Spring of thirty years ago.
"Hyah!" A horse charged through a bustling street at high speed, the rider passing by in a red blur. Seated at a table in front of a teashop with a hood over her face, a pair of onyx eyes seemed to catch the image clearly, though, even noting the jade token on the young man's waist. A sly smirk curved up the peach coloured lips of this mysterious stranger that no one paid attention to, even though she stuck out among the crowd like a sore thumb.
She rose and lifted her feet from behind the teashop's table, and then literally vanished into thin air, the dust stirring up where there had been feet just a second ago.
A horse with an impatient rider charged through a disused trail in a green forest. Presently the horse reared up against its owner's will, snorting violently and attempting to buckle it's rider. The owner responded by whipping it severely, which only served to increase the horse's fury.
"Damn!" The young man swore as he jumped up the horse and with a flick of his sleeve stored it in his spatial space. He glanced anxiously around the terrain and leaped behind a dense bush. It was just in time too, for the surrounding atmosphere seemed to shimmer and melt as a bright light appeared next to where the horse stood just now. The light widened and took on the shape of a door and the hooded figure from earlier stepped out of it. Behind the bush, the young man's eyes widened. Space Tearing Arts?!? But...how?! Who was this expert and why were they here now??!
"Come out," the hooded expert said in a low voice, but one could still tell it was feminine, "do you want to die or not?"
The young man gulped. What kind of wording was this? It seemed like she was the one intending to kill him, rather than the one saving him. He got up shakily fron behind the bush and took three cautious steps forward.
"This-- why is such an expert as your venerate here?" He finally managed to ask. Since when had such techniques as such as the Space Tearing Arts appeared in the Lower Prefectures? Only... Only a Martial Saint was capable of utilising it!! He shook in his boots...a Martial Saint?!?? Was this expert one? Oh my, oh my, the young man was almost hyperventilating...to think! To think he would be breathing in the same air as a Martial Saint....! No..pshh, to think he was within ten metres of a Martial Saint?!?!!
The woman under the hood sneered. Suddenly, she raised her hand. About five projectiles shot out from her sleeves and hit several points in the forest with low thuds. Or was the sound the elite tracking team of the Lan Sect dropping dead? The young man shivered again.
"There. I've helped you deal with your enemies. How will you pay me back?"
"That," biting his lip, he could not come up with a reply, "your venerate must have had your own reasons for rescuing an hapless worthless idiot like me--"
"Don't say that," the tsubdere shot back.
"--so this junior will do whatever is required of me," the young man qui kly lifted his robes and knelt on the forest floor with a thud. The visible mouth under the hood curled up in a smirk.
"Stand up,"
"This junior doesn't dare," he couldn't stand for much longer anyway. The euphoria of being so proximate to a Martial Saint, as well as the slowly creeping toxin of the Yan Sect that was now paralysing his muscles, all worked together to make him unable to remain on his feet. This person...she was probably also after the Icy Heart Technique.... But still he wondered, with her level of cultivation, why would she need something like that? The young man closed his eyes as he suppressed the urge to spew out a mouthful of blood. Actually...he did not mind handing over the Technique since she had saved his life. However..., He just had one final request.
"Your venerate," the blood was now dribbling out of the corner of his mouth, "this junior is willing to hand over the Icy Heart Technique. However, this junior has a final wish that I dare ask your venerate to help me fulfil,"
"What Icy Heart Technique are you talking about?" the tone was slightly mocking and also seemingly uninterested. He forged on though.
"Since things has come to this, and this junior also doesn't have much longer to live; and I also owe you for not letting the Technique fall into the hands of the Yan Sect; then please allow this junior to see your face. I want to remember the face of my benefactor so in my next life I might be able to repay your kindness. Oh, by the way, the Technique is fused with this junior's body. As long as the life force of this junior is completely drained, the scroll will appear."
"For someone on the brink of death, you definitely have a lot to say," said the hooded expert as she lifted her feet and took three steps towards the almost collapsing young man. Crouching by him, she turned her hand palm up and a ornate pill bottle appeared in her hand. Pulling off the cover, the poured out a singular shiny yellow pill which she then stuffed into the young man's mouth. An handkerchief appeared in her hand next, and then she cleaned off the trickle of blood on the corner of his lip.
(☉｡☉)!!!!
His eyes bulged as, after wiping his mouth and tossing the bloodied handkerchief over her shoulder, she reached up and pulled off her hood. Her hair fell free, falling gracefully down her back and across her shoulders like an inky waterfall. Her face was...was... ethereal? Stunning? Astonishing beautiful? Yes, but what made the almost petrified young man unable to fully describe it like that, though it was all those things and more, were her deep, stern, harrowing jet black eyes that stared at him emotionlessly, as of boring through his very soul. Asides her eyes, the rest of her face was...beautiful!!! Was it her fluttering eyelashes he should speak of, or her straight dainty nose, or her round cheeks and her full peach lips? Her complexion was so fair, (and here it seemed he was already delirious) that the sunshine sparkled of it, and so fresh, that a primordial urge in him wanted to feel it very badly. Psshh! No, no! A Martial Saint, she was a Martial Saint, he quickly reminded himself. She could squish him to a pulp with just a thought.
"Well?" the expert drawled, "I have fulfilled your wish? You aren't dying though, and I have no interest in your what-did-you-call-it technique. I'm after you personally?"
Me?!?!?!?!? He almost had an heart attack!
"That-- that-- what does your venerate require of this bumbling idiot?"
"I said," the expert narrowed her eyes, "do not refer to yourself like that again," and she reached out and flicked him on the forehead.
....!
Alright, he decided not to overthink it.
"Forgive me, your venerate,"
"I don't like that title. You can call me Li Sihan," she rose from her crouch
"Pa-- pardon? This junior doesn't dare," as an aside, he suddenly realised he was feeling invigorated. He also could no longer detect the steady progress of the toxin, "that-- may I ask? The pill esteemed senior fed me, what was it?"
The expert turned and crossed her arms.
"I-- I mean-- Hero Li? the young man lowered his head bashfully as he experimented with this title. To his surprise, the woman, or rather, young lady (she appeared to be in her early twenties) laughed.
"Hero Li?" She repeated incredulously, shaking her head as she turned back towards him, "that's pretty bold of you,"
"Can i--"
"No. My name is Li Sihan. What's yours?"
He bit his lip.
"I am Xuan Hou."
Li Sihan sneered. She reached out her arm to him.
"Get up. I don't like this your name,"
"Hero Li can call me anything she likes," he quickly said as he grabbed hold of her hand and lifted himself up, "this junior doesn't like my name either,"
Li Sihan examined him. His eyes seemed to be clearing. With her hand holding his she used the opportunity to conduct a swift examination of his meridians and cultivation paths. The toxin fed to him by the Yan Sect seemed to have been mostly dispersed by the effects of the pill. However... She narrowed her eyes.
He had no idea that she was examining him, so he was a little flustered at her wistful expression that suddenly became displeased. He pulled out his hand from hers.
"That-- Hero Li still hadn't answered my question?"
"You're quite a stubborn lad. What did you ask?" Li Sihan was prone to not paying a lot of attention to people. I will have to remedy this habit of mine...she thought privately, now that I have someone I want to listen to...kekeke.
"I-- this junior asked what kind of pill was it that you fed me. In all my time at the Yan Sect, I've never come across something like it,"
"Of course," Li Sihan smirked, "you can never,"
"Well?" This Xuan Hou was extremely, to a fanatic extent, interested in medicinal alchemy. It was a pity though, that he had so far been unable to pursue his passion.
"It's called the Meridian Cleansing Pill."
....?
That wasn't a lot of information now, was it? Unconsciously, Xuan Hou hit his feet on the ground in frustration. Li Sihan smirked.
"Are you annoyed?"
He looked quite cute when he was pouting with crossed arms.
"Yes, Hero Li," Xuan Hou grumbled. Li Sihan chuckled mirthlessly.
"Too bad. Well, let's get out of here," she turned around.
"Where are we going? Where does Hero Li live?" Xuan Hou was quite giddy. Did Martial Saints live on the precipices of mountains as the legends said?
"I'm temporarily staying in a dirty hut on the other side of the empire,"
....?!?!?!
How were they going to get there then? Besides, who described their houses like that?
Li Sihan waved her sleeve. A winged horse suddenly appeared and landed on the ground in front of them. Xuan Hou leaped back and gripped her sleeves in fright. Li Sihan sneered.
"It's just a transport creature, what are you scared of?" She secretly liked the way he clung to her, though, "say hi to Kang Kang,"
The mountainous creature turned its head and lowered it with a snort in Xuan Hou's direction. It then stomped its feet rather impatiently.
"Let's go," Li Sihan pulled Xuan Hou and flew up onto the back of the horse which was almost twice their height. She sat behind him and wrapped her arms around him.
"Hmm," murmured Li Sihan as the horse reared off into the air, "I think I have a name for you now,"
*
Over the next few days the two, ahem, cultivators lived an idyllic life in Li Sihan's quaint little 'dirty' hut near a haunted wood. Xuan Hou, who Li Sihan had given the name Yi Hei, loved to wander in the woods and pick up medicinal plants. All he lacked was a cauldron and pill formulas, or he would have made a heap of pills already.
Seated on a boulder twirling the knotgrass leaf in his hand, Yi Hei smiled wistfully as he recalled the previous day. His...ahem, his benefactor seemed to belong, or rather, owned a mysterious powerful organisation. She had left since yesterday to deal with some matters that had cropped up. Saying goodbye had been... quite difficult for her .... He smirked as he tossed the knotgrass into the basket at his back and got up, stretching. He was glad that he had eventually summoned up the courage to ask her to bring back a cauldron for him. She had chuckled indulgently and nodded.
This person... Yi Hei unconsciously turned his steps towards a darker part of the wood where he had not ventured before. He was consumed in his thoughts and a faint blush was visible on his face. Lifting his foot to take the next step, his entire body suddenly froze.
Turning around quite slowly, he locked eyes with a viscous looking humongous fox which had its mouth open in a snarl. Yi Hei assumed a fighting stance immediately. Yum, if his... If his benefactor arrived this evening, she would have some fox meat.
A growl tore through the fox's throat as if it heard Yi Hei's thoughts. A bloody fight started almost immediately. Yi Hei had overestimated his own strength though, and soon he was knocked down by a flying paw.
Thud! His back hit a nearby tree and he heard something crack. Alarmed, he flung out his sleeve quickly, deterring the oncoming berserk creature with an exploding projectile which had been given to him by Li Sihan. To his surprise and consternation, the fox merely stumbled back and then shook itself off, it's injuries starting to heal almost immediately.
Yi Hei paled. Gritting his teeth, he quickly drew a matrix in midair, and then activated it with a flick of his hand. The fox leaped at that same moment, and collided heavily with the matrix formation. A painful howl was torn your from its throat as its body began to corrode at a fast speed. Yi Hei spat out a mouthful of blood from the essence the matrix was consuming. He nevertheless quickly poured more essence into the matrix. Before long, all that was left of the seven feet tall and three feet thick fox was a puddle of yellow liquid and matted fur.
Glug! Yi Hei coughed up blood again and clutched his chest. His cultivation oasis seemed to be drained. He quickly got up to leave the forest and return to the hut so he could cultivate safely and replenish his essence. However, he wobbled and fell face forward on his first step.
"Hnng. Cough, cough," his eyes watered as he struggled to keep them open. Since he could not make it to the hut in this state, he decided to risk his safety and cultivate here in the forest. Closing his eyes, he hurriedly started to absorb the surrounding essence, directing its path to his depleted oasis. Every thirty seconds of this he opened his eyes to see whether another crazed mystic creature had not sneaked up on him.
Li Sihan found him there passed out on the forest floor. Picking him up in a princess carry, she leaped just once and they were back inside the hut. Space tearing arts again. She lay Yi Hei across the mattress and quickly passed him some of her own cultivation energy. Before long, he opened his eyes.
"You're-- you're back?"
Li Sihan rolled her eyes. She flicked his forehead lightly.
"You can't even take care of yourself for a day? Why did you enter the King Fox's den?"
"I didn't!" He asserted.
"Why did I find you there then?"
"I didn't-- was that it's den?" Yi Hei scratched his chin. Li Sihan sighed.
"Yes, you dummy. None of the creatures here bother me because they're so scared, and they are also benefitting from my essence. However, that doesn't mean that they'll ignore a piece of meat that voluntarily walks up to them asking to be eaten," she poked his chest. Yi Hei winced. Li Sihan immediately checked his injuries.
"Tut tut. Why are you so fragile?" She poked him again this time his forehead, and gentler.
"I'm not," Yi Hei pouted.
"Heh." She scoffed, retrieving a pill from her conscious, "there you go," she fed it to him, lingering her finger on his pouting lip.
"Umm, did you bring back what I asked you to?" Yi Hei finally asked nervously.
"What if I didn't," Li Sihan smirked. Yi Hei frowned and tugged on her sleeve.
"No! Please, please, did you?"
"Hah. Fine, you dummy. Here you go," she flicked her sleeve towards the floor in front of the mattress and a colossal looking refining cauldron emerged from her spatial space. It had two flame entrances, and appeared to be made of brass.
"Wow," Yi Hei breathed. Of course he knew she would get him something legendary! His obsession with alchemy allowed him to fully appreciate what a treasure this was! This--! This was the Sky-Grade Yang Cauldron! It was worth a dozen empires wealth combined! Yi Hei peeked at Li Sihan, who was watching him quietly.
"You-- where did you get this from?" He asked timidly.
"I took it from my treasury," Li Sihan replied.
"Your-- your treasury?"
"Yes. There are hundreds of thousands of things there. It's all the things I picked up during my wanderings. A few might interest you. Do you want to go back and take a look someday?"
"Someday?" Yi Hei grumbled, "not soon? I thought-- I thought-- when we left here... You would take me home...to your house,"
Li Sihan reached out to rub his head.
"My house? It's not somewhere you can enter easily. I'm not a nice person,"
"I know," Yi Hei mumbled, "and I don't care. As long as you are there, it'll be my home,"
"Just because you're mine doesn't give you any rights or power. You'll have to submit and learn from other people...for a long time. Probably forever,"
"I don't care," Yi Hei pursed his lips and held her hand, "please bring me there. I'll be useful to you too,"
"You don't have to be useful," Li Sihan barked a mirthless laugh, "just be yourself. Asking you to bow to others is already a lot. You can just behave however you like,"
Yi Hei smiled.
"And you said I didn't have any power," he leaped into her arms, "I have you,"
*
"There are Four Seniors; Xi Yun, Gu Yan, Fei Ning and Hao Ren," Li Sihan combed through Yi Hei's hair the next morning, "and then the Vanguards, headed by my closest confidante, Jun Ru,"
"Is he as close to you as I am?" Yi Hei smirked, attempting to be playful. Ever since he had insisted on joining his ...benefactor's organisation yesterday, she had been in a mood.
"Shut up," as expected, Li Sihan growled immediately, "those five are not to be offended. If they punish you, I will not overrule it. Do you understand?"
"Yes. I also won't cause trouble," Yi Hei responded meekly.
"Fine," Li Sihan threw the comb onto the dressing table with more force than was required. She turned the stool around and crushed Yi Hei against herself rather roughly and ungently as well.
"Let's go," she said after pulling away. Yi Hei nodded. Raising her hand she drew a special matrix.
"Si Lak Mercenaries!"