As the world of pure whiteness faded away, Zhao Yunxiao once again found himself back in the small wooden room. But now, another lattice door had appeared on the wall to his right.
Zhao Yunxiao took a bow towards the calligraphy painting before leaving through the new door.
At this point, he understood that there would no longer be any direct traps.
He was not sure if there was some criteria or test that he had managed to clear in this first room, but this new door was definitely a path of progression to the depths of the cave.
And it was as he thought.
The lattice door directly opened to the next room – an room identical to the first. Well, almost identical.
Everything was the same except for the calligraphy painting, which now showed a different verse written with the same handwriting.
[A blessed man to have an uncanny master, meant to reach the pinnacle of life. An unorthodox path of sheer power, destined to quell the voices of strife.]
So, a continuation of the previous room?
Zhao Yunxiao let out a faint smile as he slowly sat down cross legged, unconcerned as his surroundings once again faded into pure whiteness.
***
"What are you doing here?" the snake demon narrowed his eyes at the boy standing before him. "Do your parents even know that you are here?"
"They do! I told them!" the boy replied proudly.
"And yet they let you come?" the snake demon asked doubtfully.
"Well, they made a big fuss. Saying all sorts of stuff, like asking me to distance myself from you and that you are an evil entity," the boy shrugged. "But who cares?"
"Aren't you afraid that I would kill you?"
"Why would you save me just to kill me after?" the boy tilted his head in confusion. "You aren't stupid, so why are you asking such a stupid question?"
"..." the snake demon felt slightly insulted. "Even then, that doesn't answer my question. What are you doing here instead of staying home with your parents? This is not the place for a random kid."
"I want to learn how to become as strong as you!" the boy answered without hesitation.
The two were currently standing in the same field of tall grass where the boy had separated from his mother not too long ago. However, the boy was almost a completely different person now; his horizons greatly expanded over these few days. He knew his limits, and had thus called out repeatedly for the snake demon here instead of recklessly entering the dangerous forest below.
As he had expected, this place might seem far from the snake demon's cave, but it was already near enough for it to hear him.
A wind picked up over the field, strong enough to create a wave across the surface of the tall grass, yet not nearly enough to be uncomfortable.
The young boy's hair and clothes fluttered along with the tall grass, yet his eyes remained clear and resolute. He did not blink a single time, staring straight at the snake demon with a sense of determination that did not match his age.
The snake demon knew at that moment that while the boy seemed rather frivolous and careless on the surface, what lay within was a soul that would not waver even in the face of adversity – the makings of an indomitable character.
Now that the boy had been exposed to the possibilities, even if it did not teach the boy, he would find his own way to learn.
"My time does not come cheap," the snake demon said.
"What do you mean? You do nothing but eat and sleep all day."
"Shut up. You know nothing about the profundities of my actions. But whatever, rather than having to bail your weak ass out every time, I guess it'd be easier to just teach you how to not get killed by every single thing you see!"
"It's a deal then!"
Just like that, a life of duality began for the young boy.
During the day, he would be following his merchant parents around, learning the trade and preparing to help out with the business in the future.
As night fell, he would bid goodbye to his reluctant parents and head over to the forest where the snake demon awaited. There, he learnt the core concepts of cultivation and embarked on the first steps towards attaining power.
A blessed man to have an uncanny master, meant to reach the pinnacle of life. An unorthodox path of sheer power, destined to quell the voices of strife.
Zhao Yunxiao recalled the words that had been written on the calligraphy painting.
The part on having an uncanny master was definitely true, but blessed?
That much was debatable.
After all, the boy was now leading a life where he slept less than an hour every day just to keep up with this taxing routine. Cultivators might be able to go long periods without any sleep, but he was still just an ordinary mortal. In fact, his body would have collapsed long ago if not for the frequent secret injections of energy by the snake demon.
Zhao Yunxiao still remembered how much he had struggled when Elder Ying Qingmu first brought him back to Purple Plum Mountain. Back then, he had worked just as hard, sacrificing sleep and rest while trying to learn as much as possible, as fast as possible – all so that he would not let down the elder's expectations of him.
Unfortunately, he did not enjoy the preferential treatment that the snake demon was giving to the young boy, so Zhao Yunxiao had actually ended up fainting from exhaustion on numerous occasions.
But more so than physical exhaustion, it was actually the mental strain that had needed more getting used to.
The boy might be keeping a smile on his face, but considering how the boy was currently of a similar age to when he first joined the Black Tortoise Sect, Zhao Yunxiao could definitely relate to the mental strain that he must be enduring right now.
Unfortunately, even if he was willing to, the boy did not have the opportunity to endure this for long.
One particular morning, before the sun had even risen, a net suddenly fell from the trees as he was walking his usual route back home from the forest, completely trapping him within. That was when a group of people in priest robes appeared, forcibly dragging him back to his house without offering a single word of explanation.
Well, what remained of his house, that was.
By the time he returned, the beautiful residence in his memories had already been turned into a blazing inferno, in front of which his parents were hanging on tall wooden stakes.
"Remember this, Jiang Taiming. Always tread the world with caution, but also treat others with the kindness and mercy that they deserve."
Those were the final words that he heard from his mother. As for his father, he had already gone motionless by the time the boy returned.
With the flickering red and orange light illuminating his parents' faces from behind, the boy could see the tears of regret streaming from his mother's eyes as she tried to leave with a proud and beautiful smile, all so that her kid's final impression of her would not be too depressing a sight.
Demon slayers here to eliminate the child of evil, the priests say.
What child of evil? Him?
Just because he had been learning from a demon?
And what had that got to do with his parents? What had they ever done wrong?
Did his parents die because their kid was associating with a demon? Or was it because they were unfortunate enough to have witnessed one of these priests die to a demon before?
It would seem that this world was one of frivolity, where the strong dictated how others lived according to their whim. With sufficient strength, one could do whatever they wanted without caring about any of the rules that the world imposed upon the weak.
"It is now your turn," one of the priests walked over to the boy, a sword in his hand. "Foul spawn of demon. Time to meet your end."
The boy did not react, his gaze remaining fixated on his parents who were hanging on the wooden stakes.
He did not have to, as he had already sensed the familiar aura in the vicinity.
Whoosh-!
Green vine-like tendrils erupted from the ground beneath each and every priest, completely wrapping around them and rendering them incapable of moving even an inch. In the span of a split second, every single one of them had been turned into what resembled human cocoons, with only a small opening at their eye level through which they could see a giant green snake slowly slither into view.
"Baby Humany..." the snake demon stopped behind the young boy.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," the young boy said while closing his eyes. "I guess this is what you have been teaching me all along – the strong preys on the weak. This is just how the world works."
"...Indeed."
"Old Snakey."
"What is it?"
"Can you help me kill them all?"
"Naturally."
Witnessing all of this, as well as the following carnage that was practically over the moment it started, Zhao Yunxiao once again felt the irony of the words on the calligraphy painting.
In what way was he blessed, exactly?
The boy never buried his parents.
Beasts in the wilds never did anything like that, so why would that be necessary for humans? What made humans so different from other lives?
It was nothing but a farce – an unnecessary formality created by those left behind, all so that they could feel better by pretending to be doing one final useful thing for those whom they had failed while they were still alive.
At the time of death, all that was left was to return to nature. Anything that his parents wanted to leave behind, they had already done so while they were alive.
This had nothing to do with their wealth – neither their large residence nor the gold that they had accumulated within. These were all things that could be taken away as quickly as they were gained, or perhaps losing them was actually a far easier task.
What could not be taken was the knowledge that they had passed down, as well as the memories that they had created. That was the best proof that they had once walked the surface of this world – a form of proof that was far more lasting than mere material things.
This was the only important thing that they had left behind.
He was what they had left behind – the materialisation of their legacy.
Now, all that was left was living his life to the fullest while armed with all the memories and knowledge that he had received from them in the past, not letting their efforts go to waste.
The boy spent the next ten years in the cave with the snake demon – doing nothing but eating, sleeping, and cultivating all day.
It was a mundane life in many people's eyes, but what soon followed was a scene so earth-shattering that it had been clearly recorded in the annals of history.
Jiang Taiming's dao debut – where a single barbarian child suddenly burst into the scene, taking the entire cultivation world by storm.
And this time, Zhao Yunxiao was not just able to see it with his own two eyes, but from the eyes of the main character himself!