Qingyun city, the capital city and the trade hub of the Qinglong empire.
The Moon Goddess shrine was a sight to behold, a statue about 8 feet in height of the Goddess in marble. The statue was draped in marble robes that looked paused in the moment, as if the wind, she had her eyes closed, long hair that swayed in the same direction that the hair did, a laurel wreath around her head.
She looked like she was singing, her arms outstretched towards the sky, whoever built this statue, definitely had a vision. The shrine stood atop a hill surrounded by bamboo and a steep staircase down the hill.
"who built this funny looking statue in the middle of nowhere?" Zhang Jian said breathless after climbing a long, long set of staircases. The full moon was out, casting an almost perfect light onto the statue
"I take it you're Zhang Jian?" A woman's voice spoke out of the darkness, Zhang Jian turned to that direction to see who it was but again the voice came out from another direction "You look a lot younger, I don't remember your hair being that long."
"I take it you are that demon lady from the other night?" Zhang Jian kept looking around, but just then the tall lady appeared from behind the Moon Goddess statue. "That's rude, my name is Qing She."
She was a demon alright, but her looks would convince you she was an ethereal being sent down from the heavens. Her pale white skin contrasted greatly with her pitch black flowing hair, she stood at around a tall 7 foot in height, making the statue look slightly less massive.
"For what purpose did you call me here?" Zhang Jian was a little intimidated by Qing She, he was only around 5'10 at this stage in his teen years.
Qing She smiled, and brought out from behind her back a pot of tea on a platter along with two cups "Lets have a chat, I will explain everything." Zhang Jian stood there completely frozen, how many times will women offer to have tea with him instead of telling him anything?
They sat in front of the shrine in the perfect moonlight, cool breeze bending the tops of the bamboo nearby. Somehow, the tea was just warm enough to not dissipate in heat during the night.
"You see, I knew the Crimson Jackals would send someone after Ling Tianshu, they have people everywhere you know." She said, raising her cup and pointing out a finger at me before taking a sip from it. "I see, so you came that night to prevent the assassination?"
She nearly spat out her drink, "W-What? Why would I do that?" Zhang Jian got a bit confused, why would she be there if not to stop the assassination? "Sorry, I forget that you don't remember a thing sometimes."
"Remember what exactly?" Zhang Jian was really out of knowledge here, and he has been for a while now. "Time has been in a loop, 7 years from now, time will reset again to 5 years ago." She put down her cup, now very serious.
"You expect me to believe that?" Zhang Jian looked pretty annoyed, his eyes furrowed. "You wont remember but your Spirit will, at higher Ranks its much more noticeable. Think, Little Snake, think, have you felt your Spirit calling out to you? Telling you someone was nearby?"
"Does it become more noticeable if you are a higher Rank in the future?" Zhang Jian felt that this was awfully similar to Ling Tianshu's situation. "Precisely, I assume Ling Tianshu has told you about this in some way?"
"Yeah something like that, but how has this even happened?" It would be a big pain in the ass for Zhang Jian if his cultivation progress kept resetting along with his memories, even worse if the enemies Zhang Jian makes in the future have it out for him in the present simply because of the pre-reset Zhang Jian's actions.
"The middle stage of every Rank comes with a Heavenly Gift, on the 5th Rank the Spirit Master receives a Spirit Ability. These abilities aren't like Techniques or the abilities which Spirit Animals possess, no, they are far stronger and more terrifying than anything you've ever seen."
"So like a superpower" ran across Zhang Jian's mind. "I'm going to get superpowers in 500 years..."
"But whose ability is it? How does it work? Can I kill them?" Qing She laughed, "You are the same as always Little Snake." Zhang Jian felt a bit annoyed at a stranger giving a nickname.
"Its one of the most powerful men in this country, Ruan Xie The Founder Of The Crimson Jackals, that bastard has been setting back time whenever he pleases. As for its function, I haven't remembered everything clearly just, its only been 5 years, but I know that he uses his ability at death's door and never elsewhere."
Done with his tea, Zhang Jian sat back against a pillar, one leg on its side against the floor, the other propping his knee up. The wind got his unruly, long hair in his eyes which bothered him from time to time. Brushing the hair out his face, he replied "And how did we know each other in the past timeline?"
"Oh we were passionate lovers!" Qing She exclaimed, "WHAT?!" Zhang Jian nearly yelled, echoes travelled down the hill, scaring off the wildlife gathering there. The demoness giggled a bit "I'm joking obviously, you were my apprentice. It would take you another 600 years to even be close to my type."
"So I was your apprentice, whew, that makes sense, sort of." His face was red, Zhang Jian was quite surprised. "Wait does that mean.." He pointed at the skin on his arm and made a swirling motion around it. "Yes, you were a demon. A very feared and powerful one too."
"What rank was I?" Maybe he had hope if he reached a high rank in 7 years. "Oh I think it was Rank 2 middle stage, I think I might be mistaken though, it could be lower." Zhang Jian's future could not look more bleak.
"Who cares how feared and powerful I become? If I'm F Grade then my cultivation career is over!" rolled through one train of thought "Jeez, I sound like my Earth relatives when I had that online writing hobby.." went through another. This was clearly a lot for Zhang Jian to process.
"Zhang Jian, become my apprentice once again, I will gui-" Qing She was interrupted in her marketing speech. "Yeah sure." Zhang Jian said nonchalantly, "No school is going to accept me anyway, I am F Grade after all."
"But I walk the path of the Demon you know? I reap the Spirits of men and women, I've killed hundreds simply to boost my Talent by a miniscule percentage, are you still sure?" Qing She knew Zhang Jian would join her, it simply surprised her how easily he agreed.
"To sit here and tell you that 'killing is wrong' or 'I don't want to be a killer' is both a waste of time and a lie on my part." Zhang Jian spoke with a soft and serious voice, not panicked or confused like he has been these past few days.
"I've killed my own father, I didn't need to, there could have definitely been some other way of resolving our issues. And yet I smashed his head onto a rock, I did it because I enjoyed it. I, Zhang Jian, am a monster. I see no reason not to become a demon." Qing She sat across him, her mouth agape.
Quickly recollecting her composure, she cleared her throat "Ahem, well its settled. Little Snake, I will train you as your mentor and in return you will obey my orders and be sent out on missions. Do we have a deal?" She struck out her hand.
Zhang Jian raised an eyebrow "What kind of missions?" Qing She giggled again "Dangerous life threatening ones. But you aren't a stranger to that are you?"
They shook hands "Fine, but if its a mission or order I don't want to do, I wont do it." Zhang Jian demanded "But then how is it an order then?" Qing She asked in confusion.