Chapter 3: The Terror Of Evil Spirits
It was a dark and eerie place. A cold wind was blowing through the gaps of the rocks. A youth lay amidst the rocks. His body was badly mutilated. There was no uninjured part on his body. Blood was oozing out like a river and it had formed a puddle. The arrangement of rocks was one of the most surprising factors. The whole area was covered by the rocks. They were protruding out of the ground in a conical shape. There was only a small circle with diameter of around 6ft, which was a levelled ground. It was surrounded by the rocks and coincidentally it was the area where the youth was lying. There was a small hole in the centre of the circle and all the blood was gathering inside it. Surprisingly all the blood hat oozed into the hole was disappearing in thin air.
This youth was Zhao Yun who had jumped from the cliff of despair... Even after all the injuries on his body, which was enough to kill any powerful warrior, his will to survive had not weakened. He was still continuously mumbling hat he had to survive. He was numb to pain and even though his life force was fading away at an alarming rate, he was clinging to his last breath with sheer will power.
"JEJEJEJEJEJEJE" eerie laughter rang out in the dark region.
"Kekeke a fresh meat, young and tender, it has been ages since I smelled blood"
"Jiejiejie this young one is mine"
More voices came from the darkness. Soon apparition like figures appeared all around the rocky area. They were countless in numbers. If the past survivors, who had ventured into the cliff of despair were to see these apparitions they would have died a second time. These apparitions were one of the various strange creatures that roamed this world. They were called Evil Spirits and were dreaded by all the experts of the world no matter what their strength was. These evil spirits were immune to any and all kinds of attack. Only extremely rare light attributed people or practitioners of Buddhism were able to contend against these creatures. If their undefeatable characteristic were not able to scare people away then their attack patterns which directly assaulted opponents mind will make even the toughest nuts to crack. They were a bane to cultivators. No matter how strong a person is, he would have certain emotions, love, hate, anger, sadness etc. these apparitions would manipulate these feelings and turn them into worst kind of nightmares a person could have. Even if the victim knows that his will is being manipulated, he would not be able to free himself and will eventually lose his/her soul to the spirits. Even an emotionless person would have ambitions and desires to become strong. There was practically no feelings or desires these evil spirits could not use against their victims. Strong willed people could resist a little longer, but eventually they too will be succumbed to deaths. These evil spirits did not fear these strong willed people; in fact they loved these kinds. As more will power meant stronger soul which would be better nourishment for them.
Zhao Yun was one such person. His will power was unwavering and crazy strong. He was too young and so had a pure untainted soul. One can say that his allure to these evil spirits was too high. As expected these apparitions which had just appeared all attacked the poor boy at once.
Zhao Yun, who only had the wish to survive, found his will wavering at the moment. His past experiences flashed before his eyes. He felt as if he was in a dream. In his dreams he saw a child, 4-5 years old, chubby and cute. The child was in a sturdy man's arms. There was a gentle and beautiful woman standing beside the man. The man was Zhao Fan, Zhao Yun's father and the gentle and beautiful woman was his mother, Guan Rou. The child though young had a pair of lively and determined eyes. He watched the teenagers who were practising martial arts not far away.
The scene shifted. Many years had passed. It was now annual celebratory feast. A young boy of 8 strolled around under the gazes of many people and went up to an altar. As soon as his small hands touched the altar a dazzling rainbow coloured light illuminated the entire area. The commotion around the alar was so intense that the boy would never forget. Everyone was looking at him with respect and admiration and also a huge amount of shock. A young boy who wasn't even 8 could not understand the meaning of their gazes and timidly walked towards a middle aged couple standing not far from there. They were Zhao Fan and Guan Rou, and the boy was Zhao Yun. Zhao Fan looked at his son with surprise and also pride. He patted the Child's head and had said "Yun'er you are my pride"
Guan Rou too had tears in her eyes. She lovingly looked at her son, who was the attention of countless people. Looking at the boy's confused eyes; Zhao Fan laughed and had said "Child you are a genius"
"Genius" the boy murmured with a sparkle in his eyes. He knew what a genius was. Days passed and he made astounding progress in his cultivation, shocking the world.
On the annual feast when he had turned 10, a group of powerful men descended. They talked to his parents and then looked at him with a smile. Soon he learnt that their family was just a branch family of the main clan located in the capital. His talent has gained the recognition of the main clan and they have invited him to cultivate there. The entire family was overjoyed. They could return to the main clan too. The boy was extremely happy. Soon he went to the capital. His talent and determination shocked the capital too. Even the imperial family was in awe. Even the Emperor personally came to visit him. He was like a Sun, shining brightly wherever he went.
Times changed, he was now 12 and the strongest in the younger generations. Even at his age only a few in the older generation were his match. All those who could defeat him were old monsters. His talent was too bright that it overshadowed each and every one. Most of them accepted it and used to look at him with awe and veneration. He was like a moon surrounded by countless stars. The clan leader who had no son also revealed intentions of taking him as his godson. [1]
Tallest trees have to bear the brunt of the wind first. There were admirers, and there were also those who hated him to the core. One of them was Zhao Ling, Zhao Clan's great elder. His position and strength was on par with the clan leader, thus his influence was great. Since the clan leader Zhao Yunlong was childless, his son Zhao Kun was considered the young master of the Zhao clan. He was the brightest pearl of the clan before Zhao Yun, and was said to being nurtured as the future clan leader. With the appearance of Zhao Yun all his limelight was stolen. From the best he became the second best. This caused elder Zhao Ling to be displeased. This was also the reason for Zhao Kun's hatred for Zhao Yun. But the youth was carefree and confident. He continued to train and advance. He was a pure and innocent boy free from schemes and politics. All he wanted was to live in peace and attain the peak of martial way. He wanted to make his parents proud and his clan prosperous. He was unaware of the resentment he had gained from the many people of his own clan. In fact he treated all of them as his own family members.
Things never go down as planned. The peaceful life he had dreamt of never happened. He fell into one of the schemes of the great elder and was ambushed during training in the woods. Second elder who was from the faction of great elder was the one who fatally attacked him. Although Zhao Yun was of lower realm he was none the less a genius with great strength, thus he managed to survive the attack but in the process he was heavily injured. The events that followed were him being chased to the cliff of despair.
At this moment his will to survive wavered. He was unaware of the influence of the evil spirits. He just was too tired. But when he was about to lose consciousness, he saw the faces of his parents. He saw the despair on their faces. He saw the gloating look on the faces of great elder and company. He saw his pity in the eyes of the clan leader. He saw his parent's dejected appearance when they were told to go back to the branch family. He saw his close ones being ridiculed and bullied. The indignation and grief in his heart broke out. Under the influence of the evil spirits, tears welled up in his eyes. Fatigue took over his body. He was too tired. This world was not for him. It was filled with schemes and plots. Here brothers killed each other for power. What could he, a young boy could change. He was too tired to continue training. He was tired of meeting the expectations of others. Thinking of all this two stream of tears flowed from his eyes.
"Little Mei, will you be sad? Will you miss your Big Brother Yun?"
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