Daxue Mountain

Daxue Mountain, once home to a sect of martial artists who focused not on traditional martial arts. The focus of the sect was to create trap formation martial arts, a type of martial arts that used one's qi to ensnare the mind of another person.

Their techniques were built to attack anyone who stepped into them, even if it was the creator themselves. But that's where the slate of permission came into play, the slate of permission was designed to react to each trap created by the sect.

The slate worked like a kill command to a computer program, if the program is active when the kill command is activated, the program would shut down and free the person it was trying to ensnare.

However, over time the sect that once lived on Daxue Mountain grew old. New members stopped entering the sect, as they were being funneled into the Demonic Cult, a much more welcoming place than the now defunct sect.

The members of that once prominent sect lived and died on Daxue Mountain, even in the future the bones of the sect members remained atop the mountain. But what the corpses atop this mountain didn't know was that the very traps that protected them could be used for a different purpose.

With a slight modification they could be used as trials, used to make a person overcome any mental or physical barriers they may have. This small little unknown use was going to be the catalyst of which I bring forth thirteen Absolute Realm beings into Jianghu.

The journey to Daxue Mountain was arduous. We would run until our feet bleed, only to rest, eat, then return to running once more. A vicious cycle that repeated for weeks on end.

But after the third week of constant travel, the base of Daxue Mountain became visible. And finally we could rest, three weeks of constant travel while making sure nobody was following us was gruesome. But the reward of the Hidden Mind Sect's secrets would be well worth it.

After resting for the night at the base of the Mountain, all thirteen of my disciples gathered before me at dawn. Ready to be instructed on what to do.

"All thirteen of you will climb the mountain up this route." I said pointing toward a stone pathway covered in plants. "But I'll warn you now, all of you are not allowed to avoid the traps laid for you, they will be the test if you are worthy of climbing the mountain."

Without a second thought all thirteen of my disciples began walking up the path covered in plants. But while their actions displayed confidence, their eyes showed caution and fear. It was good to have that type of duality now, but that would need to be fixed if they wanted to survive in Jianghu.

"I wish all of you luck, I'll see those who succeed at the top."

---

Amongst the thirteen disciples who traversed the mountain path, a clear distinction was set between them. Pyo Kang, who walked ahead of the twelve other disciples, stayed quiet and alert for the traps expected to be ahead.

While the other eleven disciples behind him chattered like monkeys in a zoo, leaving Bae Suk stuck in the middle of the two groups.

'Should I try talking with Pyo Kang? Or should I stick with the rest of the group?' Bae Suk thought, glancing back and forth between Pyo Kang and the other disciples.

'Maybe I should just stick with the group.' Bae Suk thought, 'Pyo Kang seems to be focusing on finding the traps, I don't want to disturb him'

However, as Bae Suk began to slow down to let the group catch up with him, Pyo Kang mysteriously vanished from in front of him.

"What the hell!" Baek Il yelled as he too witnessed Pyo Kang's disappearance.

Pyo Kang hadn't used his speed to make it look like he disappeared, he simply vanished from the head down as he walked forward. Only one thing could have taken someone of his level by surprise like that, it was what the group had to face if they wished to train atop Daxue Mountain.

"The first trap! Everyone proceed with caution!" Baek Il called out, stopping all but Bae Suk from moving forward.

But Bae Suk did not stop, despite Baek Il's warning.

'If Master led us here to train, he wouldn't have brought us to a place where we could be killed or couldn't be rescued. I need to step forward and face this head on.'

As Bae Suk walked along the same path Pyo Kang had taken, he too disappeared from his head down until he no longer could be seen.

Thus, Bae Suk would be the second to partake in the challenges left for them to complete. But as Bae Suk continued to walk, a heavy fog swallowed him whole, and voices soon echoed throughout his mind.

("You pig! You keep stealing all the food, you deserve to starve for how much you've eaten!")

("You'll never amount to anything you overgrown pig! You should just go starve in a cave somewhere so nobody has to be burned by you!")

Bae Suk places his hands over his ears to try and block out the voices, coming to a complete halt to focus on blocking out the voices. Yet they didn't stop, one after another the voices of his past came back to ridicule him once more.

("What happened to that talent I was training a year ago? When did that talent slip into a greasy pigs body?")

("Just die you fat bastard! I never want to see you again!")

The last voice he heard was the most painful however, the drunken voice of his mother, screaming her feelings of detest for her son right in his face.

"No... Stop! I put those behind me already!"

("You don't deserve the life you've wasted, get out of my sight before you get cut down. Worthless pig")

"NO! I'm not that worthless pig from seven years ago! I've changed now, and I'll prove you all wrong!"