Chapter 1: Prologue

Prologue

Within this world there are 6 major sects

Of the orthodox sects there is the pure Qilin sect, well known for their patriarch’s swordsmanship, and right to participate and hold sway in any trial known by some as the ‘law keepers’ the green phoenix sect known as a medical sect and the dark sabre sect who acts as a hub for travellers with disciples protecting and offering advice to those in need.

Of the dark path there is the red serpent sect know for vicious technique and poisons and the sect know as omen.

The only unorthodox sect to make this list, although that is not to say an alliance of smaller sects cannot take up the same power as the others on this list, officially only the vagabond sect or alliance is the strongest: they gather intelligence and take almost any job the orthodox sects won’t.

Every 10 years sects go to small villages to select children below the age of 15 and above the age of 5 as disciples. If these children have spiritual roots which whilst uncommon is worth the effort for the sects. Lu Yu and his friend Zhang Yuan are hoping to be chosen at the end of this week in the selection.

Which might explain the strange face Lu Yu is making right now...

‘hrnghhh’

In an attempt to pick up the rock his weak arms trembled.

‘Are you sure this is how we should train?’

Zhang Yuan looked at his rock quizzically

‘surely working in the field with the others is better than this...’ he looked almost wistfully at his hard working peers who worked side by side with their parents ploughing and sowing.

‘now listen...’ Lu Yu gasped ‘if we do the same as everyone else we won’t be special!’ he taps his forehead ‘that’s why this is special ..fuuu...training!’

Zhang Yuan looks at his collapsed friend and then the rock

‘I’m going back to the field, I thought special training would be more exciting’ he sighed

Lu Yu suddenly sat up

‘no no wait!’ he staggers over and blocks Zhang Yuan’s path ‘this is only the first part! The next routine will be super exciting and will definitely make us stronger!!’

Zhang Yuan raises and eyebrow,

“and what might this routine be...?”

Lu Yu stares over his shoulder for a brief moment into the mountain forest behind

“not here! I’ll tell you when you reach the training location!”

Lu Yu grabbed Zhang Yuan’s chubby wrist and dragged him towards the mountain path.

“Hey!heyeheyehey! stop pulling me I’m coming! But if we’re late for dinner I’m eating yours too!”

Eventually he lets go, Zhang Yuan falling slightly behind Lu Yu

They keep walking with Lu Yu’s skinny form leading the way his straw sandals occasionally slipping on the rough path

Suddenly Lu Yu feels a chill down his spine

“Zhang Yuan...” he whispers “ we’re being watched”

Zhang Yuan stiffened and looked around warily, although nothing strong came into the village there were frequent hunts done by the villagers for food and to keep the beast population down but even those were too much for the young and weak Zhang Yuan and Lu Yu.

“Should we run?” Zhang Yuan hissed

*CRASH* “ROAR”

A giant wolf like creature leapt from the bushes and pounced towards Zhang Yuan, Lu Yu dodged towards him and an attempt to shield him.

With Lu Yu bumping into him Zhang Yuan let out a yelp and grabbed Lu Yu as he went tumbling into the undergrowth.

*crumble*

The layer of plants and shale gave way under the sudden weight and the two boys clinging to each other rolled further down the mountain picking up speed.

The wolf like creature seemed confused as it watched obviously weak and slow prey bounce away from it down the slopes, it sat ponderous before returning to ambush another less round opponent.

…

“hey! Hey!”

Zhang Yuan almost retorted “hey is for horses” a favourite phrase of his aunt before being stopped by a headache and then a sense of achiness all over his body.

Lu Yu was shaking him,

Seeing him open his eyes a little Lu Yu sighed in relief

“I thought you were dead!” he pauses “I thought we were dead!!”

Zhang Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose and winced after sitting up,

“Where are we?”

“a rocky ledge... don’t look down but getting off here might be hard”

“Ufff” Zhang Yuan tipped his head back and sighed

“you’ve got to see this though!”

The skinny Lu Yu pulled his friend towards the upper part of the ledge that widened and then ended with a sheer drop.

Staggering to his feet Zhang Yuan almost shot Lu Yu an ‘are you crazy?’ glance when Lu Yu pulled him into a cave which he wondered why he hadn’t notice before. What surprised him most was the wooden doors that were set into the stone wall about 5 meters away from them.

‘those look expensive’ he mused

“Hey! Do you think there might be treasure behind those doors!!?” Lu Yu yelled dashing forward to inspect them

“H-hey!! Be careful!” Zhang Yuan cautioned staggering forward a little

*Creeeeeeak*

The door opened as Lu Yu looked at Zhang Yuan with a guilty expression

Zhang Yuan sighed the thought of traps occurred to him but thankfully the door seemed to be fine.

“we should rest here and then head back to the village!” he said waking forward motioning Lu Yu to come to a sheltered section of the cave whilst keeping an eye on the door.

“No way am I going to let anyone else get here first, you can rest and head back but I’m getting us some treasure!” Lu Yu boldly pushed the door and took a step inside taking a glance at Zhang Yuan.

“if you don’t come with me I might take it all...”

Zhang Yuan decided that if Lu Yu went in there alone we was definitely going to touch something he shouldn’t he stood up and walked over

“Fine but, if we encounter danger run.... and drop any treasure you find”

He warily steps round the door and makes his way into the cave it appears to be well lit with some sort of glowing plants and crystals dotted here and there. Lu Yu seemed oddly quiet

“if only...” he muttered

“what’s that?”

“If only I had a pickaxe!” Lu Yu cried, “I wouldn’t have to go to bed at sunset and I could stay up all night!”

“ and these would be super popular in the village! I could sell them!... if mother would let me keep them...”

A silence reigned as Zhang Yuan seemed to be thinking about something, ‘...those ores and plants seem purposely placed and even this tunnel has a certain design to it !!!!!!, Phew I almost slipped there. Zhang Yuan looked at his cloth and leather shoes they were fairly new but had already worn a great deal due to the fall. He sighed again his parents had given them to him last harvest when there was a surpLus he hoped they would last a long time.

‘but in comparison to mine... Lu Yu, his sandals were practically falling apart’ the straw broken in several places showing slightly bruised feet in places.

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“What’s that up ahead?” Lu Yu asked

Zhang Yuan focused again and saw a similar door this time a warmer hue and slightly ajar

The two boys entered cautiously, Lu Yu’s carefree attitude oddly gone.

“Ho?, visitors? It’s been such a long time!”

*AAAAH*

Both the boys screamed as a small girl stepped out from behind a rocky pillar.

“am I that scary?” she blinked

“no! We were expecting something scary!”

Lu Yu blurts

“I see... would you have preferred an ancient beast?” she said looking up with a strange light in her eyes, she began to approach them. “ shame you’ve just got me”

The boys shared a glance

“well its not like me to keep guest standing” she moved to an area of slightly raised rock shelf that had a chabudai and 3 zabutons on it along with a pot of what looked like tea. Although they couldn’t tell from the smell, the boys followed suit and sat at the chabudai on the two zabutons facing the girl whose long white hair touched the smooth rocky floor when she sat.

“so what are your names?”

“My name is Lu Yu”

“I see that’s a very nice name!, would you like some tea?”

“No? I’m sorry but I don’t really drink tea” Lu Yu rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly

“I’m Zhang Yuan, miss”

“Oh how formal! Its a pleasure to meet you young man my name is sylvia, it’s a pleasure.” She smiled at them “though it’s a shame with a name like Lu Yu it feels you should definitely like tea...”

“Ah, but that aside I was wondering... if I give you two something good could you do me a favour?”

Zhang Yuan grabs Lu Yu’s arm before he speaks “what kind of favour?”

“I would like you to tell me a bit about you lives”

“What?” Zhang Yuan couldn’t believe it, this girl who was obviously not all she appeared asked for such a mundane thing.

“what the something good?!” Lu Yu couldn’t contain himself “is it Valuable? Like a precious ore?! Or.....spirit stones?!” just the very mention of these stones, legendary currency used by cultivators left both boys feeling awe and a little respect.

“What? No why would I give something like that to you guys?” the boys who immediately got there hopes dashed looked disappointed “I’ll give you something better” she smiled, amusement flashing in her eyes

“I imagine a sect comes to your village every few years?” she asks, eyes glittering

“Yes?” Zhang Yuan replied

“they’re coming this week!” Lu Yu practically bounced on his zabuton flattening it.

“Well from what I can see neither of you will be chosen” she said bluntly

“you don’t know that! I’ve been training super hard!!” Lu Yu huffed

“I do know that, in fact unless you have a special bloodline you have no hope in cultivating at all this life.” Sylvia paused looking for their reaction, both boys had stony faces “but~ there is something only. I. Can. Do~” she said in a sing song voice she pulled the table cloth on the chabudai which glowed white. Sylvia began to write on it “now you see there are 5 elements central to all cultivators” she paused to check they were listening “the elements go as follows fire, water, wood, metal and earth”, she looks up again after drawing the elements into a pentagon shape “now each element has its own strengths and weaknesses, what you are going to be tested for next week is a spiritual root which gives you the power to channel one or more of these energies into your body to achieve cultivation”

Zhang Yuan nodded studiously whilst Lu Yu seemed to have fire in his eyes.

“ you both do not have a spiritual root, and most people don’t” Sylvia continues and looks up “ I will give you a spiritual root in exchange for your knowledge”

“just one? Do we get to choose what kind?” Lu Yu asks

Slightly surprised Sylvia says “I can give you two if you like but I don’t recommend more than that”

“is it harmful to our bodies some how?” Zhang Yuan looks at Sylvia steadily “is that why we can’t have too many?”

“What? Nooo” Sylvia laughs “ I should have explained this better... OK so think about this, every spiritual root is like a cup of water when full you progress to the next level and the cup gets bigger.” She glances at the boys again after drawing a cup on the chabudai’s table cloth “but if you add a second root it doesn’t stack on the first cup and fill with both kinds of energy.” She draws an x through a picture of stacking cups and instead draws two new cups side by side, Lu Yu knits his brows and stares intently at the drawing “but instead you have to fill both cups with only their energy type which will take twice as long!”

“so, what’s the benefit to taking in people with multiple roots?” Zhang Yuan asked

“Very astute of you Zhang Yuan” Sylvia puffed herself up and pretended to be scholarly “you see, single roots are preferred but extremely rare even double roots are highly prized among recruiters anyone with a spiritual root is taken in because spiritual roots be it one or ten in a person are extremely rare” she looked up “to put it simply those recruiters are looking for anything between cannon fodder and the next sect head when they come to a village”

Both the boys winced at the mention of cannon fodder.

Sylvia continued however “now whilst I will let you choose the roots of your choice there are elements that suit you both better than others” she gave them a mock scrutinising glance “ but if you choose something completely unsuited for you I will only warn you and not stop you”

Zhang Yuan sat up a bit straighter when he heard this. Sylvia stood up with a smile on her face “ let’s get started shall we?!” she suddenly halts and sits back down again a sheepish grin in her face “uh, actually I should probably go a bit slower and explain what you two will be giving me in return.”

Lu Yu looked very serious whilst Zhang Yuan looked troubled after all what could such a powerful feeling person want or need from them?

“now I mentioned before I want your knowledge which you can either give to me in the form of memories or you can teach me what you know whilst staying here until your finished” she said with a smile

“what do you mean by giving memories?” Zhang Yuan asked

“well it won’t hurt if your worried about that, it will look like I’ve tapped you on the forehead but I will make copies of all your memories so I can keep them and learn more about the world.” She said spreading her hands with a soft smile

Lu Yu looked suspicious “but you seem so powerful? Why would you want our memories we don’t even know anything important and you could easily leave this place and learn yourself”

Sylvia frowned and folded her arms “well, you see I can’t speak your language”

“What?” Both Zhang Yuan and Lu Yu looked confused “but haven’t you been speaking to us this entire time?!” Zhang Yuan protested.

Sylvia looked slightly apologetic “well, this cave has several formations built into it and one is that every living being can communicate and be understood within this place.” She smiled “quite useful, no?”

Zhang Yuan looked around at the rather bare cave with awe.

Sylvia waited patiently for both of them to make a decision...

Lu Yu spoke first “I’ll give you my memories.”

Zhang Yuan looked at his friend sighing slightly at his now stony attitude “me too, I want a shot at getting into a sect besides staying here to teach might cause me to miss dinner”

It was only after he agreed did he remember all the embarrassing memories and things only he knew about.

Sylvia looked ecstatic “hooray! Let’s begin!” she reached across the chabudai, but then halts as she sees Zhang Yuan’s panicked expression “ I won’t be able to see the memories you want to be kept secret so don’t worry about being embarrassed.”

Zhang Yuan tried not to look too relieved as the girl reached across the chabudai and tapped him once on the forehead, Zhang Yuan waited for something else but saw Sylvia had already moved on to Lu Yu although something seemed to be wrong.

Sylvia was frowning as her fingertip began to gain an increasingly bright glow, Lu Yu also seemed to be in pain.

“Hey!! What going on?!” Zhang Yuan looked shocked but didn’t know how to react because he might cause more harm than good if he messed up someone accessing the memories of another.

He didn’t need to worry too much however as the glow soon dispersed and Lu Yu opened his eyes with sweat forming on his brow

Sylvia didn’t look fatigued but rather had an emotion Zhang Yuan couldn’t describe on her face.

“I.. might have to break our agreement”

Author's note ----

I hope you enjoyed he prologue at least half as much as I enjoyed writing it! For those wondering a chabudai is a kind of low table used in japan and a zabuton is a square pillow you kneel on to sit at said table... at least that's what google told me, anyone reading can let me know if you think changing it to 'low table' is better. I am not changing zabuton though I like the word too much. As for Sylvia's comment about Lu Yu liking tea, I found whilst googling the names to make sure they were not offensive that Lu Yu is the name of a tang dynasty writer who is particularly known for his obsession with tea. I decided to keep the name regardless. Although I've read this through quite a bit I'm sure I've made at least one mistake grammar or otherwise so please correct me if you can!

thank you and until the the next chapter!

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