A long time ago, in a realm far away.

In a world as vast as the heavens, where the lakes are small oceans, and islands were continents.

The world is hostile and unfriendly. In this world, humans came into being, against all odds, perhaps even against heaven itself. In the deep pocket of regions unknown, almost barren to ordinary plants and beasts, they began to evolve.

Humans lacked powers. They lacked the natural talent and physiology that the beast race evolved. They were born weak and vulnerable, and yet, against all expectations, they survived.

They learn.

And they learn quickly, quicker than any beast in existence. Bestowed with a thirst for knowledge, humans began to seek power for themselves.

Thus, they began to cultivate.

Through cultivating, they could break their physical and mental limit and ascend. Against the will of heaven, humans began to possess similar powers as the beast.

Cultivators.

The first age cultivators, they grew strong enough to put the first stone in the foundation of civilization. Through brute force, they began to expand outside their safe space.

The second age cultivators, they taught their family members, from father to son, from mother to daughter, and sons and daughter taught grandsons and granddaughters, and the cycle continued endlessly. In the second age, the concept of clans came into being.

Clans banded together to conquer even larger territory, thus formed what later known as tribes. As tribes competed with each other, the first human war erupted.

In the aftermath of the war, the first peace treaty formed. Tribes worked together to build a semblance of a harmonious civilization, spanning over a large region, covering millions of human beings.

Thus, came the first nation-state. The third age of humankind thus arrived.

Details were sketchy between what happened back then and now. However, one thing for sure our ancestors did not come from this continent.

Our ancestors came from the human Empire in the west. It said that ten thousand boys and ten thousand girls were sent on a mission by an Emperor named 'Qin Shi Huang' in search of the mythical island, where once can obtain the fruits of immortality.

Their mission was a failure. The mythical island was just another continent, no different than the old one.

Beasts roamed not only the land but also the sea. Stranded here, they began to rebuild a semblance of civilization in the continent.

Thus, came into existence, the people of Yamato, in the land of the rising sun.

Roughly eight hundred years have passed since then.

And we're still scattered apart, not yet united.

CHAPTER 01-  YIN FIRE, YANG FIRE

Always without desire, we must be found,
If its deep mystery we would sound;
But if desire always within us be,
Its outer fringe is all that we shall see.
- Dao De Jing, Chapter 1

...

In times of chaos and corruption, in the badlands where there's no centralized and organized ruling body loved and respected by the mass, humankind would return to their natural, unenlightened self.

Fighting with each other for resources, in the most savage way possible. Disregard the rule of law and norms of politeness.

The strength of one's fist and the sharpness of one's blade decide everything. Only those who have power have the privilege to speak out against injustice.

Such is the written rule of the Pugilistic world*. The weak must fear the strong!

And today wasn't the exception.

The young Daoist raised his head, awakened from his shallow meditation as the wagon he rode came to a stop.

From his educated guesses, this wagon only halfway to the journey and smack dab in the middle of the border between Yachiyo and Inage.

Spirit beast draft horse could pull six times their weight through a mildly mountainous area. Though they were twice as expensive as average spirit beast riding horses, they can do a lot more work and require less care. As such, they are more cost-efficient for labor work.

Farming commodities were precious, but in terms of money to weight ratio, they were poor. Compared to, say, herbs or rare minerals, caravans carrying hundred tons of rice and vegetables were far too cheap and too big to be bothered about.

To rob and strip a farmer caravans out of precious wealth, one needed a large number of people. And the more people involved, the less the profit gained.

And that's why, when this caravan stopped by a group of armed people, the Daoist was legitimately surprised.

The Daoist stood fearlessly and then jumped down the wagon without letting any sound. His dark blue hair grew wild but not unkempt. A pair of tired, dispassionate eyes scanned the surrounding, noticed the fact that more and more armed people came out of the woodwork.

He understood their motive, at least.

The caravans were not unguarded in the first place. A few warriors cracked their fist and flexed their muscles as they walked forward ahead of the young Daoist.

These warriors, they're not high class by any means. Most of them haven't reached the cultivation stage of Foundation Establishment**. The young Daoist looked like he's barely finished puberty, perhaps 18 or 19 years old, yet his cultivation was much higher than them.

The people who decided to get in the way of caravans, they're not different either.

"Yo, old man." A burly bearded man wearing a loose coat that exposed his bulging ripped and hairy chest said to the aging caravan leader. "This big brother didn't come here to seek a problem, merely asking a favor."

"W-w-w-what do you want, if it's not so crippling, I am more than willing to provide." The aged Caravan leader said. "I'm just a humble farmer, so please have some mercy."

"My brothers were starving. Would you be so kind as to drop a few sacks of rice for us? We wouldn't be asking much. Twenty sacks would be enough."

The average rice sacks weight somewhere between 40 to 60 kg. Twenty of them equals up to 1.2 tons. Compared to hundreds of tons of rice being carried by this caravan fleet, how much is that in comparison? The Farmer would happily give them as long as he can if safe passage can be guaranteed.

But the Daoist was skeptical that this is the end of the whole deal.

The Daoist looked at the escorting warriors, seething because their pride had been trampled. It was crystal clear that even if they're a low-level warrior at best, they still have a semblance of self-worth.

Having lousy bandits trampling over them like this, they have no face left to show!

"Uncle, let's not give in so easily. I have a bad feeling about this." One of them whispered to the Caravan leader.

"If it was just fighting them, it should not be a problem." The Caravan leader smiled in resignation. "But protecting everyone's safety, and the safety of the commodities is more important."

The chief warrior gritted his teeth in shame.

The Daoist sighed. The world is cruel and unjust. Those who were weak can only be presented with a series of bad options and had to pick the least bad out as a compromise.

Compared to their lives, twenty sack of rice was nothing.

"Men, take the bags out." The bandit boss ordered, and his men began to climb over the lead wagon and throw around a couple of sacks of rice down.

Twenty sacks unloaded, there should be around 80 sacks left in this large wagon.

The Daoist noticed something and approached the lead wagon. However, before he can inspect it, one of the bandits grabbed his wrist.

"Yo, little brother, what are you doing?"

The Daoist flinched. They have a hidden agenda!

"I'm a passenger." The Daoist said.

"...Bring that Daoist boy here and strip all his treasures." The Boss ordered. "Leave his clothes on and whatever money he had."

"That's against the deal!" The chief escorting warrior roared, "You promised not to touch anyone that came with us!"

"Did I say that?" The Bandit boss dismissively asked as he picked his right ears with his pinky.

The Daoist grabbed the offending hand and put a little pressure, made the lanky bandit scream in pain, and released him.

The lanky bandit flailed his hand but noticed that it wasn't hurt at all. The Daoist pressed his acupoints to deliver hefty pain without actually breaking anything. There wasn't even a mark left!

"Uncle should run and pick another route." The Daoist said to the leader of the caravan. "They put a tracking seal on the lead caravan and will rob you when you finished your business in Inage."

"HUH?!"

Indeed, when the robbers unloaded rice sacks from the leading wagon, they also secretly put a tracking seal on it. That way, they can sense when the wagon left the city and thus can prey on the hard-earned money.

For people of low cultivation, the seals are very much invisible. However, the young Daoist had a solid foundation and felt the mark as soon as it's put on the Wagon body.

"Tracking seal?" The chief escort warrior gasped in shock.

"That means there's a Foundation** level cultivator in the group of bandits." The Daoist grinned manically.

"Peh!" The caravan guards collectively spat down, then pulled
their weapons out in anger.

"What kind of trash, his mother must be ashamed of giving birth to him!"

"Coward! Worthless!"

"Loser scum!!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING TRASH?!"

A red-robed young man jumped out of the bush and landed with a loud thud. The ground underneath him cracked slightly from the impact. The man had a tall build with a slim yet solid frame, as shown by his relatively tight robe.

Even though he looked young, maybe twenty-five years old, everyone present immediately felt the pressure.

"Master! Why did you come out?!" The Bandit 'boss' asked in concern. Fear and uncertainty filled his words.

"Nevermind, the caravan can go. But that Daoist and escorts...." The tall man made a neck-slicing gesture. "They're going to die."

"Try it, bastard!" Chief of the caravan guards howled as he pulled a two-handed ax from his back. Its head was thin as an iron blade but somewhat broad. It's shaft over one and a half meters long.

The Daoist stopped the Chief from going ahead recklessly. "That Elementalist had his Foundation established. You're no match for him."

The Chief was skeptical, but he already sensed that the young Daoist have a higher cultivation level than him, so he can't say anything.

Both the Chief and the Bandit Boss are at the peak stage of Condensation***, which was one step before Foundation. As such, in terms of internal energy, neither are a match for the Daoist and the Elementalist.

To be honest, the Daoist wasn't expecting things to escalate this much. However, since the Bandits wanted all of his treasures, he didn't even have the privilege to run away.

Fight to the death! When it comes to the Pugilistic world, this is the only way to solve things and cut the loose end!

And he hated it.

He hated this stupid, self-destructive cycle permeating the world. If there's such a thing as an absolute wish-granting artifact, then the Daoist would wish for world peace!

He should not have interfered in the first place. He wasn't entirely sure why either. Righteous cause? Bah. Nonsense.

Maybe it was pity?

But alas, it was too late to ponder.

No takebacks!

The young Daoist pulled his weapon out of his slung bag. At first, one might think it was a long, straight two-handed sword. However, one would notice that it was unusually thick and dull, and it had a flat, chisel-like tip.

This weapon was considered a mace and called [Iron Ruler]. This kind of weapon was intended for self-defense and incapacitation than immediate killing. Iron rulers are commonly used by mansion guards and city patrols.

Despite this, the impact force delivered through the dull edge would be more than enough to cave through the skull easily.

"A two-handed Iron Ruler? First time I see one." The Elementalist pulled a pile of paper from his pocket and threw them to the ground.

Shikigami.

Shikigami (paper gods) were creatures born from paper and paperlike material. They're nothing but servants to their masters. Most of them lacked awareness, let alone sentience.

An Onmyoji mastered not only Yin-Yang and Five Element based natural science and occultism, but also the art of creation. An Onmyoji without Shikigami servants worth nothing on the battlefield.

Yet, the Daoist felt like something is off. The paper flies in a pattern as a pillar of black-red light surged from the ground.

No!

"Blood Slave?!"

Throwing such a dangerous summoning technique just to kill a young cultivator... the Daoist doesn't know if this wretched Omnyouji was being careless or careful.

He was confident that in full frontal confrontation, a Daoist will always win against an Onmyoji, but this addition changes the equation considerably.

Normal Shikigami was a bad enough problem, but Blood Slave was something else. A Blood Slave had the same level of cultivation as the summoner. However, they're not necessarily a slouch in close combat.

But more than just its strength, the origin of a Blood Shikigami was incredibly insidious. And it made the Daoist's stomach churned, so he began to recite the holy passages in his mind.

"Heaven which by it is bright and pure;
Earth rendered thereby firm and sure;
Spirits with powers by it supplied;
Valleys kept full throughout their void."

The Daoist stabbed the earth with his Iron ruler. Yellow light spreads from the impact site, and glowing letters spread out and crawl like snakes toward the pillar.

As he did, he also skillfully executed a series of hand seals, so fast that it almost came like a blur. His nerve fired up, and yet the beat of his heart became much slower as he achieved a state of Zen.

"All these are the results of the Dao.
If Heaven were not thus pure, it soon would rend;
If earth were not sure, it would break and bend;"

"Without that life, creatures would pass away;
Princes and kings, without that moral sway,
However, grand and high, would all decay."

"[The Origin of the Law.****]" He spoke aloud.

The black-red light subdued and then imploded into nothingness as the letters strangled it forcefully.

Both the Onmyoji coughed biles as their internal force collided and caused a recoil effect on him. However, it only caused minor internal injuries. He quickly rebounded.

The Daoist finished, and the glowing letters ceased to exist. The Onmyoji gasped in shock.

"YOU BASTARD!"

"Doing something so heinous, it's like you're asking to be bricked by Karma." The Daoist held his Iron Ruler parallel to his forehead, ready to strike.

"Who cares about Karma! DIE!" The opponent threw more papers that turned into birdlike creatures with bladed wings. A true Shikigami might not be individually strong, but they're more than able to match cultivators in large numbers.

The Daoist leaped forward and spun his Iron Ruler to deflect deadly slashes and strikes aimed at him. Each hits increasingly get closer to him that he felt his finger got stung by the force blades, like the worst papercut in history.

Though they were of the same level of cultivation, the difference of experience and mastery of strength was too much!

Furthermore, an iron ruler was not as fluid and as flexible as a sword. Defending against multiple attacks was where it's the weakest.

This Foundation level Onmyouji... how terrifying!

Meanwhile, the clash between bandits and the guards erupted shortly after. Though the guards have numerical disadvantages, they fought fiercely without regard to their lives. Facing this, many of the weaker bandits decided to bail out as soon as they suffer an injury and fleed.

"Traitor! I'll spank your ass when I'm done with these bastards!" The burly underboss screamed as his fists clashed with the equally muscular Chief of escort warrior.

Being at the peak stage of Ki Condensation, both of them are incredibly strong and determined. Their internal energy unleashed, created an expanding blastwave that throws anyone close by a couple of feet away.

The Daoist felt somewhat disturbed. Though his cultivation level was higher, in terms of combat strength, he's not that much ahead of these two pile of hulking muscles.

Their bodies were much more tempered than his own!

The Onmyouji in front of him did not even blink, further cementing his superiority. Seeing the gaps in the Daoist's defense, he threw out a palm-shaped dark red Ki energy that smashed the Daoist's chest with the full force of a speeding cart.

The youth's body flew, then stopped when he hit a tree, leaving considerable damage to it.

"You're so green and immature, yet dare to show off. It's time to teach you some humility, boy."

The Onmyouji sent his blade-winged paper birds to finish the Daoist, which sent mortal terror through the youth's spine. The young Daoist was not able to dodge, but at the very least, he can use a Ki shield to mitigate the impact.

However, the birds never came into contact as a strange, slithering entity ripped and burned them to shreds.

"WHO WAS THAT?!"

A red-haired young woman stood beside the Daoist, she wore a purple and red dress that revealed her upper shoulders, but otherwise, it looked like a hanfu. She wore red armored boots.

In her hand was a whip sword.

This kind of weapon was rare and exquisite, and in fact, a whip sword is indistinguishable from living beings in movement. All whip swords were classified as Third Grade talismans.

They're made by encasing bundles of highly processed whale whiskers with steel blade pieces. Using the Ki strength of the wielder, the whisker strand will extend and contract obediently and precisely.

When the muscle contracted, the sword will appear like a straight, double-edged sword. But when extended, it became a bladed whip, not unlike a snake covered in razor-sharp fins.

The Daoist let out a yellow glow from his hand to heal his superficial injuries first before regained his footing.

He could feel pressure from her, so she must be a powerful Foundation cultivator, at least.

"DIE!"

Two hand-shaped Ki blasts erupted from the hand of the Onmyoji. However, the Daoist scoffed and batted both attacks aside. The residual force of the impacts carved several meter long trenches and shattered trees beside him!

The young Daoist didn't even break a sweat.

"Onmyoujis are reliant on weak Shikigami to fight up close, whip sword with its reach and flexibility almost certainly is a great hard counter." The Daoist stated matter of factly. "As for Ki projection and heavy strikes, my Long Ruler is more than suffice."

Indeed, an iron ruler is made more sturdy than a sword of equal quality. Naturally, its ability to defend exceed that of a sword. As long as the internal strength of the wielder is enough, it could withstand anything.

Furthermore, his Long Ruler was twice as long and three times as heavy!

"You talk too much for a loser." The red-haired Elementalist said cockily. "Had it not for me, you'd probably dead already."

"Whose side are you on again?" The Daoist winced in response.

"Nevermind about that." She said. "Someone dressed and act like Onmyouji, yet made a pact with the demonkind through blood slave." Her eyes began to glow. "Someone like that must be exterminated."

She whipped her sword and threw dozens upon dozens of fire bolts. Each packing more than enough strength to incinerate mortal man, the Onmyoji barely able to withstand it with his own Ki shield!

"Whoa, a red-haired girl with fire elemental power, what a surprise." The Daoist commented in full deadpan. This development can't possibly get more predictable.

"You bring shame to the name of Yin Yang School." She leaped with her sword. The sword glow with unearthly burning light, like that of a spilled lava!

This particular whip sword forged with the fire element in mind. Because of this, it would augment fire element attacks.

She struck her opponent's Ki shield, and the resulting impact set ablaze the bushes and scorched trees around them. Their strength was evenly matched, and she decided to retreat.

"Damn it! He mastered Wuxing shield!" She shouted.

"Seriously?" The Daoist whined.

Wuxing... the Five Element shield... it was a simple technique on appearance, yet also complicated to master. Essentially, it was an intermediate level Ki shield which can change elements according to the user's own mastery of elements.

Just now, the Onmyouji switched to a water element shield that extinguished her own fire.

"Little girl, I won't kill you just yet." The Onmyouji licked his lips. "Your body as a new Blood slave would be nice."

"I see." The Daoist put two fingers and traced the length of his iron ruler, the slab of metal began to hum and then burn with demonic blue and black flame.

"YIN FIRE!" The Onmyouji gasped in fear.

The Daoist blasted through the air with the full power of his ki behind him, created an aftershock that threw dust and dried leaves around.

The Onmyouji panicked, immediately switched back into a fire element shield, and the collision this time around extinguished the fire around them with intense Yin energy. This young Daoist is no joke!

That was when she sneaked and stabbed through. She carved opened the man's red Ki-shield like a knife through parchment. Because the elements were identical, the strained fire element shield was lost immediately against the augmented fire element sword.

That was when the girl sneaked and stabbed through. She carved opened the man's red Ki-shield like a knife through parchment. Because the elements were identical, the strained fire element shield was lost immediately against the augmented fire element sword.

The full power of two Foundation-level cultivators, he could not win against that without a supremely powerful technique or talisman. Five Element shield was not good enough!

The Onmyoji widened his eyes and spat blood when she stabbed through his chest, right through the sternum. However, the red-haired Elementalist gasped when she realized it was a trap.

"I'll take you along for the ride!" He grinned as blood began to seep from his pores and evaporate.

The Daoist realized this and charged as quickly as he could while doing a series of hand seals and focused all of his Ki in a single move.

The Daoist kicked the dying Onmyouji away as his skin began to boil and constantly releasing strange stench and blood vapor.

Hundreds of glowing letters flew to all directions then converged around him and the young woman. Much to her shock, he hugged her, and the letters tightly pushed her even closer.

Then there was an explosion.

The blood vapor that leaked from the Bandit leader's body turned into volatile gas that exploded with enough force to blow up a small castle. Both the bandits and the guards were thrown by the shockwave, though not the direct explosion. However, the Daoist and the girl took the brunt of the impact!

It was a blast so powerful that animals kilometers away from the explosion point scattered in fear for their life.

The young Daoist and Elementalist were thrown at least tens of meters away, right into one of the abandoned carts, and broke through it, spilling rice everywhere. The sacks of rice thankfully acted as cushions in the process, dampening their second impact with the wagon's wooden structure and inevitably the ground behind.

The girl and the Daoist separated when they rolled on the ground, groaning.

"Ack." She quickly recovered and then focused her mind and called her sword. The sword flew on its own and came back to her hand. "I didn't expect him to be so reckless. And you-"

She stopped complaining when she saw the young Daoist kneeling, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

Through his Ki shield holds, the backlash seems to cause quite an amount of internal damages.

"HEY! DON'T DIE JUST YET!" The girl screamed hysterically. "AT LEAST TELL ME YOUR NAME IDIOT!"

The young Daoist groaned. "Shut up, I'm not deaf."

"Oh, thank heavens!" She picked him up, then noticed that most of the warriors survived, she called them. "HEY."

They immediately scrambled to help the near-unconscious young Daoist. The Daoist gave out his Iron Ruler, and they noticed something carved on its surface.

Hikigaya.

And he passed out soon after.

"So, his name is Hikigaya." The young woman sharpened her eyes.

"Gather the survivors and mend the injuries! We're continuing our way to Inage." The Chief Warrior flinched when he noticed a shallow but wide gash on his back. "Ow."

"Chief!"

"I'm fine. The wound is skin deep." Chief shook his head. "Make sure this young Daoist and this Miss treated well! We owe them our lives!"

The young woman sighed, truthfully she can just continue her way alone, but she was too tired and cannot be bothered.

"Sagami." She said. "You can call me Sagami, from Yin-Yang School****."