The guide looked up at Jon Qao, lines of blood ran down his wrinkled pleading face from his forehead. His face betrayed confusion and fright.

“Because of your status as a True martial artist?” replayed the man, unsure.

Jon Qao raised an eyebrow, thinking that if people of this world knew about real martial arts, maybe there was more to them. However, the guide misunderstood him and kowtowed once more.

“I’m sorry, your true excellency. It’s my fault, I was stupid from a young age and never understood questions properly.”

“What’s the name of this world?” Jon Qao asked, his voice calm.

The man was relieved by Jon Qao’s indifference and replied, “I don’t know.”

Jon Qao frowned.

“But don’t misunderstand. It’s not that I’m not willing to answer. I truly don’t know. I believe there are not many that still remember it. We just call it the forgotten world. To be honest, we never speak of this land as a world as we can’t even leave this small continent, the forgotten continent.”

“Forgotten continent? How can a continent not have a proper name, let alone a world? Who was it forgotten by? Immortals? Gods?”

“We the people forgot its name. We so rarely talk of it that after thousands of years and over 100 generations no one really knows the true name.”

“Do people in this primitive world don’t teach their offspring about history? About their world? No wonder your martial arts are so rudimentary.”

“That’s not true. We teach them everything they need to know for them to grow and survive. It’s just that our continent is so small and isolated from the rest of the world that it’s not relevant.”

“Isolated? Do you have a map of this forgotten continent?”

The man nodded and took an old leather parchment from the old brown bag hanging on his shoulder. A deep scowl appeared on Jon Qao’s face as he opened the parchment.

“Is this the entire map? Isn’t there a piece missing?”

“No, your True excellency. I know it’s old but this is a complete map, with all the major and minor cities.”

“Where are we on this map?” 

Jon Qao showed the map to the guide. With a trembling hand, the man pointed the location. “Around here.”

“Is this a joke? What kind of continent is this? An average martial family has more land under their jurisdiction than this entire so-called continent. Is this even scaled properly?”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand, your excellency.”

“Sigh! No matter.”

“I presume this is that Mountain Range that isolates you from the rest of the world?” The guide nodded. “Has it been verified to be so long that it crosses the entire… land?”

“Yes, multiple times your excellency. But only from afar, no one dares to get too close to it if they want to come back alive.”

“Is it because of the white apes?”

The man’s eyes shot wide. “Have you seen them?” Then he looked at his disheveled appearance. “And you survived? Of course, of course, you are a True martial artist after all. Only a True martial artist can fight True magical beasts.”

“True magical beasts? Tell me about your martial arts system. I’ve been in this world for two days now and I’ve seen different creatures possessing different energy colors.”

“I’m sorry for my boldness, but is your true excellency from beyond the mountains? Is there a different martial system beyond the mountain?”

“It’s irrelevant to you.”

The man nodded dejectedly. “Of course, I was just curious. To answer your question the color is representative of the rank. We have 9 ranks named after the energy color they release. They are Bronze, Silver, Gold, which are regularly associated with young ages. Then we have Gold Black, Black, Emerald which are the intermediate stages. Most people fall in these ranks after their teens, those who have the ability to practice that is. These three ranks are also dubbed, Lesser Heaven, Heaven, and Greater Heaven.”

“So you are a Greater Heaven Rank. Someone that is considered among the best?”

“Yes, I’m at peak Greater Heaven Rank,” said the man with pride. “But the next three ranks are on a different level. There is the Blue Rank, also called Sky Blue, the White Rank, also known as Legend Rank, and lastly, the hardest to achieve, the True martial artist Rank whose energy is so perfect is see-through. No one in the entire Continent had managed to reach this rank in over a thousand years.”

“So, True martial artist is just another rank in your primitive system? What did I expect?” Jon Qao shook his head.

“Apparently I’ll have to spend more time than I wish in this world.”

The ring on Jon Qao’s finger shone and the leather parchment disappeared. “I’ll take the map with me,” he said before walking away. 

The guide could only nod. As Jon Qao walked away, the man took out a shabby wooden box filled with pills and herbs. His heartbeat had been going off the rail for the entire conversation with the stranger and he needed something to slow it down.

Jon Qao sensed his movements but as long as the man didn’t have any ill intentions he would just ignore him. However, he felt something that stopped him in his tracks.

Jon Qao rushed towards the guide, whose heart almost burst.

“It’s just a herb to calm my heart, your excellency, please do not misunderstand.”

Jon Qao ignored him and grabbed the wooden box from which he took out a herb. It was an unassuming plant with wedge-shaped blue-green leaves. It had three different stems at the end of which were three flowers, one light orange, one white, and the last dark gray.

“Three Hair-grass Flower,” Jon Qao murmured before looking at the guide and asking with urgency. “Where did you find this?”

“I, I, I bought them from a merchant.”

“Maybe this world is not as hopeless as I thought,” he said, staring at the plant. He was in deep thought.

Jon Qao looked at the sky. “You taught me pill cultivation is not as useful as traditional cultivation. That it’s just a crutch to artificially absorb it. But if your teachings worth as much as your promises, then I’m better off without them.”

The ring shone and the plant disappeared, however, a dagger appeared in his hand. He grabbed his long hair and with a swift motion, he cut it.

With that, he left, leaving the man alone. However, sadly for the guide, as soon as Jon Qao was far enough, another man appeared. He was dressed in a green outfit, easy to disguise himself in the forest. He wore a mask that hid his face, yet his eyes betrayed his emotions, fear, and anger as well as relief.

On his chest was embroidered the emblem of a gold lion. The old guide stiffened. He was going to experience another interrogation, but this time wasn’t going to be as gentle and the end was only one.

filimon

The map Jon Qao got