Preparing for the journey

Bai Yun spent the next two weeks preparing for the journey. Bai Yun was trying to find various rare ingredients that he would need. Bai Yun's parents did not give him any more money or ingredients, so Bai Yun spend his nights crazily creating one pill after another to be sold. He knew that he would need money for the journey, but both of his parents felt that they had given him enough for now. Thankfully his alchemy skill had increased by leaps and bounds so he was able to make quite a good amount of money. Bai Yun would use the money from selling pills to buy rarer ingredients and then he would use those to make even more valuable pills. Thus his wealth grew day by day.

But this was not the only preparation Bai Yun had to make. Bai Yun also had to get used to the hundred beast flame. Bai Yun had already gotten a good control of them during alchemy thanks to the alchemy legacy, but using it to fight was a whole different thing. An earthly flame was a powerful force, but to use it proficiently was difficult. So Bai Yun practiced daily using some puppets for enemies.

The third thing that Bai Yun doing in that period of time was to study the assassin's legacy. Now that Bai Yun had broken through to the foundation established realm, more of the legacy and more tricks were available to him. So Bai Yun spent a lot of time studying them and perfecting his assassination techniques.

The three things kept Bai Yun pretty busy. In the blink of an eye over thirteen days passed. Thankfully Bai Yun had already studied the path he would be taking and he had made other preparations for the travel a long time ago. Thus Bai Yun was freed up to improve his skills.

But today was not a day of preparation. Bai Yun had asked Bai Shi, and Bai Ling-er to come to him. Bai Yun was about to leave and had to give them some things.

Bai Yun gave them the later parts of the cultivation techniques he had given them. Bai Yun also gave them some battle techniques. He then told them how to train for the next two years so that they could also get into the Shadow Stream academy. After making sure that they had completely grasped the various training methods he had given them, Bai Yun sent them back, after telling them to stay low for the foreseeable future. For now, Bai Yun did not need them. But from what he knew of the structure of Shadow stream academy, Bai Yun knew that he would need them there. In fact from the very beginning, Bai Yun was grooming them for it.

After this Bai Yun went to the Alchemy Association building. He was on his way to sell the last batch of pills and buy some more ingredients. He was leaving tomorrow, and so Bai Yun decided to rest for today.

His father and great grandfather had prepared some talismans for him. They bought a tracking talisman and a communication talisman. Bai Tianji had also made three teleportation talismans and handed it over to Bai Yun. Bai Yun also bought a few sets of common clothes and weapons. With this everything that Bai Yun needed had been collected.

Just as Bai Yun was leaving he suddenly stopped. Through the crowd at the Alchemist Association, he saw Zhang Zi. Zhang Zi also leaving the Alchemist association. But unlike Bai Yun who was leaving from the medical ingredient section of the building, Zhang Zi was leaving from the place for purchasing pills.

For a moment Bai Yun stood there staring at Zahnag Zi, who had not noticed him yet. Zhang Zi was the only person who had won Bai Yun's approval. It was not only because of his talent but also because of his character.

Bai Yun quickly walked through the crowd over to Zhang Zi. "Hello there." Bai Yun said after he approached Zhang Zi.

Zhang Zi turned around to look at Bai Yun with surprise. "Long time no see." Zhang Zi said with a smile.

"Are you free right now?" Bai Yun asked Zhang Zi. "I would like to talk."

Zhang Zi raised his eyebrows in response. He then nodded. "Sure. But what brought about this sudden desire to talk." Zhang Zi asked.

"I'll tell you later." Bai Yun responded.

The two of them quickly set off to an inn nearby. They got a private booth and quickly ordered some drinks.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Zhang Zi asked.

For a moment Bai Yun thought about what he wanted to say. "What do you intend to do in the future?" Bai Yun finally asked.

Zhang Zi was confused by the question. "I intend to stay at home for a while longer, before leaving for the City of Scholars. I hope to join the Shadow stream academy, but anything else would be fine too."

Bai Yun nodded when he heard this. He paused for a moment and then continued. "I am intending to go on a journey for two years."

Zhang Zi seemed to be a little surprised. "Why?"

Bai Yun smiled. "Yellow city is too peaceful for me." Bai Yun said. "I have a feeling that I will not grow much if I stay here. So I decided to travel for a while. I will travel by myself to the city of scholars and then join the shadow stream academy. I think the journey will take about two years in total."

Zhang Zi was silent for a while. "I don't think it is necessary to go on a journey. There is plenty of excitement here."

Bai Yun chucked when he heard this. "Everyone has their own paths." Bai Yun said. "It's true that staying here is also fine. But it's not for me. I am not chasing the peak of the spear, like you. I am chasing freedom. Just staying here will be quite boring for me. That is why I decided to go."

Zhang Zi was silent for a short while. "Good luck on your journey." Zhang Zi said.

"Thanks." Bai Yun said.

"So, you called me here for a goodbye." Zhang Zi asked.

"Nope, I called you here to give something." Bai Yun said.

Zhang Zi looked at Bai Yun with a questing look. Bai Yun smiled when he saw this.

"Have you heard of a man named Fang Jin?" Bai Yun asked.

Zhang Zi shook his head.

"I thought so." Bai Yun said. "He was a spearman who lived a long time ago. He pursued the pinnacle of the spear. He lived for the spear and died for the spear. But even though he chased after the peak of the spear, he was never able to step over that final hill."

"It wasn't only him. There were many others who chased after the peak of the dao of weapons. There were many swordmen, sabermen, and staff users, who chased after the peak of weapon dao. But they all failed."

"It was at that time another man was born. Unlike the others, he did not have a teacher to teach him the dao of the sword. So he tried to walk a different path from all others before him. Everyone laughed at him, but he continued on, believing in himself. And he finally proved that he was right. He was the first person to step over that peak, and reached the pinnacle of the sword dao."

"The people who laughed at him were stunned. But they only grumbled and tried harder. These people had an indomitable will and did not change their paths just because of something as simple as that."

"But there were a few people who thought differently. They gave up on their dao, and started on the path the swordsman followed."

"But before they could do it, something happened. A war unlike any before began. Every one of them had to fight. And then they all died."

For a moment there was only silence in the room. Then Zhang Zi's jaw dropped.

"What kind of stupid story is that." Zhang Zi exploded. "A story is supposed to have a beginning, middle, and an end. What kind of stupid story has everyone dying in the middle."

Bai Yun laughed when he heard about this. "This story isn't something like that. This story about what path you will take in the future."

"What do you mean?" Zhang Zi asked.

"Are you going to take the mainstream path that no one has reached the peak of? Or will you take the path taken by the swordsman, who followed his own path? After all, no one knows which path is the correct path. Jut a single case cannot show which path is right. After all, it could be that the swordsman was a genius, who would have reached the peak regardless of the path he chose. Or it could be that his path was right." Bai Yun asked.

For a moment Zhang Zi was silent. "Is what you said true?" He finally asked.

"Every word. But the story is an old one. I don't know if it has changed since then." Bai Yun replied. After all, a weapon based titled god could have been born since his death. But Bai Yun did not sense anything like that when he was in the dao repository. Thus he thought that such a person hasn't been born yet.

Zhang Zi sat there thinking for a while. Bai Yun let him think before he suddenly interrupted. "Well, it's not something you need to think about right now. You still have a long time before you have to make that choice."

Zhang Zi nodded.

"Anyway, that brings me to why I wanted to talk to you." Bai Yun said. "I wanted to give this to you." After saying this he pulled out a small stone from his sleeve and handed it over to Zhang Zi.

"A memory stone." Zhang Zi said, surprised at the sudden object.

Memory stones were special stones carved by a special process. It could hold information, which could then be read by other people. The advantage of a memory stone was that it could both be created and read much faster than a book. But only people at the foundation establishment layer or higher could read or make them.

Also, most memory stones were one time use objects. Once the contents in them were read, they would break. If one wanted to make a reusable memory stone, it was both expensive and complicated. Thus, many people still preferred books for long term storage.

Zhang Zi played with the memory stone for a moment before he looked at Bai Yun. "What's in it?" He asked.

Bai Yun smiled when he heard this. "Do you remember me mentioning a spearman named Fang Jin earlier? He was one of those who changed his mind. In this is his understanding of the spear dao, along both paths he had traveled. It also contains a few good cultivation and battle techniques. You can study them and come to a decision yourself."

Zhang Zi was stunned by this. He then took the memory stone into his hands and slowly started to read up on it. Seeing Zhang Zi so engrossed Bai Yun started to leave.

"Wait." Zhang Zi called out just as Bai Yun reached the door. "Have you been walking around with this all this time?"

"Nope." Bai Yun replied. "I just got the idea to give this to you when I saw you just now. I made it when I was talking to you."

"Then I guess it was a lucky coincidence that I ran into you today." Zhang Zi said.

For a moment Bai Yun was silent. "Coincidence is just a word we use when we don't understand what fate has in store for us." Bai Yun said. "And I have heard from some very reliable sources, that fate is very powerful."

Bai Yun then left behind a confused Zhang Zi, and went home. The moment he reached home, he fell into a deep sleep. He had been working hard for the past two weeks and needed a good rest.

Tomorrow a hard journey begins.