damaging it to the point that the location still had not been fully repaired as of yet.
The heart demon had tried to kill him as well, and the sect janitor had a scar over his left shoulder from the blow, but he had fortunate enough to survive. That day, a peculiar ability had awoken in him - one that one could normally only get by certain very specialized techniques at the Eternal Soul level of cultivation.
It was the ability to see heart demons!
At the time, he had been full of regret for being blind to what his friend had suffered from, and this regret, combined with the heart demon's attack which had nearly slain him, had caused this strange ability to be born within him.
He had already lost one family back in his youth, and when he felt like he had found another one later in life within the sect, his squad members; they too had died.
He had vowed to himself that he wouldn't let that happen again, and was ever-vigilant for heart demons since then.
What were heart demons?
As light cannot exist without casting shadows, and as yin could not exist without yang, so could positives not exist without negative.
Cultivators contemplated the Dao, and this generated positive effects in the form of their enlightenment and ascending cultivation. But, there was a negative shadow to this as well, heart demons.
That was the original theory regarding heart demons. It was the one he had been told to by other people, though through his own experiences, he felt that there was far more to them.
It was not always equal of course - the benefits gained from cultivation did not equal the risks of heart demons; more times than not, it was imbalanced in one's favor. As in, the benefits greatly outweighed the risks.
But the opposite could also happen.
Which was how he had developed his own theory regarding heart demons.
The earlier theory, which was one he had begun to doubt as it clashed with what he had seen with his own eyes, was that heart demons were the 'waste products' of cultivation, in other words that they were negative thoughts that were a byproduct of ascending to higher realms that cultivators did not carry with them while ascending.
However, after his own study, the sect janitor had a different idea on what they were.
One could nurture positive thoughts through cultivation - and advance, but what about the opposite? What if one cultivated negatively, or in the wrong direction so to speak? That was his own theory as to how they formed - which would explain how he could sometimes see them even among mortals.
Some people never get heart demons. They were either complete psychopaths who had no regrets in life, or those with transcendent wisdom who had completely cleansed their souls.
As such, they depended on the mental state of the person in question.
Heart demons were extremely malevolent by nature. The weaker ones would disrupt one's cultivation or make it harder to ascend - while the stronger ones could even take physical form. Not only that, they had a habit of remaining hidden, biding their time until it was the right opportunity to strike. The 'right' opportunity being the moment when they could cause the most havoc and destruction to a cultivator.
Cases like what had happened to his friend, where they grew strong enough to cause significant damage were thankfully, extremely rare.
Naturally, he wanted to do something about them whenever he found them to nip the problem in the bud, but he had no methods with which he could directly strike a heart demon. Perhaps someone at Nascent Soul or Eternal Soul level might be able to create such a move, but he could not. Instead, all he could do was nudge people along the right path.
However, dealing with heart demons was tricky.
No matter how friendly he was, people would not usually open up to him, a complete stranger, about what was truly bothering them.
He had made it his goal in life, after his second home had nearly been destroyed, and that too due to what he felt like was his negligence in not recognizing what his friend had been going through, to help others with their heart demons.
If he had been on Earth, he likely would have become either a psychiatrist or a therapist. He tried to fill out a similar role for the cultivators in the Rising Phoenix Sect - to help them deal with their heart demons before they became too big of a problem.
Right now though, in the Raswatian Empire, no such occupation existed. As such, all he could do was to give other people pointers in which direction to move in.
Being sect janitor gave him ample such opportunities.
Coming to Guo Jia, she was a Qi Condensation stage cultivator. The sect janitor usually saw heart demons as small black wisps above people's heads - in that stage, they were not too dangerous and people usually dealt with them on their own.
However, what he saw above her head was a dark cloud, and he had been meaning to check up on her to see if it had gotten worse. He had a good idea as to what was causing it, but if the problem had already resolved itself, there was no reason for him to but in.
For now, though, he kept a low profile, mopping the floor.
Truth be told, his ability to become inconspicuous and fade into the background made it so that he had the most far-ranging eyes and ears in the entire sect. If he were a spy, he would easily be a top-rate one.
However, he had no such malevolent intentions.
Several people passed him by while he was working, some with scornful looks on their faces.
The fact of the matter was that, as a Golden Core cultivator, his strength would be unknown to those of the Qi Condensation realm, and as such, many of these Initiates thought of him as nothing more than a lowly janitor - and as one who had no Qi to speak of, not worthy of their respect or acknowledgement.
Such people were those who had recently joined the sect and did not know the truth about him, or mortal workers and assistants in the sect who didn't know who he was.
But, it was not like the sect janitor minded.
Truth be told, he was not a vindictive person. There were some cultivators who would not only kill someone for looking at them wrong, but also their entire families and villages as well. But, the sect janitor was not like that.
He considered everyone in the sect part of his family, and wished them all well within the depths of his heart, regardless of what opinion they had of him.
Soon enough, Guo Jia approached and sat down on a nearby bench. His heart fell as he saw that the cloud above her head had become thicker and darker. This was not good - he had to act.
The sect janitor approached her while mopping, and as he did so, he dropped several coins onto the floor.
While Guo Jia had her brows furrowed in deep rumination, the sound of the metal striking the floor shook her out of her reverie.
Guo Jia knew was an exceptional Initiate, she was at the tenth minor realm of Qi Condensation, and as such, knew who the sect janitor was. She was not shocked by his presence - but rather, by the way he kept dropping coins on the ground without picking them up.
Initially, she figured that once he was done cleaning, he would pick them up, but no - he kept moving on, the metal coins glistening as they caught the light of the sun.
She couldn't help but notice this odd scene - and eventually, found herself compelled to say, "Wait! Don't leave your money like this here!"
The sect janitor gave her a long look. "Ah, you see, when I dropped those coins, they became dirty and tarnished. They've lost all of their value now, so why would I bother picking them up?"
Guo Jia was bewildered hearing those words. "That's not true at all though! You can just clean the dust off, they're still just as valuable as before."
"So you say…" the sect janitor said, scratching his chin, as if Guo Jia had just uttered some words of profound wisdom rather than what was common knowledge to even a child. "In such a case, why have you been doubting your own worth then, simply because of one failure?"
Chapter 34 The Sect Janitor Enters: Part Two
Guo Jia's eyes widened. "How could…" But the words died in her mouth. With the way she was behaving, it would have been obvious to anyone watching her.
Guo Jia was quite gifted, soaring through the minor realms of Qi Condensation with little effort and at a rate that shocked many people. 'Genius', 'Talented, and 'Gifted' were words often thrown around when describing her. Naturally, many people had great expectations from her, and she had continuously met all of them without fail until very recently.
There was a downside to being gifted. When one had never tasted true failure in their lives, they would not know what to do when such a thing inevitably happened. The higher one soared in the sky, the more it would damage them when they fell to the ground.
Guo Jia had tried to ascend through a major realm to Qi Refinement, but had failed. It was the first major shock of her life, and the first time she had truly stumbled.
Naturally, all she had to do was try again after preparing for the ascension. It was not uncommon for people to fail this jump from Qi Condensation to Qi Refinement two or three times before finally succeeding.
Guo Jia knew that. However, she couldn't square that fact with the image of herself she had built up in her head. Something that had been encouraged by her parents, peers, and teachers.
'You're a genius - you should've succeeded on your first attempt! Other people might fail, but how can you call yourself talented if you're the same as them? Don't you see how you've disappointed everyone around you?' - a voice in her head echoed over and over.
It had been two years since she had failed, and in that time, although she had prepared enough resources to attempt it again, she hadn't.
That little voice in her head had gotten worse, giving birth to a heart demon. This eventually led to a vicious cycle where it would cause her to doubt herself more, worsening the heart demon, and it causing her to have more such negative thoughts.
She had developed a severe case of imposter syndrome, doubting whether she was even half as good as everyone told her she was. She even looked back on her past achievements and started wondering if they had all been due to luck.
With this, her own self-doubt sealed off any chance of success at ascending.
But, she realized what the sect janitor was trying to say.
"When this coin is not worth any less just because it fell out of my pocket, why should you think of yourself as any less due to a single failure?" he asked her, before chuckling and picking the others up.
Guo Jia stammered. "B-But what if I'm not good enou-"
"Do you trust my judgment" the sect janitor asked.
Guo Jia nodded. He was a Golden Core cultivator, so obviously if he said something and she said the opposite, it was he who was right!
"My judgment is that you are still one of the most talented Initiates in the sect," he said. "And I have no doubt that you will accomplish great things in the past."
"How can that be true when I can't even ascend to the Qi Refinement realm?" she protested. That was the easiest of the major realms to ascend to, going from Qi Refinement to Golden Core was even more difficult! When people told her she might even be the next Nascent Soul cultivator in the sect, she had believed them, but now, she looked back at such statements as being hollow and worthless. How could she soar among the clouds like so many people had told her she was destined for, when she had tripped on such a relatively minor obstacle?
"Sometimes, when we run ahead, trying to go as fast as possible, we stumble," the sect janitor said. "But that only means we need to take a moment to dust ourselves off, pause to see what we were doing wrong - maybe even slow down a little. But that doesn't mean we give up advancing entirely. Trust me when I tell you that I know that you can do it."
"But I-" Guo Jia wanted to protest, but then realized the trap she was in. She had admitted to herself that if the sect janitor said something which went against what she believed in, she would've been in the wrong. With that same logic, she was also wrong here!
The sect janitor could guess what was going on in her mind. "Calm down for a few days, meditate, and when you think you're ready, try to ascend again."
Guo Jia let out a defeated sigh, and then a gentle smile. "How can anyone win against you?"
"Win against me? Here I thought we were on the same team," the sect janitor said in mock shock. He laughed and handed her a gold coin. The Initiates, no matter how talented they were, would have trouble getting their hands on real currency. They were usually paid entirely in sect merit points. 'Money will spoil them,' was one of the lines of reasoning behind the decision, though the sect janitor knew it was a way of keeping the Initiates in line and dependent on the sect. He did not approve of this method, but was not at the level where he could change this fact. "Buy yourself something nice from outside."
"I think... I'll keep it as a token to remember the lesson you taught me today instead," Guo Jia said. She wanted to refuse the coin, though from what she knew of the sect janitor, that was an exercise in futility.
"So be it," the sect janitor said.
However, Guo Jia had not left. "Thank you… I don't know how I can repay you?"
"Repay me?" the sect janitor asked. "For what? All I did was drop a few coins while cleaning. If anything, I should be thanking you."
He did not do what he did for glory or fame. He did it because he never wanted to see another incident like what had happened to his friend so long ago repeat itself.
He did it because he wanted to see the sect grow to be a place where cultivators could thrive together. Of course, there would always be rivals and competition, but he wanted to see them limited to the point where they encouraged people to do better, not to knock each other down.
The sect system had its flaws, for certain, but he still believed in its inherent goodness. What would the world be without sects? People would be chained by the ties of clans, dissolving into a thousand different factions at odds with each other.
The only reward he needed was seeing the dark clouds over Guo Jia's head lighten up. Soon enough, he was sure, they would dissipate completely.
With that out of the way, he turned his attention to actually cleaning up the floor - he had been walking over the same areas he'd already mopped while trying to teach Guo Jia a lesson and now had to do them again.
With that out of the way, he turned his attention to this new Initiate he had heard so much about - Tang Ze!
Much like with Guo Jia, it was easy enough for him to blend in seamlessly while cleaning.
Unlike what the prefect who had complained about Tang Ze damaging the martial arts dojo thought, he had no desire to scold Tang Ze for what had happened.
After all, he was the sect janitor - and fixing up such a mess at his level was child's play. Not to mention in a sect that specialized in cultivation, accidents like that were expected to happen. Sure, it was important to let the Initiates know to be more careful in the future, but he was sure that Elder He Xuan had done so already.
If the newly hatched chicks could not even spread their wings or were afraid to do so - how could they learn to fly? As such, why would he want to demoralize the person who had done this even further, when it looked like they had learned from their behavior and had no intention of repeating it?
He did want to see what this new Initiate was like though, just so that he had an idea of what kind of person could do that kind of damage accidentally and that to in a single blow.
If what he was hearing was true, then that meant that this Initiate could very well become the top body cultivator in the entire Raswatian Empire.
Groups of Initiates passed by him, and about an hour later, it finally happened.
The sect janitor saw Tang Ze walk past with the rest of his squad members.
But the gentle smile that had played on his lips while mopping was replaced by shock and bewilderment.
"This is....!"
The sect janitor, despite his years of study and experience, had never seen a heart demon as vicious and huge as the one that clung to Tang Ze.
He generally saw heart demons as dark clouds that usually hovered over people's heads, typically only as small as tiny specks of dust, or, if they were particularly big, as clouds about the size of one's fist.
But the latter were rare, and those that were even bigger rarer still.
This boy though... it was as if the heart demon was the main body and the boy was the heart demon instead!
The miasma didn't simply hover over his head, it engulfed him to the point that it looked like Tang Ze was walking around with a dark fog all around him.
"This..." the sect janitor took a few steps back when he saw this. He could no longer keep up the façade of a tranquil expression - the mask slipped off to reveal his true emotions.
He had only wanted to see Tang Ze so that he could gauge the man's strength somewhat; he had not expected to find a heart demon of this magnitude!
Heart demons were not just dangerous to an individual cultivator, as he could very well attest to.
But, his desire to solve such problems was not just born out of a desire to deal with heart demons for other's sake.
His disposition did not want to see someone suffer like that, and if Tang Ze had a heart demon that was of that size, then he truly must have been suffering deep within. The sect janitor felt that he had to find a way to help the man.
From that point onward, despite oftentimes 'conveniently' doing things like washing windows or mopping the floor where Tang Ze popped up, he had not found the right time to strike a conversation with Tang Ze.
He also hadn't been able to find any information on him, despite asking around. What was his background? Where had he come from? If he knew the answers to those questions, he would be more easily able to figure out what had caused such a grave heart demon to develop in the first place.
Despite all of his inquiries, however, he turned up very little. No one knew which village Tang Ze was from, and the sect janitor had not heard of his parents before, and per records they had not been members of the sect. 'Tang' was also a rather common surname so he could not really rely on that for any clues.
Still, it was clearly imperative that this had to be dealt with as swiftly as possible given just how powerful this heart demon in question was.
What to do?