As the two moved into the distance a cloud of dust to rose upward which left a dusty trail behind them, the sandy earth seemed to stretch on endlessly it was barren and seemingly devoid of life, but life existed in theses conditions though not as abundant as in the verdant forest or in the lush grassy plain, it was still their this showed the resilience of life.
After covering a distance of over a thousand miles Tristan was covered with sweat and as he gasped for air due to exhaustion he stopped to catch his breath but the instance he did the ground beneath his feet shook as if hit by an earthquake and a sandworm shot upward.
Tristan's body flew up then a sword appeared in hand in that instance he felt a feeling of stillness as if he wasn't even moving but that feeling came and left like the wind he fell down and his hand moved at a terrifying speed and the sandworm which had the four parts of its mouth got its head slashed into 18 pieces.
Its body fell like a falling tree and blood rushed into the air dying the sky red and as Tristan fell to the ground he twisted his body midair like an agile snake and he landed some distance way.
Boom!
Sand rose high into the air as the sandworms body slammed into the sandy earth its bred blood poured into the earth and burnt a massive whole into the earth, Tristan's sword rusted away, his brows furrowed as he tried to recall that feeling but he couldn't quite grasp it he then brushed it aside and thought seriously about that attack.
In the instance he swung his sword a vague force could be felt but it couldn't be grasped, after an intense analysis he couldn't find any faults.
Tristan looked to the Dao fragment and asked for help in a soft voice, the Dao fragment on the other hand remained silent, Tristan scratched his head foolishly then took out a tent from his storage and began to set up camp. After setting up camp he ate a meal with Zanier then went outside to train.
With a sword in hand he adjusted his condition but a sudden thought flashed as he then looked at the sky.
The dark sky above shown like a black gem was crystal clear like a mirror that was without impurities, the stars shown onto this world like diamonds, their brilliant luster engulfed the planets that orbited them, all of this could be seen and more his will power rushed out at this moment and swept the heavens above.
"Far beyond are things unforeseen, ones path is fleeting, ones life holds no meaning, the truth one seek is a mystery, order lies in strength so you who wishes to know, for you who wishes to transform, Fight for what you want!"
Tristan's blood was sent into a chaotic state his sword moved and a shocking force rushed out then it began to transform it seemed to be ever moving like a river or like the flow of time.
A surging momentum invisible to the human eyes rushed into the sand and moved as if it was a flowing river but it didn't stop their because Tristan began to execute various techniques he developed causing, the momentum to rise and fell with every movement of his sword.
Tristan seemed to have been sucked into an unknown realm as he swung his sword and twisted about endlessly soon enough he seemed to have grasped the essence of momentum he jolted awake as if waking from a deep sleep then looked at the clear sky that was immediately covered with dark clouds.
He didn't continue to train because he sensed a more fortuitous encounter in the days to come so he went back into the tent, cleaned up and rested the next morning Tristan eyes were half open when he suddenly felt the ground beneath him vibrate.
Boom!
A broken tent flew into the air and a massive sandworm could be seen below, in the next moment it was torn into shreds and an angry Tristan could be seen with blood seeping from his lips, his body then repositioned mid air and he attacked the sandworm fiercely sparks flew in the air like fireflies he fell back and landed on the ground.
As he was staring at the sand worm the ground beneath his feet began to shake he jumped to the side and another sand worm appeared but this one was smaller similar to the one from earlier.
Tristan then thought about where the heck was Zanier but the enemies in front were one to worry about so he focused and rushed forth but with a sudden movement of a sand worm he was sent flying with 7 of his rib bones were broken.
In this world one had to use everything when fighting weather it was dirty tactics underhanded methods or all of ones strength it was necessary to survive, the world wasn't fragile as to break under your small and puny frame.
"hahahahahahahahaha"
He laughed out loud and Tristan began to 'ACTUALY' fight he attacked the sand worms with everything, fist, palm, sword, spear, legs he even rammed into one with his body.
Sand flew into the air as the battle drew to its conclusion Tristan lay still on the ground his body covered with bruises and he coughed up blood continuously, almost every bone in his body was broken.
A sandworm with its mouth wide open dived down and Zanier appeared at this moment with a mysterious smile then bisected the sand worm then took out some fleshy things at the center Tristan's vision faded.
That strange liquid inside of Tristan's body began to work over time it shown dimly it began to expel the shattered bones and whatnot out of Tristan's body, but it wasn't the only one the energy center was sending out nerves continuously replacing some old with new, the lump in his head grew larger it festered about till it was the size of a small golf ball.
Something was definitely odd but right about these three transformations, that chilly sensation again that feeling of stillness that feeling of . . . Tristan suddenly sat upright and found that he was in a tent he opened the tent to find that it was bright outside causing him to temporarily cover his eyes he then went out and looked about but as soon as he did he felt the ground beneath him shake.
A slender hand delicate like porcelain pulled him back in and a pair of beautiful eyes stared at him. Tristan was perplexed because the figure who pulled him in wasn't Zanier but someone different.
He stared at her warily then a cold voice sounded out beneath the thin vail that covered her face.
"if I had ill intent I would've let you stay out their and let that sandworm devour you whole or just killed you myself"
Hearing this Tristan relaxed because he felt that the person in front wasn't an enemy but an alai he then looked outside warily, the woman then looked at him with an odd look then invited him to eat some food.
Tristan nodded and turned around and was shocked because he hadn't been paying attention to share size of this tent it was exaggeratedly large and the space was seemingly endless Tristan wandered if he had fallen into another world, and as he followed behind her Tristan couldn't help but stare at the woman's round and firm bottom that undulated like waves and her small willowy waist that swayed gracefully and as he stared on the woman turned head slightly to look at him she let out a small 'hmph' bringing Tristan to his senses, he smiled foolishly.
They then entered a room were the dishes had already been made and a faint meaty aroma spread the two then sat around a large bond fire that lay at the center of this room, he found it odd but sat to eat anyway.
Tristan looked around and she indicated for him to eat, he picked up the bowl of soup and grilled meat then he took a bite his eyes shown with light as he dived in as if he hadn't eaten anything for a weeks after having his fill Tristan looked around lazily then asked uninterestedly.
"What are those sandworms?"
She answered they are the creatures of the desert
Tristan frowned and said "I know that but why do they attack as soon as you step on the ground?"
She stopped eating then spoke calmly, "that is due to the lack of fluid in the desert some areas aren't so bad and get rain but the rest is dry and hardly get any water so the animals here adapted to this and went under ground they only move during the day if they sense if any water signatures on the surface and sleep at night due to the temperature dropping to a frightening level."
Tristan nodded then asked where was zanier, . . . the woman replied with a smile "she is in closed door training" "oh'' the two then continued to talk until they went off topic the talked until their was nothing to really talk about creating an awkward moment of silence between the two the woman's eyes sparkled as she looked at Tristan strangely then asked in meaningful tone "have you ever felt that this world was strange?"
Tristan pondered for a moment then shook his head, "I've never really thought about it but their was that one time I felt been this feeling of stillness like I'm not really here but somewhere but I've never really put much thought into it."
Her eyes flashed with an odd light then she said with a pressing tone "you should put some thought into it sometimes, you may never know what conclusions you might come to hehe you might even find out the truth about this world"
Her face straightened as she excused herself she then spoke as her figure disappeared "get some rest while you can you'll need it" Tristan nodded then wondered about the tent before he found a room with a small bed he stretched then lay in bed and thought about the words that woman said about this world being strange.
He thought about it for a while from the very first time he came to the demonic realm to present and their was something that caught his attention and that was the encounters were too perfect, almost programed in a sense he tried to press into the matter again but that feeling washing over him again he was still and through the cracks of his vison a glass . . . then his vision went dark and he fell asleep with that weird feeling.
As time passed Tristan's snores echoed in the tent but it was soon stabilized by an unknown force then a pair of beautiful eyes shown in the darkness she moved forward her hands holding an electrical device of some sort she aimed it at Tristan's head then frowned and said "this is far worse than 'we' thought."
After a while of analysis she was about to leave the room when she had a thought "I want to know what you're future will be like" and with that a split appeared on her forehead it then it opened, t was a vertical eye
AS the eye revealed itself it shown with faint radiance and a hazy mist lingered then an scenery appeared before she coughed up blood she and her vertical eye bled profusely she looked at Tristan with horror as she thought of that hazy figure that laughed as he moved about on primal chaos but before she could see what he was laughing at or where he was walking to a pair of eyes stared at her not her but rather at him they were simple but that pressure the instant it appaired she withdrew her future sight.
Even then, she still suffered such a backlash she used her inner vision and saw that she had dropped from the immortal emperor to immortal formation first stage she was horrified.
Just a gaze and she was almost ruined she stared the sleeping boy deeply then her figure disappeared from sight and she reappeared in a room that was filled with a formless energy her cultivation quickly stabilized.
Night fell and Tristan woke up with a jolt his body felt energetic and his spirits were high he went outside strangely enough no sandworms came outside was freezing cold Tristan then began to practice with his momentum
In that mysterious room a pair of eyes stared into the void then a sigh echoed out and her figure faded and she appeared next to Tristan she sighed again and said "such talent but its a pity" she then said "can you not see your sword is opposing your path you seem to pursue the natural transformations but your sword does not"
Tristan was startled by her sudden arrival but listened, she sighed again and said "once upon a time I found a manual from a world long forgotten" she then looked at the Dao fragment and said that world seemed to have been erased from the records of time, but the Dao fragment was silent and remained eerily still.
She sighed again then reached into her robes and took out a book it was simple and unadorned the sides of the book were eroded away but the information was unaffected she sighed again and spoke "I hope that this will help you in the days to come" she looked away then disappeared from sight.
And as she did so she left a few words "I will give you pointers on the basics but I cant help you past that"
Tristan looked at the book for a minute then started to look through the book the first page had diagrams of the human body that was drawn to perfection then on the next page their were comments about the human structure.
Though the human body can withstand stress and load it is still fragile so we researched over and over again on how to make oneself strong and with that we came to understand a few basic principles.
the essence of exercise was to make the most out of a movement or position to develop ones body so going along this line of thought the we came up with the most efficient movement pattern and stances to help develop a strong and healthy body but with the increase of strength so did the peoples yearning for power so the basics wouldn't be enough so they established realms in body training.
First is foundation realm . . . Second is the seamless realm . . . Third is perfection realm . . . Fourth is transcendence realm and lastly is the simple realm, each stage had two sub realms that had to be reached before advancing to the other realms . . . simplification and unification.
the book continued experts who have reached the simple realm have discovered that they could redo the realms and become even stronger and that was for example a simple expert who redid the entire 5 realms were at the lesser perfection stage and those who reached greater perfection redid the 5 realms 5 times perfect perfection 20 times transcended perfection 100 and simple perfection 1 time.
As Tristan read to here he wondered why only once but their was no explanation so he continued to the next page weapon handling on this page their were the five major realms foundation, seamless, perfection, Transcendence and Simple and their were 2 sub realms that had to be reached before advancing to the other realms . . . simplification unification.
First is foundation realm . . . Second is the seamless realm . . . Third is perfection realm . . . Fourth is transcendence realm and lastly is the simple realm, each stage had two sub realms that had to be reached before advancing to the other realms . . . simplification and unification.
The book continued experts who have reached the simple realm have discovered that they could redo the realms and become even stronger and that was for example a simple expert who redid the entire 5 realms were at the lesser perfection stage and those who reached greater perfection redid the 5 realms 5 times perfect perfection 20 times transcended perfection 100
and simple perfection 1 time.
It still ended at at simple being once and Tristan wondered why was that but he noticed that their were a few more pages so he scanned through and was surprised to see that their were other techniques such as palm fist foot work breathing and a few others that didn't seem important but would be helpful.
Tristan shut the book his eyes filled with light then he began to practice time passed and the sun began to rise Tristan retreated into the tent his hopes for night to come growing with every passing second now this went on for months he was growing stronger by the day and his natural transformation was complete and all that was left to do now was to become stronger.
Tristan stood still and a formless aura surrounded him he felt it clearly he had broken through to the perfection realm in the body and his techniques were at the transcendent level with this level of control his body would soon break the limits and reach the transcended level.
The sun began to rise and Tristan retreated into the tent he new that even if he broke through to the simple realm that wasn't the end because he would have to go over the five realms in body and techniques in order to reach new heights night came and the cycle repeated itself for 2 months.
During this time Tristan doubts towards reality increased he recalled the past and stood still at present but for some strange reason he felt he knew what would happen in the future as if programed or designed into him he thought about it deeply before he had a vague vision that a great enemy would come but he paid no heed to this.
Tristan stood on the sandy earth and a formless pressure emanated from his body he had reached the transcendence realm in body and his techniques reached the simple realm so with this level of control he began to train his body and during this time he fought sandworms and trained at night.
Tristan noticed something the stronger he got the more out of place he felt he felt like he wasn't their like this world was a bit fake it all just seemed off while he was having his doubts that woman came again her demeanor different as she spoke softly her words simple as she began to fade "I will be leaving this world till we meet in the new earth."
Tristan heard this phrase again then that feeling as if he was not here but somewhere else washed over but he was at a break through and would need all his attention so he focused and a formless pressure exploded from within disturbing the sandy earth at this moment he felt sleepy but he focused with all his might.
That formless pressure kept increasing and the sandy earth moved about and undulated like waves he could breakthrough at any minute.
2 months passed like this the strange liquid in Tristan's body was ignited that lump in the center of his head grew to the size of a fist and his energy/nerve center had replace 70% of his nerves during the final moments before his transformation Tristan was feeling more and more strange but he pushed that feeling aside then sat cross-legged, Zanier whos face was now covered by a vail was observing from a distance during this time and she remembered the words her master said, " when the appointed time comes give him this"
Tristan sat cross-legged and his presence began to fade but at this moment his body shook and a transparent liquid began to seep from his body then that liquid began to turn red, Tristan's body began to dry out but before Zanier's eyes and before she could see anymore his body was immediately wrapped with the oddly colored liquid that seeped from his body.
The Dao wheel submerged itself within the liquid as it then crystalized and formed a blood cocoon.
-larva will now hatch and inhabit host
Tristan's head throbbed as he felt tendrils wriggling inside his head his eyes shot open and that lump in his head sent out a strand of will and halted the process, his eyes flashed and he thought back to the awakening chamber then that that orb of light entered his head it all made sense.
The enemy is the system and that . . .