Fang Jian's nose wrinkled as he was assaulted by the acrid smell of burnt hair before he even opened his eyes. The embodiment of the yang serpent was no longer wrapped around his torso, but he could feel that it was still present within himself. The Heavenly Empire Spirit Token was still clutched in his right hand; he discreetly tucked the token into his sleeve as he opened his eyes to stand and greet his rapidly approaching elders.
"Father, your son was successful, this son has been given the King Serpent Sacred Spirit Art!" Fang Jian knew well that treasure brought trouble, so he concealed the reality from his inheritance, at least until he was powerful enough to defend it. Feng Zhong may have acted on his benefit, but that did not mean he was trustworthy. He would share this truth only with his father, and only when he could be certain others did not overhear.
"Congratulations! Would you like this elder to have the archives searched to determine the provenance of your inheritance?" Fang MingKuan eagerly accepted Feng Zhong's offer, knowing that if Fang Jian could know the origin of his inheritance, it could only be a good thing; most would have to pay a hefty fee to have the scholars do such time wasting research. Feng Zhong Clapped his hands twice and two attendants appeared as if from nowhere.
"Go to the archives, Fang Jian was the inheritor of The King Serpent Sacred Spirit Art- deliver the results to the Fang House as quickly as possible." As quickly as the attendants had appeared, they were gone; even though he was watching intently, Fang Jian could not hope to track them with the naked eye.
"I will instruct my son, Feng Shoushan, to watch for your arrival to the outer pavilion spirit hall. He will be your senior brother as the top outer disciple, and he will help you when you need it. Work hard and find success for our Hidden Shadow Sect." Feng Zhong nodded with finality and immediately departed.
"You have made me proud! Even just within the Inheritance array you have increased your cultivation so much! Mortal gold star the day after you've awakened your body dantian! You must be a genius. There is nothing wrong with being a late bloomer!" Fang MingKuan excitedly pounded Fang Jian's back as they embraced. Fang Jian could only smile as he tried to convince his father to regain his composure.
"Father, my gains are even more than you have imagined, but I would rather hide my fortune from all of Wu Gui. Let's rush home so I can provide you with details."
Darkness had long laid claim to the Elder Hall Courtyard by the time Fang Jian and his father were prepared to leave. The duo were left with two options, seek accommodations for the night, or rent a Sun grade palanquin- which would cost around the same as renting a room, but would also include arrays designed to protect the interior from prying eyes and ears. Fang Mingkuan decided that they should make haste to their home and rented the palanquin, too eager to learn more about the success of his son to wait to arrive home the next day.
Once settled in the Palanquin, Fang MingKuan instantly activated the privacy array and looked to his son expectantly. Fang Jian silently removed the Heavenly Empire Spirit Medallion from his sleeve and passed it to his father. Fang MingKuan looked in curiosity before his eyebrows shot up as he probed the medallion with his divine sense.
"This is the truth of my inheritance, the Heavenly Empire Spirit Medallion. As of now, my cultivation is too low to even receive my inheritance by activating this medallion. The spirit remnant of Feng Jianyu that had been living within the array presented this to me." His father's eyes had grown progressively larger as he spoke- with his raised eyebrows and wide eyes he looked comical enough as his composure cracked and he nearly dropped the wooden token.
"This token is the inheritance of the Heavenly Immortal Emperor? At first, I could sense nothing from it, as if it was an ordinary chip of wood, but the moment my divine sense touched it I felt the weight of subtle emperor presence within- even after so long. How profound must the heights of cultivation truly be?" Fang MingKuan handed the medallion back to his son before closing his eyes and settling his breath. The energy within the palanquin seemed to vibrate for the briefest of moments before swirls of deep violet energy began to whirl around Fang Mingkuan, before being absorbed with his breath.
"A breakthrough! I have been stuck at the Deathless Mortal Red star for several years, but the presence of the subtle emperor pressure has cleared away my confusion! This is an incredible day for our house!" Fang Jian internally worried that his shoulder would become deformed if he told his father any more good news as he, once more, heartily slapped his shoulder out of excitement.
"Congratulations on your advancement, Father, I only hope my advancement will come as easily. To activate this medallion I will have to open my soul dantian and gain access to postnatal Qi. I was fortunate to also inherit the King Serpent Sacred Spirit art to cultivate until my comprehension supersedes the Semi Mortal Realm and I can cross the dragon gate and become a Waking Mortal specialist." Fang MingKuan leaned forward in his seat at the mention of his son's public inheritance.
"You mean that the King Serpent art is real? I thought it was something you invented to protect the secret of your emperor's destiny. You are so much a genius that the array gave you the inheritance of two masters?" Fang Jian held his hands up to try to keep his father calm.
"The King Serpent sacred spirit art was formed by the remnants of the Yang Serpent Spirit that had invaded me when I was bitten. It was not an ordinary yang serpent, but a Yang Serpent King. The only reason I survived the attack equivalent to a Waking- Mortal expert was my indestructible triple helix meridians. Within the Inheritance array I had the opportunity to refine it's remnant soul and it is now a part of me." Fang MingKuan clutched his chin as he considered his son's words.
"It is unfortunate that I accepted Elder Zhong's offer to search the archives for your inheritance, an undocumented art is not unusual, but it will cause you to appear weak to those who know. I am sorry that I have weakened the camouflage offered by your serpent art. It was very prudent to hide the true nature of your inheritance." Fang MingKuan slumped into his seat, exhausted by his son's Heavenly Destiny and the dangers it may bring.
"There is more, father. Feng Jianyu revealed to me that there are restrictions on Wu Gui and these restrictions are going to dissolve now that I have accepted my inheritance. The restriction hides all of Wu Gui from those who are not within it's boundary. We have one hundred years to prepare for the dissolution of the restriction and our exposure to the dangers of the Starry Sky." The concept of life beyond Wu Gui was not unheard of, the enormous flying sword that had transported the ancestors of the current inhabitants made it impossible to ignore, but ten thousand years of history had long returned any information about a protective restriction to the void.
"This information should not be hidden from everyone else, but we still do not want to reveal the truth of your inheritance yet. A century is a long time, even for those who walk the immortal path, there are things that can be done without revealing anything- it is not as if the people of Wu Gui are going to wait to increase their strength." Fang Jian nodded as he considered the future, both near and distant.
"The Beast wave will come in two years, father. We can fabricate a rumor that this beast wave will be worse than the last and urge the factions to improve defenses. We also need to strengthen the position of the Fang family. I have been an anchor for too long, but our family will rise to the top with me! My first goal is to become an inner disciple of Hidden Shadow Sect. Once I have the resources of an inner disciple the speed of my cultivation will increase and I will activate the inheritance of Feng Jianyu sooner."
"I will focus on improving my level as well, I will be taking a trip to Gu Shan in three months time. I must survey the status of the mountain and determine what we can do moving forward to increase our family position. If you have reached Dark green Semi-mortal when I leave, I will take you with me for experience." Having resolved the matter of his true inheritance, Fang Jian and his father spent the rest of the trip home celebrating the surprising successes of the day.
The following day Fang Jian remained secluded within his chamber. It was miraculous that his cultivation had improved so rapidly, but that also left room for weaknesses within his foundation. He spent the day consolidating his foundation to avoid any future problems. His Qi flowed with a steadiness and speed several magnitudes better than before he had gone to the Elder Hall.
His flawless, glass-like meridians allowed him to circulate the entirety of the prenatal Qi within his body dantian as the Yang serpent spirit cycled with Fang Jian's Qi, not only increasing his cultivation speed, but also growing alongside Fang Jian. Being alone, he finally had the chance to investigate the mysteries of the spirit living within his meridians. As he allowed his concentration to shift from cultivating to the spirit, impurities began to form in his flowing Qi, but the serpent spirit instantly refined the impurity into pure Yang Qi, supplementing Fang Jian's strength rather than reducing it. Fang Jian was shocked as he realized the serpent spirit would protect him from virtually any risk associated with cultivating recklessly. He decided not to push his luck and try to force his promotion though, as he understood all things have their own limits.\
As he continued to focus on the revolution of his Qi and the movement of the serpent, he felt no hunger and no exhaustion. He applied the revelations of the previous day and attempted to further refine the spirit, seeking a primordial oneness, when he was transported suddenly and found himself deep within a hole in the ground. The atmosphere was dank and cloistered within the hole that was smaller than any man or child could hope to fit within and the air was heavy with spirit vapor.
Fang Jian was filled with the sensation of recent awakening, as if his soul was newly born to the world- he was filled with an insatiable hunger, a burning, driving force to consume and satiate his need. He crawled forward at the behest of his hunger, leaving then den of his birth and emerging in a world composed of mammoth coniferous trees, so wide around he could not see beyond the trunk of the massive tree in front of him- even the lowest branches were shrouded in foggy clouds. In this world of trees, he began to seek sustenance. His venom was chaotic and potent; with every strike of his fangs he found a new source of Qi to syphon and ingest.
With every demonized beast he devoured, the void within, the insatiable need, only seemed to grow more insistent. For one hundred years, then one thousand years Fang Jian crawled the mountains and Forests of Wu Gui, striking everything in his path in a failed attempt to solve his immutable hunger. After nearly ten thousand years, he found his way to the grassy plains of central Wu Gui, on a day shrouded in with spirit vapor.
Vibrant world energy fluctuations had attracted his attention and lured him to what initially appeared to be a rival yang serpent, but was in truth, a spirit herb. His eager stomach left him feeling disappointed when he discovered it was not something he could strike and devour. He decided to curl up inside the flower and await some herb devouring beast he could strike and absorb.
The first creature to approach was a strange beast with two legs. The beast was filled with unknown Qi, he struck without a second thought, hoping this new Qi could assuage his ravenous hunger. As his fangs pierced the flesh of the strange beast, Fang Jian awakened, returned to his body. His Qi was fluctuating wildly, boiling as it circulated out of control. The same pain he felt when bitten by the yang serpent had returned.
He breathed deeply through his nose, filling his lungs to their depths, and slowly released that breath from his mouth. His prenatal Qi was raging out of control as he fought to calm and restore it's natural cycle. If he could not regain control of his energy, it could run rampant and explode. The fear caused impurities to form with his Qi as it circulated, the serpent spirit devoured the impurities, leaving behind pure Yang Qi and tempering his wild prenatal Qi. His heartbeat slowly returned to a normal pace as he regained composure and accepted the serpent, and it's hunger, as a part of himself. His impurities absolved the serpent of its hunger, even if only slightly.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed or absorbed. The Yang serpent spirit no longer possessed a physical body, it had no way to absorb the impurities it devoured, so it could only convert them to refine-able, pure Yang Qi. The turbulence within Fang Jian quickly quieted , the spiritual dissonance that he felt from the anger of the serpent spirit had been resolved, allowing them to become truly fused and sympathetic. His foundation was more naturally diffused through his body than ever before and he felt possessed of powerful physical might.
He had already crossed the boundary from Gold star Mortal to black star Semi-Mortal. Not only was his physical strength empowered, but as he breathed deeply he realized that his vitality was also empowered. As the new potency of his prenatal Qi blossomed through his body the serpent spirit tripled in length and girth, expanding his meridians and forcing them to accommodate. Reliving the ten thousand year life of the yang serpent, and bearing the attack of its death rage, were the last stages in refining the spirit. The Yang king serpent was a part of him and gave him full access to the boons of the king serpent sacred spirit art.
The serpent spirit revolved in his meridians, constantly seeking energy, constantly hungry for growth. The very same insatiable desire Fang Jian had suffered as he lived the life of the serpent now suffused his being- so much so that his stomach groaned in protest and he decided to leave his seclusion and take the first step on his path to becoming an inner disciple of Hidden Shadow sect .