“Oi Shuren, what’s with that look?” Ming asked, having already cut three evenly shaped holes in the earth.

  Shuren came out with the first corpse, the first man they had killed. His severed body parts were likewise placed on him.

  He laid it down in the first grave before answering Ming in a low voice. “You know that worm you cut? I can’t find it anywhere. Not even the liquid of its corpse disintegrating, or any signs of it burrowing down the earth.”

  “Don’t dwell on it. If it’s a form of a Restriction Oath, it can’t just find something else to host like a parasite. Probably dissolved with the air, going by that disgusting smell when it died.” Ming nonchalantly kicked the corpse down the first hole.

  “Also, are you gonna do this every time?”

  Shuren clicked his tongue, “Who do you take me for? If it weren’t for signs of Nekron path users or other demonic cultivators, I wouldn’t bother.”

  “Whatever. If anyone dared to use a walking corpse in public, they’d be executed on the spot,” Ming scoffed. “The kid’s awake, so let’s speed this up. She’s seen enough death today.”

  Shuren almost asked Ming to give him help for the dismembered Rank 2 corpse, but held off on it when he sighted the girl. She gazed at the night sky, barefoot at the bank of the lake.

  It wasn’t exactly a fun ordeal, but Shuren used Qi extension to force the body together temporarily, making sure the entrails wouldn’t spill everywhere.

  Shuren enjoyed a good and clean duel, but he could never understand battle maniacs. The amount of filth and gore that would splatter on them, beast or otherwise, was unnerving. Shuren restrained his discontent, despite the stench that assailed his senses, the bits of meat sticking to his skin, and his now unusable robes clinging to his back. Shuren yearned to head back home, take a deep shower and bath, scrape every part of his skin down to the bottom of his nails, and wash the roots of his hair.

  Once I’m Rank 2, I can get a spatial ring. Once I’m Rank 3, I can wield multiple Sacrosanct Artifacts in the form of armour and clothing, with self cleansing runes. Once I’m Rank 4, my body will go through a qualitative change, clearing all impurities I’ve accumulated in this life.

  And if Shuren ever got to Rank 5 in this lifetime with his own power, without relying on the Liu Clan… Then he could kiss goodbye to the mortal worries of dirt and disgust, defecation and defilement!

  Ming almost felt a shudder on his spine when he saw the absurd smile on Shuren’s face, while carrying the Rank 2’s corpse. To think he could make such an expression…

  When Shuren went back to grab the final corpse, he unknowingly stopped himself before Yijun. That smile still lingered, even after death. He wasn’t quite sure if that was possible, or if it was simply the crystallisation of her final radiance. Of sheer will.

  In the end, it doesn’t matter. No matter what life you led, to be involved in a demonic sect means you are a blight on this world. But, I recognise your conviction at the end of your life.

  Shuren used a dagger to cut the short sword, leaving the blade wedged in her body. He thought back to the clues in her last words. There were two main things to consider.

  The mountains. The Revered Truth.

  With Mount, Shuren thought back to Grand Elder Wanshang’s words. If remnants of demons were scurrying around Volkahor Mountains, then maybe Yijun tried to reveal a clue of the sect’s base. But Seven Clouds Sect would’ve already scoured that region already. Would they really have missed a major force hiding?

  Shuren ruminated as he walked out of the cavern, thinking on her her final words. “For now, let’s assume she meant the sect's name, which is the Revered Truth Sect.”

  Perhaps the Seven Clouds Sect had some ideas, because Shuren couldn’t think of any. At best, Revered had a certain connotation. Reverence; or Reverend, was an astounding title given to the strongest cultivators. In fact, Shuren had seen the sculpture of one of the few Immortal Reverends in the world; Seraphim All-Seer. One of the most famous cultivators throughout all of history, who had pioneered the Lexis Path and started the First Grand Era, allowing scholars to gain might and give literal meaning to the saying that the brush was better than the blade.

  Seraphim All-Seer, the Immortal Reverend. A Rank 9 existence in the annals of history, the man who started the wave of the Enlightenment Era; promoting everyone to ponder and think on the nature of man and the world. An extraordinarily ancient figure, whose very words made waves to the world itself.

  Every faction following in the Lexis Path worth their salt held the greatest reverence for this figure, and his image was forever imprinted in the world. A kind old man with a large white beard, he did not give himself a youth-like appearance, or a domineering one. He looked like your average old scholar, learned in the ways of the world. Shuren, also, had a deep reverence for this historical being.

  Shuren felt like a lantern had lit up in his head. Volkahor Mountains; or back when it was known as Volkahor Volcanoes, was rumoured to hold an inheritance of an Immortal Reverend.

  If the demonic sect was hidden there, enough to escape the investigations of the Seven Clouds Sect, seeking to commit blasphemous actions to find an Immortal Reverend’s inheritance…

  It would explain the sudden activity within Seven Clouds territory, enough to risk getting their attention. But rumors were just that. Rumours. Shuren hoped to see this confirmed with the reaction of whoever he gave the report to.

  A gentle breeze of the night lifted Shuren’s long hair, swaying in the air. At the third grave Ming had cut out, the Silvent girl, with Yijun’s shawl still covering her, was staring at him. Or at the body he held.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Shuren said no words. If the girl was willing to look at her enemies, then so be it. He walked to the edge, and with a thud, he dropped the final corpse.

  Maybe it was true that Yijun didn’t involve herself with directly killing her parents. Perhaps she was the one that pushed for her compatriots to not kill the child out of anger.

  In the end, she was still a demonic cultivator involved in the matter.

  Her final question resounded in his mind.

  Do you think you would be different if you led my life?

  What a load of shit. Shuren would rather die than be forced to act in demonic actions, killing mortals and civilians, and defiling the dead.

  But the way she looked at him made him feel wrong. Her eyes were filled with indescribable sorrow, but he knew it wasn’t because of her own demise. It was an indignation, a thorn of scorns not to herself but to the world.

  “Did you do the same with…” The girl’s voice brought Shuren’s attention.

  He looked at her, only nodding. Shuren wasn’t sure if he could offer any words of solace. His own parents, by the grace of the Architect, were still alive and well. Even if life was rough, and his father lost his cultivation, they still had another day to work towards.

  Ming had already buried the other two corpses, filling it with dirt once more. He walked away, taking out a waterskin gourd while resting on his flying nimbus, shaped now like a comfortable large cushion. Shuren could do the last one.

  At Stage 9 Qidense, Shuren was now extremely close to his second last hurdle for this realm. He had tapped into the Paths slightly, and used a Wind Path skill.

  Wind Wall. One of the beginner skills taught by the Seven Clouds, its main use not for power but for utility. Shuren used it to drag the earth back into the grave slowly. The burial of the dead was a tradition held from genesis.

  “Young Silvent, did you know? Long ago, when the world was nothing but oceans, the Grand Paths were born.”

  She didn’t say a word, watching Yijun’s body be covered by the skin of the world.

  “With Five Paths, the world was forged. Those laws were passed down to us mortals, and we learned to wield fire, shrive with water, build with earth, and fly with air.”

  “But in the Firstborne’s Era, the Dawn of Cultivation, the gift of death wasn’t made into reality.”

  The young girl’s face faltered, and a hint of emotion finally rose. “Are you saying, ma and pa could…” she whispered with a broken voice.

  More dirt fell into the grave, burying the corpse of a woman who met death on her own terms.

  “No. Instead, the first scourge, a pestilence of fatuity, spread amongst the world. The body would exhaust and decay, but the soul remained alive, and the Undead conquered the day whilst spectres took over the night. The world was once ruled by corpses.”

  Yijun was now buried, once more returning to the earth. Shuren thought back to the words of his grandfather. It was an old folklore story, mainly used to scare children. It was also to teach them the sacred concept of burying and honouring the deceased.

  The Firstborne was made of the earth, and the end of life was to be enveloped by the earth.

  “People did not understand. They lived, breathed, and devoured. But the soul was starved. It needed sustenance. Young girl, do you know what your soul yearns for?” Shuren asked her, albeit feeling awkward. Perhaps it wasn’t the right thing to ask.

  He wasn’t sure if he should continue. And his worries came to fruition at the sounds of her cries. It felt like hours, hearing every moment of the girl’s grievance. Grievance akin to an overflowing dam that had finally broken, the despair and reality finally seeping in.

  There was no consolation. All Shuren could do was listen, and stay by her side.

  Rubbing tears out of her eyes, she walked up to Shuren, tugging at the hem of his robe. “Take me where you buried ma and pa.”

  He obliged with the summoning of his cloud, sitting her by his side while shielding her from the breeze. They weren’t far from here, luckily. It would take at most the time an incense would burn to reach the place.

  Ming simply nodded at Shuren, relaxing once more. But when they left the vicinity, the warm smile on his face left.

  “Still not coming out? Then don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

  /////////

  In the plains west of the Unhallowed Monolith, the night sky was abundant, the shards of light illuminated the muted world. Shuren stood with the girl in front of a patchy spot amongst the grass. On the side, she tenderly unearthed a single blue flower. Shuren could recognise it, courtesy of Zhou Yan. A Lumengelica flower, shifting colours depending on the sky.

  Shuren observed. Perhaps it was in their culture.

  “How do I know if my soul is starving?” the girl asked.

  “It is the meaning of life.” He walked towards her as he continued to speak.

  “To know what you live for and forge your own path. But it was impossible to find without the meaning of death, and so all life stagnated.” Shuren knelt down, watching the girl bury the flower on top of the grave. It would live amongst the dead, rousing crimson at dawn and slumbering azure at dusk.

  “The Firstborne roamed the lands and seas, to find a cure for our souls and defeat pestilence. Eventually, he had discovered the meaning of death, understanding life. To lay both body and soul to eternal sleep, an eternal rest. A ring was then formed on the Firstborne, and the Grand Paths of Life and Death were born.”

  He faced the girl, hoping his next words would give her some hope.

  “When your parents were buried deep in the earth, they were gifted death. Their souls aren’t stuck in this realm, having now moved to the grand river of reincarnation; The Genesis River. One day, when they flow down the bottom of that river, they will be born once more in this world. Again, they will receive the gift of life.”

  “This is the Testament of Life.”

  “Can I see them one day?” She whispered in a quivering voice.

  “Of course you can. The heavens are fair to all. If you become an Immortal Pathstrider, you qualify to look for the Genesis River. In there, you can find your parents once more and see what life they lead once again. And if they strive to reforge their own, perhaps they will recognise you one day. Even across reincarnations, the link between a parent and a child is unique and unbreakable. Blood is thicker than the flow of water in that river,” Shuren declared to the girl, but he left out some vital information. There was always a price to pay, and such an action was difficult to achieve. To traverse in that river, you had to stake your life at the bare minimum, to let your soul be eroded by the river as you waded through, and to declare to the heavens that your will was stronger than theirs.

  Shuren held out a broken locket, handing it over to the Silvent girl. “I believe this is yours.”

  And when she opened it, she smiled for the first time.

  “I think I know what my soul yearns for,” she said with clarity, bereft of the hollow tone of despair.

  “Oh, and what would that be?” Shuren asked.

  “I’m going to find the river of reincarnation. I want to see ma and pa’s new life in the future. I want to make them lead a happy life this time.”

  She tied the locket around her neck, making a knot with the torn string.

  “This will be the meaning of my life.”

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