Chapter 5: Mysterious Hao
"My name is Hao. A pleasure to meet you both." The boy before Ye Zong said in a light and pleasant voice, no hesitation or wavering hidden inside of it.
This boy's, Hao's, clothes most certainly were a strange construct, possibly only because of necessity rather than taste and want. But his attire aside something about Hao unnerved Ye Zong greatly.
Sure, the boy was of a sunny disposition with a calmness to him many great elders in the city would be hard pressed to achieve under circumstances where pressure of some kind is pressing down on them. And yet, here he was this boy, sitting relaxed and comfortable before two of the most powerful men in the known world, drinking his tea without a hurry while probably formulating his reply to his inquiry.
"Likewise, Hao. I presume Hao is not your surname? If not, do you not know about your family?" Ye Zong replied, trying to untie some of the mystery surrounding this newcomer before him.
Tilting his head slightly to the side, while his eyes continued to rest on Ye Zong with an unnerving calmness and keenness to them a boy of his age should most certainly not possess, Hao continued to smile lightly before replying yet again.
"Hao indeed is not my surname. Concerning my family…well, I once had one but that was a long, long time ago and I see no reason to take on their name once again when it serves no purpose to me. What about you two? I presume you are the leading faction in this city?" Serves no purpose? That must mean that Ye Zong either didn't know of Hao's family or Hao simply doesn't care about his family's reputation and the gains he could get from using his name to his advantage.
"Indeed, we are the leading family of Glory City. Both me and brother Ye Xiu here belong to the Snow Wind family and have, for a very long time now, held the leadership position in Glory City. Besides our family there are two other major families, the Divine family and the Sacred family, who each take up important positions inside of Glory City as well. Below our three families are the three aristocratic families, followed by a few noble families and quite a lot of clans.
All of these make up the upper class of Glory City. You must have seen the separation of the districts on your way here. That is mostly to guarantee a smooth procedure when Glory City is under attack. Unfortunately, this separation has also had the nasty side effect that quite a few families nowadays think they are better than those of lower social standing, forgetting that all of us humans left in Glory City are in the same boat so to speak. If we fall, humans seize to exist on this world."
"I see. Now I understand why my arrival has been such a shock for the city guard who escorted me here. It may increase not only the population of Glory City but also the chance of mankind surviving. Tell me, city lord Ye Zong, what exactly is it that is threatening your existence here in Glory City and why?" For a second Ye Zong wasn't really sure how to reply to Hao's question.
'Has this boy never been confronted with demon beasts? How is that even possible? Surely he must have at least seen them once?' Ye Zong thought while Hao, still watching Ye Zong closely, tilted his head slightly to the side, as if he was following an interesting conversation he was not supposed to listen to.
"Indeed, your discovery has certainly been a shimmer of hope on the horizon in a way. Now, to your question, we are threatened by two things here in Glory City. One and the most pressing at all times is demon beasts. You see, demon beasts are, just like humans, able to cultivate both their bodies and minds. Contrary to humans though, a demon beast has an inherent physical advantage over us, making them stronger than humans on every level of cultivation.
To counter that problem, humans of a long gone era, discovered that they stood a chance against demon beasts by killing a demon beasts and absorbing their spirit, which enables the cultivator to tab into the demon beasts techniques and physical characteristics, on top of their own cultivation. Those people are called demon spiritualists and are the main defence force of Glory City.
The second threat is the dark guild you've already heard us talk about. A rogue faction of cultivators out to harm Glory City for grudges of the past." Ye Zong finished his explanation and watched Hao closely to gauge his reaction but was disappointed to find anything indicating shock or surprise at his revelations.
"I see…" Hao said in response, mostly because he seemed to contemplate something and wanted to bridge the gap in conversation.
"I presume you both are two of those called demon spiritualists? That would at least explain something I've been wondering about for a while now." Hao asked, stomping Ye Zong a little with his question and observation, and by the looks of it Ye Xiu wasn't much better of than Ye Zong himself.
"Indeed, we both are demon spiritualists of rather high rank but how did you know? From what I can tell you have yet to truly cultivate your Chi, let alone your soul force…" Ye Zong responded with a frown on his face to hide is astonishment.
'I guess it is quite possible he simply guessed, as we both hold such high positions in Glory City but something tells me there is more to this than that…'
"If you would like I can show you how I was able to tell. It would be easier than trying to explain exactly how I did it if you don't mind. Please remember though, I mean you both no harm." The boy, Hao, said with a small smile on his face, greatly amusing Ye Zong and Ye Xiu who couldn't help but glance at each other in amused exasperation at this boy's exclamation.
"Don't worry, we can handle it. Now what is it that you would like to show us?" Ye Xiu replied, speaking for the first time since the conversation had started.
Though, just as he had finished his sentence, the boy's body frame seemed glow in a white shimmer, before it felt like mount Tai crashed down upon their shoulders, enveloped by some invisible force and pressing them into their seats.
'W-what in heaven's name…?!' Ye Zong couldn't help but think, sweat breaking out on his brows while he had difficulty breathing, feeling as if the air he tried to take in was made out of lead.
Just before he started to panic at not getting enough air into his lungs the pressure weighing down on the two elders lifted and left as if it had never been there before.
"Breath, there is nothing to worry about…" Hao's pleasant voice echoed in the dead silent office, waking both of the elders from their horror inducing experience while both breathed in a full mouth of air at the same time, relieved it was over.
"What was that?" Ye Zong asked, stumped for an answer, while his eyes took on a cautious look, directed towards Hao.
"What you just experienced was me letting go of the control I have over my soul. That resulted in the pressure you just felt when in the presence of a soul that much stronger than your own. Its weight and presence alone draws your own souls towards mine, like a moth to the flame. But do not worry, so long as I am in control of all my faculties this will not happen without my permission." Hao said, with a small smile on his face, though Ye Zong couldn't help but notice that some of Hao's former radiance had left his expression.
'It seems he does not truly enjoy doing what he just did. Thank the heavens for that…' Ye Zong thought to himself while Hao's face dimmed down a little bit further is if he heard something he did not much like to hear, and yet retained his small smile.
'Weird…' Ye Zong thought. "But, I do not understand? How do you possess such a powerful soul despite having only just started to cultivate your Chi! From what I know, and what everyone thought to be the norm, is that you begin your cultivation with Chi, bringing your body to a level it is able to handle the cultivation of soul force and growing alongside it without collapsing under the strain…! And yet, here you are, completely throwing that perception out of the window!" Ye Xiu spoke in a slightly agitated voice, echoing Ye Zong's own thoughts on the matter.
"Your confusion is understandable and yet unfounded. Just because you've believed something to be true your whole life does not make it true by default.
From what I have observed and heard from both of you, especially about the history of your people, it seems to me that you discovered cultivation by observing and imitating these demon beasts you spoke about.
Of course, there is still much I don't know about your history and your system of cultivation, so I might be wrong but to me it seems like you have imitated a few things from those demon beasts that were unnecessary." Hao said with a pondering look on his face, stumping both elders yet again.
'Could that be true? Could it truly be that we've been cultivating the wrong way all this time…?' Both Ye Zong and his brother Ye Xiu thought with neutral looks on their faces, wearing them like masks to hide the turmoil behind them.
"With your permission, I would like to study your people. Their history, customs and traditions. First and fore most I have always been a scholar and I would like to learn more about you." Hao asked the two elders who couldn't help but glance at each other, a silent conversation held between them before Ye Zong turned back to Hao and nodded his assent.
"You have it. But before that, may we ask you a few more questions about the way you cultivate? In exchange you may ask us about our way of cultivation and be given new clothes, a place to stay and some allowance to help you with your studies." Ye Zong proposed, to which Hao nodded in agreement easily, obviously having no problem with sharing more about himself.
Both Ye Zong and Ye Xiu couldn't help but grin slightly in response and promptly began asking their many questions.
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