The vengeful spirit carried me and ran with great agility through the thick, dark, and ominous forest.
The moon was still high in the night sky. The sounds of nocturnal animals were unsettling. My hair stood on end.
I closed my eyes and wished to wake up from the nightmare, but, to my misfortune, it was the harsh and cruel reality. I couldn't move. I couldn't scream.
I considered pretending to be asleep as the best option and hoped the vengeful spirit would lower its guard. While doing so, I prayed to the heavens for forgiveness for whatever it was they might hold against me, and before I realized it, I fell into a deep sleep.
I sighed at my helpless self from back then.
When I opened my eyes again, it was already daytime, and the vengeful spirit was sitting in front of me, having made a campfire.
My movements regained their freedom. What a relief.
He looked at me and smirked, amused by the expression of confusion and horror on my face.
"Father, mother, your son is on his way," I sobbed inwardly and informed my deceased parents.
"Don't be afraid, I don't plan on harming the benefactor who saved my life," the vengeful spirit sighed and told me.
However, I couldn't believe him. From what I knew, it wasn't unusual for a vengeful spirit to lie. Maybe he planned to lower my guard and then tear me apart, cooking me over the campfire. Vengeful spirits liked to toy with the feelings and hope of the righteous.
Therefore, I kept my distance, about 20 meters away.
The vengeful spirit sighed again, looking frustrated at my high level of reasoning.
He stared at me for a moment before starting to cook some meat he had stored, who knows where. It just appeared in his hands! I knew it! He's a supernatural being! My face paled. It paled from the pleasant, juicy, delightful, and savory smell of the meat.
I kept staring at the meat.
When was the last time I had eaten meat? It had been years since then. I was quite useless. I couldn't even hunt a rabbit, so my diet consisted only of herbs. I had tried all kinds of herbs that seemed somewhat edible.
I swallowed. He smiled with self-satisfaction.
I wanted meat… and so what if he's a vengeful spirit? As long as he gave me some, I could die satisfied… I decided to make a deal.
"Oh, venerable vengeful spirit, you see, I'm very thin. You won't be satisfied with me. How about you first fatten me up…?"
"I'm not a vengeful spirit! I'm a venerable immortal cultivator!" he retorted, frowning.
He looked upset.
I chose not to contradict his words, even though I didn't believe him.
"I-I'm sorry, venerable," I apologized.
I couldn't be blamed. A child from a village in the middle of nowhere couldn't imagine or understand how the man recovered so quickly. So at that time, I found no explanation other than that he was a vengeful spirit, and his actions when he kidnapped me didn't help.
Maybe noticing I was starting to uncover his true nature, he slowly said:
"Please calm down. I speak the truth, I am not a vengeful spirit. You saved me. The herbs you gave me stimulated my dantian, and along with the progress I made in my cultivation technique, I was able to break through to the golden core. My body was restored, and now I'm in perfect condition, more or less. I need to stabilize my cultivation, so I can't fly," he explained calmly.
Sure, sure, whatever you say. I didn't understand anything.
"The thing is, you have no way of proving it. Without evidence, you won't convince me otherwise," I still doubted.
Looking back, I laugh at my reaction. For an ignorant kid, I was pretty cautious in a certain way.
"How am I supposed to prove my innocence? Until recently, you were sleeping like a baby. I could have hurt you if I had malicious intentions toward you. I didn't do anything to you, isn't that proof?" he eloquently defended himself.
I thought about it and found some sense in it. My guard lowered a little, but not completely.
"Alright, I understand now, but if you're not a vengeful spirit, why did you kidnap me? I'll tell you right now, you won't even make 50 copper coins selling me! I'm thin, small, and even my parents couldn't claim I was handsome."
The expression of the ex-spirit distorted like the time I tried shit.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
++++++++++
I had never been so stunned, like a toy, at the childish whims of the heavens.
I reflected on the unfortunate events that had damaged my body, dantian essence, and heart.
"Hehehehe, thanks for coming to greet me at my breakthrough to the golden core, fellow cultivators."
Melodious whispers full of spiritual energy caressed my ears, and I turned around to see a beautiful woman emerging from the cave, her aura, clothing, and appearance the very embodiment of violet lilies.
Tall and elegant, upright and defiant, beautiful attributes like the abundant, fresh, and marvelous waterfalls of the life-giving springs.
My weakened and agitated heart, caused by the prolonged battle of interests and dreams, calmed in her celestial presence, like the most beautiful angel, the most delicate fairy, and the whitest swan.
I couldn't stop staring at her. My world. My entire being. My Dao partner.
I touched my chest and smiled at my fortunate life. At any moment, I could die in peace and without regrets, knowing I was destined for such a beautiful creature. Every second I thank the heavens for this fortune.
The other foolish cultivators didn't see the beauty of that being. They were frightened when they felt the power emanating from her, suppressing them, leaving them trembling, reminding me of the old man I saw naked in the snow 114 years ago, whom I tried to help, but he died of a heart attack when he saw me descend.
I could understand it. My beautiful angel and these cultivators from different sects could not coexist under the same sky.
They tried to extinguish the spark of her life. Thanks to my efforts, they did not succeed.
I protected the reason for my life with my flesh, blood, and bones, demonstrating the depth of the abyss that is my pure and selfless love for her.
I fell to my knees on the ground and took out paper. I moved my wounded and bloodied hands with the meaning of love and imprinted them on the paper. Words dedicated from the soul transformed into beautiful poems directed at the violet lily.
Mother Earth followed the pleading yet firm will of my violet lily and was moved. The earth trembled, giving us flower petals as tall and abundant as trees that enveloped the cultivators preparing to attack the most beautiful birth in this vast and grand world, my violet lily.
The cultivators from the foundation establishment disregarded the gift of Mother Earth and tried to resist, but Mother Earth is arrogant and haughty. She enveloped them completely, and the countless screams that once filled the atmosphere of the arcane realm faded.
"Help..." "We were wrong, please forgive us!" "No, please, I have a daughter only 150 years old!"
No plea moved Mother Earth, just as the presence of the violet lily did. Mother Earth took them miserably into the arms of cold immortality.
Any effort, motivation, dream, or hope was of no use to them.
I sighed.
How tragic.
Hundreds of sparks of life faded. I will never get used to the sight of the game for immortality. From my storage, I took a position of the thousand wounds and swallowed them. I finished the artwork with a drawing of the final path of those cultivators.
The battle I had been through was arduous and hard. A battle of endurance that lasted days. I was exhausted. I lasted so long only because of the indomitable will to protect what is invaluable to me, the violet lily.
Of course, here is the revised text to correct grammatical errors, keeping the original structure intact:
It was worth it.
"Zu Lian, I must thank you. If it weren't for you, I never would have reached the Golden Core in these conditions. They tried to kill me on orders from my family, and you protected me without hesitation,"
I smiled at her affectionately.
"I would do it once and a thousand more times, my love. Time and existence are not wide or long enough to count all the times I would do the same for you, love. Congratulations on achieving the Golden Core. The heavens dance for the grace of your advancement," I knelt down and kissed her hand.
My violet lily, my reason to live, smiled at me as a reward for my cheap and small effort. The need to prolong that moment made the words flow.
"My current self is not worthy of you, my violet lily. It is my turn to advance. Please, grant me the grace and blessing to prolong my path to immortality with the intention of spending every breath admiring your appearance and serving you. Your will and blessing are capable of moving all of existence. You are perfect, elegant, and vibrant. A flawed being like me must have luck on their side to be by your side,"
My words moved her. How graceful, her hand trembled.
"Haha, thank you for your words. Sure, go ahead and make your way. I will take care of you,"
Her lips flowed like the ocean with every syllable, word, and prayer.
My Dao, she is the Dao I follow.
Everything about her is perfect.
Excited, I turned around. I must advance to the Golden Core and be worthy of her! I must prolong my life to write hundreds of poems for her!
I left the cave, but...
Before entering the darkness of the cave, I felt a burning palm piercing my back.
I turned my head, stunned.
"W-what? W-why?" I murmured.
Reality trembled.
The violet lily looked at me with a soft smile, her palm embedded in my back.
"P-why?" I asked again.
She did not answer.
She exerted a bit more force, and my body flew out, embedding itself in the cave walls.
"You know? I tried... I really tried. I tried to focus on your good sides," she approached gently. Her pristine jade feet, thin and succulent, slid toward me.
"They warned me, but I didn't listen. I let myself be guided because you were so handsome and had a heroic temperament, fufufu,"
No, please, not again.
I already knew what she was about to say.
"But... your pathetic and shitty poems, those damn poems have me fed up! Do you know how many times I almost lost control in my cultivation because I remembered all the humiliations you made me go through?! Because of you, I've vomited 931 mouthfuls of blood,"
Ah, I knew it.
Her words shattered and pierced my heart.
"In the morning, afternoon, and night. Poems, poems, poems! For your Dao journey, stop talking like that! Is it so difficult!? You only think about poems! In every situation and moment, you even used your achievements to make a section in the sect's library with my name titled 'Poems for my Violet Lily, ¡xxxx' and forced the new disciples to read them!"
"T- everyone must know that my love for you is unmatched. You are the most perfect of all cultivating women..."
"Ah! Shut up already! I didn't want to get to this point, but I still haven't stabilized my advancement, and if you stay with me, I'm sure I'll lose control. Take it, it's a magical object with a use that allows you to jump through space. If the heavens want you to live, you will live! Never come back to my sect!" she said and left my life.
I stretched my hands to catch her dazzling and illusory figure that was leaving. I clenched my fist to my heart.
With her, it's 18 now... The energy around me distorted and entered my dantian as I teleported. My head cleared.
+++
The boy looked at me stunned, then nodded a few breaths later. He rummaged through the bag he carried and shoved some disgusting herbs into my mouth against my will, which got stuck in my throat.
"D-damn... I swear... I'll come for you," I cried for the false hope of salvation as my consciousness faded.
+++
"After healing me and waking me up, I followed your tracks. That's when I saw you sleeping in the pigsty, almost rubbing your face in the manure, you seemed like you were going to commit it. You were also trembling from cold and hunger, I decided to help you and bring you with me. It's my way of repaying my debt, and it seems that, anyway, you have no one to take care of you in that place," the man explained.
The man explained the story that led him to meet me by the river.
"..."
He almost died because his partner was tired of him being so loving...
"Don't look at me like that. It wasn't my fault. I started my cultivation path by accident. I got a technique when I thought it was an adult's drawing book and stole it to sell. I had to check the material to ensure the quality of the product, yes, it was for quality purposes... it was a forbidden technique. Hah, rightly so. This technique shouldn't exist, and it can't be changed," he explained.
My suspicions that he was a vengeful spirit faded. Vengeful spirits wouldn't invent such ridiculous stories.
I stopped doubting and frowned.
"How will you help me?"
"I will adopt you. Let me introduce myself. I am an immortal cultivator and an elder of the "Eternal Celestial Sun Sect". My name is Zu Lian," he introduced himself like that.
I was confused and lost.
What was a sect? Why, being a cultivator, did he belong to one? What does it mean to be an immortal cultivator? A type of cultivator who swears to the heavens to be one in all their reincarnations? I had never heard of such cultivators.
No, first things first, I should introduce myself too. My parents taught me this.
"I'm just an orphan from a village. My humble and deceased parents, may they rest in peace, named me Mi An,"
He stared at me with a blank expression. What was wrong? Did I introduce myself wrong?
"Cough cough Anyway, I wanted to thank you for saving me. From today on, you'll enter the sect as my son. You will be under my protection."
Just like that, I entered the path of cultivation. A path that would lead me through all sorts of experiences...
"And what is cultivated in that sect of yours, sir? I know how to cultivate potatoes."
Zu Lian brought the prepared meat to his mouth and looked at the sky. He closed his eyes, and a sense of helplessness enveloped him.
He could understand that he would struggle a lot in educating his new son. He already regretted his hasty decision, but he couldn't back out now, or he would lose face.
+++
It had been two days of travel.
By that time, I was determined to be that man's servant for the rest of my life. I even shed tears as I swore my loyalty.
The reason? Simple.
He let me eat meat!
When I saw him hunting the wild boar and fish, I was astonished.
Why was he a cultivator? He should be a hunter!
I couldn't think of any hunter in the village as skilled as the man named Zu Lian.
Should I tell him about his undiscovered talents? I wondered.
Anyway, I felt that the heavens had finally noticed me. The heavens have eyes for the just and upright! I trembled with excitement.
Those days I ate without restriction. I no longer cared even if it led me to the judgment of the gods with him.
"Here. Tomorrow we'll reach the sect. When we're not traveling and while I hunt, you need to practice these two manuals. If there's anything you don't understand, let me know!" he said and went off to hunt.
I was left alone in our makeshift camp looking at the manuals.
After a while of deep analysis… I stared blankly and lamented.
Study the manuals? I can't even read!
But I didn't consider giving up.
What if the man treated me like an idiot, and my life filled with meat slipped through my hands?
I stared closely at the drawings and tried to understand what they meant. It was fortunate that there were so many.
They were drawings of a man in different static positions. From what it seemed, I had to maintain those positions for a certain time in those sequences, or so I thought.
What are they supposed to be for? I shrugged. I don't know, but Zu Lian told me to study them seriously.
I looked at the sequence of silly positions and decided to do them.
But not before shoving some herbs in my mouth. Thinking so much made me hungry!
The other book I'll leave for later.
With that done, I went to the nearest tree.
I'm supposed to put my hands on the ground and be upside down with no support. However, for me, that's impossible. For now, I'll do it my way.
I placed my hands on the ground and twisted my body to end up upside down, resting my feet on the tree.
Maybe the goal is to make me see the world from a different perspective?
Either way, I think I'll stay like this until I can't anymore.
I enjoyed the stillness of the moment.
I didn't have to worry about beasts or wild animals, because, according to Zu Lian, he had a way of making sure they wouldn't approach unless they were above the "foundation establishment" stage.
"I wonder what he meant by that…" I murmured before closing my eyes.
That's when something happened.
The mild warmth in my stomach, caused by the herbs, suddenly intensified for a moment before cooling down quickly.
My body weakened, and I fell upside down. I felt my whole body shaking from the cold.
I got up when my temperature restored itself and wondered what had happened.
Strangely, after the weakness, the sensation my body gave me was one of renewal. It felt like I had woken up from a pleasant nap.
I liked it.
It was a different kind of pleasure from a pleasant nap or the pleasure of being full.
It was a type of pleasure that encompassed everything.
That reminds me of the strange poses I once saw my parents doing. Maybe those poses had the same goal as these.
So, I continued with the other poses. After each one, hunger returned, so I carefreely ate the herbs I had, which Zu Lian fortunately brought when he kidnapped me.
Before long, I had eaten all the herb bags I had.
I looked at the last ones I had left and leaned toward them.
You were a chapter in my life that I will close here. I'm not going to collect any more now that I can eat meat. My life has changed; I don't need to do those poor people's things. I decided to finish them all off to close that chapter of my life and look forward.
I was confident and happy.
So, when Zu Lian returned, I had none left.
"... You've reached the 9th phase of [body and ki preparation]."
He said something I didn't understand. From his eyes, it seemed like it was something good, but the only thing I cared about was the meat he had brought with him.
END