'What is the meaning of Dao?'
That's what Fan Huang's grandpa used to always say. "Fan Huang, the road of cultivation is a long road, you're a smart kid and i know that first hand", laughed Fan Huang's Grandpa as he rocked back n forward on his wooden chair and wooden pipe on the front porch of their house. Fan Huang looked up at his grandpa with an admiring look in his eyes.
"You know when i was young Fan Huang and i was only your age i started to cultivate. I was the emperor of an empire far far away from here but then some things happened and I came here and settled down here. After coming here i gave up on cultivation and wanted to live the rest of my life as a normal person. All this cultivation stuff was a hassle for me and i wasn't fit to reach the top anyway."
"What's at the top grandpa?", replied Fan Huang
"A common rumor is that at the top you will reach an immortal palace that is filled with hundreds of immortal beauties, Heavenly food, infinite power and just about anything you can imagine. The first person that reaches there will become the true god of the heavens and will become the strongest in all of the cultivation world."
"Once i reach the top wouldn't it become boring after a while, How would you even know if that's true in the first place grandpa?", He questioned with a confused look.
Fan Huang's grandpa puffed out a ball of smoke and said, "Its just a rumor created by some cultivator that many came to believe and now it is one of the most popular beliefs of what lies at the top. You would only truly know when u reach there.", he gestured with his hand.
"That's not true. If you had such a big empire like you've told me before then nobody could have defeated you." Wondered Fan Huang as he sat on the ground looking at his grandpa.
"Fan Huang. There is always someone stronger than you. The only person that doesn't apply to is the person at the top."
"Well when I'm older I'm gonna become the person at the top and become the strongest cultivator in the world!" Said Fan Huang excitedly as his eyes lit up. However Fan Huang's faced quickly turned sour as he saw his old grandpa's face quickly turn into that of a woman.
"What did you just say you brat!" screamed his grandpa as his hand slapped towards Fan Huang fragile face.
SLAP
SLAP
SLAP
"Why are you doing this grandpa. What did i do wrong? Please stop slapping me it hurts", begged Fan Huang in reply.
"I will not have any of you cultivators in my household or any of your kind in my house at all. You are to become a farmer and live an ordinary like the rest of us and there is no way you could become a cultivator in the first place. You are not even as smart as half of the boys in the village. Look at you! Your body is so weak i could break your spine with my pinky finger"
"Please, STOP!", Fan Huang shouted.
"Hey stop having a panic attack and go collect the wood like i told you, Are you deaf?", Shouted the woman.
"Did you stop hitting me?", asked Fan Huang.
"I don't have any idea of what your talking about but if you keep rambling about it I'm gonna beat you until you can't get out of bed!"
Fan Huang then opened his eyes and realized he was lying under a tree. The woman who was talking to him was Auntie Song. After being told to get wood for the fire he passed out only just after walking out.
"*sigh* I knew you were hopeless the day i laid my eyes on you", sighed Fan Huang's Auntie "No dinner today for you. If you can get the wood back by sunset i might give you some food but it depends on my mood, It's already bad so i don't know if you'll be getting any"
Fan Huang sighed in disappointment of how hopeless he was. Whenever he attempted anything he would always do a mediocre job and then his auntie would come in to make him fell even worse.
Fan Huang is abused by his auntie for not being good enough.
"Faster! Faster!"
"You told me it's clean but i can see a lot of spots that are dirty"
"You didn't even bring me the correct wine"
Fan Huang's parents had died in a freak accident at the age of 2 and his grandpa died shortly later when he was 8. It had been 3 years since then and he is currently 11 years old. Along with his auntie are the village bullies who make his life even worse.
Fan Huang was miserable as his auntie tormented. He had no choice but to listen to her as she had the power to just kick him out. The other people in the village always believed Auntie as she was always having fun with other men in the village. Auntie Song was very beautiful and was at the ripe age of 25 and was ready for marriage at any time. The men always flirted with Auntie Song. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she's had sex with almost all the men in the village.
She had Fan Huang right in her grasp.
"Hey look who showed up", announced a dark haired youth to his group of friends
His friends turned around and saw disheveled hair Fan Huang walking out of his house walking to his very favorite tree to relax for what little free time he had other than eating and sleeping.
After his grandpa died he went into the custody of his auntie and that's when his life turned for worse.
"It's Auntie's Song little pet. Who wants to come and play?", asked one of the kids.
They all replied yes and walked to forward to Fan Huang. He saw what was happening and pretended to see the rest of them and took a direct turn back to his house.
As he turned back he saw the dark haired youth chasing after him. He used every single bit of power in his legs and body to escape them and arrived at near the face of a mountain near the village and the kids had cornered him. Fan Huang for some reason went through the mountain just like a ghost.
"That little rabbit. Just like his parents, he too runs from everything. He always gets to this mountain face and disappears through but we can never know how he does it."
The kids then stayed at the entrance and waited for Fan Huang to come out. What Fan Huang had actually done was that when he was 9 he had found a mysterious medal about the size of an egg near a mountain wall on his way to gather wood. When he went to put his hand against the wall to stand up he fell through like a domino collapsing and fell through the mountain wall just like a ghost. He had now found himself in a cave
The cave was like nothing he had seen before. Within it was 3 halls that each lead to a door but he couldn't open any of them . The whole cave was made out of this material that looked just like stone but when he looked at it he could see his own reflection. It was some very reflective glass. In the room was a table with 2 chairs and one jug. This jug's porcelain surface depicted a man sitting under a tree in a strange position with strange blue lines across the surface of his body. When Fan Huang tried to look at the porcelain jug the figure quickly became blurred and couldn't figure out why that man was doing that position. He wanted to look around the place more but he realized that if he wasn't on time he would be punished by his auntie again.
Now that he was chased by the kids to this place again he looked at the place and really felt like this place was the only place that he truly felt at peace. The only reason he didn't come here much is because if he was caught by someone who his auntie trusted it would cause too much trouble. He only comes in emergencies like when the bullies come to hit him or use him as a rag doll to have fun. He was lucky for his auntie to not believe the bullies as she thought the were doing it for fun but after being told several times about she grew suspicious but never investigated in the end.
He truly appreciated this place. If he could live here without other people to disturb him he wouldn't mind living here forever. This place was the only place that was silent. The place away from his abusive auntie. Away from the bullies and all the people who hated him. Fan Huang always wondered who made this place and why? How old was this place? He had many questions bt the one he wanted to know the most was who made this place. He wanted to thank that person a million times over but he probably never would get to know them. He knew the person who made this place was most likely a cultivator and he thought that they wouldn't even spare any time to talk to him.
By the time he felt hungry he went back home, had dinner and went to bed. The next day as he was going about his daily business he went to have his daily exercises. He is told that doing these exercises everyday would make him more stronger. He obeyed cause he would be punished if he didn't obey.
Suddenly a gust of wind swept through village catching the village people off guard as they looked up in the sky in shock. In the sky was a white robed young man standing on a blue long sword.
The man swept his gaze across the village and the people could feel a very light force touch their body.
Fan Huang could hear the village people whispering about he was an immortal cultivator from a sect.
His eyes lit up in surprise. To think that this was what an immortal looked like. Of course he had his grandpa but he knew that he was lying and thought to himself that if he can cultivate he could fly one day just like him.
The white robed man held his hands behind his back and announced, "Greetings mortals, I Kong Yijun from the Fleeting Cloud sect have come to announce that on the 1st of July which is 2 weeks away we will be holding the entrance ceremony for people who believe they have the skill to cultivate or would like to cultivate.
Any who would like to participate would have to walk to the base of the Myriad mountain range. From there you will be escorted to a temporary residence and will then on july 1st will take the test. Only those who are 15 or under may participate. We have the ability to read how old you are by just touching your bone structure so don't try and fool us or you will be immediately kicked out. That is all, I wish you all of you the best of luck."
The people of the village was amazed at the awe and power of that cultivator that had come visit the village. The whole time he was speaking it felt like they were suffocating and didn't have the power to speak at all. Fan Huang hated this feeling. This feeling of hopelessness, the feeling knowing you can't do anything about something. He knows he cant do anything and its natural for him to do stuff for people and doesn't have the courage to do anything when he is inferior to someone.
At that moment he thought that if he became a cultivator then people could respect him and he would be able to do something about stuff that happens. He thought that maybe he wouldn't become completely useless. He would become someone people could rely on. He could help people like him in need of help.