Three days later, Ju Long came to take Wang Fan and the boy.

Shen brought nothing with him, only the luxurious robe that he wore on that day – a small gift from the Wang family. Since he would serve a cultivator, he at least needed to look good. His hair was beautifully combed and he finally saw skin treatment.

He didn’t bother hiding his face anymore. His mundane looks couldn’t possibly contest against some of the older disciples, who had been cultivating for a very long time.

Refining Qi had the effect of purifying the body, maintaining youth and enhancing beauty.

He wouldn’t be targetted for appearances.

At least, that was what Shen thought, but he cared little about human beauty and would never understand his own charm.

Wang Fan only brought a set of her favorite clothes, which was carried by Shen. All of her other possessions would be useless either way, so she spared herself of the trouble, but the thought of making Shen carry weights was strangely enticing to her, so she made sure to bring many sets.

Shen didn’t complain, he carried the huge load on his back as if it was nothing and pressed on.

He wasn't so concerned. Going to the cultivation world, he would make sure to stay low key and maintain his lifestyle from before. ‘Surely they wouldn’t make me do anything outrageous?’. He was trash after all.

Seeing Shen not even exerting himself to carry the luggage, Wang Fan was a little disappointed, but no one could read her face.

‘He is quite strong, huh’.

- The trip will be short, it takes less than a day to reach the Sect.

Saying that, Ju Long brought forth a huge blade that towered over four meters in length and half a meter in width. Its thickness was about half a meter too. Aside from its huge size, it was plain, looking more like a thick iron bar rather than a blade.

It wasn’t something that a normal human could use.

- This is an Impaler. For the most part, we use this sword to travel, sit wherever you like.

The sword fluctuated slightly.

It showed no sheen even when bathed with sunlight, it was devouring it and not letting it escape out of its body.

It produced no sound and when it moved it gave the impression of a predator from the seas, lurking in the depths and bidding its time to launch itself on unsuspecting prey.

The three of them boarded the Impaler and set off.

Ju Long wasn’t one to talk much, and he enjoyed that the other two were the same.

Both Shen and Wang Fan had been staring down the entire time. They felt an ecstatic feeling when soaring up high, watching the houses become increasingly smaller until the whole city came into full view.

The wind was cool and they were very comfortable sitting on the sword, there was an incantation on it to make it easier to stabilize oneself while boarding it.

Shen was pleased with the view. He didn’t like the fact he would be going to Seven Swords Sect, but that didn’t mean he would ignore the pleasantries of his journey.

On the way, he also came to think about the wind.

What is wind, after all? What caused it? What is it composed of? Many questions came to his mind, and he passed that half a day throwing wild guesses while appreciating the view.

For Wang Fan, the magic moment lasted not for an eternity. The trip was taking a few hours, and it got boring when nothing but clouds could be seen.

At some point, they could see a floating arquipélago.

It was composed of at least three big islands and about ten minor islands, but there was some kind of white sheet covering the view, looking like a swarm of clouds engulfing everything.

Aproaching, he understood it was actually fog, but it just made it look stranger with how dense it was.

A few other people could be seen flying with Impalers, and Shen noticed they were following their trajectory at the same pace.

Getting even closer, more was to be seen, and he was excited to know what did nature hold for that place.

The island was covered by huge swords that towered higher than the Impaler, some whose blades undulated endlessly like a snake, burying themselves on the ground, others that were so thin that a thread would be thicker, slightly curved swords and swords with indentations. All kinds of swords were littered everywhere among the desolate plains, and they emitted a strong malevolent qi that kept seeping and sliding into the fog.

It was nothing like what he expected, but Shen could link the arrangement to that of trees in a forest. They did the opposite job of making the air pleasant to breathe, but he didn't appear to be bothered.

Ignoring a few clear points about being surrounded by sharp objects that emanated evil Qi, it was a nice place to meditate.

There was a single pavilion in the middle of the island, the fog nearby so thick you could grab it by your hands.

- This is the Sword Cemetary of the main island. It is where the main facilities are and it links to the other islands. We can’t take you to one of the 13 masters directly, but it will happen eventually. I’ll drop you in the sleeping quarters, everything is already set. If you want to start training or look around, today is fine, do whatever you want.

Ju Long approached the ground quickly to let Wang Fan and Shen jump off and parted without a word.

Shen felt that the purple soil was rather soft beneath the fog, but surprisingly Wang Fan was walking on top of that same fog.

He tried doing it and succeeded, which he thought was strange.

Waiting for them was a young man with narrow brown eyes, his garbs looked comfortable and easy to move in.

He couldn't be called pretty, not with that smug smile plastered on his face, but he did have an imposing character that made people avoid his piercing gaze. His cold eyes rested on Shen’s, not hiding his disgust for the newcomer.

Shen thought that the guy hated his guts because he couldn’t cultivate.

He grimaced inwardly. ‘Can it get any better?’, he thought.

When the young man turned to see Wang Fan, he was captivated by her appearance. Her voluptuous curves, tight clothes, fine features and seductive smile were too much to bear, not to say of her green eyes that were quite peculiar. Her talent and position made her grow even more in his evaluations.

He looked at Shen one more time, carefully inspecting him, and tsked. ‘Fucking trash’.

Despite being sad, Shen was mildly surprised, he expected cultivators to represent the polarities of human nature, but experiencing it firsthand was another thing. ‘It’s really impressive that you can hate someone just because they appeared in front of you... Haah, By the end of the day I’m still beside Wang Fan and that’s enough for them to hate me’.

It is difficult to remain inconspicuous when you’re a servant of a genius.

- Call me Ling, I’m an inner disciple of the Seven Swords Sect, so you should call me senior, big brother is fine too. I am responsible for guiding you to your rooms and showing you around – said the young man to Wang Fan, sending casual glances to Shen.

In turn, she bowed courteously.

- I am Wang Fan. Although I am an inheriting disciple, I know nothing of cultivation. I hope senior disciple Ling can show me our rooms and teach me the basics.

Hearing her words, Ling was exhilarated. That young miss was extremely polite towards him though she was ranked higher, even suggesting he taught her. He had been cooking up an excuse to pass time with her, but surprisingly it was just that easy.

But then came a realization.

‘Ah, I forgot that trash’.

He was one of the first people to come in contact with Wang Fan, this was the best time to strike a good relationship and he couldn’t be bothered by him. Shen read these underlines and played accordingly, kneeling to the ground and bowing his head down.

- This lowly one’s name is Shen. Out of Elder Ju Long’s great considerations and my position as a servant of the Wang family, I was chosen to accompany Miss Wang and follow her orders, even though I am undeserving of this honor. I hope senior Ling doesn’t mind if I excuse myself from senior’s lesson, as I cannot cultivate and will only be a bother for young Miss.

Shen’s tone was so humble and honest that it caught Ling off-guard. He was trash and he was surprisingly good-looking, but he knew his place and Ling appreciated people who didn't overstep their bounds. ‘The heavens sure are helping me here. I didn’t need to lift a finger and things are working out for the best’.

Ling’s opinion of Shen quickly changed from hating him to not even considering his existence. He was just a servant, after all, it was impossible for him to be a threat. If it wasn’t to bow down to the strong, the weak should not loiter around them.

Shen didn’t feel like he had humiliated himself or anything, those were foolish thoughts. He thought that Ling was surprisingly fitting to his image of a cultivator: proud, arrogant and scheming.

Pitiful.

Wang Fan stole a quick glance at Shen, a slight shimmer appeared on her eyes while squinting them.

- Raise, servant. The only person you may kneel and bow down to is me, your master.

Shen shrugged. He could bow down a million times to millions of people, it didn't really matter - it was way too easy to satisfy these people.

He turned to Wang Fan, bowing even more fervently. He was never that subservient before to his masters, but when dealing with cultivators he felt the need to add a pinch of exaggeration.

- This lowly one admits his mistakes and begs to be punished!

The smile on Wang Fan’s face grew by a tiny bit, and the glint of her eyes shone brighter. She felt an indescribable pleasure from having him bow down to her and act so pitiful. She wouldn’t let anyone else act that way with Shen, only Wang Fan was allowed to have this pleasure.

He was her property, after all.

Ling didn’t give it much thought, it was the way a servant should be treated.

- I will think of your punishment later. Now do not dally, we are wasting senior disciple’s precious time.

- Yes, Young Miss!

Led by Ling, they walked through the spacious corridors.

Ling and Wang Fan were chatting casually and Shen was silently observing his surroundings. He was further on the back so no one bothered him while he inspected the garden.

From inside, the sleeping quarters resembled a round labyrinth, endlessly spiraling into multiple paths. It was well aired, but the fog oozed out of the entrances and not even silhouettes could be seen from the small windows, making for a boring passageway that for Shen was quite unnerving.

He didn't enjoy closed spaces, soon he started to feel that itch that ticked off on his unwashed hair, which annoyed him. If he was going to live there, the first thing he vouched to do was cut his hair as it was so difficult to maintain it.

- This is the room you will be staying in. Your servant's is the opposite. Both rooms recognize the ownership from junior Fan.

Ling and Wang Fan entered her room to practice some cultivation whereas Shen went for his.

Just by standing on the doorstep the stone door slid down. Looking inside, it was almost equal to his room in the Wang manor, with only a bedroom, a small wardrobe and a table with a stone chair. There was also a small compartment that led to a lone cubicle with a mat sprayed in the middle, along with a cupboard, chopsticks and a plate for incense, which seemed rather odd. ‘So this is where people cultivate, huh’.

There wasn’t much to do as a servant. Wang Fan would spend most of the time practicing and he would need to be close to her at all times, depending on her wishes.

He entered the cultivation room and laid himself on the mat to rest. Despite the circumstances, it was peaceful in there. He felt drowsy after a few minutes and slept.

***

When Shen woke up, he was in a strange place. It was a completely dark and silent room, but every now and then he would see red eyes watching him from afar. He jolted up, cold sweat dripping all the way from his forehead to his chin and then into the floor. His heart rate was uneven, ‘where the hell am I?’

The number of red eyes kept increasing and the darkness approached him slowly.

He was breathing with difficulty, but now more focused: as a mortal, he couldn’t do anything in the cultivation world - resistance was futile. That thought was not reassuring in any way, it was simply a reminder that at least trying to think of the situation was more productive than anything else he could do. Rather, it was a must to keep himself anchored to reality, he couldn't give in to his fears.

As more time passed, his eyes adapted to the darkness and he could more or less see the shape of the red-eyed entities. They were all human shadows. On the outside he was calm, but waiting was doing no good for his heart. Those shadows were rock still and that added to the pressure he felt. He didn't know what to expect. What were their intentions? Who are these people? Would they keep still? Would they attack?

Shen needed something to go with, otherwise, he would go crazy.

- Why have you brought me here? - Maybe because the situation was too unreal, Shen forgot about the formalities. His mind couldn’t be bothered with useless stuff.

Hearing his voice, one of the shadows descended from very high above, the others moved out of the way. That shadow slowly walked into a straight path and sat cross-legged right in front of Shen, with one of its legs slightly tilted, embraced by its arms. Up close, it revealed to be a muscular person whose gender couldn’t be defined and with a completely blank face. It wore a necklace of ears and bands on both its wrists and ankles, made out of human eyes and tongues. They were gross and whenever the shadow moved if only slightly, Shen could hear the disgusting sound of flesh squirming and retorting.

- Are you the leader here? – asked Shen with great effort.

The shadow stayed silent for a while, listening to Shen’s questions. It just seemed to watch him with no real motive. Only a long time, after Shen had given up striking a conversation, did it speak - in a cryptical language which he couldn't understand.

The voice didn’t hold a harsh tone, but it was built from the feelings of hatred, despair, fear, and suffering. It evoked his greatest fears towards the world of cultivation, and also his most bitter memories from his days on the manor, at least those he could remember.

All that was wrong and distorted in his world, which he had contemplated before and decided to forget, resurfaced.

On that single second, Shen truly believed that the world wasn’t worth living in after all, and he tried to shake off those dark thoughts but they kept pouring inside of him. It was painful, he felt like swimming on a river of needles and he couldn't stop looking at his own body to confirm that no blood was leaking, but it didn't stop the pain from rising.

A single second, but it was filled to the brim with agony.

He didn't want to hear it any longer, it was way too much to bear. Shen closed his eyes and stood there, he was afraid of what would happen if he moved any muscle, but it was all useless. With his eyes closed, he could still see. They were all looking at him in silence, and normally he would enjoy the silence, but that enormous space felt so much more stifling than the small cubicle.

They were waiting for him. He had no choice but to bite his teeth and continue, not knowing whether he would live through the trial or not.

- Why did you bring me here?

The thing didn't answer. It went further down and pulled Shen along with its arms, throwing him in another piece of floating darkness, away from the eyes, and disappeared.

Shen though he would die from the fall, but at the last moment he floated up and was dropped from a small distance. His feet sunk into the floor and bounced up at every step, he found it almost impossible to get up without falling, and he gave up eventually as he became tired and infuriated with the failed attempts. He was desperate when he got thrown, but that wasn't taking him anywhere.

When he calmed down he noticed that the environment was not so dark as before. He could capture a few hues of blue mixing into the surroundings, and the sound he could hear was the same as the time he almost drowned.

Instinctively, he looked around, trying to grasp what was going on around him. Nothing was happening besides the ground which was moving, and there was a line of spherical and apparently transparent objects moving alongside it.

The shadow appeared again by his side, and it had a blank expression with its sudden mouth. Shen didn't know why but he could feel at leisure by seeing it like this, his mind was screaming at him for this, but ultimately he chose to trust his instincts - they were usually right, and rationalizing would lead him nowhere.

The shadow looked up, hinting for Shen to look that way, but he couldn't see anything, just the endless stream of nothingness.

Suddenly, lights invaded the waters from above, destroying the darkness as if it was a shattered mirror. The shadow smiled, for the first time Shen was able to discern its expression, but this smile faded as quickly as its body.

- Wait, what was that? - he was confused, he had no idea why it had pointed towards the light. Everything was too unreal but he couldn't avoid but try to find some logic behind everything.

But he didn't hear an answer, because it couldn't give one. The shadow was just a something that did what it was supposed to do - it accomplished its purpose, and that was the end of it. It went back to being a small dark fragment, the size of a rice grain, and pierced Shen's forehead before he went out and collapsed with everything else.

***

Walking lazily in the corridors towards the Conference Room was a pale old man wearing a grey robe and an amulet of seven swords. He was bald and on the back of his neck one could see the handle of a sword – it was intricately ornate but impractical as it would pierce through the hands and wrists of whoever used it. He didn’t usually walk around the Sword Cemetary, it would make more than 300 hundred years since he had stepped foot on that place.

‘That buffoon Ju Long got his hands on a really good seed this time’. The old man had waited for a thousand years for a suitable disciple, but unlike the time when the evil sects and good sects were at war and he could grab anyone with talent, right then the Seven Swords Sect was blocked by all sides. ‘Hmph, they’re so afraid of our techniques that they only send the most useless people to our sect. If it wasn’t for the other Ancestors I would’ve destroyed most of ‘em!’, he thought, hatefully, but just thinking about that disciple’s parasitic spirit vein, he became joyful. ‘All of the other Ancestors already have inheriting disciples, the old crones make fun of me for not having any, but now they must be biting their fingers that I would nab such a talent! Ha!’

The old man grinned and started laughing. He was the only one without an inheriting disciple, in his mind there was no other option: he would be the one.

Reaching the Main Hall, he saw most of the Ancestors and many Elders, among whom were Ju Long and the Sect Leader, already there. He was always late to the reunions, but not this time. He came exactly on time, it was just the others came even earlier. ‘What is this? The only day I wanted to be earlier than these fools, they beat me to it.’ He tsked, but since no one seemed to be discussing anything yet, he didn’t make a fuss about it. He took his seat on the table and the reunion began.

Even though they called it a meeting to discuss matters of the sect, the only pressing matter was Wang Fan. Every master of the 13 islands wanted her and would be willing to fight for her, for the same reason they had brought the elders under their sphere of influence to give strength to their voices during the decision.

As expected, nothing good came out of it.

After many hateful comments and a heated discussion that didn’t lead anywhere, it became clear that no one would reach a consensus. That girl could very much revive the Sect and would definitely become an unparalleled cultivator if time was given, no one was willing to let go of her so easily.

Unlike many other sects, Seven Swords was very chaotic and it wouldn’t be wrong to say that every island was a different sect on their own. The only thing that linked them was the Ancestors – all of them were strong sword cultivators hated in the cultivation world and Seven Swords would perish if they were to disband.

Because there was such a ruckus, the Sect Leader felt the need to reduce attritions.

- I understand that everyone wants this promising disciple, but we should evaluate this objectively. She doesn’t have time to learn under more than one master, all of our techniques are difficult to grasp and if we were to mix them together, we would waste time she doesn't have. Wang Fan’s techniques will all deploy the nature of chaos, how many of us can bring the best out of it?

The room was silent. Sword techniques imbued with chaos were very rare. To begin with, chaos nature was already uncommon between cultivators, although it was standard for demonic beasts. Now slim this number for the number of cultivators that follow the way of the sword and further reduce it into those who achieved Demigod stage and higher and developed a powerful technique, even the Librarian which occupied the highest position in Guardians of the Sky and the Ocean could count that number on a single hand. Even among the elders, there were none who possessed chaos type sword techniques.

- Considering what I’ve said and all that’s been discussed in this hall, there is only one master that can nurture this disciple... Ancestor Yao!

- I refuse to accept this! – The old man’s rage reached the skies as he punched the table with full force, breaking it. There couldn’t be any other option other than him. That disciple was his. He had waited for such a long time just to see that hag Yao Lian snatch her away.

Yao Lian smiled mockingly. She was very old but her techniques, beauty care and stage of cultivation allowed her to remain a mature lady in her thirties. She wore the traditional robe of Seven Swords just like the other Ancestors and some elders, and though she walked straight as a pole, her partially exposed body was very alluring nonetheless.

In Ancestor Zhu’s opinion, she should just follow Ancestor Li’s example and act her age. ‘Who are you trying to fool with that appearance? Hmph!’

- Hohoho... Old Zhu doesn’t think much about the sect. He knows Sect Leader is right and still dares to voice greedy opinions even though he can’t do a good job at raising Wang Fan, ah, forgive me, I spoke too much – said Yao Lian giggling.

A vein popped up on his forehead. ‘That fucking bitch... I’ll murder her! I’ll crush her like a bug! Fucking trash that can only use that crappy sword technique!’ The old man Zhu was furious, deep inside he knew they were right, but all the way to this room he had already started plans on how to train Wang Fan into a peerless cultivator - and he would boast to his heart’s content of having such a strong disciple inheriting his sword.

- Ancestor Zhu, Ancestor Yao’s sword fits all kind of practitioners, and training it is faster than any other technique we have, it is the most efficient blade.

- And the weakest of them all! – He replied, but he had already given up and left the room furious.

Ancestor Yao, too, felt rage burning deep inside her guts. She absolutely hated it when people called her techniques weak. Even if she couldn’t compete with power or speed and was thus ranked seventh amongst the thirteen ancestors, more people fell for her sword than for any of the other master’s.

- Wait another two thousand years, who knows? Maybe a heaven-defying disciple will come knocking at your door! Ah, but then he will realize how uselessly difficult it is to learn under you and beg for me to teach him! – She lashed out, but Ancestor Zhu was already too distant.

With this, the meeting had been concluded and the Conference Room emptied quickly. It had been decided that, after the basic training on qi gathering, Wang Fan would come to Seventh Island and train under Yao Lian.

***

Ancestor Zhu was not as furious as he was at the Conference Room, but he was filled with sadness. Among the 13 Ancestors, his sword was undoubtedly the strongest and his technique earned him the moniker of Zhu Gong, the True Killer Sword – meaning that all other swords were mere imitations in comparison to his. As a cultivator of the Deity stage, he was proud and was only willing to teach the best of the best.

Even though he didn’t want to admit it, Wang Fan would not shine as much with his lessons in comparison to the other ancestors’, chaos was the worst qi type for his Abyssal Hunt technique. To be successful with it, one’s inner qi needed to be as calm as a flowing river, and knowledge of different types of qi was needed; even old Zhu himself had never mastered it to perfection.

‘Maybe I should give up looking for a disciple’. With his mind filled with those thoughts, he didn’t notice that he was walking right into the students’ lodgings, towards Wang Fan’s room. He had already resigned, but unconsciously he wanted to confirm if that girl really couldn’t practice under him after all. Some other Ancestors had the thoughts of seeing the girl, too, but they weren’t in such a rush.

When he came to it, he was already very close to her room. He didn’t want to show his face to the girl, now that she was that hag’s disciple there would be nothing more than hate between them, so instead he used his Three Great Evils technique to watch her from outside of the room. This technique was uncommon amongst practitioners with evil Qi, but not as much on Seven Swords.

On its first level, See All Evil, one was able to sense everything on the premises of evil Qi, and the further the cultivator advanced, the more accurate the image, eventually revealing the entire area as if walls and fog were invisible, extending for kilometers.

He could distinctly see Wang Fan studying a basic Qi refining method on her bed while another disciple was giving her pointers. At this rate, she would finish the book in another five hours and start cultivating. The book wasn't too big, but not everyone was accustomed to reading so extensively and needed breaks. With that other disciple’s guidance, it wouldn’t be hard to begin proper Qi refining by the start of the night.

‘Haah, such a pity. A beautiful girl... She’ll be spoiled rotten by that man-eating hag’.

Yao Lian disliked men to her very core and all her sword techniques were sly and deceitful, waiting patiently from a safe distance until the opportunity arose for the killing strike. The fog revolving Seven Swords Sect was made by her seals, and it was only the first part of her most prized skill, the Cloud Sea Snake. It was a skill stolen from the sect she originally came from, which specialized in assassinations, but she managed to polish it to the point she could use it in almost any situation.

‘This girl might very well perfect it, how terrifying will it become?’ Thinking about this, he felt annoyed. ‘Tsk, I’ll show it to that hag, my disciple will be even more talented than Wang Fan! Hmph!’

Old Zhu and Yao Lian never got along since the beginning, but since they couldn’t fight each other directly, they would always fight in other fields. He would never accept that her disciples could be better than his. If he didn’t find anyone suitable by the time Wang Fan went past the initial stages, he would prefer engraving his technique on a book and hide it in a room full of traps, as a test for anyone worthy, then ascend right after.

He couldn’t bear the shame of losing to that hag otherwise.

Just when he started to walk away, he saw a strange presence in the room opposite Wang Fan’s. There was a boy about sixteen sleeping on the mat of the cultivation room.

The cultivation room was peculiar in that evil qi flowed more abundantly there than in any other part, naturally for the benefit of cultivators, but, due to the nature of evil qi, cultivating for too long without resting would drive one to insanity. The only person who could sleep in the middle of a room with such thick evil qi would be a dead person, yet, Old Zhu could clearly see his muscles moving, his beating heart and his lungs working just fine.

Further enhancing his See All Evil, Ancestor Zhu almost choked out of surprise. His eyes, that were so squinted from the age that they looked tightly shut, opened in full, revealing his red irises that already lost the youthful color of blood from his younger days, and even in that state, they shone a bleak light.

Around the boy, the evil qi whose nature is unruly and may hurt the cultivator, flowing incessantly like wild whips scorching the air and rogue waves crashing on the shore, slowed down and avoided hurting his body as it calmly parted like a river’s water current, hitting him gently, spreading out and going past him. In that manner, the room was quickly being filled with a strange evil qi that seemed almost frozen in space.

‘Such a pure and beautiful qi...’

Old Zhu drooled. That was the type of qi that he strived to obtain through qi refining. That strangely peaceful evil qi was beyond perfect, his eyes shone even more. ‘This is it... This boy is my inheriting disciple!’

There was no one else walking by the hallways, the old man casually entered the room, picked him up and disappeared. While making sure to completely shroud his presence and Shen’s, he laughed inwardly ‘Hohoho, Yao Lian you old dried peach, you’re not going to steal this one from me!’

If people came to know about this disciple, they would surely fight Zhu Gong over him, so he would train him in secret and only reveal him later to humiliate Yao Lian.

‘Parasytic spirit vein? Pft! You just watch!’