Chapter 2 Enlightenment?

Yang Yichen laid within his courtyard watching the drifting clouds above him. It had been about a month since his loss at the hands of the Starry Sky Sect disciple, and it was safe to say he had yet to get over it.

After waking up from his comatose state he hadn't said a single word. All he did was tend to his injuries and then gaze at the sky. Day and night he watched the sky above, from the drifting clouds to the countless stars in the night sky.

The Sect Master had even checked up on him once or twice but ultimately decided against interfering. This was a necessary lesson for Yang Yichen, one that now had been deeply ingrained into his bones.

"There's always another mountain." These were the first words he said since the loss. Although he said it, he didn't truly understand what it meant, or at least he hadn't prior to the loss. Having now tasted his fair share of defeat Yang Yichen found a new appreciation for the phrase.

Thus a year passed. Throughout this time the Blood Sword Sect had been a mess. Yang Yichen hadn't made an appearance since his loss, not even showing up for the annual Ranking Battle. Some were even beginning to believe that he didn't deserve his position as a Core Disciple anymore.

That the once proud genius had been thoroughly crushed. While this was merely a loud minority, it wasn't an exaggeration to say that the majority of disciples still had their concerned. Not to mention that even the Sect Master was growing worried.

"There's always another mountain...so doesn't the logic follow that there's no end to attaining strength? No end to cultivation? Then why cultivate? Why do I cultivate?" He contemplated and contemplated.

Cultivation was varied. Some chose to cultivate in hopes of living forever, others purely for strength to reign over the masses. There were also those who cultivated to protect their loved ones, for glory, to make others proud, to prove people wrong but Yang Yichen didn't relate with any of these reasons.

Within the village he had a loving well respected family, and their village as a whole was granted protection by the Blood Sword Sect. So it wasn't due to a desire of protecting those he loved, or even to make his family proud, after all his mother was actually against his cultivation.

Lastly he had no real desire to live forever, or reign over the masses. Sure did he enjoy being stronger than others definitely but it was more an additional bonus rather than his core belief. This question took him an entire year to answer.

He looked back on his memories, and towards the beginning of his journey. Entering the Body Tempering Realm and crushing a boulder with a single fist. Running from one end of the village in less than a minute. Being able to jump up and reach for the skies.

It was never about others, his cultivation had always been about what he himself could do. This answer, this conclusion took him a harsh defeat and 2 years to answer but the heavens while not fair were not unjust.

"I cultivate to ascend my limits, to transcend myself."

Enlightenment. An extremely rare phenomenon, a phenomenon which Yang Yichen was about to experience. A thin golden beam of light shot down from the heavens, and immediately Yang Yichen's body began to transform.

His frame which had grown skinny due to malnutrition began to crackle his bones shifting every which way. His Peak Qi Gathering cultivation which had grown stagnant began to circulate with renewed vigor. Lastly his mind felt as though it was opening up, the world before him became clearer and the clouds which looked like they were aimlessly drifting before now had a certain rhythm to them.

This process took place over the course of an hour, and it was the most comfortable the young man had ever felt in his life. By the end of it, black sludge was covering the surface of his body, and he felt as though he'd attained a level of strength he could've only dreamt of before.

"I think its time that I, Yang Yichen, continue my duties as a Core Disciple, but before that I should take a bath." He chuckled to himself before disappearing from his courtyard and rushing to a nearby river.

---

"What was that disturbance?" The Sect Master gazed skyward before shaking his head. "My cultivation is still too shallow, even if I thought about it for 100 years I'd still never know....speaking of thinking I wonder how Yichen is...."

---

Arriving at the river Yang Yichen swiftly undressed himself before entering the river. Cleaning himself was the number one priority right now. The black sludge which had exuded from his body was rancid, even the impurities he had released during the Body Tempering Realm weren't as repugnant.

'On the upside that just means that the benefits I attained were just that much greater.' Yang Yichen thought as he happily scrubbed off the waste. Bit by bit the black gunk disappeared, and soon he was completely clean.

"Now that I think about it I got quite a bit larger." The young man noted as he clenched his hands. All things considered a whole two years had passed, and he was now 17 so it was only natural for him to have grown somewhat.

Because of this he decided to look at this reflection, but upon doing so he couldn't help but race a brow. Right at the center of his glabella there was now a thin two centimeter vertical line. It was gold in colour and he wasn't all that sure what it was exactly.

'Regardless it probably has something to do with the enlightenment I experienced. I wouldn't be surprised if this thing is actually the main reward.' He thought before grabbing his robes and scrubbing them clean.

Once he was done, he donned them and headed towards the center of the Blood Sword Sect, it was time he made a comeback.