As Li Lan considered his answer thoroughly, his thoughts were intervened by the man in front of him. "You may think for seven days and seven nights. In that time, I will be here. Come if you want, stay away if you do not."

The man calmly smiled as he stood up and jumped off the rock. Li Lan was in deep thoughts. As the man walked away he stopped. "Take this." The man threw what looked like an old book. It was torn and the letters could nearly not be made out.

As Li Lan read the cover he tried to make sense of it. "Qi, Qi cultivation guide!" He frowned his brows, to him this book could be his most precious. As he looked up to give his thanks, the man was gone.

He decided not to dwell on the matter. Sitting on the rock cross-legged, he did not bother to use the one in the lake. At this moment he was not cultivating, neither had he opened the book. Instead he rumbled through his thoughts.

Rummaging in his heads were all the grief, his hardships and his accomplishments. He was unable to fool himself. The grief and hardships bore deeper than his accomplishments. Until moments ago he had none.

The only thing he could finally be glad with, was that he had actually formed a spiritual core. His wits did not follow him, as he did not understand much about his spiritual core. He had heard that it was like a ball made of energy.

Supposedly it should have been a more solid energy, his conclusion were that his spiritual core was weaker than others. A sigh could be heard from him, his eyelids closed as he sat. His mind went blank and he just sat there.

For six days and five nights. All he did was sit. The moon shone on him, illuminating him into the lake. He opened his eyes and peeked at himself once more. A slight smile appeared, the first that had been there for almost a week.

To fully grasp his situation, he would need to open the book, or go see elders of the xingxiu sect. But he did not want to bother the man who had given him the book, and he did not want to feel indebted.

In the night could be heard a slight rustle, but it did not continue for long, the same as the night. It quickly passed. On the last day. Li Lan made his decision and waited for the man to arrive.

As the sun rose, he stood up and stretched his limbs. He went and washed his face in the lake, and could not fathom this indescribable feeling of calmness. Never before, had he felt like the decision he made could disgrace him.

Not only disgrace him, but his caring mother, and his fun witted father. With the two blurry figures in his mind, he realized he had not thought much of them the last two years. Sadness covered his face for a while.

Clenching his first he looked up, his body shone strong and face filled with determination. “Mother, Father, I will do my best to honor you in the future, please await me!” he said, calm and reserved as he stood there. He said his grace and turned around.

The man sat cross-legged on the stone, Li Lan was a bit shocked at first, then did not waver his mind with it anymore. He walked towards the man, as the man looked up he could see his strong smile.

“What is your decision youth?” the man said, as if he already knew the answer. But Li Lan was unpredictable, and the man had not considered this outcome.

“I’m sorry Elder Brother. But I have unfinished business in the xingxiu sect, please listen to my selfish demands!” as Li Lan spoke, he hoped the man would accept his demands, but as he thought about it more, these demands were simply a test.

What he wanted to know about this man was, if he were to become his master, to what lengths would he let him bloom, and what could he bring to the table.

The man frowned his brows, then cleared his mind and nodded calmly at Li Lan’s words. Li Lan started telling about his past, and his vengeance. About how he was a failure and always would be.

Skies filled with pleasantry filled a certain part of a county. The county of xiejia, not far from the county to the west, in a grassy area was a boy and a man. A story had just come to the end, and the man made his answers after a few thoughtful nods.

“I can make you strong, but you will go through hardships worse and more painful than ever before. It will take years of training and being trampled on!” for a moment the man looked vicious as he tried to read Li Lan’s inner thoughts, those that people never speak of.

Li Lan feared not. He thought what he had been put through, was already to the extreme. He took a step forward and bowed. “Please Elder brother, accept me as a disciple!” The man smiled and nodded.

“I will explain the five years plan I have already made for you, come sit!” the man said. And Li Lan walked over to sit in front of him. Having no idea who his master was, all he could do was believe in fate, have faith that he told the truth.

The man explained his plan, first Li Lan is to go through a year of regeneration, he simplified this by saying. “One cannot be immortal, if one’s flesh cannot be regenerated!” He explained how he would start by removing the outer skin of Li Lan.

Then the skin would heal, and he would then right after do it again, for four months this would happen, meanwhile Li Lan is to reach the third level of qi cultivation before the four months end. With this he is able to learn an ability.

The ability set in the elders mind is a renowned and deathly ability passed down through his own sect. It can by the power of spiritual energy, grow body parts back to normal. Even if Li Lan lost an arm, he would be able to recuperate.

Li Lan was astonished, and a bit frightened when he heard the next 4 months of the first year. It was to have his limbs ripped apart and have them regenerate until it could be done within an hour. That way he would already be a step closer to immortality.

Night came on, but still speaking and discussing, was the master and disciple. Everything beyond the first year, is left to mystery for now. One of the things that was to happen after the first 8 months was for Li Lan to become an outer sect member of the xingxiu sect.

One way to accomplish that was simply to go notify the elders of his newly formed spiritual core. But his master had other thoughts. In the time it takes a year to pass, there will be a martial arts competition between qi practitioners to enter the outer sect.

More spectacularly the top three people would be given a chance to enter the inner sect. Master did not want Li Lan to pass to top three, instead he told him with harsh words. “Admit defeat, the highest ranking you are allowed to take, is the top fourth ranking!”.

After becoming master and disciple, Li Lan had learnt a lot of cultivation. Soon he was ordered to read the whole guide he had received. When his master heard he had not yet opened it, he could not help laugh.

“When handling such matters in the future, take what you can get, ravage all! I will protect you, and you will bring my legacy further.” His laughter was warm and Li Lan could not help smile at this weird man in front of him.

“When do we start training?” Li Lan looked at his master with determination, his eyes shone and despite winter coming soon, he could not feel anything else than warmth emitting from his body.

Master looked at Li Lan and pointed to the moon. “Next full moon.”. Li Lan nodded and continued to read through the book. His understanding rocketed to the sky, and he had learnt of his own level of qi cultivation.

His master did not teach in qi cultivation, nor did he tell him anything personal, for now they were strictly master and disciple. Li Lan did not inquire about anything else for the next two weeks, instead he sat cross-legged and cultivated.

He ate anything that master brought him, it was mostly pills to satiate hunger. The weeks passed fast and it was the day to start his training. His master left frequently without saying where to, and frankly, Li Lan did not mind.

Currently obsessed with his goal, he knew his only way of ever becoming strong, was to heed his masters plan. Even if he tried to go against it, it would be futile. His master was forty years old, and had a muscular stern body.

It was scarred, and his darkish grey beard was a few inches covering his chin. His hair was 3 inches and was also darkish grey, he had partial side cut and his hair mostly stood up into the air. He spent most his time observing Li Lan.

“Time for the first phase. Ready your mind, it’s painful.” His master ordered, despite it sounding more like a friendly hint, Li Lan knew that this was only the start, how could he not be ready to become strong.

Li Lan nodded and took off all his close, he stood up and took a quick bathe. “Where should I cultivate while healing? Would it be better to be half dived into the water?” he asked, he had thought of it before.

Maybe the water could help ease the pain, or help clean the wounds. His master pointed. Following the line of sight from the finger, Li Lan frowned. It obviously pointed to the top of the waterfall, though small sitting in a current no matter how strong, would be hard.

Not to mention he would be in a huge amount of pain and would need tons of concentration just to maintain awake. With a quick wave of his master’s hand Li Lan was placed on top of a rock with half his body in the current. If he fell down he would be further injured, therefore prolonging the process.

“Ready?” his master spared no time, himself he was surprised at Li Lan’s determination. He himself had undergone this training by his father when he was younger. But Li Lan was only around 13 years old, he had been 21 when he had undergone this training.

With a slight smile and a short sigh, he confirmed Li Lan’s nod to be his answer of compliance. In mere seconds his master had summoned some kind of whirlwind that ripped around seventy to eighty percent of Li Lan’s skin off.

No mercy was to spare, even his face was ripped, genitals was not spared. Of course his utmost vitalities had to be covered at least as much as rest of his body. All of this severity in training was also to strengthen his mind and mentality.

The last percents that was not ripped off was skin such as on the eyelid, inside the ears, under the nails and inside his nose. Instantly a furious scream could be heard over the whole forest. The scream of a young man, maybe even a young child, that had almost no more skin.

It took a week for the screaming to stop, although small breaks had occurred, not for long. Anyone hearing the painful screams would stop in their tracks and turn around. Animals did not come inside a circumference of five kilometers, they could not stand the screaming.

The scream of Li Lan was severe, almost agonizing to anyone who heard it. Blood flowed from all of his body, and though half his body was in the water, all it did was cause more severe pain. The water he was in, was almost like a tiger tearing at him from the inside.

Extreme suffering went on for that week, tormenting to his master’s ears. His master now understood the pain his father had undergone when he himself had been taught this way. Of course he had been more disciplined and not screamed as much, but close to.

Unbearable and almost unendurable. This way of training would mend together his mental and spiritual mind. The sharp pain would always be in his mind, reminding him to become stronger. Though it was a drastic measure, it was also extremely effective.

Anyone of the fourth qi cultivation level would have a hard time fighting even a first level qi cultivator who had went through this. The stronger one’s spiritual energy became, the faster one’s ability to regenerate would become.

What he sought from Li Lan, was for him to become his legacy. He wanted him to not only become the patriarch of his sect, but to become a legend. For six years he had been searching far and wide for a disciple.

But all he had found was youngsters who did not dare to go through hardships. They all lived as underlings in outer sects of other sects, and were abominable cultivators. Finally, before him stood Li Lan. His second disciple, and hopefully his last disciple.