APPARITIONS

On the outside, the hall appeared as a worn-out warehouse. The warehouse was in a remote corner of the vast courtyard housing the Outer Sect: two tall walls could be seen in both directions, north and south. They were so tall they looked like mountain ranges. Even with cultivators who could hover in the air, it was unthinkable for such a fortress to ever fall if wartime measures were to be put in place. The view of millions of disciples looking down from the top of those monstrous walls would dissuade any invasion. Especially so, given that there were multiple sets of such walls, numbering seven in total.

The world's greatest power. The Mysterious Light-Shadow Sect.

At the moment, Lao Jianghu was standing on top of the sixth great wall, taking in the sight of the Vacant Sect. His gaze was lost in the multitudes of small houses and huts below.

Creak. The door of the warehouse opened for a brief moment before closing again: Bi Liang had stepped out from the madness that was taking place inside the room, allowing himself a chance to take a breather. When he noticed the unmistakable silhouette of the old man standing atop the tall walls, he smiled and kicked off the ground: he flew like an arrow, whistling through the air, and soon landed by his side.

The Core Elder patted away some dust off his robes and then asked at once, his heart throbbing. "Third Protector... Is this information truly worthy of our trust? I just can't believe that, after things were going south like they were up to now, a humongous change such as two Twin Stars appearing is just... too, too lucky."

Lao Jianghu smiled, annoyance clear on his face, and nodded, "I verified personally. Their circumstances are no doubt worthy of our expectations. What's more, they are both so adorably cute, so untrusting of the world and uncaring for their elders' feelings."

A vein popped on the wrinkled forehead, "It truly makes one's heart warm!"

"...I take you had a good time, Protector."

"Ahem! Say, Bi Liang... how long have you been following me for."

"Almost thirty years, Protector," the Core Elder answered somberly.

The Third nodded and then declared, "I initially had my eyes on one of the two youngsters, but the situation turned far more complicated than I could have expected in my wildest dreams. He even pulled a big one over me. Me!"

Lao Jianghu closed his eyes and sighed. "That child is monstrous, and his background is even more so. He's more than intelligent enough to fend for himself, but I'll withhold from closed-door cultivation for a little while. Let alone other Factions finding out, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if he were to defect on his own. He's a tough cookie."

"Looks like he's in your graces then."

"Pah!" Lao Jianghu fiercely spat.

A few moments of tense silence ensued.

The old man opened his mouth to talk, but hesitated.

Finally, he spoke with a probing tone, "Bi Liang, I have always thought of you as my son. Soon, you might have a couple of rowdy younger siblings to care for. An unimaginably difficult bunch at that. What I need much more than I'd ever dare to ask of you... is to look after them with your life once I eventually do enter seclusion. At that time, it'll be vital for you to put the same trust in them as you did me. The future of these beautiful lands rests on that."

Bi Liang was silent.

He had been raised as an orphan and had been picked up at the tender age of eleven by an elderly Lao Jianghu, who raised him just like a true son. Bi Liang was a brown-eyed, blond-haired man in his late thirties. His confident demeanour was charmingly mature, a testament to his years at the top.

He had become a Core Disciple at the young age of nineteen, and subsequently gained the status of an Elder at twenty-nine, as per the Sect Rules.

Now, he had been a Core Elder for almost eleven years, and he was currently thirty-nine years old. All these years, Third Protector Lao Jianghu had asked many things of him. However, the man in front of him was currently not the Protector. Instead, it was his father, who seldom in his life had ever requested him for a favour.

Li Biang saw the candid hair and beard, the wrinkled corner of a mouth, and a pair of weary eyelids that refused to shut.

'Oh, father, just what is this burden you've been carrying all this long? Seeing you like this, how can I ever decline?'

Without question, he nodded.

"I shall wring every second of these thirty years' worth."

Lao Jianghu smiled warmly.

"Thank you, my son."

He then turned, motioning for Bi Liang to approach beside him, as a strange distortion appeared in the air. Suddenly, a series of huts that didn't previously exist appeared somewhere in the far off distance, as if the corner of a veil had been lifted.

"Now then, come to my side. This scene tonight, I booked for our eyes alone…"

...

From the Vacant Sect that housed millions of disciples, things such as Qi Sensing Apparitions were as common as fishes in the sea.

This phenomenon naturally occurred once one stepped into the Inferior stage, the very first stage on the path to cultivation.

Just like water would flow from high to low, each person would manifest an Apparition once they stepped into the Inferior Stage: such was the Law, baptising every cultivator and formally accepting them into the Mortal Realm.

This was especially typical in the days and weeks immediately following the influx of countless new disciples, two times a year. At that time, the Sect would freely hand out basic manuals to the new disciples, detailing the methods to sense the Qi and become cultivators. Some might even only be lacking in the final step, and the guidance from the manuals would be enough to help them take it. Even the others that were starting from scratch; so long as they followed the steps detailed in those scriptures, would eventually also enter the Inferior Stage.

As such, the sight of columns of light rising was commonplace in a place like the Vacant Sect, where hundreds of thousands of mortals would be attempting breakthroughs at night, in accordance with the scriptures of the Mysterious Light-Shadow.

Intermittently, there would be small columns of light emerging from the huts. Usually, they'd rise to a height of ten or so feet. The occasional genius might be able to surpass the hundred-foot mark, while an exceptional, heaven-defying prodigy might even reach the thousand-foot mark.

Suddenly, from a small hut off in the distance... a pillar of energy emerged sending the nearby clouds in disarray!

Under the disbelieving eyes of Bi Liang, the pillar blasted through the thirty-foot mark, tore through the hundred-foot, surpassed the thousand-foot... and shot into the night sky, transcending to ten thousand feet!

This pillar emitted a mixture of black, white and purple light and could be seen with the naked eye even from such a long distance away.

"...Such a thing was possible?"

Bi Liang was shocked: that was without a hint of doubt a Qi Sensing Apparition, but did it make sense for it to be so significant? Let alone geniuses or monsters, what kind of being could possibly pierce the heavens with an Apparition by simply stepping into the Inferior stage? Why were the worldly laws so subservient to a mere mortal?

Even Bi Liang, who had been renowned as a genius, when he stepped into the Inferior stage at the tender age of twelve had only managed to just barely graze the thousand-foot mark!

Bi Liang gaped and then excitedly spoke, "This is... This is simply astonishing! Protector, Father, you were right! You were right! The Zhao child doesn't even come close!"

Lao Jianghu suddenly frowned, coughing uncontrollably as if he had eaten something sour. He muttered to himself in a daze, trying his best to reign in his astonishment.

"Traces of an inborn Dao! Dao Enlightenment from birth, just like the Four? It's still in an infant stage, but to think a being other than the Olden would..."

Suddenly, his pupils constricted. Then, he chuckled nervously as he exclaimed with a bashful smile, "I'm afraid the surprise is far from over. The second one is coming, I'd brace myself. Especially given..."

'I simply can't picture that monstrous child losing out.'

Bi Liang widened his eyes: could anything possibly move him after what he had just witnessed?

His thoughts were interrupted as, indeed, a second pillar appeared.

A pillar of golden light, extremely dazzling and blindingly radiant, had risen beside the first pillar!

In the blink of an eye, it surpassed the thirty feet!

In a fraction of a breath, it eclipsed the hundred feet!

In a breath, it demolished the thousand feet!

In two breaths, it soared to the ten thousand-foot mark!

In three breaths... it had come to a stop at the exact same height as the column of black, white, and purple light. The golden pillar undulated slightly as if it had met with some kind of uncomfortable obstruction, preventing it from going any higher.

The pillar trembled, as if enraged, before blazing with even brighter golden light. It almost seemed to say, "Fine! If I cannot go any higher... I shall expand horizontally!" before suddenly blasting outwards! The radius of the pillar increased tenfold, to the point a faint outline of an inverted pagoda appeared within the golden light…

Bi Liang had long since figuratively dislocated his jaw and his eyes were even wider than tennis balls. His appearance was truly comical and had Lao Jianghu been his normal self he would have definitely teased him for it. However, the old man was in a similar situation, the only difference being that he had somehow managed to damper his true reaction.

Lao Jianghu coughed once, twice, thrice, yet was still unable to regain his composure.

Only after he stroked his long white beard for a while did he recover. "Indeed, raising and taking care of a child is not always so easy!"

With that, Lao Jianghu hastily left, leaving behind a still wide-eyed and absolutely shocked Bi Liang.

As the old man flew through the air, he muttered to himself in his daze.

"...Really now," Lao Jianghu sighed. "Next time you decide to do something so attention-catching, don't exaggerate so much! It's just an apparition for goodness sake; did you have to show off straight away? This time I prepared in advance, but am I supposed to always be there for you and block the rumours from reaching those two old geezers' ears? Gosh, this will be a difficult and arduous job..." The old man was on the verge of tears.

"Heck, think about old grandpa here who has to work his arse off for you two! These little stunts of yours are going to cost me many nights' worth of sleep if you keep this up!"

"Blindlight, oh, Blindlight... just where on earth did you find these two?"

The old man sighed and disappeared into the night sky.