Disappointment

The Arctic Ocean Dragon Sect was one of the four strongest powerhouses of the Azure Sky Continent and was considered the strongest female-only Sect in existence. Their disciples were varied when it came to their Dao of choice but the Sect's foundation was comprised of Cultivators who sought to be enlightened upon the Dao of Water.

In ancient times, before the Arctic Ocean Dragon Sect was established by their founder known as the Arctic Frost Dragon Butterfly, women of the Azure Sky Continent were considered mere accessories in mortal traditions.

In a world where strength ruled everything under the blue sky, those who were physically weaker than others were lower on the food chain. A mere woman was considered less than a man and couldn't inherit positions of power or gain authority over others.

Even when a woman was to cultivate and become a Cultivator, her future prospects were even worse than a mortal woman's since warriors and strong tyrants of the time were all males. It was hard for women to gain status on the Azure Sky Continent as countless female historic figures were more adept in the Dao of Water than any other Dao existing the vast cosmos.

This wasn't to say that women were weaker than men when it came to their enlightenments of the Dao. In fact, the problem that plagued most female Cultivators for centuries was how females in general were more attuned to the Celestial Dao of Yin rather than the 'more useful' Celestial Dao of Yang.

Since the Dao of Yin was closer to the Dao of Water, it was easier for women to gain enlightenment on the more gentler Daos rather than ones that only have the potential for destruction. The men of the Azure Sky Continent could only see women as fragile maidens that needed to be protected until the Arctic Frost Dragon Butterfly established her Sect in a dangerous region of blizzards.

At first, there wasn't much change to the Azure Sky Continent besides female Cultivators becoming stronger than ever before. However, the opinions of those on the continent changed over time as women became more accepted.

In Fang Yun's perspective, the whole reason the culture of the Azure Sky Continent was so westernised compared to ancient japan was due to the Dragon Butterfly's interference in both the martial and mortal world. The way different historical figures of the four Heavenly Sects seemed to be the one's who stimulated growth in society.

It was because of these four Heavenly Sects that humanity was at its peak even now that Demonic Beasts from another world were invading the Azure Sky Continent by force. Of the four ancient figures who founded their own Heavenly Sects before ascending to the Immortal Realm, Fang Yun had the most admiration for the Arctic Frost Dragon Butterfly due to her actions that lead to the birth of 'technology'.

Although the Arctic Ocean Dragon Sect was a female-only Sect that focused on the Dao of Water, the way they earned cultivation resources and traded with the other three Sects was by building machinery known as Psionic Mechs.

He didn't know much about these Psionic Mechs due to the utter lack of advanced technology in Blazing Sun City but he realised through Chu Rinyu's words that only Cultivators above the Core Formation stage would be interested in her Sect's technology.

This probably had something to do with the requirements to produce and operate machinery built by Psionic Mechanics. If those below the Core Formation stage were to find a Psionic Mech, they would find them to be more of a misfortune than anything else. The person who was to find such valuable machinery would find themselves in a situation where keeping treasure beyond their ability to protect is a crime. Not that it even mattered to him right now since he was a mere Mortal.

Moving on from all that, the main point of the matter was that Chu Rinyu's master was the Head Elder of the Mirage Symphony Music Faction, and the senior-apprentice sister that had ordered his assassination was an older disciple with mystical cultivation that exceeded the Core Formation stage!

The more he heard about them, the more he realised that he was just a frog in a well. Even if he could evade the Spiritual Sense of a Core Formation stage expert, he couldn't even touch Cultivators with powers beyond that stage of cultivation. A Core Formation stage expert would at least have skin that couldn't be cut by even the strongest Tempered Weapon on the Azure Sky Continent, and as for those beyond that stage, he was just an ant.

Seeing Fang Yun's reaction to her words, Chu Rinyu sighed to herself melancholically. A mortal had no chance of fighting against those who could split oceans and flip maintains.

"This is why I want you to give up on revenge and move on. There's no future in going against them, so it's better that we now go our separate ways." There was one thing however she didn't speak. Even if he was to move on, she would definitely keep this incident in mind and seek justice for it herself.

She wasn't planning to ever tell him about her plans because she didn't want to worry him or step on his pride as a man. She only wanted Fang Yun to forget about her and live on as a mortal should. There was no reason she should involve him in her matters any more than she already has. She was still feeling guilty for causing him so much trouble by insisting on their marriage despite how destined it was that they would be separated.

"Why do we have to go our separate ways?" Chu Rinyu's words made his heart skip a beat as he got off his chair to hold her hands. A searing pain could be seen deep in his eyes as he couldn't accept the current circumstances.

Chu Rinyu's heart warmed as she realised what he was implying. After seeing how he could enter her residence unnoticed, it wasn't hard for her to figure out that Fang Yun could perhaps conceal her from the Spiritual Senses surrounding the room in order to escape. However, she was still adamant in her decision to part ways with Fang Yun. They were both from two different worlds, and the longer she stayed with him, the more harm she'd bring him by her presence alone.

"Even if I could escape, I wouldn't dare to. My senior-apprentice sister will easily be able to find out that you survived her attempt to assassinate you and will be able to discover the reason behind our disappearance. Your grandfather will also be implicated by us if I was to escape with you." Chu Rinyu shook her head as she looked into his eyes helplessly. Fang Yun wasn't able to retort as he realised that her words were spot-on, but he didn't want to just give up and rattled his brain to come up with a solution.

Seeing that Fang Yun wasn't giving up on her even now, Chu Rinyu knew that she had to do something before he was to do something reckless. She calmly pushed away his hands and got up off her bed in order to find something.

"Brother Yun, you are a martial artist and I am a Cultivator. I'm not looking down on you, but mortals have limitations. This is an unchangeable fact. Let's say that you DO come across a great fortune and gain the ability to cultivate, but even if you do, we will still be unable to be together due to the difference in our positions." Chu Rinyu mercilessly crushed his hopes as he was thinking about telling her about how he was already close to finding a new path of cultivation that was unique to him.

Fang Yun was a realist who knew his own limits. Perhaps he could promise that he would one day become a figure that could shake the vast Azure Sky Continent, but how long would it take for him to reach there? Will she even be willing to wait for him to find her?

"Rinyu, I have found a method to forge a Spiritual Artifact without the need of Spiritual Channels. I just need time to complete it. Please believ-"

"You won't be able to succeed." Chu Rinyu interrupted him as she pulled a locket out from her drawer. She then turned to look at Fang Yun skeptically.

"Why not?" Fang Yun asked as he didn't believe it was impossible.

"I know what you're thinking. You think that by using four internal circulation techniques, you will be able to produce Qi and forge your Spiritual Artifact. This is a common method that every martial artist existing on this continent strives to achieve. You aren't the first one who thought of this..." Chu Rinyu's next words were like a bucket of cold water than extinguished the last hope he had. He always thought that it was due to the Daos he integrated with his internal forces that he couldn't produce Qi, but now it seems it was different from what he'd imagined.

"A few hundred years ago, the Pill Refiners of the Radial Inferno Phoenix Sect publicly tried to produce a Cultivator by experimenting on an old martial artist who reached the Perfection realm of all his Internal Foundations (Forces). This experiment was the most important event in the Azure Sky Continents history. It was a event that shook the hearts of Mortals and 'surprised' them." Chu Rinyu spoke with a derisive tone in her voice that was aimed at her own broken fantasies.

The event she was talking about had already faded in history so it wasn't that surprising that Fang Yun hadn't heard of it before. Only she, who had been looking for solution despite the previous Fang Yun's pessimistic outlook on the matter, would be able to understand how heartbroken she felt when she realised his destiny was fixed.

"What were the results?" Fang Yun misunderstood the meaning behind her tone and felt his heart sink, but he still asked the most important question.

"The great but unimportant martial artist, that Cultivators of the time couldn't even bother recording the name of, failed his endeavour. He was able to barely produce Internal Qi through blending his Chakra, Ki, Aura and Psion but he wasn't able to forge a Spiritual Artifact. Those impressive figures who wanted the experiment to succeed fed the old man heavenly treasures to increase the amount of Qi he could gather, but he still failed due to only having the strength to gather Internal Qi which degraded due to their actions. The more I researched into this matter, the more I learnt of the Heavenly Restriction that locks the potential of all mortals. Perhaps a Cultivator can go against the heavens and achieve immortality, but a mortal is too weak to even think about breaking this restriction placed on them by the heavens. Why do you think Cultivators have to break through the Nascent Forging stage first? Without storing a incredibly large amount of Internal Qi within them, no human on the continent would have the power to break their heavenly restriction and enter the Internal Root stage." Chu Rinyu explained while looking down on the pendant in her hand with an emotional heart. She then silently walked up to Fang Yun and put it around his neck, giving him no time to understand what she was gifting him.

"Forget all that for now, my dearest friend... and first love. This is for you to remember me by. Now leave, there's no longer any time left for you to just leisure around." She forced herself to appear cheerful as she pulled on his arm and took him to the balcony. She knew that this was where he entered her room from, so it shouldn't be that hard for him to leave the same way.

Uncharacteristically, Fang Yun didn't resist and instead circulated his technique to conceal himself. The door was locked behind him as soon as she chased him out, but he didn't leave.

The disappointment he felt deep inside his heart was foreign to him. In his past life, he was a genius martial artist who could succeed in any mission he was given, but tonight he was shown just how he could no longer rely on just 'talent' to achieve his goals. His heart was devastated when he learnt how foolish he was to think that he was some 'chosen' or 'special' individual.

'It's only right for her to feel I'm just uselessly fantasising about an unachievable goal.' Fang Yun stared at the closed curtains behind him before sighing. He then escaped the residence without alerting the guards like a shadow. The derisive tone of the girl he loved most woke him up to reality.

Little did he know that he had misunderstood, Chu Rinyu was equally unable to accept this outcome as she slumped onto the wall, silently crying her heart out. It was only after the sun has arisen did she steel herself to act like nothing had happened at all. Her figure casted a lonely silhouette as she walked into her family's garden.