Lightning in a Bottle

Ling Yun had never paused to consider why the world was the way it was.

To him rather than the understanding the why , knowing the how was far more useful.

For example it was irrelevant to consider why lightning could or could not be stored in a bottle.

Instead it was far more interesting to know what would happen after the said lightning was caged in a bottle.

Would it remain calm as it was in the skies or would it explode breaking the bottle to pieces ?

Now that was fascinating to think about.

On his way to the market Ling Yun found out that almost all of the streets were deserted with few people to be seen abroad.

This was quite surprising , especially in the middle of the day when almost everyone would be up and about .

Could it have something to do with this queer weather ?

He wondered turning his head toward the skies.

He moved on after a brief pause.

The usually busy to the brim , market was that day just as desolate as the rest of the city .

Ling Yun's brows furrowed at the sight .

If his purchases were to be put off , then it could cause a serious disruption in his plans.

Luckily there was a stall still open in one solitary corner.

Unlike majority of the others which focused on just one kind of product like those which sold pills or cultivation techniques this stall appeared to sell almost everything in a hodgepodge manner like one of those Traders displaying their wares back in the tiny hamlets of the Secular World.

It had been so long since he had been to such a shop , he sighed , for some strange reason he felt nostalgic regarding that.

How long had it been since he had sentimentally remembered his own humble regions ?

He did not know .

Still , since he had reminisced , It was only natural that he visited this stall in passing to remove any emotional bindings that left him still tied to the days gone by.

Of course ,there was another less impressive reason -this stall happened to be the only one that was open.

The Stall was just a road-side encroachment , an establishment which barely had a roof and a lone table that displayed some common objects that might have dazzled any mortal back from where he came from but in his opinion was almost certainly trash.

The proprietor , a middle aged man with grizzly air was sleeping soundly on a chair propped up just behind the counter.

"Ahem ,ahem " , he coughed softly.

The man grumbled in response with his eyes still closed in half-sleep

"I don't want to go ! So what if the city gets destroyed , I want to get my sleep...", he mumbled incoherently before going back to the world of his dreams.

Ling Yun sighed in exasperation.

He reached down on the ground and picked up an extremely small piece of lint lying strewn across the earth.

He gently blew across it before infusing some of his qi into it and then releasing it from his hand in a manner akin to a projectile.

"Ouch ! What in the Heavens ..." , the man woke up with a start and began looking all around to find the perpetrator who had so cruelly disturbed his pleasant dreams.

Ling Yun couldn't conceal the wide smile that formed across his lips.

The importance of spells was certainly not to be underestimated.

The man rubbed his eyes sheepishly as he tried to shake off the last vestiges of sleep .

Strangely however he could see a lone silhouette standing in front of his shop.

Wait a minute ...

He rubbed his eyes more furiously as the blurred image imprinted in his eyes became more clear.

There was indeed a solitary youth standing in front of his stall.

He never recalled having a friend like that .

Which meant..

The man got up hastily and addressed Ling Yun with a smile on his face.

"Welcome to my humble establishment ! I Jing Lie , am glad to receive your patronage ,customer ! Still it's surprising that unlike the others" , here he made an obvious gesture with his hands ," you still dare to come out in the open ! That takes a great deal of bravery , I assure you !"

Ling Yun was quite bemused on hearing this talkative shopkeeper.

"What's so brave about that ? After all it's just a bit of snow. Granted it appears to be the wrong season for snow and the fact that is black can be off-putting still don't you think the reaction is a bit too much ?" , for some strange reason the usually taciturn Ling Yun couldn't help but converse jovially with the man in front of him.

The man stepped back in an exaggerated manner , clutching his heart in a manner that would have made any theatre actor back in the Mortal World really proud of him.

On closer scrutiny the man realized that the youth in front of him didn't appear to be from ZiLin city , from his appearance and his question , he figured that the youth was most likely a rogue cultivator who had just stepped into the brutal world of XiuZhen.

Truly , As the saying goes only a newborn calf wouldn't be afraid of the tiger !

He couldn't help sighing in sorrow turning his face to the heavens high above.

He decided that as an elder it was his duty to enlighten the younger generation regarding the ways of the world.

Meanwhile Ling Yun was quite flummoxed by the strange actions this shopkeeper was making .

First posing in such a dramatic manner and staring at him like that and what was with that sigh ?

Was he ill in the head ?

Ling Yun had seen several such people back in his days spent in the Kingdom Of Zhao but he never expected to meet one of them here in the Cultivation world as well.

"Little Brother !" , the man began with grave solemnity , " What you think as an act of nature has nothing to do with the weather at all. I assure you , for the most part the XiuZhen world has the same weather as the mortal one as well . This however , is an omen of grave disaster sent from the heavens !"

'Huh ?" , even with Ling Yun's great experience he couldn't help be lost at this point.

Realizing that the youth did not understand him Jing Lie ,the shopkeeper decided to rephrase differently .

" The black snow is an outcome of a spell sent by an all-powerful Nascent Condensation expert , for whom summoning the clouds and bringing rain can be done with but a mere flick of his hand ! "

"A Nascent Condensation expert ..", Ling Yun didn't show any expression on his face but inwardly he was aghast.

Although he had long expected the impossible occurring at every step in this path , he had still hadn't adapted to the 'great power' held by the cultivators.

To him at that point the means of a Nascent Condensation expert seemed ...godly .Like the immortals of legend.

Perhaps those legends had themselves spawned from those who witnessed such awe-inspiring displays of power by those very experts.

"What is worse is the fact that there are rumours that the old monster is from the State Of Yue , and he might just be the vanguard responsible for a declaration of war !"

"State Of Yue ? What war ? " , Ling Yun was now feeling even more confused than before.

He couldn't help but curse at that bastard Meng Yun who had never bothered to collect any information at all apart from a really , really brief overview that was hardly better than nothing.

"It is.. well never mind , here wait a sec." , the man dived under the counter and brought out a worn volume , he blew on it to dislodge the dust from the surface after which he handed it over to Ling Yun.

Ling Yun read the characters on the cover of the book.

"An Introduction to the Cultivation World Of the State Of Yan"

Jing Lie pointed at the book , 'It contains all of the basic trivia required to be known by cultivators such as you and me , such as about our state and those neighbouring it , the Five sects , the correct usage of pills and symbols, information regarding some basic formations and so on. It is pretty valuable to someone like you who has just entered the XiuZhen World. "

Ling Yun accepted the book calmly and then casually flipped a few pages.

The book though nothing more than a primer, had enough to finally solve some of his problems that involved his lack of general knowledge regarding the matters of the Cultivation World.

His brows furrowed for a bit when he came across a description of 'Qi Deviation' which he had experienced just a while before.

It made him realize how lucky he truly was and made him wonder about that mysterious sensation that he had felt thrice by then.

Prompted by a sudden impulse he tried to circulate his qi through the place in his neck where the restriction was placed on him.

His qi flowed through unimpeded an observation which caused him to involuntarily let out an exclamation of surprise .

What exactly had happened at that time ?

His brows furrowed for a moment in thought.

He woke up from his reverie however after seeing the strange look that the shopkeeper was giving him.

"How much ? " , he asked unconcerned .

"For you it's free , honestly it's not like someone apart from you would take it anyway."

Ling Yun nodded and accepted it without any pretence .

"Can you show me something else as well ?"

"what do you wish to purchase ? I don't intend to brag but I can say as a matter of fact that I have anything that you could possibly want ." , the shopkeeper replied patting his chest in a confident manner.

Ling Yun smiled in response.

A while later Ling Yun , who was returning , his body being laden with his purchases , stopped at the already bustling City Square .

A long platform had been erected in the center of the square where Five people could be sitting on comfortable seats , In front of the platform several cultivators who were uniformly dressed could be seeing milling about ,controlling the boisterous crowd.

Ling Yun went in and joined the crowd , finding a place for himself towards the back.

At last one of the seated persons after exchanging glances with his companions got up to address the crowd

The sight of the man standing up , instantly silenced the unruly crowd.

He stepped forward , the wind billowing through his long black hair setting off his elegant temperament like the best of adornments .

Ling Yun realised with a jolt that the snow had long since stopped falling .

The clouds had vanished revealing a clear blue sky and a shining sun whose brilliance illuminated the standing man from behind causing him to effuse radiance into the crowd below.

"There may be those among you who had the fortune to have seen me before , There are those who have only heard of me but have not witnessed me in person and there may be those among you who have neither seen nor heard of me. Even so I shall Introduce myself for the benefit of all who are gathered here ."

The man spoke with an unparalleled confidence that had Ling Yun nodding in approval.

In the mortal world he would have made a capable statesman.

His voice though mellow was strangely loud enough to be heard even by those in the crowd who were the farthest from him.

Another spell , Ling Yun supposed.

The utility of using qi was endless.

"I am Jin Wangsun , a Clasping Core stage elder from the Sky Sword Sect."

From what Ling Yun could gather from the subdued whispers he heard around him , this Jin Wangsun appeared to be quite a big deal.

"Firstly , I shall proceed to reassure you on behalf of my colleagues here and the Five Sects which we represent that our State of Yan and in this city in particular do not face any danger of being invaded by hostile forces."

"The said hostile forces ,settled in the neighbouring state of Yue are no more ready for war than we are and the possibility of a fully blown out confrontation is as much detrimental to them as it is to us. "

"Today 's incident , which involved the usage of a mystical art by a Revered Nascent Condensation stage expert was an isolated one , prompted by a sense of mischief and not with a harmful or a threatening intent . The said expert ,Dao Master Ling Yang from the Yellow Myrtle Valley has been reproached accordingly , by the revered ancestors of our five sects . Therefore there are certainly no issues on that part."

The crowd didn't appear to be entirely convinced.

Then again so wasn't he after all which old monster whose age numbered in the thousands would be bored enough to commit 'mischief' that too far away in a region hostile to him ?

Surely he wouldn't , not unless his head had been kicked by the proverbial donkey.

Hmm. on second thoughts , a donkey wouldn't work for an expert of that calibre .

A mountain would be more appropriate perhaps.

Regardless , the crowd didn't make any trouble , cowed as they were by the majesty of the man on the stage.

This time the lightning in the bottle appeared to be perfectly contained in the walls of the container.

Besides although the reason given was utterly ridiculous , that certainly did not mean that the Five Sects hadn't handled the matter at all.

He was sure that behind the scenes some dealing must have inevitably taken place forcing the Nascent Condensation expert to back off.

What concrete agreement ?

He wasn't interested to know since it didn't concern him a bit.

"Moving on , the Sect Entrance Examinations for the Outer Sects of our allied Five Sects shall be conducted as usual . They will begin sharp from tomorrow and shall last for a period of a week. "

" I shall enlighten you regarding the eligibility criteria and the rules and regulations that are involved.'

" Only those who are under the age of twenty are allowed to participate. Among those those whose cultivation has reached the fifth stage of Refining Qi and above or those who have viable Mutant , Sky or Heaven category spiritual roots shall directly qualify to enter the sect of their choice without any assessment . The rest shall all face a rigorous assessment out of which a total of fifty cultivators shall be provided with the opportunity to join one of the Five Sects ."

"Be Warned ! No cases of cheating shall be tolerated ! Any attempts to dupe the examiners when found shall be rewarded with a harsh penalty ."

"That's all from my side , Fellow Daoists . I hope that all of you have a pleasant day and May the Heavens be with you ."

The speaker Jin Wangsun after saying these words , returned back to his seat and the crowd began to disperse.

After giving him a deep look one last time , Ling Yun headed on his own way as well .

He had work to do.

After reaching his room , he began arranging his inventory for the pending 'examination' .

He took a deep breath after taking stock of all that he had.

He took a scroll from his pocket and unrolled it showing it to be a map of some sort.

It was a map of the outer reaches of the Emerald Forest which he had just bought just now , apart from the regions the suspected haunts of demonic beasts and places were spiritual herbs were to be found were clearly marked as well .

He wished he had bought the map earlier when he had gone to the Emerald Forest as it would have saved him a great deal of trouble.

Still there was no use crying over spilt milk.

According to the information he collected from his inquiries , all of the sect entrance examinations were invariably held in the outer reaches in the Emerald Forest though it was difficult to point out the exact zone since the location changed every time.

Even so , this general map shall serve great purpose for him towards plotting his battle plan.

His brows were furrowed as he considered various possibilities , he took out a brush from his belongings dipped into an ink-pot he had just bought and gently drew it out , the dark ink still dripping from the fronds.

He then proceeded to mark some points , crossed out others and connected others until the scribbles formed a complicated diagram resembling a spider's web.

In the centre of the web , he drew a single character with elegant strokes as a finishing touch.

It was the character for 'Lightning'.

He sat down the brush , satisfied .

Now , it was time to go back to the urgent business.

His cultivation had risen by a great amount ,too suddenly which meant that if he didn't take care , according to the book he had read he would end up with an 'unstable foundation' that would hamper his future progress.

The path of cultivation in many ways was similar to the construction of a building .

Without a stable foundation it would be impossible to construct a tall and grand palace all one would have on the contrary would just be a broken -down shack , totally useless.

He sat down and calmed his thoughts.

He steadied his breathing and began meditating.

"Ba-Bump".

Slowly with a thump of his heart the qi started flowing gently through all of his meridians , completing cycles throughout his body.

Prompted by a sudden impulse instead of following Meng Yun's usual method he decided to meditate in those mystical poses that had revealed themselves to him so long ago , it seemed to him now.

As he transitioned from the first to the second pose the qi in his body began to flow more and more quickly , bringing with it alternate sensations of blazing heat and freezing cold that were able to affect him deep in his bones .

Just as the sensations reached an intense crescendo , a seemingly new pose 'revealed' itself before his mind's eye.

Unconsciously his body rearranged itself into the new pose of its own accord.

"Ba-Bump!"

His heart thumped in a manner that sounded loud and clear in the silent world that he was in , then.

In a world with only sensations and feelings the sound of a crack announced a dam being torn apart as a hurricane assaulted his senses bringing with it a sense of new-found power that energised him tremendously.

It was the same sensation that he had felt before.

There was no mistake .

What had happened before hadn't been a hallucination at all.

He woke up with a start , unable to maintain his calm.

With that the sensation disappeared as well .

There was certainly something strange going on but he didn't have the liberty to experiment now.

He would have to figure everything out slowly.

There was no point in meditating now , with his calm disturbed , it would only prove to be a fruitless endeavour.

He gauged his current condition by circulating his qi once again.

The results made him satisfied.

The qi flowing through his meridians appeared more fluid and natural which was a sign that his cultivation had become more 'solidified'.

Ling Yun couldn't help but smile at the choice of his words.

Really , his flair for comedy outdid itself some times.

He gently laid back on the floor with his hands behind his head as he decided to get some rest.

All the preparations were complete , all he had to do was just wait for the right moment.

Tomorrow , was going to be a big day.

Ling Yun gave a yawn and then went off to sleep.

The next day , Ling Yun along with many others headed to the City Square

A long line of youths of all kinds walking under the azure sky certainly looked impressive.

The large numbers being a testament to the immense popularity that the Five Sects enjoyed.

Ling Yun didn't dally and headed straight for the largest line of youngsters made up of those without much talent or pedigree to speak of.

The old man , seated at the front of the line , who was also one of the examiners remained patient even as he evaluated through the large line of youngsters before sending them onward.

When Ling Yun's turn came the sun had already risen high in the horizon , the fact that he had joined the line ripe at dawn showed how large the crowd truly was.

'This is a appraising treasure which shall reveal details such as your true skeletal age , the quality of your spiritual roots and your cultivation level when you drop your blood on it."

"How much ? "

"How much what ?"

"How much blood should I drop ? " , Ling Yun asked with an innocuous , goofy smile on his face.

His question led to much laughter among the crowd.

The Old Man shook his head in disappointment , "What a hick !" , he mumbled to himself but said outwardly , "A drop would do ."

Ling Yun nodded in response .

He promptly bit his thumb and allowed a drop of crimson blood to touch the sphere that was held to him.

The sphere glowed red for an instant before returning to its original colour .

"Name"

"Meng Yun" , Ling Yun responded.

The Old Man wrote it down along with the other information that he had got from the sphere.

"You are eligible" , he said drily.

Ling Yun nodded.

"In that case I shall brief you regarding what's required of you. Listen closely , if you wish to perform well."

Ling Yun nodded and concentrated with all of his faculties.

"You will be sent to a random region of the Emerald Forest along with the other candidates ."

"Your task is simple."

He lifted a token from the table and handed it over to Ling Yun.

'Memorise it's look carefully. Because that's your objective."

Ling Yun raised an eyebrow in inquiry.

"There are fifty such tokens which have been distributed randomly in a radius of ten leagues. As long as you manage to hand one over to an examiner before the period of a week elapses , then congratulations you've passed. To claim ownership over a token you must drop your blood on its surface like you did just now. However remember that the ownership is not absolute with the latest person to drop his blood being recognised as the owner."

"Got that clearly ? "

Ling Yun nodded and handed back the token.

"Of you go then !"

Ling Yun headed over to where others who had completed their registration were congregating.

At one end of a square there was a region demarcated by runes not unlike those that found in the various symbols used by cultivators .

The centre of the region was glowing with light .

Ling Yun who was confused at the sight managed to figure something out from hearing the whispers of his fellow examinees.

"What is that ?"

'That is a legendary teleportation formation ! The expenditure required to set up one in terms of man-power and spirit ones would make our families , no the entire ZiLin City bankrupt several times over !"

"How wealthy are the Five Sects are then to arrange one just for an exam ?"

"Who knows ? But this shows the true meaning of possessing an ancient history !"

Ling Yun stroked his chin in thought.

Truly , the power of the five sects was not to be underestimated.

In that case his plan to escape from the chase of the Devilish and Righteous Path Sects seemed to hold some promise.

At last just as dusk arrived , the registrations stopped . All of the candidates were asked to step in to the teleportation circle.

Barely had all of them done so that a sudden whirring noise rang out like a siren and then Ling Yun felt the earth falling below him.

He had hardly had the time to figure out what happened , for soon he found himself lying on the ground on a familiar carpet of grass.

Trees stretched to the horizon on all sides , the purple evening sky already shining with a million twinkling stars.

Ling Yun felt all of his bones hurt as if he had been beaten over and over again fiercely with a blunt instrument.

His head pounded as if someone was hammering his skull with a twenty-pound anvil.

He felt extremely nauseous and couldn't help but lean forward and vomit .

The contents of his stomach painting the verdant grass a dull orange.

He looked around and realised that many of his fellow 'companions' had already risen to their feet some not showing even the mildest of discomfort .

His muscles arranged into a frown.

The sealed lightning had been let loose from the bottle , this time however he didn't fancy the bottle's chances at all.

Not one bit.