The paths and the Dao

"The ancient hates the ancient gods for they came first, and the ancient gods hate the titans for they know the origin of things. But the minds of the titans cannot be fathomed, for they have been sleeping long even before the ancient gods came to be. Only once when the first human touched the homeland did one blink." - Words from the Book of Origin.Days flew by, and it became more apparent that Mo Kai would sleep longer. It was already longer than the city lord anticipated, but he knew Mo Kai was safe, at the very least. The last few days had left him feeling out of sorts; having no enemies had robbed him of a perfect plan for his mock demise. He had drawn up several plans, but none would be enough to fuel the heart of martial Dao in Mo Kai. He hated this. However, he had achieved something; the young miss of the Yang family had broken off the engagement. It was a joint decision made by her parents and grandfather, but City Lord Mo didn't bother much. He simply handed her the certificate, and it was torn in front of him. The Yang family's swift reaction was due to entertaining immortals from the immortal world. The presence of these immortals and the unfathomable power behind them was more than enough reason for anyone to feel overwhelmed. City Lord Mo looked down on them all.The annulment, according to Yur'er, was because of the great uncertainty in the immortal realm and also because the sect she planned to join required her to have no mortal bindings. City Lord Mo knew it was only part of the reason, but it was within his expectations. In fact, he would have broken it himself if they hadn't. Unfortunately, they beat him to it, and this rubbed him the wrong way.He looked at the far end of his castle where his other son, Mo Yang, was. He had been confused about what to do with the child. The brat was the mastermind behind the series of events that nearly got Mo Kai killed. Lord Mo frowned as memories began to ebb their way into his thoughts. He remembered leaving the homeland with little Mo Kai. The journey was far and treacherous, even with the spacetime void talisman. He was forced to stop at the immortal world; the corrosive power of spacetime cracked his Dao foundation, and he was lucky to be barely alive. He was rescued by a young couple who themselves were escaping from an enemy. The man had a decent cultivation and had stepped into the realm of immortals but was ridden with injuries. He wasn't going to survive long, but he stopped to help an injured man with a child. It was even worse since his wife was a mortal without cultivation, and they also had a young son with them, a child of about three years old.One could say it was an interesting twist of fate; the lad turned out to be a descendant of his old friend, one of the generals under Mo Kai's father. City Lord was too injured and couldn't do much to help the young couple. He was dragged along with them while he tried his best to regain enough strength to defend himself. They hid and ran for seven days. It was long enough for City Lord Mo to recover somewhat, but too late for the young cultivator; he died on the sixth day from his injuries. By the time the enemies found them, what they met was the fiery temper of the City Lord. He slew them and destroyed the power behind them. To think that an ordinary technique was the cause of the whole issue was beyond embarrassing, but the cultivation world has always been ruthless.When everything was settled, the City Lord gave the young widow an option of following him or staying back in the immortal world, and she chose to follow him. Together they came to the mortal world, and with little contributions to the expansion of a randomly chosen mortal kingdom, the Great Yang Kingdom, he became a city lord. The young widow was known as his wife, and her child was called his true son, with Mo Kai his adopted son. He dared not claim to be Mo Kai's real father. He watched the boys grow up, and he admitted he had made mistakes. The care and attention he gave Mo Kai were more than he gave his supposedly real son, but it wasn't something he did with malice.With the death of his mother, it wasn't surprising that Mo Yang felt neglected, and this may have forced him to make a move to take Mo Kai out completely.This was more than enough reason to have him killed, but the City Lord couldn't. He raised the boy himself, and he couldn't bear to kill him.He broke out of his reverie and shook his head. "I will take him to the immortal realm. If he becomes strong enough, I might take him with me to the homeland." It was a valid plan, and the City Lord nodded. He then looked towards the direction of the forbidden hunts house; he could see Mo Kai still lying there, his heartbeat was strong, and his life force very stable. If it continues like that, Mo Kai will be awake in less than a week's time. What is worrisome, though, is that Lord Mo couldn't contact the old ancient. The ancient seemed to have gone to sleep himself."I hope the old man has passed the Asura technique to Mo Kai. I need to hasten my plans.""Hunter," he called with fierce determination on his face.A figure materialized in his room, a wraith."Leave your brothers and comb through the land, find anyone who holds killer intent towards me." Five red thin talismans appeared in his hands, and he gave them to him. "Take this; each of your brothers must have one on your body at all times. With this, you can be sure not even an immortal will sense your presence. Find me an enemy, and I will take you with me to the immortal realm.""We obey, master," he replied as his body split into five different persons. They then vanished like they were never there.The City Lord stared and hoped they could find someone who wants him dead. It will save him the trouble of leaving believable crumbs for Mo Kai if he could find an actual enemy.

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Yang Yanru couldn't believe it. The day after she left Mo City, her life had never been the same. Immortals from the immortal realms came for her one after the other. It was exhilarating. They even fought over her, and she finally made a choice of joining the Palace of the Phoenix. It's one of the top sects in the immortal world, and since she made the decision to join, no new immortal organization had come for her. The sect sent over a senior disciple, a female direct disciple who's an immortal called Ming, and a core disciple called Feng. The immortal rarely showed her face and had only appeared since recruiting her to give her the Heavenly Yin cultivation Technique. The core disciple Feng however has been stuck with her. The first time they met, he exuded suppressive might that even her Royal father, a peak Heavenly King cultivator couldn't withstand. This meant he was a fifteen-year-old heavenly king and possibly a Heavenly Emperor!! Comparing his to the immortal was like comparing and ant to any ordinary cultivator. The Immortal was thousands of times stronger, and even among immortals, Yanru had no doubt she was strong.

Yanru was excited at her own future prospect, it had only taken her two days to break through to the Martial Inheritor Realm. This was a realm even Mo Kai hadn't reached. The news shocked the whole Yang clan; her father and grandfather even said the Great Emperor T'chan wasn't worth a fart before her. Yanru liked the praises; she loved the attention too. Even the young cultivator from the Phoenix Palace, senior disciple Feng, said only heaven-defying geniuses could match her speed. Of course, the technique placed a role. Body building realm doesn't necessarily need a technique for it. Unless one has a special physique like her, others would have been able to cultivate till Martial Inheritor Realm merely by exercising. But to Yanru, this was still just the beginning, and until one becomes an immortal, cultivation speed doesn't mean much.

Yanru thought of Mo Kai; she would soon be leaving for the immortal realm. She wondered if they would ever meet again. Mo Kai was a genius too and would definitely become an immortal. He wouldn't be too ordinary if the owner of the forbidden hunts house chose him. Just a few days back, one of her loud-mouthed uncles had mentioned Mo Kai and the forbidden hunts house to the immortals, and they were curious. Several of them had combed the mountain but found nothing. It was almost as if the hunts house never existed. Yanru knew it existed, though she had never seen it, but she knew it was real. And maybe the owner was simply too powerful.

She felt a waned sort of excitement. She loved Mo Kai, but deep down, she knew she wouldn't sacrifice her newfound path to cultivation for him. This was also why she didn't protest when the immortals demanded she annul all mortal bindings. A part of her still hoped that the future would be kind, that destiny would bring Mo Kai and her together in the future, and with great accomplishments in cultivation, they would live forever.

"There you are. I have been searching for you."

A youth was walking towards her. He glowed in the late evening sun, the little moon already out but the bigger one lurking behind a thick cloud. Light bathed the youth's figure, coalescing into a faint crown atop his head. Yanru felt her eyes glow with amazement. No cultivator in the mortal realm could do this. He had seen the youth's power and knew that in the same cultivation base, no cultivator below the Heavenly Emperor realm could withstand a blow from him. The young man was Feng; his clan name was also Feng. He was the most promising disciple of the Phoenix Palace. From the little he divulged, Yanru knew the youth was destined to become the Holy Son in the future. He also had a heavenly body, the Divine Phoenix body, a ranked body that was exactly the same as the one the ancestor of their Palace had. According to him, the true power of a heavenly body would be shown once they became immortals.

Yang Yanru almost couldn't wait. She thirsted to see the highest mountain, the absolute peak of cultivation.

"Are you thinking about him?" Feng asked as he came to stand beside her.

Yang Yanru didn't mind his closeness and shook her head.

"Good, you don't need to. Once you leave this mortal world, you will never see him again. You are destined to meet the greatest and strongest geniuses, and some random mortal boy shouldn't be part of your story."

Yang Yanru agreed. Even if Mo Kai could become an immortal, would he be able to stand side by side with them? Was he as gifted as she is? She doubted it. She knew for certain Mo Kai didn't have a heavenly body.

"Tell me about our sect. How is it structured? What of the cultivation realms in the immortal world?"

Feng smiled and flicked a finger; the air shimmered, and they began to levitate. Yang Yanru felt like she was flying, the air blowing around them as though they were moving at high speed.

"Wow," she was amazed. "Are you a Heaven Seizer?" she asked, knowing only a Heaven Seizer could fly.

"No," he responded with a chuckle. "In the mortal realm, I can even fight your Heaven Seizers. Cultivation technique is merely to channel the Qi in our bodies to build our foundation. Each breakthrough increases your body's affinity to the Dao, but once one becomes an immortal, even an immortal technique like yours becomes useless. Of course, it doesn't mean you can't use it to refine your immortal energy, but it wouldn't be the same as one who created his own technique. If you use that particular technique, your comprehension of laws will be difficult. But if you use it as a reference and create yours, you will not only comprehend laws faster, but your battle power will be multiple times higher. This is because all techniques are created using a specific body, and no two persons have the same exact type of body. I am cultivating the Heavenly Phoenix cultivation technique; it is an immortal technique at the same level as your Heavenly Yin technique. The same exact technique our ancestors used. Even if we are of the same generation and we are both cultivating this technique, imagine if we both become immortals and continue with this. Who do you think will win if we fought?"

Yang Yanru wasn't sure if she was supposed to answer or not but chose not to say anything. He looked at her, smiled charmingly, and continued. "We will both be weaker than the first person to cultivate the technique for sure, and will only grow weaker with the higher our realm is. This is the law of the Heavenly Dao; it makes it so that cultivation techniques at least become useless once we become immortal and will only grown weaker with every succeeding generation. This is also why Immortal sects have a rule, you must leave a new version of any cultivation technique yoy cultivate in the sect. This ensures for optimum foundation with every new generation. The Heavenly Yin Technique Senior Sister gave you is example of such, it has been upgraded and you will build a firm foundation with itbefore you become an Immortal. Once you reach the immortal realm, you will begin to work on your own cultivation technique and in the future, when you must have gotten a major achievement in cultivation, you will return your own version to the sect. We can only use our heavenly technique as a reference, and that is why immortal-level cultivation techniques are still highly sought after. Of course, there's more to it but you will learn about it once we get to the immortal realm."

This was the first time Yang Yanru felt that cultivation wasn't easy. It felt harder than she had initially thought. Creating a technique? Her heart was pounding.

"About your question, our sect is located in the Western Immortal Province. There are thousands of immortal-level powers, but seven emperor-level powers and one overlord power. Our Phoenix Palace is an Emperor power," he said proudly.

"We rule the whole Western province. The Heavenly Sword Sect rules the Northern province, and the Prism Glass Palace and Overgear Palace rule the Eastern province. The Southern province isn't ruled by humans; it is called the Wasteland and is ruled by five mysterious powers but only three is suspected to be an Emperor level power. The Central province is the most important region; that's where the Celestial Emperor resides, the only overlord power in the immortal realm. Let's not talk about it for now, I heard you've been staying in away from the capital, in a city called subYang city? Let's go there, I want to see how you spend your day, we can maybe visit the Mo city for a while before coming back". He sounded as though he wasn't really interested but his eyes were glowing with interest. Yanru smiled and and nodded, a journey to subYang city from the capital won't take up to thirty minutes, this would also be her last day in the mortal world and she wondered if she might catch a glimpse of Mo Kai.