"Oho… oho…" Lian coughed as he stumbled onto the other side. The wind had been completely knocked out of him.
"What was th—"
His words died in his throat.
At the far end of the valley, a waterfall cascaded down a sheer cliff in a ribbon of crystal water. The air was impossibly clear. Heavenly Qi hung so densely that it felt almost liquid against his skin. Tame beasts wandered peacefully through lush greenery, grazing without fear.
"Where the hell are we…?" Lian asked as he slowly got to his feet.
"It's incredible, isn't it?" Bo said casually. "This is a small universe. I stumbled upon it by accident. Apparently, it once belonged to a great sect… but it's been abandoned for many years now."
Lian's eyes darted from one wonder to the next.
Then he noticed the sky.
Golden characters were plastered across the heavens themselves, faintly shimmering as if written onto reality.
Bo glanced at him.
"This is where you'll be training for the next three years. You must finish just before the Royal Phoenix Dragon Competition. That's when everything is going to start."
"Start…?!" Lian turned sharply toward him.
"Yes. Start." Bo's expression lost its usual playfulness. "I'm sure you've realised by now that South Gate isn't a very righteous place."
Lian's eyes narrowed.
"All of you were brought into the sect to become vessels for the Sect Founder."
"What— that's—"
"Don't look at me like that," Bo said, turning away. "You realised it too, didn't you?"
"Yes… but I thought it was just some kind of restriction…" Lian muttered.
"Shit… my heart—"
His Qi surged instinctively to protect it.
Nothing happened.
"Nothing is happening, is it?" Bo said quietly, glancing back at him.
"Well, I would think so, the metamorphosis you underwent washed away the blood restriction, even severing the soul tie of the Blood Condron. The Alrick truly did well; he purged every impurity from your body, and to his eyes, that blood seal was an impurity. Thanks to that, you can speak freely now," Bo said, tossing Lian his gourd.
"Yeah… he's right. I can't feel the seal anymore." Lian hesitated for a moment before catching the gourd.
"That's just incredible, I thought it was going to take forever to get rid of it."
He then glanced at Bo.
"Go on, drink it. It won't poison you like last time. Your body has adapted to it."
Lian lifted the gourd and chugged.
"Well… it probably has, right?" Bo muttered under his breath.
Lian paused mid-swallow.
"What do you mean, probably?"
"Hehehehe." Bo chuckled.
Crack.
A cool sensation flooded through his body. His Qi instantly began to condense and solidify at an alarming rate.
"Be grateful, brat. That's my treasured wine," Bo said as he snatched the gourd back from Lian's hand.
Tch… if I knew it was medicinal, I would've drunk the whole thing, Lian thought bitterly.
He looked up at Bo again, his expression turning serious.
"Why are you telling me all of this? You're an elder of the sect, too. Aren't you betraying them by telling me this?"
Bo stared at him for a moment.
Then he burst into loud laughter.
"Look at you, brat, acting all serious. What could you possibly do right now, even if I told you? You don't have the power to change anything."
Tch… I know that, Lian thought, his mood darkening. But hearing him say it still stings.
Bo's laughter slowly died down.
"But that doesn't mean you won't have that power soon."
The playfulness in his voice faded.
"Honestly… there's something I want from you as well."
Lian's eyes sharpened.
"What is it?"
"Huuu…" Bo exhaled slowly.
"I'll tell you that… only if you win the Phoenix Dragon Competition," Bo said, patting Lian on the head.
"Why even bring it up if you are not going to tell me?" Lian murmured under his breath.
"First, about you. Where did Old Man Fu tell you to go?"
Lian froze.
"What? How do you know he told me something?"
"It doesn't matter how I know. Just tell me where he told you to go. After that… I'll be able to confirm something."
Lian hesitated.
"He told me to go to the Azure Crane Family."
Bo stopped moving.
"The Azure Crane Family…?"
He began tapping the gourd lightly against his leg.
"Do you have any connections to that clan? But that can't be… you're from the Lower Realm. That shouldn't be possible."
Before Lian could answer, Bo crouched and began drawing a symbol on the ground with his finger.
Lian's eyes widened.
"Wait… I've seen that symbol before…"
Bo's head snapped toward him.
"You have?" he asked softly.
"Yes… where was it… where…"
Lian's face twisted as he searched his memory.
"Ah! The jade. The one that the old man gave me, when I was at the Xing manor."
He reached into his spirit pouch and pulled it out.
The grime that once covered it was gone. What remained was a pure blue jade, etched with a flowing crane symbol.
It was almost identical to the one Bo had drawn.
Almost.
But there were subtle differences in the markings.
"Ha… I guess they're a little different," Lian said.
He didn't get to finish.
"Hahahahaha!"
Bo burst into loud laughter. It echoed through the small universe, startling birds into flight as his voice resonated across the valley.
"Fate… what a funny thing. What a very funny thing indeed."
Lian just stared at him, confusion written all over his face.
Has he gone mad? What is wrong with him?
"Master Bo… are you alright?" Lian asked carefully, his eyes fixed on him.
"Yes… I'm quite alright. I'm just wondering…" Bo muttered between breaths of laughter, "If there was ever any point to all of this in the first place."
"What's all of this?"
Bo waved his hand dismissively.
"No, don't mind that for now. It's fine." His eyes sharpened as he looked at Lian. "But do you realise what you're holding in your hand right now?"
Lian lifted the crane jade.
Now that he looked closely, he could see a faint pulse of Qi flowing through it.
"That jade, only the direct successors of the Azure Crane can have it; you having it now makes me wonder if you belong to that ancient family."