Jian's eyes fluttered, the first rays of the sun hitting his face and forcing him to wake up. He tried to move but immediately groaned.
He looked down and saw that he was heavily wounded, traces of blood still visible on the bandages that were applied to his body. Though this level of pain was totally bearable for him.
He couldn't really see his current state, so he decided to get up and walk towards the mirror he had in that small wooden house of his.
" Gah !"
However he tripped over something and fell on the ground. Glaring at whatever he had tripped over, his eyes carried some traces of surprised as he saw it was the Red Sky Sword. What really shocked him enough to jump away was the fact that the Sword had become bigger. It had actually repaired itself a bit.
Yet, Jian just shook his head and walked towards the mirror, thinking that he was just imagining things. When he reached the mirror, he took his time to analyze the current state of his body, and in the end deduced that he required a day of rest.
" Well, it ended better than I....Huh ?" Jian came to a stop as he saw something on his shoulder....It was a hand !
" FUCK !!" Yelled Jian as the hand actually gripped his shoulder. He tried to move away but was kept in place. His features changed suddenly, the moon in a sun appearing on his forehead while his eyes became completely blank. Yet he could still see for some obscure reasons.
" No need to be scared, dear child." Said a strange voice. What made Jian shiver was the fact that this voice sounded like an extremely sweet woman and an extremely burly man were talking at the same time.
" Wh-Who..." Jian tried to talk but nothing came out of his mouth. However in the next second, a white light surrounded his body and his mind calmed instantly.
[ Consider this a little gift from me , Master ]
" Oh ? What might this voice be ? Are we being watched by a superior being ? Wukong is that you ? Or maybe Zeus ?" Asked the voice in a mocking tone.
' He doesn't know about the system ?'
" Well anyway. As I said, there is no need to be scared child. I did not come here to hurt you. I merely want to discuss a bit with you." Said the voice. His features went back to normal and the hand disappeared, however Jian could see footsteps appearing on the ground. One after the other until the being reached Jian's bed and jumped on it. Jian could clearly see that the being had an imposing body, since it was leaving a mark on the entire bed.
" Discuss about what ?" Asked Jian, sounding a little bit more confident.
" Oh, about the weather.....And maybe about the little mistake I made." Said the voice.
" Mistake ? What are you even talking about ?" Asked Jian, now completely confused.
" You surely remember that your body had been possessed and whoever possessed it released some unholy Qi....I am the one who possessed you. I have been sealed inside this body of yours for who knows how long, and after some time I heard some inhumane voice and was finally able to get out. I was a bit too excited and released too much Qi, which might bring a disaster upon this Sect of yours in the next months. " Said the being.
" Inhumane voice ? You mean the system ?" Asked Jian, however he could tell the being was taken aback by his words.
" The.....So that's why....It is pretty logical I guess. Well it doesn't matter. Given that I may have potentially ruined your life, I want to make up for it. " Said the being, a little bit of mirth in his/her voice.
" Make up for it ? And how would you do that ?" Asked Jian, who was now licking his lips in anticipation. It may be quite a good thing.
" Give you the power to manipulate Demons ? Sacrifice millions of souls to give you power ? Oh ! I could also torture to death all those who wronged you in the past !" Said the being. Jian nearly puked as a profound feeling of disgust crept up in his heart. For some reasons he could almost see the creature's hideous smile.
" What are you ?! Some sort of Demonic God ?!" Yelled Jian.
" Me ? Well not really.....Or maybe ? Ah, who knows ! But I can tell you something I clearly am not." Said being, getting up from the bed and walking towards Jian.
Jian himself turned his head when he heard a voice behind the door, but his head was grabbed by two clawed hands, some blood being drawed because of the extreme sharpness of the claws.
" Your enemy." Said the being simply before it disappeared and the door opened. An inner disciple appeared at the door and sneered when he saw Jian's wide eyes and the sweat flowing on his forehead.
" Tch ! Jian you've been promoted to Inner Disciple ! Also since you ended up in the top three, you will receive guidance from one of the Gate Elders. North Gate Elder, Luo Tu is waiting for you, so you better come with me quickly. " Said the disciple with some disdain barely hidden in his voice.
Since Jian was still shocked, he merely nodded and followed after the disciple. The boy only got back on earth as they reached the North Gate Elder's pavillion. Said pavillion wasn't big by any means , it actually looked quite basic.
" North Gate Elder is a man who could care less about things such as being rich and looking rich. He only wants to cultivate, so that's why his pavillion isn't really impressive." Said the disciple with some hatred in his voice when he noticed that Jian was disappointed.
" Oh..."
The disciple lead Jian inside and left when an old man told him to. Said old man was quite tall, towering over Jian easily. He had some wrinkles but still looked younger than most elders. He had gray hair and a huge scar on the nose. He had the eyes of an eagle, and he used them well to intimidate Jian.
" Follow me." Said Luo Tu. Jian nodded and followed after him. On their way Jian saw that there were books absolutely everywhere. The whole pavillion seemed to be a gigantic library. Jian also noticed that most books were about Beast Taming but kept quiet.
After some time they reached the Elder's office and Jian's eyes widened. A few meters away from the Elder's desk was a small table. That small table had two piles of books on it, but they weren't simple books.
' They are Techniques and Spells' books. I can also see a book on pill refinement and one on....Beast Taming ?!' Thought Jian.
" This whole guidance from an Elder doesn't interest me. Most disciples there are little ingrates who can't distinguish bad from good. Just pick a book and get out of here. " Said the Old Man in a cold tone. Jian shivered just by hearing his voice. It seemed like Luo Tu didn't really appreciate his presence.
However Jian did something the Elder hadn't thought he would do !
" You....You picked the book on Beast Taming ? Why did you do that ?" Asked Luo Tu, his eyes becoming fierce in an instant. Jian could almost feel the killing intent directed at him even though the Elder was hiding it.
"W-Well....I just thought it was cool." Said Jian. He immediately regretted his words as the Elder dropped his head and then shook it multiple times.
" It seems like I must admonish this disciple of mine and tell him to treat you with a bit more respect. " Said Luo Tu.
" Huh ?" Jian simply couldn't understand what the Elder meant by that. Though he could guess the Elder's disciple was the one who brought him here.
" Hahaha ! A young man who can recognize the appeal of Beast Taming is indeed worthy of respect . Most of these youngsters only want battle skills, never even glancing at other useful skills and techniques. Well except that Jin Wang, but he's a bit special. Well since you find Beast Taming' Cool' , sit down and let me explain to you just how right you are !" Exclaimed the Gate Elder. He then started to talk for hours and hours, explaining many things about Beast Taming to jian. Since the Elder looked so passionate, Jian let him talk and just paid attention as much as he could.
In the end, the Gate Elder had laughed and told him that he could pick the book on Beast Taming AND a battle skill, which brought a smile on Jian's face since he wanted the two. He then went back home , completely forgetting about the fact that he was now an inner disciple and should visit the Inner Court.
What he didn't know was that he had been the subject of a conversation between two important figures of the Sect.
**************
( A few minutes after Jian left, North Gate Elder's pavillion )
" Ah come inside, come inside !" Said Luo Tu as he welcomed his new guest. Said guest looked quite surprised at Luo Tu's happy expression and sweatdropped.
" You seem a bit too happy for my taste. What happened ?" Asked the guest.
" Well....I encountered an interesting youth just a few minutes ago. It has been a long time since I talked about Beast Taming for hours like that. " Said Luo Tu, eliciting a gasp from his guest.
" Hours ? Luo Tu you must introduce this disciple to me....I really want to meet someone who can go through hours of you talking nonstop. " Said the guest. Luo Tu glared at him and threw a book at him, but the guest merely dodged.
" And what about you ? What happened ? Why did you even come here ?" Asked Luo Tu.
" Lu'er was hunting a Mortal Realm Beast in the woods and heard something weird coming from one of the Poisonous Raja's caves. She entered the cave and saw something.....*Sigh* This Unholy Energy we felt at the waterfall seemed to have forced it out of it's slumber." Said the guest.
" It is indeed some terrible news. However we know how to deal with it. We should be fine." Said Luo Tu.
" You really don't understand politics. If the Poisonous Raja can wander outside, it means we are not powerful enough to stop it. Which means that other forces may be tempted to cause trouble for us. We need to step up our game a bit, if you know what I mean. " Said the guest. Luo Tu caught the dangerous glint in the guest's eyes and gulped.
" What do you have in mind ?" Asked the Gate Elder.
" We should allow more Inner Disciples to take missions. Also we should begin to create more competition between the disciples and reward the winners better. We need to stimulate them as much as we can. " Said the guest. Luo Tu nodded but had a pensive expression.
" I guess it's a chance we got a few promising recruits then. " Said Luo Tu.
" Indeed, you should keep an eye on those two kids....Jian and Zhao Shu. I don't really trust Wei Fang to do that, he's too busy being an overbearing parent. " Said the guest.
" En....I know what you mean. I will do my best .....Sect Head !"