MYSTERIOUS LIGHT-SHADOW SECT

In no time at all, Xu Ling had expertly gotten accustomed to his new body. The golden-eyed child threaded the small track leading to the burning village. The 'past him' had been living there for the past eight years. Yet right now, this one place where was being eaten away by the blazes.

Those poor villagers had managed to gather few things during their harsh and penniless lives. Now, those few belongings had mostly been pillaged by a group of dark-clothed figures. What little remained, ashbound; to drift away with the smoke.

The mountain bandits had been unstoppable. In no time, the cries of women and small children had rang out, only to be drowned out by the spirited shouts of the assailants and the crackling fire.

The child was emotionless as he strolled among the flaming debris, even as roofs and walls came crashing down around him. Even as the flames ravaged the wooden buildings and only charcoal remained, the raging fires barely posed any inconvenience to his steps.

Stride by stride, he fast approached the only part of the village that had yet to burn down. There, the buildings were no longer shacks of wood and grass. Instead, all the houses had been built with care, out of stone and moat.

The fire had come to a helpless stop there.

In its place: dozens of bandits clad in black were rushing down the paved roads. Each of them held a sack in one hand, and a weapon, oftentimes stained the red of grieving, in their other.

In between all of these chaotic happenings, of people screaming only to fall silent and buildings crashing down, the child walked undisturbed through the burning village by following a faint feeling: according to that vague memory, there was only one place the people of Stonewood Township would be able to defend themselves from the bandits' raid.

The major's mansion: he might be able to find a survivor there.

But then, seeing the assailants passing him by, none the wiser, his lips eventually pursed in distaste.

A life for a life, he amusingly chortled.

He strode into the town plaza, a calculating gleam flashing past his golden eyes. All along, no one seemed to notice him. It didn't matter if it was a bandit looting a house, one of the rogues trying to have their way with a woman, or another of the criminals drinking from a freshly-stolen gourd of wine: they all were unaware of the shadow that had just swept by them, just as they would never notice that their heads had since fallen on the ground.

Swish! Swish! Swish! The Shadow reaped its harvest noiselessly.

Barely any time had passed, and the night finally began to quiet down. Not long after, all that was left was the crackling sound of burning wood.

A golden-eyed child sat atop a pile of corpses, examining his blood-stained hands. Some his victims', some his: the skin of his palm had split open, many muscles were torn, and a few of his finger bones had cracked. No surprise there: such was the burden that came with feeble, untrained hands. He sighed as he patiently awaited the adrenaline to subside and the unimaginable pain to follow.

Below him, the lifeless, headless bodies of tens of black-robed figures had all been gathered in a single pile. The surrounding stone houses, other than being charred black after the fire, were now shockingly painted with streaks of vermillion.

The boy bit and tore the shirt off one of the bandits, making a makeshift bandage for his injured hands. Just as he struggled to tie it tightly using his mouth and knees, Xu Ling slowly came to a delighted stop.

Someone had stepped into the plaza.

Judging by their careful and silent steps, they most likely were one of Stonewood's few hunters.

He allowed the man to get closer without showing any sign of having noticed him, so as to not scare him off right away.

"You… Who are you?" Unexpectedly, it was the hunter that initiated the conversation. Although it took a few tries before he could get the words out, it was still commendable given the outright nightmarish scene before him.

Pleasantly surprised, Xu Ling slowly turned around and smiled kindly, "In that regard, I am not too certain myself… I was honestly hoping for someone to enlighten me."

"Ha-Hao'Er! You are Hao'er!" squeaked the hunter in disbelief as he finally saw the other party's face.

"Oh? So you do happen to know me. Friend, do tell me quickly if you know! The details are still fuzzy, you see..." Xu Ling urged.

"Ahhh… How could things turn out like this? Why would things turn out like this?" The man felt the strength in his legs give in as he looked at the child, whose clothes were all but soaked in blood. He seemed conflicted, but barely managed to blurt out, "Boy… Your name is Cheng Hao, you are this town major's son. However… Really, are you still?"

The child's eyes gleamed with amusement as they narrowed into crescent moons, his lips arranging into a telling smile.

Then, he leaned his head to the side as he muttered, "Cheng Hao… how very pleasant. I have appropriated myself of such a young one's body. He might have already died by then, but I will still make sure to use his name to repay him. It is only right…"

He then turned around and informed the confused hunter, "Oh, and thank you for telling me all this, friend. These dead bandits are my way to thank you and the village for everything you have done for me up to today."

The man paled. He was about to say something in reply, but he suddenly gaped in shock: the figure of the child that had been sitting right over there had suddenly vanished!

He looked around yet found no trace of him.

"Ahh, Master Fen, Mistress Rong… your child…" The old hunter could only let out a sigh and fall to his knees in prayer, "May the gods have mercy on our small village and Hao'Er…"

…

Six months later, a black blur shot through a vast forest at the foot of a gargantuan mountain chain.

In the blink of an eye, it had sped past a swamp and was now running up and down the peaks. By the time it finally began to slow down, the sun was hanging directly overhead. Noticing it was noon, the blur came to an abrupt stop atop a tall cliff. With it standing still, the figure could finally be discerned a bit more clearly: 'it' was a young boy, wearing ragged clothes and carrying a huge backpack on his shoulders.

His skin and clothing were so dirty and covered in dark mud that he appeared as a black silhouette. If it weren't for the pair of bright, golden eyes and the two rows of pristine, white teeth, one would easily have mistaken him for a shadow.

Looking down from the edge of the tall cliff, the youngster examined his surroundings: below the edge and off into the distance, a gigantic fortress could be seen.

Its outer walls extended for countless miles, to the point they continued far beyond the horizon. Inside the fortress were houses, as well as many other buildings one would expect of any bustling metropolis. Surprisingly, there were also many lakes, forests, and even actual hills and mountains within the walls. It made people wonder whether the gargantuan castle had actually been built somewhere else and only then moved on top of such fantasy-like scenery.

As his gaze landed on the majestic walls, the child's golden eyes glinted with delight. "That seems to be it." he announced to the winds, "The Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect of the Four Beasts Mountain Range… After many weeks of travel, we're almost there."

Suddenly, the youth plastered a smug smile on his face as two slender arms completely covered in filth crossed in front of his chest. "So, what says you now? Goodness, what would have happened if I had turned left at that time, mhm? Thus, as per our bet, from now on, I shall keep the map."

"..." Unsurprisingly, the winds didn't answer him back.

The golden-eyed child didn't seem to mind the shiness of his companion, and instead stretched a bit, "Mmm! This was a pretty long and harsh journey, even I feel a bit of pressure after running so much... Still, I must say, even if it were just for the beautiful view… I'd argue it would still be worth it."

And indeed it would have been: the imposing fortress was striking, but there was also a beauty in the way nature had been preserved. Was it intentional, the boy pondered in wonder, but did not humour the passing thought much longer.

The youngster covered in filth was just about finished stretching his arms, legs, sides and back: his body emitted creaking noises, which were followed by delighted moans that occasionally escaped the thin lips. After the short but pleasurable session, the boy rubbed the bridge of his nose with a satisfied smile, "Well... Shall we head down?"

"We sure should!"

Surprisingly, a voice had answered him this once! It seemed to be that of a middle-aged man, yet it carried a hint of ancientness as well as of loftiness. The mysterious voice continued, "We wouldn't want to be too late, right? Especially so, after running so much just to get here on time."

"Absolutely, given I did all the running!" Xu Ling, or Cheng Hao rather, rolled his eyes, "Your only usage as of late seems to be that of dead weight to be taken care of. Be sure to break through soon if you don't wish to keep slithering as the pitiful snake you are now. Now then, let me check for a way to fill our pockets…" The boy thus looked at the valley beneath the cliff and frowned thoughtfully. Suddenly, his eyes brightened up and the pupils within seemed to transform into golden coins as they glinted with greed. "There! Look over there!" The youth exclaimed. "An Advanced Stage cultivator with an actual Heaven&Earth Pouch? That's just announcing to the world how rich you must be! Fat yet clueless sheep are my favourite!"

"Hey Bindlight," The boy rubbed his two hands together grinning, "Are you thinking the same thing I am?"

"Oh, most definitely, youngster Ling!" The mysterious voice responded dreamingly, as if intoxicated. "It is such beautiful scenery, although I can't quite seem to see those sheep you are talking about…"

"Not THOSE sheep, you slow reptile! Look at those guys clustering there like a bunch of baboons! There, see? My pouch is empty right now and it seems rather melancholic. Look at how it's bending downwards, reminiscing of a time when it had its fill! We should help him up, wouldn't you say? Agreed, yes? Good. Then..." At that, the boy's masterful eyes darted around before he took a few steps back. "Brace yourself, Goldy, we are going down."

"What did you say? Did you just call me G-Goldy? ME, Blindlight, the devourer of worlds and the eclipser of Planes?" The middle-aged man's voice replied, incensed. Suddenly, it halted, and the same voice that had appeared so overbearing before suddenly asked, tremblingly at that, "Uhm... You are not thinking of... No, no, no. Absolutely not." The voice seemed to have understood what was about to happen, because it grew louder with every sentence, yet more resigned by the word.

"Hey, listen to me, I say! I will puke! And it WILL sully your clothes."

Eventually, he could only give an ultimatum, but before it had the chance to expand on it, the boy had already jumped off the cliff.

"Hey, crazy boy, I told you I'll puke, didn't I- mmmm!!"

"I'd like to see you try with your mouth this firmly shut. Just swallow it back down." The boy chuckled with delight and soon his tiny figure disappeared into the valley below, expertly navigating the cliffside with firm yet sharp steps and stunning handiwork: in less time than it would take an incense to burn, he had disappeared into the forest at the steep hill's bottom.

...

A lowly world in a plane of existence at the edge of charted creation.

A world with a single moon hanging down overhead. A hundred thousand years ago, some might reminisce, there had been Nine such moons. But then, the splitting of the True Heavens into the Nine Heavens affected all creation, and all skies had split in nine, with a single moon each.

And earlier on, even, ten, before the tenth moon was stolen by a lovestruck dragon. In lieu of that, all heavens had also lost their tenth moon.

A lowly world that like all others had a single moon: this one was made up of four great continents.

Of the four continents, those to the east and west were mountainous, traversed by long rivers, and covered in thick forests. They were the lungs of this world.

The Four Beasts Mountain Range, one of the longest mountain chains in the Western Continent, extended for most of its southern area. Along its spine, powerful figures in their time had established many sects and schools. Although these organizations also taught common subjects like math and literature, their main focus was on the so-called Martial Cultivation.

Ever since ancient times, meditation and contact with higher powers had been a way to enhance one's longevity. Even more shockingly, following training methods detailed in those ancient scriptures and achieving various degrees of enlightenment could let humans step on thin air and use supernatural abilities.

Those people who explored the properties of Martial Cultivation and wielded those powerful techniques were called Cultivators.

Amongst the ranks of those powerful sects and schools in the Western Continent was a lone Sect that stood at the very top of them all: the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect.

A thousand years ago, treasures, elixirs, precious materials, pills, and even drops of blood holding untold power... anything a Cultivator could ever wish for had suddenly fallen from the Heavens upon this lowly mortal world.

Thanks to this lucky event, many powerful cultivators had risen during that time, and it was therefore called a Golden Age of cultivation. One particular expert once found a big stash of those treasures and thus collected enough resources to build a first-rate sect, the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect! Even after his death and a thousand years after the rain of otherworldly treasures, the Sect had prospered. It currently housed millions of disciples and numerous Elders, the elites among them more than capable of establishing their very own Sects if they ever so wished.

Right at that moment, a group of twenty youths wearing the black, white-patterned garbs of the sect were standing together and happily chatting with a slightly older man. The older man was also wearing black robes, but unlike the other youths whose decorations only had one or at most two white stripes going from their shoulders to their ankles, the man's robes were traversed by three of the elaborate stripes: for them to be three, they reflected his status as an esteemed Inner Sect disciple. He was an existence in the Sect that statistically only appeared once for every thousand disciples that enrolled in its ranks. Even with millions applying every year, Inner Disciples were rather rare and seldom spotted outside the Inner Sect's grounds.

But again, one's road was bound to start somewhere, and every disciple would have to traverse the Sect's hierarchy in its entirety to reach the peak. On the way there, they were bound to make connections, however shallow they might be. And, in the case of an event calling for celebrations, it wasn't too strange to contact some old acquaintances to commemorate together.

"Senior, senior, is it true that you've successfully condensed your Core?" A person asked, his expression showering the older man with respect and worship.

"What? Senior, could it be... you have completed the Advanced Martial Stage at such a young age? What heaven-defying talent!" A young lady's eyes glinted with surprise and she immediately edged closer to get a better look.

"Oh my, so Senior finally broke through! We have to celebrate this great occasion with the finest of wine! Surely senior won't be so uptight to not even treat us to a drink right?" A burly man laughed and patted the person in question on the back.

The group of young people kept bombarding the man in his early thirties with questions and showered him with praises nonstop. He stood at one meter and eighty centimetres tall, and had long, flowing, black hair that reached down to his waist, giving him a somewhat scholarly aura... The man had a somewhat haughty air and his eyes held a bit of contempt in them. However, he hid both very deeply and acted well enough for people to actually mistake them for affection and humbleness.

"My, my! I am not such a genius… it took a full sixteen years to fully condense my core, how could that be called a genius? I can barely be considered talented..." The man waved his hands dismissively, but he was laughing inside…

Again, in the case of an event calling for celebrations, it wasn't too strange to contact some old acquaintances to commemorate together, however different their statuses might have grown apart-

'Yes... YES!'

'Praise This Genius more!'

[Note: again, he's referring to himself in the third person.]

'Heaven Defying? Indeed, indeed, these guys know exactly what they're talking about! Huhu!'

...it was either that, or maybe they just enjoyed the attention that came with it.

"Not a genius? How can Senior say that!" A youth in his late teens, Junior Tang, grabbed the chance to flatter the older man even more, and skillfully illustrated his bootlicking skills. "Many people in the sect will never reach such deep cultivation, and I'm sure everyone will agree, those people who can are true dragons amongst men! This lowly Junior can only hope to one day also follow Senior's footsteps, and if luck has it, amount to a single of your, a true dragon's, scales!"

"..." The other bootlickers fell silent.

"...Yes?" The Inner Disciple was stunned as well, revelling in the sudden praise.

The bootlickers ground their teeth, and could only bow in reverence to that tongue.

'How crafty and mellifluous! How are other people supposed to surpass that without sounding condescending? You win this time, brother Tang! We truly did not expect your bootlicking abilities to have achieved such a breakthrough…'

"...yes.Yes! That's indeed right, Senior! After all, if your talent isn't good enough to be called at the very least far above the average man, then wouldn't our talent be worse than dog crap?" Fortunately, a disciple that was particularly close to the scholarly cultivator also laughed and jokingly patted the man's shoulder, breaking the tension.

"Ahhhh, you guys..." the older youth shook his head as he chuckled.

Even though he seemingly kept dodging the praises that other people were throwing at him, it was still evident to the keen-eyed that the man felt rather proud of himself! Completing the Advanced Stage at the age of thirty-one truly was something worth praise, especially so as many people might even not reach that level of martial cultivation at all in their whole lives…

'Yes, praise this genius more! Who is next? This genius can't wait... Preach my greatness! Huhuhu!'

It was true though that his attitude towards the matter was borderline sickening.

Just then a small, pleasant voice could be heard.

"Uuuu, esteemed seniors, is this the road that brings to the Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect?"

Everybody stopped talking and switched their attention towards the new arrival: the boy very clearly wasn't even in his teens as he appeared to be maybe ten years old at most; most likely he was still only nine, or even eight. Appearance-wise, he was wearing tattered clothes, had a pair of ragged shoes on, and his only belongings were a comically large, worn-out backpack, which he carried on his back, and the empty pouch on his belt...

"I seem to be lost," the child announced. He then smiled sheepishly. He like so exposed two rows of pearly-white teeth, which stood out in stark contrast when compared to his filth-covered body.