Ancestor Ai!

This name rang out within the hearts of every single steward in the hall at the exact same moment. They were the legendary person that had founded the Bloody Path Sect and over ten thousand years ago, had been a figure that dominated the entire world of cultivation. They slaughtered countless powerhouses and massacred entire sects and clans. Until one day they suddenly disappeared from thin air. And when over ten thousand years later, a letter that seemingly belongs to Ancestor Ai appears in the Bloody Path Sect, a storm is sure to brew!

That’s why at this moment in the Bloody Path’s Grand Hall, it was dead silent.

Inside, there were about forty white and red-robed figures seated at a long table crafted out of smooth, glistening brown oak wood that had been matured for many years within one of the sect’s medicinal gardens. These were all the Inner Court Stewards that managed the internal matters of the sect. Just moments ago, Ai Guanyu, a late descendant of Ancestor Ai had confirmed with certainty that the writing belonged to Ancestor Ai.

When Luan Shui came in shortly before and informed them of this many were naturally very sceptical. But, after each and every steward had inspected the letter and the confirmation of Ai Guanyu, they were speechless. As for the Heaven-Chosen Medallion that Luan Shui had presented prior, they were given a pleasant surprise and it was indeed not a problem. However, that letter was a completely different matter entirely.

There were currently many questions rushing inside the hearts of every single Stewart present. Why was a mortal boy in possession of it? For what reason did Ancestor Ai make this letter? Is there possibly more to this letter? Is there a hidden message? Are there any ulterior motives?

The Head Stewart, Wei Jin, who sat at the end of the table opposite from the entrance suggested, “I will send a message for the Guest Hall to bring the mortal boy over, while we wait for him to arrive how about we discuss other matters so we can take out minds off of this. Is this agreeable?”

Everyone gave an affirmative nod in response. Seeing this, Wei Jin caused a rectangular piece of paper to appear overhead with a wave of his hand. Then, he formed multiple complex hand gestures with his hands and that caused the paper to transform into a streak of golden light that disappeared out the entrance of the hall and into the distance.

Soon, their discussions quickly returned to normal. But, nearly every single steward maintained an ever unchanging outer appearance that showed not even the slightest hint to their inner thoughts as they secretly thought about this matter very deeply.

Suddenly, a clear voice echoed from the entrance of the hall, “Yu Zhedong of Guest Hall reporting! I have brought the mortal, Ip An as requested by Wei Jin.”

Their discussion abruptly stopped as every single pair of eyes in the room landed on a dark-tanned small boy with jet black hair that stood just a few steps away from Yu Zhedong. This was Ip An. But surprisingly, he was wearing clean, silky white robes instead of the farmer clothes that he had been wearing since he embarked at the Fifth-Step Village. Furthermore, his hair, skin and appearance had been cleaned up well enough to barely pass as presentable in front of the Inner Court stewards.

When Ip An thought about what occurred just a couple of hours ago at the guest hall, Ip An let out a slightly pained chuckle. It was late in the afternoon and he had been reading for several hours. Just as he plopped himself down onto the bamboo bed, Yu Zhedong suddenly charged into his room while screaming about how he had to get ready for the Inner Court Stewarts. And that if his appearance wasn’t passable then his reputation would suffer.

Like this, he underwent some very unpleasant things to have him prepared as quickly as possible. But through this scrupulous method his skin, face, body odour and hair had undergone a complete transformation! He went from a poor, scruffy village boy to a slightly less poor, scruffy village boy. Seeing that all his efforts had done nearly nothing to fix his painfully common appearance, Yu Zhedong was quite frustrated.

Alas, he could do nothing else and they immediately jumped on his flying sword and travelled to the Great Hall at his maximum speed. And on the way Yu Zhedong completely expected Ip An to have the mannerisms and speech of a country bumpkin so he planned to teach him at least a few key points so he didn’t lose face. But soon he found out that it was the exact opposite and found himself talking to a person that acted and talked like an old person who had read many books.

And thus, Ip An now stood in front of the stewards of The Bloody Path Sect. Being straightforward, Ip An was incredibly terrified. It felt like he was being watched down by a pack of predators. His whole body was slightly shaking, his heart racing and his mind uneasy. He was standing in front of people who could kill him with but a single thought, he was but a tiny ant compared to them. No wonder, that servant had treated him so differently compared to Luan Shui. Mortals were basically lesser beings to immortals.

“Restrain your gazes!” Wei Jin boomed, staring down the several stewards who were giving gazes that eked just the slightest trace of hostility. Once their hostile gazes stopped, Ip An felt like someone had just taken off a boulder that had been weighing him down his whole life. He was no longer shaking and his heart had calmed down considerably. With a dry mouth, Ip An stared at the ground with uncertainty still in his heart, unsure of what was going to happen to him.

“Ip An is your name?” Wei Jin asked, noticing the slight strangeness of his name.

“Yes, Immortal”, Ip An cupped his hands and bowed with his eyes continuing to stare straight at the ground, afraid to look anyone accidentally in the eyes.

Wei Jin stroked his long brown beard that had several grey hairs, “So according to Luan Shui you had received the Heaven-Chosen Medallion and the letter from your grandfather, is this correct?”

“Yes”, Ip An answered cordially.

“And what is the name of your grandfather?” Wei Jin stopped stroking his beard and just looked at Ip An with a strange look.

“His name was Ip Nan!” Ip An revealed, wondering if his grandfather possibly had some connection to the Bloody Path Sect. Yet, when he said that name there was no reaction from anyone.

“Does anyone know of an Ip Nan?” Wei Jin asked while scanning every single Stewart with his gaze. After several moments of silence, still, no one answered.

Wanting to learn more about this Ip Nan had nearly no relation to the Bloody Path Sect, Wei Jin asked several more questions in quick succession about him. Yet, none of them revealed any clues. Additionally, he also asked questions about Ip An, such as how long it took him to get to the Bloody Path Sect, where his village was located and his age.

As Wei Jin exhausted all the questions he had in mind, he heard a voice in his head.

“Brother Wei! Let’s just soul search the boy and have this be done with. I need to urgently leave for the Annual Xia Province Trade Meeting as soon as possible in case I miss any rare opportunities. So don’t waste my time any further!” A disgruntled male voice with a hint of slight annoyance resounded in Wei Jin’s mind.

Hearing this voice, Wei Jin looked at a certain white and red-robed fatty with sharp eyebrows who was just five seats down from him on the right-side. The fatty didn’t even notice Wei Jin’s gaze and merely continued playing with the delicate, red-furred fox that sat in his lap. For a few moments, he considered this proposition but then gazed at Ip An’s figure with gentle eyes.

Finally, he let out a long sigh and said, “Since asking Ip An any further questions will most likely be useless, let’s just address the matter of him presenting the Heaven-Chosen Medallion.”

Hearing this, the fatty’s face slightly twitched in annoyance.

“It has been over 600 years since someone has presented a Heaven-Chosen Medallion to the Bloody Path Sect! However, this does mean that yours is any less invalid or worth more in any way. You will receive the same benefits as any person that has used it before. In accordance with the official sect rules, you will now directly enter the inner sect, be gifted a top rank magic tool of your liking, and one hundred low-grade spiritual stones”, Wei Jin announced, “Welcome to the Bloody Path Sect, Ip An.”

When Ip An heard this, he became quite elated. He was going to join the ranks of immortals! All kinds of dreams and possibilities quickly flashed through Ip An’s mind. Finally, he gained the courage to look up and saw the accepting wrinkly smile of Wei Jin.

But suddenly, Ai Guanyu’s voice interrupted this moment, “Correct me if I am mistaken, but I am certain that when Luan Shui reported to us, he said that he had checked to see if Ip An had any spiritual roots in secret while they were flying to the Guest Hall. And it turned out that he had none." That last sentence resounded throughout Ip An multiple times with tremendous impact. From his brief reading session in the guest hall and the context of the situation, he could sense that not having spiritual roots was not a good thing.

Wei Jin became alarmed, “Ip An, come on over so I can confirm if this is true or not.”

With an anxious heart, Ip An scurried over with his head down under the many gazes and stares of the other Inner Court Stewards. Now standing just a meter away from Wei Jin, the other person asked, “Give me your hand.”

Ip An wordlessly stuck his hand out. After leaving his hand hanging for a couple seconds, Wei Jin grabbed his wrist and suddenly closed his eyes as if he had just gone into a deep meditation. A couple of seconds went by and Wei Jin reopened his eyes with a slight frown.

“Hmm, indeed. He does not have any spiritual roots”, Wei Jin acknowledged. His voice then changed to reveal a slight sense of surprise as he continued, “However, I also sensed a small thread of Inner Qi within his lower dantian. This is very strange.”

Hearing this, Ip An became desperate to know what was happening so he asked Wei Jin with a slightly nervous voice, “Immortal, what is a spiritual root? And what’s Inner Qi?”

Wei Jin’s question caused him to give a pained expression as he explained, “Spiritual roots are what allows us to intake heaven’s spiritual energy. Without them, one cannot walk onto the path of immortality no matter how hard they try. It is simply hopeless. As for inner qi, it is essentially internal life energy that is cultivated by mortal martial artists in the secular world to utilise their various martial techniques.”

Wei Jin’s explanation had revealed how he had survived that fateful day in the abandoned temple. In Ip An’s mind, there was no other explanation other than that he had somehow gained inner qi! He had the power of powerful martial artists dormant in his body. Yet at the same time, Ip An suddenly became very depressed discovering he was unable to tread the path of immortality.