6. Heaven’s Chosen Candidate

Long Tao closed his eyes, walking ever deeper into the Black Boar Forest.

“Hey, old Master, was that guy strong?” Tao asked, almost in a whisper.

“My, my. You really do have a habit of talking to yourself Tao.” The girl beside Tao, Aneroze, immediately poked fun at him, waving her fan around as they trudged through the forest. She dressed seemingly modestly at first, but with the upper half of her dress so tight that her figure was on full display through the gold embroidered patterns with a red capulet embossed with gold displaying the Roze clans emblem.

“According to my parents, all great men and women have flaws to balance out their greatness.” The girl to Tao’s other side, Foria, quipped back. She was dressed like an eccentric, with a terrifyingly short purple dress which seemed to fan outward rather than downward with expensive looking black stockings underneath.

Tao resisted a sigh. He wondered how he got involved with these two eccentrics. One he had met just by joining the same caravan to the sect recruitment. The other girl had separated from her clan and almost been defiled by some bandits on the road when he happened to notice them and go for the rescue.

Those two weren’t Tao’s only problems though. There was a third eccentric who claimed to be normal…

“Very strong. He’s even someone who’s created his own path already, one that follows the dao of Dominion. He may advance slowly at first, but in this lower realm, he has potential to ascend.” A faint blue ghost, invisible to the other two girls, responded to Tao’s earlier question.

“That sounds sinister, but I mean his current realm—” Tao choked as his gut met with the butt of Aneroze’s golden fan.

The group stopped in its tracks in front of a burnt corpse covered in gold thorned roses.

“Is this a demonic method?” Foria asked curiously, leaning down and poking the corpse.

“My, my. Say that to my elder sister. She was up there on the stage, remember.”

“So? My elder brother was the chief proctor?” Foria responded.

“My my– eh?” Aneroze put her fan in front of her mouth, but then paused, seeming to just register what Foria said.

“…” Tao didn’t comment, he wasn’t surprised. Ever since his family was slaughtered by an unknown cultivator and he had been on the run, nothing seemed to go according to his plans. He had already picked up three spatial bags in the short journey from his hometown to the Clear Mirror sect recruitment. He realised they weren’t as rare as he thought. The old man he called Master agreed.

“Well why didn’t you say so earlier!” Aneroze snapped her fan shut.

“You kept praising your sister, so I didn’t want to interrupt you.” Foria responded, standing back up from the corpse.

Tao wasn’t surprised. Foria, for all her talk, had a habit of forgetting to mention the important things or things she considered obvious to herself. He looked into the distance as the two began arguing again. At his rate they weren’t going to find even a single boar before sunset.

“Hmmm? I don’t know.” The old man ghost said after rubbing his ghostly head with his fingers for a minute.

“…” So much for being an Immortal. Tao thought idly, his gaze unimpressed.

Seeing Foria and Aneroze arguing about something, Tao took the opportunity to interrogate the old man ghost.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Tao asked.

“My physical body was destroyed and my soul sealed almost a million years ago. Contrary to what you might think or what those grand stories say. Cultivation doesn’t remain stagnant. The realms and methods have definitely evolved since my time. If I had to say a realm, that ‘guy’, the chief proctor, was somewhere between the Foundation establishment realm and the Core Formation realm.” The old ghost shrugged.

“What are the realms you know?” Tao asked.

“Qi-Blood, Body Tempering, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Deity Transformation, Void Returning, False Immortal, Sun and Moon Immortal, Transcendent Immortal, True Immortal, Golden Immortal and Immortal Emperor.” The old ghost rattled off.

“…That… Doesn’t sound right…” Tao titled his head.

“My, my, what doesn’t sound right?” Aneroze asked, apparently having concluded her argument with Foria.

Seeing the two done inspecting the corpse and arguing, Tao led the group deeper while answering.

“I forgot the order of the realms. I don’t think the chief proctor was in the Core Formation realm.” Tao said, trying to act like he totally knew what all the realms were before.

“My, my, calling it Core Formation. That term was abandoned seven dynasties ago. The chief proctor and my sister are at the Open Palace realm.” Aneroze answered.

“I don’t know that realm.” The old ghost commented with furrowed brows, visible and audible only to Tao, who ignored the useless remark.

“Kreeee!”

A high pitched snort interrupted the group and Tao heard footsteps from the side. He shot from his feet, arm raised.

Sun and Moon Palm! Tao thought, throwing his palm forward and meeting a massive black boar in the snout as it appeared from the bushes.

BOOM!

The boar’s head turned to mush and Tao lightly bounced out of the way of the collapsing body.

“My my! Such a well tempered body!” Aneroze explained, while Foria calmly walked up to the dead boar, poking it with a stick.

“But we need to bring back a boar’s head.” Foria said.

“…”

“…”

Tao and Aneroze went deadly quiet as they remembered the chief proctor’s words.

“Kmpf.” The old ghost stifled a laugh.

Tao took a deep breath, composing himself. The creatures here were too weak for him, this was the second boar they had come across, only for him to kill them instantly. He had even held back this time, leaving most of the body intact.

“…Well… We just need to find some more. If you’re brave enough, we can venture into the deeper forest, where true spirit beasts lie.” Aneroze commented. “You can stay behind if you’re scared.” She didn’t forget to jab at Foria.

“Hmpf! We may not be from a powerful clan, but I’m confident in my strength.” Foria humphed, taking the lead as if to prove her point.

“Hmmm, Tao dear, what realm are you in? I can’t sense your Spirit Qi.” Aneroze asked, waving around her fan and causing flies to drop dead around her before turning to ashes.

“Middle of Body Tempering.” Long Tao answered nonchalantly. The old ghost had praised his cultivation speed, going from a mortal, to the Qi-Blood and then Body Tempering realm in only a few months.

“…Um… You mean you’re in the 2nd realm of Body Tempering?” Aneroze hesitated, her smile faltering.

“No. I mean I’m in the Body Tempering realm.” Long tao said proudly. “Qi-Blood, Body Tempering, Qi Refining.”

““…”” The forest went quiet. Even Foria, who wasn’t from a large clan and only had an elder brother in the sect, looked at Tao strangely.

“…What kind of backwater family are you fr—” Aneroze began, only for Foria to cover her mouth quickly.

“You shouldn’t be rude!” Foria scolded.

“…” Tao felt his smile twitch, then walked ahead of the two to hide his purple face of shame.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” The old ghost cackled and laughed madly.

“Why are you laughing? This is your outdated knowledge, you old fossil.” Tao closed his eyes, controlling his breathing. These 3 people were gonna be the death of him. One of them wasn’t even technically alive. This unreliable old ghost—

“My, my, don’t be so embarrassed my dear!” Aneroze quickly caught up to Tao. “Call me senior sister and your senior sister shall teach you everything she knows!” She claimed.

“No need. I’m still stronger than both of you, so I’ll stay the senior brother for now.” Tao smiled through gritted teeth. Heavens have mercy upon his soul.

“Well, well, you haven’t even heard of the Qi Sensing pill. How can you be the senior brother! But allow this generous sister to educate you!” Aneroze continued anyway, pulling out a small jade bottle from her spatial pouch.

“This is a Qi Sensing Pill. The central piece of a twenty billion gold industry in the empire alone.” Aneroze began explaining. Tao took the bottle, pouring a pill into his palm so the old ghost could inspect it.

“During the rise of the previous dynasty, these pills allowed one to skip the traditional Qi-Blood and Body Tempering realms, entering Qi refining directly. So the previous dynasty leveraged the continent’s largest army of Qi based artillery. It was devastating to the armies of Qi-Blood and Body Tempering soldiers.” Aneroze lectured.

“The current military doctrine is for heavy armoured Meridian Opening units to stall the enemy with Qi Refining artillery units behind. There’s even special formations to take on Golden Core cultivators with only Meridian Opening and Qi Refining soldiers.”

Tao nodded along to Aneroze’s lesson. He had been from a small family with only a single Qi refining cultivator who had followed what was apparently the ‘traditional’ method of cultivation. Even Foria listened intently.

“What about the Core Formation realm? What’s the difference from the Golden Core realm?” Tao asked.

“Hmmm…” Aneroze thought for a moment, tapping her fan. ”In the past, foundations were weaker and there were Bronze cores, Iron Cores, Gold cores and low, middle and high grades of each. In total, there were 9 normal grades of cores. Only the greatest foundations of the time could form anything above a high grade Golden Core, or an Iridescent Golden Core or above. The modern foundation laying methods use the Meridian Opening and Open Palace realms to replace the old Foundation Establishment realm. The resulting foundation laid between the two is enough for anyone who steps into the Core Formation realm to form a Golden Core. I’ve never met anyone with something worse than a low grade Golden Core. Thus, since Pseudo, Bronze and Iron cores became irrelevant, the realm was referred to as the Golden Core realm instead.”

Foria nodded along silently, her face scrunched up in thought.

“I see.” Tao responded. “Thank you for the explanation.” He offered thanks. Even the old ghost went silent, mulling about in the air.

The group went silent for a while, trudging deeper in, passing several boar corpses and hearing the occasional shouts of people fighting over a boar head.

The overcast sky began to darken, the clouds changing from light grey to hues of orange and violet.

Zing!

A silver light shot past the group and Long Tao jumped into a defensive posture, long after the light had passed.

“What a sophisticated flying sword technique… Closer to a method than technique actually…” The old ghost commented.

“My, my, if that light wanted to kill us, we wouldn’t have ever seen it. So jumpy.” Aneroze walked past Tao.

Tao relaxed his stance, following the two girls a moment later.

“It’s strange isn’t it? I trust your siblings aren’t killing people for no reason, but we’ve seen quite a few bodies that have been pierced by a sword or burnt so far.” Tao asked, looking around.

“It is strange.” Foria agreed, nodding her head.

“My, my, if we needed to know, I’m sure we’d have found out by now. Perhaps there’s demonic cultivators mixed into the crowd. I wouldn’t be surprised.” Aneroze assured the two.

“…” Tao thought for a moment, then caught something through his hearing. “Wait.” He said. Foria and Aneroze paused in place.

A few moments later, the sound of ruffling leaves and squelching footsteps became more pronounced as a man with black hair stumbled out of the undergrowth.

“Do- Do you have some healing pills?” The man choked out, clutching a bloody arm and limping, leaning against a nearby tree.

The forest was silent for a moment.

“…” Aneroze was the first to move, relaxing her stance and moving closer, pulling out a pill from her spatial pouch.

Tao leapt forwards.

Zing!

The man charged Aneroze with a dagger.

Woosh!

Tao reached Aneroze first.

Thwak!

The sound of arms colliding. Tao tried to parry the man’s dagger by the wrist, yet all his body weight and tempering could barely move the man. His foot raised and he kicked, yet he was the one thrown back, hitting Aneroze and sending the two smashing against a tree.

“Tch.” The man clicked his tongue. “A sharp brat. How could you tell?”

Tao ignored his trembling arms, regaining his footing with Aneroze still recoiling behind him. Foria had drawn her sword, pointing it at the man, but he didn’t seem bothered by it at all.

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“The blood on your arm… Smells different to you.” Tao responded, countless thoughts on what to do going through his mind.

“He’s in the very early Foundation Building realm. Or… The Meridian opening realm if that’s what it’s called.” The old ghost said, observing.

“He has no body tempering and his foundation has as much depth as a puddle. If the three of you work together, you may be able to defeat him.” The old ghost continued.

“You two, I’ll try to make an opportunity!” Tao shouted, charging at the man.

“Stupid kid.” The man clicked his tongue again, raising his dagger.

From the sky downward, the dagger descended upon Tao and he raised his arms to block at the man’s wrist.

“PFFT!”

CRACK!

Despite blocking with perfect form, catching the man’s wrist between his arms, Tao felt his teeth crunch, spitting blood and broken bits of teeth as he felt his bones crack. Even so, the ground gave way beneath his feet and the dagger embedded itself into his left shoulder.

“HAH!” Foria stabbed forward with her sword, a well trained but completely mundane movement that used the whole body. The sword’s edge glowed, an array engraved across the blade activating.

“Tch!” The man jumped back, abandoning the dagger stuck in Tao’s shoulder.

A bit of blood fell down the man’s cheek while some stained the tip of Foria’s sword.

“Now I’m—” The man didn’t get to finish as he threw himself to the side. A massive fireball landed where he had been.

Tao felt the heat stab his skin as bright orange light filled his vision, covering part of the forest, before quickly dying out as embers, leaving a small crater and a few charred branches.

“My~. He dodges well.” Aneroze spat scornfully, wiping some saliva from her face after having been smashing against a tree so suddenly. Her fan glowed with a fierce orange light.

“Am I the only one without an artifact?” Tao muttered as he raised his arms again, ignoring how cold his left shoulder felt with the blade sticking out of it.

“Do you have time to worry about that? If they didn’t, you three would never be able to defeat this guy. No matter how weak he is among peers of the same realm.” The old ghost reminded him.

The black haired man charged the three. Tao grit his teeth, charging right back at him.

BOOOM!

The two collided and Tao was sent crashing through a tree. His left arm was definitely broken now.

The black haired man jumped back as Foria’s sword just missed him after she followed right behind Tao’s charge.

“ARGHH!” The man screamed as another fireball landed right where he had dodged too. His clothes caught fire and he thrashed around.

Foria tried taking the opportunity to strike, but jumped back at the last moment.

“HAH!” The man suddenly attacked a moment after Foria jumped back, swinging his hands like claws, the fire around him went out in an instant as red mist spread from his body.

“Tch.” The man grimaced seeing Foria hadn’t fallen for the trap.

Crash!

The tree Tao had been smashed through finally hit the ground. He struggled back to his feet, his left arm hanging uselessly.

The four came to a standstill.

The man looked between the three.

“Just my luck to run into a tough bunch. Final warning, die quietly or I’ll make you suffer—”

The man was cut off.

Tao widened his eyes, relaxing his guard unconsciously.

The man’s eyes tried to focus between themselves, at the object sticking out in front of him.

A flying sword had embedded itself into the man’s head.

Plop!

The man’s body fell to the ground.

The flying sword began vibrating, slowly wretching itself free from the corpse. Once it did, it shot off into the forest again.

“““…”””

The three remained silent, watching the body.

“Huuu…” Foria exhaled deeply.

“My. That was disappointing.” Aneroze took a few steps back, relaxing her shoulders and closing her fan.