CHAPTER- 3

ZHANG HUAN

Tang Jian was still recovering from the adrenaline rush when he saw an old man silently walk out from behind some trees. The old man was about six feet tall and had long pure white hair and an equally white beard. His eyes looked very gentle and had wrinkles around his eyes as if he was used to smiling a lot like he was doing at the moment. He had a bright red robe which despite its simple appearance seemed quite imposing when worn by him.

In spite of the old man’s kind semblance, Tang Jian could tell in his heart that this old man was far more dangerous than Chen Wei, whose ashes were now slowly drifting away in the wind. Tang Jian knew that if the old man was here for the same reason as Chen Wei, he could only pray for his life.

As the old man approached, Tang Jian’s knees started shaking, his back was drenched in sweat; he backed up a few steps unconsciously.

“No need to fear, young man. I’ve been observing you from the moment you came across the Fire Pearl.”, the old man said in a firm yet gentle voice as he stopped at Chen Wei’s ashes. Or what was left of them.

“Arrogant fool,”, he said in a ridiculing tone, kicking the remaining ashes in the wind. Which Tang Jian would have never expected the old man to do, considering his kind appearance. To him, it seemed very out of character.

For some reason, it also put his mind at ease and reduced his fear a little.

“What is your name, child?”, he asked with a kind tone. The old man’s sudden shift in tone left Tang Jian baffled.

After composing himself, Tang Jian said, “I am called Tang Jian, senior.” He decided that it would be in his best interest to be polite with this chameleon like old geezer.

“Tang Jian, hmm.”

“Tang Jian, are you aware of what you have just done? And what are the consequences of it?” The old man asked in a serious tone.

“It wasn’t me. I..I.. did nothing, senior. It was that thing inside of me. It acted on its own and killed that brother in the carriage. I’m innocent.”, Tang Jian could feel tears welling up in his eyes, his lips shaking as he tried to disassociate himself from Chen Wei’s death.

“I’m not talking about that, you fool. That moron invited his own death.”, the old man said, shifting his tone again.

“And wipe your face, you have snot coming out your nose. It’s disgusting!”

Tang Jian wiped his face with his clothes as he tried to calm down.

“Sigh. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Zhang Huan from the Sun Temple, one of the major sects of the Western Plains.”, saying that he struck a pose with his head held high as if he was waiting to be venerated.

Tang Jian just looked at him with a blank look on his face.

Sensing that, Zhang Huan looked down at him again.

“You didn’t understand any of what I just said, did you?”, he said a little disappointed.

Tang Jian wasn’t sure what to say, so he just shook his head.

“Sigh. You can’t really blamed for that. This is quite a remote region, after all. Sigh. This is going to be a long night.”, saying that he waved his hand toward Tang Jian.

Tang Jian felt the world around him blur and within a blink of an eye he found himself no longer in the woods but on a mountain peak. He looked down at the base of the mountain and could make out his dimly lit village.

“Take a seat”, Zhang Huan spoke from behind him.

Tang Jian turned around to see a table and two chairs, Zhang Huan sitting in one with a cup of tea in his hands. There was a second one on the table. Tang Jian nervously sat in the other chair and took the tea.

This must be a dream. I probably knocked my head on something on the way to the lake and fell unconscious. Yeah, that makes sense. I should be waking up anytime now. Thinking that, he just leaned back in his chair and sipped on his tea. Hmm, excellent tea.

Slap.

Tang Jian felt his jaw move as Zhang Huan slapped him on his right cheek with no warning.

“Did that hurt?”, Zhang Huan asked as he leaned back in his chair.

“Yes.”, Tang Jian replied a little stunned as he wiped the tea spilled on his hand from the cup.

“Still think you’re dreaming?”, Zhang Huan asked again as he sipped on his tea.

“No.”, Tang Jian said as he realized the reality of the situation.

“Good. We can begin now. Tell me, what do you know about this world?”, Zhang Huan said.

“What do I know about this world… I don’t know, I’ve never really left these mountains.”, Tang Jian replied.

“Hmm. This place is a little dangerous for mortals to leave. Perhaps a group of cultivators wished to forget the deadly cultivation world and live a simple life and found this place to settle down.”, Zhang Huan said, more to himself than to Tang Jian.

He looked over at Tang Jian and said in a stern voice, “Pay attention to what I’m about to tell you, I don’t like to repeat myself.”

He began explaining, ”This continent that we live on is divided into five regions, and we live in the Western Plains. As the name suggests, it’s in the western part of the continent. The Western Plains has enormous population, countless in fact; they are spread around in villages like yours down there, small towns, large districts and several kingdoms and empires ruled by their kings and emperors.”

“However, what mortals do in their lives is of no concern to us Cultivators. About a tenth of the population in the Western Plains practice Immortal Cultivation.”

“Do you know what an Immortal Cultivator is?”, he suddenly turned to Tang Jian and asked.

“Someone… who can summon fire… and… make you… younger again?”, Tang Jian replied hesitantly.

Ignoring Tang Jian’s crude explanation, Zhang Huan continued, “An Immortal Cultivator is someone who uses the energy within oneself to connect with the Qi in the surroundings and absorb it within oneself to shape the Dantian. The Dantian is situated in in your stomach, however it differs vastly from your mortal organs like kidneys and liver. If you cut a Cultivator’s stomach open, you won’t find the Dantian in there. It exists on a spiritual level. Forming a Dantian within oneself is the first step in any Cultivators journey on the path of Immortality.”

“You’re quite lucky, you know.”, he said, moving his eyes to Tang Jian. “Your Dantian has already been formed thanks to the Fire Pearl. Otherwise, only about two out of a ten people, who choose the path of Immortal Cultivation succeed in doing so.”

Tang Jian looked down at his torso, imaging a magical organ in there. “Does that mean I’m an Immortal Cultivator? I don’t feel any different.”

Slap.

Zhang Huan slapped him again, this time on the left side. Tang Jian could feel his left cheek swelling up to match the right one.

“Fool, you’re still just a mortal.”, Zhang Huan said in a mocking tone, “You’ve only reached the mountain that is Immortal Cultivation. You’re just standing at the base of it and haven’t even climbed the first step yet.”

He continued on, “Now if we talk about the world of Cultivators, there are several sects and schools where disciples are guided on their cultivation journey and given necessary resources. There also many martial clans and families. Some don’t bother joining any sects, nor they belong to any clans; they choose to live as wandering Cultivators, some of them fail to join any sects, some don’t like to be tied down in one place. Only a few among their lot can make a name for themselves in this world.”

“Coming back to the Sun Temple that we belong to, it is one of one of the biggest sects in the Western Plains.”

“We?”, Tang Jian asked, but was ignored.

“The Sun Temple has a history that goes back five thousand years; it is one of the most ancient sects that has a very rich history and has produced many heroes.”, Zhang Huan continued with a proud gleam in his eyes. “We have a hundred thousand disciples, 500 Martial Advisers, and 50 Elders.”

“The Fire Pearl that was acquired by you, was released by the Sect Master nine days ago. It is a one of the most precious treasure we have at the Sun Temple. Every five hundred years a Fire Pearl is released, and it flies of to choose its receiver. It is considered a blessing to whoever receives it. Usually a Fire Pearl chooses someone from the sect itself, but there have been a few occasions where it chose people from outside the sect. Though it has only happened three times, all three of them were Cultivators who were exceptionally talented.”

“But,”, he narrowed his eyes and looked at Tang Jian, “this is the first time that a mortal was chosen.” Zhang Huan stared at him intensely, as if he wanted to dissect him.

Tang Jian, feeling a little uncomfortable, said meekly, “Everybody says that I’m a very lucky fellow.”

His response was met with silence.

“Luck, huh?”, Zhang Huan said after a moment. “We’ll see.”

“So what do you think? Do you wish to join the sect?”, Zhang Huan said, changing the topic.

Tang Jian’s eyes instantly lit up upon hearing Zhang Huan had just said. “Can I… can I go to the Sea?”, he asked excitedly from the edge of his seat.

“the sea?”, Zhang Huan said, a little confused.

“And the Desert?”, Tang Jian couldn’t contain his excitement and almost wanted to jump.

“The desert?”, Zhang Huan looked at Tang Jian for a moment, and then it occurred to him, “I see; you have probably never left these mountains. Well, you don’t have to worry about that. A lot of disciples go on expeditions outside the sect, many times to to a sea or a desert and many other locations. Though keep in mind, these expeditions are quite dangerous and many have lost their lives as well.”

Tang Jian suddenly stopped in his excitement as a thoughtful expression came on his face.

Zhang Huan thought that Tang Jian got scared of what he had just said, but then Tang Jian suddenly said, ”Father won’t allow me to go.”

“What?”, Zhang Huan said with a frown on his face. “Ah, don’t worry about that, I’ll talk to him. Come on.”, saying that he waved his hand and Tang Jian found that the both of them were standing outside his village.”

“Which one is yours?”, Zhang Huan asked, looking at the cluster of houses.

“This way.”, Tang Jian said, leading the way to his house.

When they reached their destination, Tang Jian found his father reclining in a chair by the door, staring at the stars with a wistful look on his face.

When he felt Tang Jian approach, he said without taking his eyes away from the stars, “You’re late. Did you get lost again?”

“Father, there’s someone who wants to see you.”, Tang Jian said, drawing his father’s attention to him.

Tang Song looked over at his son and noticed that he had brought along an old man with him.

“Tang Jian, why don’t you pack your clothes while I talk with your father?”, Zhang Huan said, patting Tang Jian on his back.

“Pack your clothes?”, Tang Song said with a confused look on his face. “Who are you?”, he said, looking at Zhang Huan while Tang Jian went inside throwing a worried glance at his father.

When Tang Jian went inside his home, he did as Zhang Huan had told him to and packed his clothes in a bundle. When he was done packing his clothes, he took a moment to look around in his home; he looked at the kitchen area where he had cooked the rabbits just a few hours earlier; he looked at his father’s work area where he made weapons. He looked at the weapon rack and the axes and swords waiting to be sharpened, where he helped his father with cleaning the weapons and sharpening them.

Tang Jian suddenly realized that he was about to leave the only place he called home. The home where he spent his entire life with his father, his only family. He had always wanted to leave, but when the time actually came, he felt something squeezing inside his chest. He reached out to scratch an itch on his cheek and felt a tear rolling down from his eyes.

Tang Jian closed his eyes shut, took a deep breath, and composed himself. Saying a silent goodbye to his home, he walked out.