Power

Suddenly, the wall illuminated with purple light and runes appeared on its surface. It emitted a steady but loud hum and the purple color of the wall spread toward the countryside in the direction of the flock.

The beast seemed disturbed in its descent and tried to halt itself mid-air spreading its wings.

But its speed was too high and it inevitably fell on the ground where the purple halo was going, creating an immense pit.

The moment the purple halo touched the dragon, smoke rose from the pit and another roar, one of pain, sounded in the dusk.

The dragon rose to the sky again as fast as possible and stared with venomous eyes at the mansion. Smoke kept flowing out of his belly like from an open wound. Apparently, the purple halo had injured the dragon.

Filled with hatred, the dragon inhaled and then spat out a tongue of red flames toward the mansion that took the form of a lance as it kept nearing the outer ring.

Jiang shaoxu was frozen in fear seeing the lance of fire coming in her direction while Jian Nantian was still too stupefied by what he was seeing in order to even recognize the danger he was in.

Before the flames could reach the outer wall though, a figure appeared mid-air in between them.

He raised his right hand and mumbled something then the lance of flames hit something like a wall of air.

The attrition between the flames and the shield lasted for some seconds before the flames were extinguished and the floating figure was visible again.

He was an old man, with a straight combed long white beard reaching his waist and unbound long hair flowing in the wind. He was wearing a Chinese kimono with large sleeves yet the right one was now burned, showing his slim but sturdy arm.

He looked at the dragon right in its eyes and the dragon did the same.

That standoff lasted for about 10 seconds before the dragon roared once again and turned to leave at high speed through the sky, in the direction of the forest.

The old man waited a bit more in the air over the wall looking at the direction where the dragon went. After being completely sure that the beast was gone he sighed and disappeared.

Jiang shaoxu was still frozen by fear and did not notice that she was holding the frail body of Jian Nantian too tightly.

This pain was what made him return to reality as he left a small groan to wake his mother from the reverie.

Jiang shaoxu returned to reality too, softening the grip on Jian Nantian, and she was about to say something before being interrupted by an aged and deep voice.

"so, is this my grand son?"

Jian Nantian didn't believe in the existence of the soul during his previous life, living was after all about empirics and reality, no place for religious or spiritual thoughts. But after he was reborn, he started considering the idea that there was much more than the eye or the advanced machinery could see.

As he was staring at the old man gently standing on the edge of the balcony, seemingly appeared out of nowhere, his mind fell into chaos.

''There was a dragon appearing and going after a sheep. So this world has dragons in it. Then the wall lighted up and hurt the dragon right? Then the dragon got angry and wanted to burn all of us but this old man, which apparently is my grandfather, blocked it with one hand while flying and then stared at the dragon to make him fly away.''

After a brief sum up the previous events in his mind he only had one thought.

''Where the fuck did I end up?!? This guy can literally fly and fight dragons?? Is something wrong with my minds? Wait, since am reborn here, it means that I should be able to learn a thing or two.''

His line of thought got interrupted by the old man entering the balcony and slowly walking in their direction.

Jiang shaoxu gently exposed Jian Nantian to the old man in order for him to have a better look at the baby.

Jian Nantian, in the meantime, was staring at the old man with fervent eyes.

He didn't even notice the passion and curiosity that his stare was displaying.

'People in this world can fly and fight with fucking dragons! Old maaaan, look at how cute I am! Teach me how to fly!'

But only some sounds came out of his mouth, they resembled words but they had no meaning. So Jian Nantian stretched his little arms toward the old man, in order to appeal to his feelings, putting a face of happiness at the sight of the nearing old man.

''You fight dragons but you still love your kin, right?''

Needless to say, the whole dragon incident left a deep impression on him. After all, dragons were only legends in his world and were represented as mighty and unbeatable. While their might was up to fantasies, in this world dragons could be fought, and you could win.

"Oh"

Looking at the baby happily stretching his arms toward him, the old man could not help but show a trace of warmth on his serious face. Then he picked up Jian Nantian from his armpits and stared at him with a slight smile.

"Ooh, he seems pretty interested in me, there sure is some smartness in this child." the old man said while smiling.

"Many thanks, I'm sure he will become a powerful warrior just like you." Jiang shaoxu replied.

"I will keep an eye on him." the old man said.

the old man handed Jian Nantian back to Jiang shaoxu and disappeared from the balcony.

Carrying Jian Nantian back to the mansion, she did not notice that the baby in her arms was silent and that his eyes were growing more and more determined.

A never felt determination ran through his little body, while Jiang shaoxu was preparing to put him in his cradle.

'A world where power is not given to men from the society they created. A power that seems to come from the inside of each individual, a power that belongs only to themselves. Jiang shaoxu called him a "cultivator", I must find something about it. I must learn to walk and read as fast as I can so that I can have some form of independence and at the same time show some early talent in the literature field. It might bring me to books that describe what a cultivator actually is and how to become one.'

From that day on he started eating more and more in order to grow stronger and get rid of the skinny physique he was born with. He started to actively try to walk, first in the cradle and then on the ground, worrying the maidservants or his mother every time he fell from his attempts to stand on his feet. Yet, this kind of pain was nothing.

''A bullet in the chest hurts way more''

And so, only 8 months after his birth, Jian Nantian was standing upright on the ground, taking his first steps.

"This is so fucking slow, I need to train for this. I should start running from time to time in order to be more healthy and be more comfortable with my body.''

Even though he was disappointed with how slow he was growing up, Jiang shaoxu and the maidservants were stupefied.

"This baby has been trying to stand up for 3 months and now he did it. Most importantly every time he fell he would not cry but try to stand up again. If we didn't stop him every time he could have gotten a big injury by now."

The chatting maidservants were totally ignored by Jiang shaoxu as a sense of pride enveloped her seeing her baby walking at the age of 8 months.

"This must be the Taoist priest blessing."

Luckily or not, Jian Nantian achievement was pinned to the supernatural character that was Taoist priest.

Surprises in the mansion were far from over though.

After being sure of having a good balance, Jian Nantian took slow and careful steps in the direction of his mother. Slowly but surely, and with a bit of sustain given by the wall at his side, he arrived in front of his smiling mother.

"Come to mother little one, you did a wonderful job today. Mom is happy!"

Saying this she half-kneeled on the ground with spread arms waiting for Jian Nantian to reach her embrace.

Jian Nantian looked at her and smiled, then moved with spread arms toward her and yelled at the last moment before the embrace:

"Mommy!"

And then he fell in his mother embrace, while Jiang shaoxu and the maidservants stared at him with wide eyes.

''This should be enough to get me an early education."