Beast beneath the moonlight
Eventually even the Blue seas shall turn into Mulberry fields .
Brats , their noses running wild with snot shall become older someday turning into strapping youths.
Even then , their inherent foolishness shall not disappear ; trapped as it is by their naive notion , that the world out there is waiting for them .
How pitiful !
Still it isn't their fault entirely .
Almost everyone goes through that phase once , until they find their own means of sustenance ; the ideal that keeps them slaving on and on in hope of someday reaching the stars.
Ugh!
The very possibility of their success disgusted him .
Who in their right mind shall ever wish to aim for something as accursed as the stars ?
Their wretched light swooping down from the skies tormented his slit pupils and for good measure , burned his lovely scales.
No ! No !
The light of the stars was not meant for a beast like him.
The only heavenly light he preferred was the silvery light of the full moon that obscured the light of those very stars .
There was a certain poetic significance to it that made him joyous ; the frail hopes of man were as dim as fireflies compared to the brightness of eternity.
But what did he do on other nights ?
After all for all he wished , the full moon appeared only , once a month.
On the other nights that pearly light on the earth below was satisfying enough ; he loved watching it time after time , not as much as he loved watching the full moon , but it came a close second.
He sought it with an unrelenting passion ; the elusive glow hidden behind the opaque flesh and blood .
After the abomination that is called life would disappear , a grey shape would materialise , which would be very faint and ever so slightly luminous. It would be helical in form, a faint spiral, and much, much smaller than the thick , unnecessary covering that had obscured its beautiful form for years on end .
This was the source of the radiance that he loved watching so much.
To the extent that to seek for it he would do his best ; tearing away at the flimsy covering that hid it deep inside ; eating away the white , all in search for the golden yolk .
Man , beast it didn't matter .
All possessed that lovely glow , all he had to do was reach for it.
At last , he had found another !
He couldn't stop salivating !
Now then , Where will it go this time ?
The grey orb lingered for a bit before giving an almighty howl as it plunged into the earth.
A failure once again.
The distant memory was still so fresh in his reptilian mind ; that one glow that had with a faint whistle , spiralled away , spinning into the sky.
It had been so beautiful !
Regretfully , try as he might he could never witness another orb as beautiful as that .
It was worse than searching for a needle in a haystack.
Would his search be futile this time as well ?
He licked his fangs with his forked tongue in anticipation , he hoped not.
After all he had made a personal visit to the Fang clan this time !
Since his young lady had enjoyed this place so much it stands to reason their hospitality must be superb !
Jiao San stepped over the heap of corpses that was of his making as he headed deeper inwards ; after all aren't the greatest treasures hidden the furthest in ?
Who knows , this time his fervent wish would be answered !
Five little insects emerged from the inner chambers to stand in his way.
He couldn't stop raising a non-existent brow out of his curiosity ; even after so many years , old habits die so hard .
The cute little insects were each at the peak of the Refining Qi stage , they arranged themselves into what clearly was an array, using formation flags and a spiritual energy gathering treasure , no less.
How prodigal !
Here , the rich clans wasted resources like anything while the poor loose cultivators weren't able to afford even a portion of those in their lifetimes , which were so dismally short.
Their eyes glowed as they took out of their spiritual weapons .
Tsk-Tsk .
Not bad , to maintain enough composure to arrange themselves into an array was admirable .
Admirable but useless.
He crossed his arms and watched as five distinct auras spread out in a wave like manner , being amplified by the array .
A storm of aura blasted across his face , though it did nothing more than to tickle his sensitive pores a little.
A very little.
His forked tongue issued out in a hiss.
"Fire , Water , Earth , Wood and Metal ," he counted .
All five of them were there.
Which meant it was a Five-Elements Gathering array ; one of the classics that allowed for offence , defence and support all at the same time .
Such an array especially used by five cultivators whose hearts and minds were linked to a huge extent had a massive effect in promotion of strength ; these five Peak Refining Qi cultivators , case in point , were fully capable of stopping an early stage Immortal Foundation cultivator in his tracks and if that person were not to be careful could cause him to sustain damage as well.
Unfortunately , he was no mere Immortal Foundation stage cultivator.
He was something far , far worse.
Something they wouldn't have imagined even in their worst nightmares.
His claws brushed across his face as he pondered the best way to dispatch the cute , little insects.
His reptilian slits flickered in an expression of enjoyment as an interesting idea came to his bored mind.
"How about this ? " , he wondered aloud , "Shall I show you the true power of an array ?"
He didn't have much time to waste on these small fry.
Even as they took their stances hidden behind their turtle shells , preparing to launch their weapons with great fanfare ; what he did was extremely simple .
He bit his scaly hand and spit out a sharp claw still dripping with black blood ; that's all that was needed.
Time slowed down and the world was dyed in a lovely shade of crimson as the little claw sped on with a musical whirring.
He hummed along , as best as he could do ; well , hissed along should be more appropriate.
The claw danced in the air ; weaving around in sprightly movements , ducking a bit here , rising a little there .
How lovely !
Ah .. the symphony !
For some strange reason , after his transformation his affinity for melody had risen off the charts ; perhaps because unlike others what resonated for him were not shallow ears instead his entire being serenaded along with each note !
Unfortunately the blissful feeling did not last for long ...even the most soul-stirring of songs eventually have to end !
Unless ...
Someday he could understand the illusory melody of [Eternal Life] and achieve transcendence !
In a twisted world obscured in the colours of madness , the pursuit of perfection appealed to him greatly.
The five little ants fell down together , a fitting crescendo to his performance .
The array protecting them vanished on not receiving any spiritual power as input.
Their faces were rejoicing , even in death , after all bearing witness to a stunning performance by such a gifted genius as him was a rare opportunity .
He selectively ignored the froth bubbling around their mouth and the horrible holes uniformly situated in their chests .
That was just a little price to pay to view his musical , an admission price if you will.
A fair price , he felt.
He waited patiently for the final note.
Slowly fuzzy grey silhouettes emerged from their still corpses in response his cold heart thumped heavily causing his forked tongue to flicker around excitedly .
He will succeed for sure this time !
*******************
Jin Wangsun was emotionless when he received the news.
The him of a decade ago might have been flustered , excited beyond compare , which showed how much he had matured in such a short time.
For a Clasping Core stage cultivator as him , a decade was no different than a month was to a mortal.
With increasing progress on the [Path to Heaven] , the progress of time instead decreases steadily.
However even if years speed past and the blue seas turn into mulberry fields , the dirt of the past is still unable to washed away by the river of time.
Like his own .
He did not need to'read the 'characters' to know who was responsible for sending the message.
He knew him as well as he knew his own sword.
To any other , the comparison would have made no sense ; only a Sword Cultivator who had progressed on the [Way of the Sword ] to the extent he had , would truly understand.
To those like him , their swords was the very reason for their existence ; through the use of their swords they revealed their presence in the world !
Therefore the reason why , he chose his sword as a means of comparison is certainly one worthy of being pondered upon.
Jin Wangsun lifted his partner to his knees and gently caressed its lustrous surface which shone like a crystal in the light.
"Are you as excited as I am ? " , He whispered to it gently , in a tone full of temptation.
The sword vibrated in response as if responding to his words.
Jin Wangsun nodded to indicate his understanding of its intent.
"You can't forget it as well , can't you ?"
That night under the full moon.
When they came face to face with the beast.
He had stood aloft on top of the support of the bridge , the river had been flowing below soundlessly , resembling spilled ink.
On the other end coming towards him as leisurely as possible was a cloaked silhouette.
"Your days of terrorising the land and its people are over !" , he had issued a challenge with the full force of his voice .
The silhouette had slowly raised its head till its eyes had met his
What he had seen in those orbs was an utter darkness .
A blackness that had never known the light.
Even the silvery radiance of the full moon couldn't seem to penetrate that void.
His sword had trembled then , shocking him , for never had it trembled before.
With a hiss , the shadow had responded with his hideous voice
"What ? Is that another fool on a pointless quest to [Subdue Monsters and Vanquish Demons] ? "
"As it so happens , I just have composed something new . Why not listen to my recital ? I provide free food as well !"
"Shut your foul mouth ! Demon ! The only thing that you shall taste tonight is my sharp sword !"
He had burned with righteous indignation then.
How dare this monster which regarded human life as worthless , Mortal and Cultivator alike have the cheek to even suggest a recital ?
As if anything could come from its foul mouth other than noxious fumes that could scorch life and land alike ?
"Tch-tch" , it had clicked his fangs on response and promptly thrown back his hood revealing its hideous reptilian head the description of which was better left to imagination rather than to his skill with words which shall fall ruefully short.
"How rude . After I had invited you so politely as well ! Even so , Being as kind as I am I shall still provide you with an opportunity . Come !"
He had leapt then , his drawn sword gushing with the sparkling radiance that was the tell-tale sign of [Sword Qi] , a form of Qi that could be condensed only by one who had devoted many years of obsession to the sword.
The beast had just lifted a hand in response , keeping off his attack which had arrived on it with an overwhelming force .
His leg had followed glistening with qi only for it to be parried expertly as well.
And so their dance had begun as they swayed all across the bridge with each move holding an irresistible charm .
To an observer it may have seemed as if they had rehearsed till their moves were in tandem , in the rush of claw slashes and stabs , in the storm of fang bites and thrusts , in the flurry of kicks and blocks which faded away into a blur there appeared to be an implicit sense of coordination.
Even when the superficial openings had ended giving way to the Immortal Arts that comprised the true moves of the game ; Even when his fierce sword slashes were being combated evenly by the other's abnormal speed which would put any Human Cultivator of the same stage no perhaps even the same realm to shame ,when his flimsy defence made of symbol talismans was being placed under great strain under the relentless onslaught of blows that due to their speed and quantity were practically invisible to his supernatural eyes , even when he watched as he got in a extremely potent sword move only for it to result in a surface wound thanks to that outrageous defence coupled with that unnatural speed.
Truly , it may have seemed as if they were in a graceful pirouette , dancing together in company.
But such an assumption would have been far off the mark.
True , they were dancing but not to the same melody.
Even as the bridge shattered after it proved to be unable to withstand the waves that were complementary to their fight.
Even when they spiralled away over the water surface under the light of the full moon.
They were each following the steps in their own repertoire.
Their melody unravelled as they leapt over nascent waves disturbing the inky surface , over tumbling blocks of wood grasping it as foothold as each tumbled towards the other in an elegant whirl.
His sword had particularly been excited then , flying like a meteor with a bang that teared through the sky accompanied by the flickering light of his talismans.
He owned no other weapon other than his sword.
He had needed nothing else till then .
He had felt he would not need anything else further as well.
His assumption had proved to be wrong.
The beast had broken though and in an almighty leap had surged towards him ,its claws outstretched , the moonlight shining bright silver on its dark body .
All he had remembered before the darkness swallowed him and his sword shattered in front of his eyes were the crimson slits shining in glee.
He would remember them forever.
The eyes that had shattered his song midway leaving him adrift in the vast sea of emptiness.
He clenched his teeth and disrobed revealing his toned body , exploding with muscle .
But compared to that what was more attention catching was the gruesome scar that had not healed still , even after so much time had passed.
A single character.
Always.
The sight of which unpleasantly reminded him of those lidless scarlet eyes and that twisted laughter.
His head sweated in response.
He held his sword even more tightly . It was as if , if it were even a fraction looser he would be sent back to that nightmare again.
This time he would win for sure.
He would sever off his own demon and finally progress.
There was no stepping back this time .
Even if he repeatedly encouraged himself , those words would appear once again robbing him off his conviction , making him weak in the knees.
"Once you have my mark , You would always be mine . There is no running away . "
He got up shakily and walked forward .
A youth belonging to the younger generation who was stationed outside his residence got up in respect .
"Anything you need , Uncle Master ? "
"Don't bother ," he pulled out another robe from his [Spatial bag ] which he used to cover his body with .
He pulled his treasured sword close to his parson.
"I'm going out for a little stroll .I have an appointment with a friend which is long overdue ."