While MeiMei was stuck in the air with a facial expression of utter shock, Li Bo, my father's assistant, quietly approached me.
"Young Master, Jian," he said with a slight bow. "Everyone is expecting you, it is time for the ritual to be performed. Follow me, I will guide you."
I nodded and thanked him in return. Then I followed him to the event horizon.
After leaving the courtyard where I was meditating, we walked in silence through a dozen of corridors of the main palace and reached a room I didn't even know existed. It was strange because, in the past five years, I had studied every corner of the palace. This place is probably under the protection of some formation. This was another reason for me to start studying them first after awakening my root.
At a certain point, already at the door, I noticed my hand twitching, giving away my nervousness. The absolute silence in the palace, which was usually full of noise, did not give me much peace of mind either.
Before I could touch the door, it opened. The door was opened by Sheng Zimo, my grandfather.
"Junior greets senior!" I said with a bow.
"This is your time, young Sheng Jian!" Loudly proclaimed my grandfather. "We are pleased and proud that the ranks of cultivators in our family are growing! If 3 more geniuses like you and your brother are born into our family, we will soon be able to compete even with those upstarts from the capital, hahaha!"
Inside the room, I noticed my mother and father. It was unusual to see them sitting side by side and smiling, without any swearing towards each other.
"Your older brother would really like to attend your ceremony today, but unfortunately he won't be back from his mission in time," my mother told me. "But he promised he would return with gifts for you. Today is a big celebration, you are stepping on the path of cultivation."
"Meiqi is right son," my father echoed her. "Today is indeed the most important day of your life. However, heed my words, even though you are talented, always remember, that the path ahead will be like climbing an endless mountain without a single ledge. Do not let your talent and sense of power intoxicate you!"
In response, I looked calmly into my father's eyes and bowed as a sign of my obedience. I had long ago accepted for myself the fact that if I wanted to achieve power, playing the good and obedient son was a very small price to pay.
"Have a seat here." Said my grandfather and pointed to a white cushion in the center of the room. Looking closer I realized that various formations had been placed on top of it.
"Before we begin, and knowing that you have already been taught this, paying homage to the traditions and laws I must once again tell and explain to you the importance of your spiritual root and its seed." Sheng Zimo began his short lecture.
"All this time, the seed of the spiritual root in your body has been absorbing qi, and now it will need to be awakened in order for it to transform from a seed into the root itself. Having only a seed, without external influences, a person will never be able to feel qi, much less control it. The spiritual root, on the other hand, gives you that ability. It is what allows us to control qi. When your mother saw you all those years ago, she thought that you had awakened your root. However, your root was still asleep. Only a select few members of our family know about this information, not even your brother. This only tells me that there is something else inside of you, but you will have to find the answer to that question yourself. Do not be afraid and do not worry, history knows many examples of people with special powers. It only says that the path ahead of you will be, hehehe, much more interesting than all the others."
"Now let's begin!" clapping with one palm, the old man touched my forehead with the index finger of his other hand. Right where the third eye is located.
The world in my eyes sharply enlarged and immediately shrank to a point the size of an atom, then exploded with an unimaginably beautiful violet color. It was as if I had become part of a starry nebula. It's just me and the stars. That's when I immediately realized that they were not stars, but particles of qi. At the moment of realization, the world around me returned to normal. I was back in the secret room with my family members.
And that's when my eyes widened in surprise one more time. The power of the force is ephemeral and astral. It is hard to understand and harder to grasp. But now, sensing the qi in my body and the world around me, I feel more powerful than I have ever felt before. I can feel my perception sharpening and my muscles strengthening.
"What was that?" I couldn't keep the question out of my mind.
"You have seen the universe. Modern thinkers believe that when the seed opens and turns into a root, the whole human body goes through huge stress because it is a mutation that takes place in real-time, and as a result of sensory shock causes hallucinations and for a short moment of readjustment of the organism, all six senses of the person are switched off. Religious and spiritual people like me think otherwise. Nowadays, although this information has turned into a fairy tale, we all originally believed that by possessing a spiritual root we come into direct communication with the universe and gods from a completely different dimension. This last point varies from religion to religion."
I couldn't help but cringe at the mention of higher entities. Even though it may be an absolute fairy tale, the chance of it being true is not zero. I had personally witnessed how after the destruction of the Order, yesterday's reality turned into a myth in a matter of years. Force wielders became a mere myth. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that in some places in this world, people also consider the cultivators to be a fairy tale.
"But leave matters of theory for later. We have more pressing affairs to attend to. Your father can tell you more about them."
"Get some rest today, Jian, tomorrow morning I'll come and get you. Afterward, we will begin our training. I'll teach you the main cultivation methods of our family and sect. Go."
Before leaving the room, I bowed once more to my elders. After that, I went straight to my room. There were too many things to contemplate.
Walking into the room I immediately sat down on the floor in the center in a basic meditation form. I peered inside myself and observed the amazing symbiosis of qi and midichloreans. Now being able to see and feel qi, I realized why my force abilities were so enhanced. From the information I was able to learn, qi enriches and makes absolutely everything better. Whether it be humans, water, air, or even rocks. In some unimaginable way, the midichlorians in my blood were not just enriched, but began to cultivate themselves! Perhaps it's because they are living beings in their own right.
After hearing about the gods, I pondered over the question that had been on my mind all this time once more. How did I end up here, and how did my midichlorians stay with me?
All the while, I kept my composure. As Sidious had taught me, everything hidden always comes to light, the only question is time.
However, the possibility that there are higher entities that could have sent me to this place has gripped me at my core. I refuse, I don't want to be a pawn in someone else's grand game once again!
I feel my blood boil with hatred and anger, and I see my eyes begin to shine in the mirror across from me.
Taught by my bitter experience, I realize that no matter what world, old or new, the pawns never have a choice. In a sense of epiphany, I recall an ancient mantra in the language of the first Sith.
Nwûl tash.
Dzwol shâsotkun.
Shâsotjontû châtsatul nu tyûk.
Tyûkjontû châtsatul nu midwan.
Midwanjontû châtsatul nu asha.
Ashajontû kotswinot itsu nuyak.
Wonoksh Qyâsik nun.
Right, it's only through victory that my chains are broken and my freedom is gained. And to win, I need power.
Just then, as I calmed down, I noticed a familiar presence behind me.
"Have you been here long?"
"I've seen everything. Albeit all the signs of demonic possession of the body are in plain sight, you're not a demon. But something very similar." replies my new acquaintance MeiMei.
"Interesting… You know my essence is different, you realize I'm not a fluffy rabbit, and yet you're still in front of me. Why are you here? I don't recognize you as a killer, judging from your reaction earlier. What's more, you're probably new to your business. Yeah, yeah, your face gives it all away. But you haven't gone to your superiors yet. So you want to offer me something, a deal?"
"You have figured it all out. That's right. But before we discuss our terms, let me explain something to you. I'm from an organization that operates in the interworld. One of our missions is to transport souls from one place to another. The guy whose soul you absorbed won the grand prize in a lottery. He was given a set of three possessions: a physical appearance, a spiritual root, and a system. My job was to activate his system the day he accessed his spiritual root. But then you showed up."
"And you are gonna get beaten on the head even though it's not your fault? I know the feeling. So what do you want?"
"You guessed it, I can't go back and announce my failure. Penalties include liquidating the failed system, and I've just started living! Moreover, as you yourself have guessed, your continued existence is also in question. There may be someone behind your presence here."
"The sun rises every morning just because someone benefits from it. Nothing happens for nothing. I see your point. In order to avoid undesirable consequences, you want things to stay the way they are?"
"More than that, I want to activate the Villanous Young Master System in you so that you can replace that kid on the contract!"