Feng family - Western coalition
Feng Haoran, the patriarch of the Feng family, sighed as he looked outside the window. His ancestral home was tall and positioned close to the center of the city, letting him see the small buildings that surrounded them. He was staring at his son who was happily playing in their courtyard.
A man to his right suddenly spoke with a preoccupied tone.
"Sir, are you sure this is the right way?"
Feng Haoran responded slowly. Every word was spoken with certainty but in a low and weak tone. His once powerful and commanding voice now sounded like that of a weak old man.
"Yes. The envoy of the Starry Sky Palace was clear about it. We have to do it."
The man, however, insisted, moving in between Feng Haoran and the window, preventing him from enjoying the view.
"Maybe there is another way! Maybe the prophecy can be interpreted in another way!"
Feng Haoran shifted his gaze away from the window. The tired look in his eyes clearly indicated a lack of sleep. He looked at the refined-looking man who was constantly trying to change his mind.
This was Feng Lao, his closest subordinate; however, it was clear from his disorderly hair and crumpled scale jacket that he was also extremely preoccupied and stressed by their current situation.
Feng Lao protested again.
"Please, Sir, you can still change your mind. We can't throw Xiaoyi into the outside world like this, he is still a child! People will definitely take advantage of him!"
Feng Haoran spoke again; his voice sounded dry, and he took long pauses between phrases as if every word took its toll for him to speak.
"The trial of the silver serpent is coming. Should the youngest cub idle and miss the guiding star, the serpent will burn, killed by the gold they desire."
After a long pause, he spoke again, his tone a mix of sadness, anger, and resignation.
"Is there even another way to interpret it? Our symbol is a serpent, we are a silver family. My youngest son was born under the sign of the lion, making him a cub."
Rage became more evident in his voice as his face reddened.
"Do you think I like this situation! Do you think I like the idea of letting Xiaoyi travel the world as a mortal, unchecked, with no supervision or protection from our family enemies!"
Silence fell into the room; only the patriarch's heavy breathing could be heard.
Feng Lao lowered his eyes. The patriarch was also suffering from this. However, he couldn't bear the idea of endangering his favorite student just because a prophecy said so. He tried again.
"Sir, there must be another way! Someone is clearly impersonating the Starry Sky Palace! Maybe it's all a ploy from our enemies."
Feng Haoran let out a low, resigned laugh.
"Would someone even dare to do that?"
Silence filled the room again. Both of them knew that nobody would dare to impersonate or tarnish the reputation of the Starry Sky Palace. In their 700 years of history, all of those that dared to do it were killed in brutal ways. Not even a madman would dare to do it.
Feng Haoran turned around and continued to stare at the garden outside. His son Xia was playing around, chasing a butterfly.
He put his hand on the window's glass, as if he could touch his son from that distance. He let out an almost inaudible whisper.
"Our family's future rests on you..."
Forest -- South of the Rose Kingdom
Fazen's flying carpet landed on a small clearing. He slowly got off the carpet, letting his bare feet touch the wet ground. He spoke, his voice cold yet doubtful.
"Mortal, is this really the 'Green Rose forest'?"
The middle-aged man that accompanied Fazen hurriedly responded, beads of sweat already forming on his forehead.
"Yes, Lord Cultivator! This is the Green Rose forest. However, it's a very common name for a forest; here in the south there are at least 30 or 40 small forests with that same name."
"Yes, I know."
Fazen didn't even look at his guide when talking. This was the 25th forest named Green Rose that he had visited. He didn't need a useless mortal to remind him of that. His doubts weren't about the forest itself but about the Qi that surrounded it. Without measuring it, he could already feel that this area was almost depleted of Qi, something unusual for a lush forest like the one before him.
He waved his hand, coagulating the Qi present in a 100-meter area into a small golden sphere in his palm. The sphere had the size of a pearl and constantly flickered as if it could fade away at any moment. Fazen carefully measured it before dispersing it.
Tsk, the heavens have definitely forgotten this place.
"The Qi around here is extremely low. Is there anything interesting around here?"
The guide spoke in a hurried tone, fearing his master would kill him if he waited too long to answer.
"My Lord, if we exclude a few villages in the area, then there is nothing in this place."
Fazen stood still, his senses scanning the forest for anything strange. Two months ago, his master had a sudden premonition and sent him on a wild hunt in search of the "Future of the sect" in the "Green Rose forest."
At first, Fazen was delighted; his master had given him a precise location to search in. This meant that the main drawback of this kind of mission, which was the vagueness, completely disappeared, letting him easily rack up credit without wasting too much time with the search.
However, he hadn't realized that the entire south of the Rose Kingdom was littered with forests named Green Rose. Now he was stuck searching through each one for something or someone that could support their sect.
What kind of support?
Fazen didn't know. However, during his two months of searching, he had narrowed down the so-called "Future of the sect" to two possibilities. The first was talented individuals, mortals blessed with a high-level spiritual root that could easily become strong cultivators; probably someone with a special physique or a 9th-level spiritual root. In short, someone similar to the members of the golden generation of 20 years ago.
The other was ancient artifacts, magical objects that could help cultivators accomplish feats that were considered impossible. These artifacts didn't need to follow common sense and could bend the laws of physics to their will. Some examples that came to mind were the Dragon Bell owned by the Crow Dynasty that could create an unbreakable barrier without consuming energy, the Infinite Cup from the Sacred Empire that constantly produced blessed water, or the Black Chest that could copy one item every 50 years.
The thought of finding one of those items instantly refreshed Fazen's interest in the search. By simply finding one of them, his name would be written in the annals of history, and if he could manage to subdue it and claim its ownership, he would instantly become one of the most important cultivators on the continent.
He hopped on his flying carpet.
"Where is the village?" A hint of trepidation could be heard in his voice.
The guide pointed towards the south.
"In that direction, my Lord."
Fazen ordered his carpet to fly at full speed towards the village, without caring if the mortal with him could hang on the carpet or fall to his death.
As they got closer to the village, Fazen's heart started beating faster. He immediately stopped the carpet, causing the mortal with him to fall to the side, hanging on the carpet for his life.
Even if the guide screamed for help, Fazen ignored him and tried to calm his heart. However, even if he entered a meditative state or chanted some mantras to slow down his blood flow and heart, the beating continued in a fast but constant way.
Fazen's face briefly darkened before transforming into an excited expression. This was definitely caused by the thing that his master predicted. He pulled the mortal back to the carpet before checking the mortal's heartbeat.
Fazen didn't bother asking for permission and started experimenting with his guide's heart, artificially slowing it down, halting it, and then suddenly speeding it up. The mortal felt extreme pain and became visibly paler.
This mortal doesn't seem affected. I can even slow his heart down to a halt...
He rescinded his Qi, letting his guide's heart pulse again. Fazen continued his flight towards the village. To his pleasure, the village seemed to be the source of his restless heart.
When he arrived at the village, he found all of the villagers grouped around an unlit pyre. Inside the pyre, two wooden caskets were laid close together. It was a funeral pyre.
Fazen smiled. This made everything more convenient for him. He could tell everyone to scram in one go without having to walk everywhere in search of mortals who didn't hear him or didn't listen to his orders.
As the flying carpet came into the villagers' view, a low murmur spread through them while they made space for Fazen, who landed in the center of the crowd. Fazen could easily hear every word they said; it didn't matter how low they whispered. However, most of them were just murmurs of surprise and some remarks about the dead they were about to burn.
Apparently, they were celebrating the funeral for a couple surnamed Yun who left behind two cultivator sons and one mortal daughter. Fazen didn't pay heed to them and got closer to the pyre. To his delight, his heartbeat accelerated every time he took a step towards the pyre. His smile widened; he was sure that the thing he was looking for was inside the pyre, probably the property of one of the deceased. But when he was just a few steps away from the pyre, his heartbeat slowed. The change of speed was extremely negligible; however, Fazen, as a cultivator, had a higher control of his body than a regular human and could easily spot the difference.
He turned around; the thing he was looking for wasn't inside the caskets. He took a step backward, where his heart rate was at its highest. He looked around; the thing he was looking for was definitely close by. His eyes suddenly fell on a little girl. She was the mortal closest to him, and she didn't seem scared like the others. He projected some of his soul power to scare her away. But the girl didn't seem to react to his oppressive aura; while the crowd took a few steps backward, she stood still, respectfully staring at the ground.
No reaction? Maybe a special physique? However, the area of effect is too big. Am I looking for a talent and not an artifact?
Even if these questions clouded his mind, Fazen acted decisively and took out a talent stone. If the girl was a talent, then he could consider his mission closed. If she wasn't, then this village had an artifact somewhere, and the girl was just an odd child.
"Put your hand on the talent stone." Fazen's voice sounded cold. He wasn't doing this out of pity; he only did this to get confirmation.
When the girl touched the stone, a bright light illuminated the surroundings while Fazen's face darkened a little as his hypothesis came true; the girl had a 9th-level root. This meant that the "future of the sect" referred to a person, not an item.
Fazen couldn't help but be deluded by this. Even if finding a talent like this girl was good, it wasn't as good as finding a heaven-defying item like an ancient artifact. However, he was an experienced cultivator; he knew that reality wasn't always like people imagined. He shouldn't lose himself in fantasies or dreams.
He put on a friendly look before announcing to everyone present,
"You have an extremely good talent and are destined to become a cultivator. Are you willing to follow me and join my sect?"
The whispers in the crowd intensified; most of them talked about how the family was blessed by the gods to have three cultivators.
Fazen continued smiling, waiting for a response from the child.
Even if he had asked, he knew this was just a formality. Becoming a cultivator was the dream of every mortal; she wouldn't say no. Even if she was one of the rare people that didn't want to become a cultivator, it made no difference to him. Whoever had a high-level spiritual root was destined to become a cultivator whether they liked it or not. If she said no now, maybe she would find a spiritual plant that would force her to break through, or maybe another cultivator would force her to become one. This was her inescapable destiny.
In this case, Fazen only had to report her existence to the sect, and they would arrange for someone to watch over her and wait for the inevitable moment the heavens forced cultivation on her. Either way, Fazen could consider his mission completed.
The girl finally spoke, her voice low and trembling.
"If I say yes, can I see my brothers again?"
Fazen already knew that her brothers were cultivators; however, he couldn't say yes to her. Lying to a child wasn't a big deal; however, she was identified as the future of the sect. If she came to resent the sect for his lies, she would only bring disaster to them.
"I don't know your brothers. Have they joined a sect?"
An old man who was standing on the side of the crowd bowed before respectfully answering Fazen's question.
"Sir, her brothers have joined the Skyward Pavilion. I was there during their recruitment."
Fazen put on his most gentle smile before giving his hand to the small girl.
"Seeing them again is not a problem. My sect has good relations with the Skyward Pavilion. I'm sure they will rejoice knowing you joined the Swords of Heaven."
The girl took his hand. It was hot but not sweaty.
"Then I will join."
"What's your name, little girl?"
The girl looked at him in the eyes; her eyes were still filled with the innocence and naivety of an eleven-year-old, a stark contrast to Fazen's cold and indifferent gaze.
"Yun Mei."
Fazen used his Qi to gently move her onto the flying carpet, while the guide that was with him hurriedly moved to the side, surprised that the cultivator who had tortured him could be this gentle with a mortal.
"Yun Mei, from now on you are a disciple of the Swords of Heaven. I'm sure your brothers will be happy for you."
The carpet slowly flew into the air, gaining altitude. Then, when they were high above the crowd, Fazen made the carpet stop and turn towards the pyre so that the girl could see the final moments of her parents' funeral. This rare kindness, however, was also a subtle way to remind Yun Mei that her new home was not here anymore. She didn't have a place to return to. Nobody would wait for her to come back to this god-forsaken village.
When the carpet was far away from the village, Fazen's heartbeat slowed, returning to its normal speed. This only solidified his expectation; he had completed his mission and had found the "future" his sect was looking for.