2 Qing Fang

Mortals strengthen the body, Immortals nourish the soul and Gods create life.

In the history of the Universe, this famous saying sounded throughout all the realms. It summarised how in the Mortal Realm, mortal cultivators strive to perfect an immortal body; immortal cultivators aimed to create an immortal soul in the Immortal Realm and in the God Realm, life is the base of cultivation.

...

Qing Fang opened his eyes. It was morning.

The sun shone over the horizon and onto Qingshan City, the capital of the Qing Clan. Qing Fang was currently on the only completely owned planet of the Qing Clan. The Patriarch of the Clan was only Stage 7, which wasn't that powerful to be occupying a whole world. The only reason they could do this was the huge number of people the Qing Clan had. Many Stage 6 elders and Stage 5 minor elders made the bulk of their fighting force.

Qing Fang arose from his bed with mechanical movements. The average-looking young adult stared at himself in the mirror with hollow and dull eyes. Then, Qing Fang smiled and practised his 'friendly smile' and 'friendly greeting' expression. After he thought he had the gist of it for today, his smiling face disappeared as his expression turned bleak once again.

Leaving his shack after washing and dressing himself, Qing Fang strolled through the morning market with his favourite 'friendly smile' expression worn on his face.

Eating a few fruits he bought along the way, Qing Fang made his way across the city. Since he was an esteemed Stage 3 cultivator, which was higher than most, he was respected and greeted as he walked. He would nod in acknowledgement from time to time. But not too much, too much is unnatural.

Right now, Qing Fang was headed toward the main pagoda within the city. He was looking to undertake a mission from the Clan and receive contribution points which he would then trade for cultivation resources for Water path.

In the Mortal Realm, mortals cultivated their bodies until they perfected them and achieved an immortal body. This was done by absorbing the 'essence' of the Universe. Everything has essence. Humans, animals, plants, elements, everything. By absorbing the essence of the world and incorporating it into one's own body, it is strengthened and given special powers. Whether it be controlling water, fire, lightning or any other attribute. It had to be known that humans had human essence and beasts had beast essence. Although mortal cultivators could sense their own human essence, it was useless for cultivation as absorbing essence into the body is the concept. Due to this, the use of human essence regarding cultivation is a mystery in the Mortal Realm. Beasts cultivated by absorbing essence into their bodies, similarly to humans.

Once the cultivation journey has started, cultivators are limited to absorb one type of essence. This determines their cultivation path. Whether it be Fire path, Wind path or, like Qing Fang, Water path.

Although there are an infinite amount of 'essences' within the Universe such as cloud, light, darkness, gravity and so on, a limited few became mainstream. Although partly due to whether it was easy to comprehend, it was mostly due to the available essence of that specific attribute. For example, on a world without clouds, cultivating Cloud path is still possible but is extremely difficult.

The 'essence' could also be interpreted as a certain Law of the Universe. The Law of Fire, for example, is absorbed by Fire path cultivators to progress. The cultivation resources used would be heavily infused with the fragment Law of Fire and cultivating in an environment filled with the Law of Fire would be the most beneficial, such as a fixed star or volcano. Obviously, for different paths, the optimal cultivation environment differs.

Different Clans and sects gradually chose to specialise in a certain path. Qing Clan specialises in Water path and they mainly gather cultivation resources containing water essence. The reason Qing Fang chose Water path was also due to this point. As his body had no natural affinity with any path, granting him zero cultivation talent, he chose the path easiest to cultivate in his circumstances: Water path.

As Qing Clan specialises in Water path, it goes without saying that the occupied world that Qing Fang is currently on is filled with the Law of Water. There are many natural springs, lakes, oceans and there is lots of rainfall.

Qing Fang had 'zero' cultivation talent because he had no natural affinity with any path. However, this was not true. Any being, man or beast, has an affinity toward a certain path. However, due to the infinite amount of paths, many have yet to be discovered. This would result in the cultivator having no talent due to no affinity with the known paths. As for discovering one's own affinity? You would have to delve into the depths of one's intrinsic human essence to find it. One of the only things known about human essence is that it contains the information about one's natural affinity. However, to do this is extremely difficult. Human essence and beast essence are very different to the fragment laws that cultivators absorb into their bodies. While linked, they are very different. Some people speculated that due to the similar naming, it might be a 'Human Law', however, this has long been disproven. People haven't discovered much about what it means to a person apart from that if it's destroyed, you will die. It goes without saying that people that can actually analyse their human essence are one-in-a-thousand-years geniuses and have likely discovered its use in cultivation. However, Qing Fang knew he was no such person and hadn't even experimented with it due to the difficulty and comprehension requirement. This is usually what separates the geniuses from the monsters.

As for those that have affinity with known paths, in other words cultivation talent? Apart from the minority that comprehended it through their human essence, the others were lucky to get a mainstream affinity. These people most likely experimented to see if they had any talent before they started their cultivation journey. This has gradually turned into a tradition that Clans carry out on their youths to see who's worth investing in. Back then, Qing Fang discovered he had no natural affinity.

While everyone has affinity, the amount differs with each person. You could have two people with affinity to Fire path but they are on completely different levels.

With these thoughts in his head, Qing Fang's refined and practised expression turned ferocious, scaring people who looked his way. Sensing gazes, Qing Fang hurriedly corrected himself. He must lay low.

The reason for this is that Qing Clan is a righteous force. If his insidious nature was exposed, Qing Fang would be ostracised and prevented from progressing in cultivation. In the worst case, he would be killed.

The animosity between righteous and evil is one that goes back to the beginning of time.

In Qing Fang's opinion, righteousness and evil does not exist. It is only what is feared and what is not. Who said murder is bad? It is the person who is afraid of being killed. Who said thievery is bad? The person who is afraid of being robbed. It all comes down to social interaction and the mentality of humans. If someone lived in isolation, he could do whatever he wanted. There would be no one to label his actions as bad or good. This fear within humans' hearts, Qing Fang disdained it.

He who kills should be prepared to be killed himself. This concept is truly beautiful to him. To truly lose fear is to become the feared. A murderer is not afraid of being murdered unless he still has a shred of humanity.

Qing Fang has long abandoned his humanity in mind and soul. It is only his body that is still human. He is essentially a demon in human's skin.

Thinking of these things, Qing Fang passed an inconspicuous alley. He glanced at it and gradually started to smirk. This was where he killed his first human.

...

It was deep into the night as a young child walked through the city's backroads.

His gaze was deep and unfathomable like an abyss, his expression unreadable. If anyone was around to see it, they would be horrified to see a seven-year-old making such an expression. He looked at the world with disdain, as if everything was meaningless but him. This ingrained arrogance and pride would scare the faint of heart.

Suddenly, a crash sounded as a pile of scrap metal was knocked onto the floor. Trapped under it and crying pitifully was a young girl, around seven.

She cried softly. When she heard someone coming, she became deathly quiet. If street rats like her were found, they would be taken away and relocated. She didn't want that.

Under the pile of sheet metal, she gradually saw who was walking around so late.

It was a little boy.

He was looking straight at her with a cute smile on his face. He was obviously alerted by the sound of metal crashing and looked over. However, having never been smiled at so genuinely before, the small and weak girl became happy. Only sensing overwhelming friendliness, she dragged her little body out from underneath the sheet metal. By doing so, she cut her tiny hands and scarlet wounds opened on her palms.

The two were about ten meters apart in the dark and empty street.

"H-hello." The girl nervously stammered. The boy was in her age-range so she was much more conscious about her impression on him. After speaking, she shot a smile at him.

"What are you doing here alone? Where are your parents?" The boy inquisitively asked. He seemed intrigued by the breed of human before him.

"Don't have any..." The girl became sad.

Sensing that she was upset, the boy was confused. He only asked her a simple question. In his mind, nothing he did warranted sadness. He was a stranger to social interaction. "Why are you sad?"

The girl didn't answer but introduced herself. She was eager to talk to this boy. "I'm Cai."

"What's your last name? Mine's Qing." The boy said. He wanted the name of this social 'test subject.' Maybe he could practice with her again until he became 'normal.'

Hearing this, the girl was shocked. This boy was part of the Qing Clan? The Qing Clan ruled this planet and, to her, were very strong. She shrunk back, now afraid of him. Since he was part of the Qing Clan, he might take her to the guards.

'This girl is not normal. She's not answering my question.' The socially impaired Qing Fang learned what was 'normal' from watching others. As this girl was a new 'breed' of human that he had never seen before, he was interested in learning more about normal behaviour from her. However, he had an inkling that this girl was inherently strange. It was unproductive to take notes from her.

As her use was now gone, Qing Fang's friendly mask faded away as he ignored her and kept on walking down the street to his shack.

Although the girl shrank back, she was still looking at Qing Fang. However, when she saw his friendly expression turn to an uncaring one, she became distressed. Wasn't this a chance for her to make a friend? She wanted to get to know the boy that showed her kindness. Now, he was walking away while pretending she didn't exist.

"Wait!" She reached out and clung to his sleeve. As she hoped, he immediately stopped walking and stood on the spot. However, instead of turning to face her, he stared at his sleeve with a strange look she couldn't see from her position.

The girl caught on and similarly looked where he was. There, she saw smeared blood on his pristine white robe. It stood out like an ugly birthmark. Thinking he was upset, she hurriedly said "I'm so sorry! I'll clean it for you!"

Qing Fang looked at the dirty mark on his sleeve, his eyes showing a loathsome look. However, he was inwardky exploding. 'This girl dares sully me!? This dirt beneath my feet grabs ahold of me!? Unforgivable!' An insane look gradually surfaced in his eyes coupled with thick and suffocating murderous intent worthy of a seasoned killer.

Under the girl's anxious eyes, he slowly turned around, carrying an aura of solemnity.

"I-" The girl wanted to speak but when she saw his expression she choked on her words. All she saw was pure hatred and disdain. He looked at her like she was a scourge on his existence that needed to be purged.

Fear gradually surfaced in the tiny and skinny body of the girl. Her long and scruffy hair parted to show crystal streams of tears flowing down her cheeks silently. Before she could cry out, he moved.

Grabbing toward her thin and frail neck, Qing Fang took ahold of it with both hands exerting all the force he could. Her little neck couldn't bear the pressure and instantly twisted into something unnatural under the crystallisation of Qing Fang's hatred.

Under the still heated gaze of Qing Fang, the girl's body powerlessly fell to the ground with a light thud. She lay in the dirt, motionless.

Qing Fang's overwhelming pride still wasn't satiated with just this.

He raised his foot and ruthlessly and violently stamped down on the face of the girl. Still stained with tears and a pitiful look on her sad little face, Qing Fang's foot smashed down repeatedly. After a while, this girl was no longer small, pitiful and cute but a mangled and unrecognisable pool of flesh and blood.

Standing over the body of the one who desecrated him, Qing Fang felt satisfaction along with a feeling of power. He liked this feeling! He wanted to do this again!

The feeling of his foot smashing soft flesh felt like heaven to Qing Fang. He could get addicted to this. In fact, he already felt withdrawal symptoms. He wanted to kill someone else! Now!

However, reason prevailed and suppressed the great feeling of power. He knew he was too weak to reveal his true feelings at this stage in his life. However, that didn't stop him from feeling glee.

With a grin on his face and a newfound pleasure in this bleak world, little Qing Fang skipped through the street back to his shack. He left the corpse there but no one will care. She is just an insignificant girl. Although a murder happened within a 'righteous' force's stronghold, no one would care to investigate.

'That was great.' What was this feeling..? Joy? Happiness? Whatever it was, Qing Fang liked it...a lot.

...

While reminiscing about when he first discovered the feeling of joy, Qing Fang smiled deeply and eerily.

Unknowingly, he had already arrived at the entrance of the main pagoda. It was a huge building spiralling 1,000 meters into the sky. It was a black and red colour and furnished with lots of gold. The building seemed to dimly shine. Qing Fang knew this was because there were defensive formations around it. There were many floors and the first one was the hall of internal affairs. This was where Qing Fang, as a member of the Clan, could go to accept and complete missions in exchange for contribution points. Of course, this was a small part of the duties the hall of internal affairs had to manage but it was the main one.

The city itself had a diameter of a few hundred kilometres and had many tall buildings so, although the main pagoda was the tallest building, it didn't stand out too much. The main road of the city headed from the north gate to the entrance of the main pagoda so it is easy to get there.

Besides housing the hall of internal affairs, the main pagoda was home to all the halls as well as the lodgings of the main bloodline of the Qing Clan.

Amidst many other clansmen looking for contribution points, Qing Fang entered the first floor of the main pagoda. Conveniently, this was the hall of internal affairs.

Besides the wide stairs leading to the second floor in the centre of the large hall, many people were working in the abundant space within the hall. These were clansmen belonging to the hall of internal affairs who had specific tasks to do. They were given contribution points as wages but it was an average amount. Qing Fang could earn more monthly by doing missions with his Stage 3 strength. People who typically opted for wages were those with low combat power or cultivation.

Qing Fang walked to a wall covered with the missions commissioned by the city and the clan. It was crowded with many people looking for missions suitable for their strength and preferences. Qing Fang joined them.

After about ten minutes, a mission caught his eyes. He walked over and surveyed it up close to declare to others that this one is his. If someone came and took it while he was watching from afar, that would be terrible.

The mission was to hunt a Stage 3 rogue cultivator. This cultivator in particular wasn't part of the Clan but was born on this world, then due to whatever crime they committed, they were hunted down by the Clan. Qing Fang especially chose this one because he knew it would be easy for him. Although he had low cultivation talent and no natural affinity, his combat power was astounding. Although he couldn't fight across Stages, he was confident in the statement that he could easily kill any same-stage cultivator, no matter how strong they were. Due to this fact, he was quite a valuable fighter.

In wars between clans, Stage 1 cultivators would be rare due to the inability to fight and likelihood of them being young cultivators just starting their journey. Stage 2 cultivators made up the bulk of any fighting force, big or small. Stage 3 fighters were elites among them. They could handle dozens of Stage 2 cultivators at a time. The higher you go, the larger the gap between stages. Stage 4 cultivators would be the elites of the elite. If left to freely roam on the battlefield, they could do serious damage. Stage 5 cultivators are generals on the battlefield while Stage 6 combatants would be the overall commanders of many troops. Stage 7 cultivators rarely get involved in large conflicts but when they do, it would to be to restrain the enemy Stage 7s. Stage 8s are rare in the world and even the strongest forces only have a couple. They would only emerge in massive conflicts. And as for Stags 9s? They were unheard of. They had the power to destroy small worlds single-handedly. When a Stage 9 appeared in an era, they would be the overlord of the entire Mortal Realm as two never appeared at once. They were too rare.

Continuing from this, Qing Fang was already within the upper-middle-class in the Clan's social hierarchy; he had some say in small matters but not in the grand scheme of things. However, this was mostly due to the fact that he was part of a massive force. In small forces, Stage 3s like him would be minor elders, the equivalent of a Stage 5 in Qing Clan. In medium forces, he would be part of the the top fighting force, like Stage 4s are in Qing Clan. Unfortunately, he was born into a gargantuan Clan with a grand Stage 7 Patriarch. He was insignificant in Qing Clan.

Standing at the entrance of the main pagoda and looking down over the huge citadel, Qing Fang thought about his mission. He had to go to a large forest about 100 kilometres southwest of the city. This was where the rogue was last seen. It is very likely that he is hiding within the forest and living off of the land. That is not very hard to do with Stage 3 cultivation. They could go a week without food, water or sleep and still be in peak condition. This was due to the cultivating and strengthening of the body being at Stage 3.

Qing Fang walked back to his shack to prepare some things before leaving to hunt the rogue. Although it was called a 'shack' that was only due to the shape of it. It was quite a nice building which costs a few silver to rent monthly. For comparison, one silver coin is equivalent to one thousand bronze coins and one bronze coin is enough to sustain a mortal family of three for a week. For transactions below bronze, iron coins were used. One bronze coin is worth a thousand iron coins. From this, a mortal family of three has an expenditure of around 150 iron coins a day. That includes food as well as rent and taxes. So, Qing Fang's rent was quite costly even to cultivators and luxurious to mortals.

In his head, Qing Fang was planning on preparing a map, clothes and knife before he even reached the door. However, when he entered the shack and saw a voluptuous figure standing in the centre of his living space, he cursed inwardly. Of course, on the outside he gave a small smile and greeted.

"Sister."