《The Taboo Entity》Chapter 4: Sea Dragon Restaurant
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"Qing Jiufeng? What does that mean?" The child said.
"In my times, Qing has many meaning and in this case 'azure'. Jiu means 'nine' and feng means 'seals'," Qin Daozi said. "So your name is Azure Nine Seals."
"Why is my name Nine Seals?" Jiufeng asked.
"Uh...well, doesn't it sound cool?" Qin Daozi said nervously.
"I guess?" Jiufeng was still suspicious about the name given to him and he made some idea about it, but erase the thoughts.
"Anyways, since I've given you some good fortune, go back to the real world and cultivate on them." Qin Daozi tap his finger on Jiufeng's forehead and the white space started to collapse. Light pierce his eyes and Jiufeng closed his eyes in reflex.
Once he opened his eyes, he appeared back in the real world again. It was nighttime and the sky was glittering with stars. The moon hung high in the sky as small silhouettes of birds flew in the night sky.
"I'm back." Jiufeng got up and rubbed his head. He felt something wet and when he looked back at his hand, red liquid was dyed all over his fingers. Staring in horrors, Jiufeng got up and said, "Eden!"
[Yes, Host?]
"Scan my body." Jiufeng wanted to try using Eden while in the real world. This act was also to analyze the injury on his head.
[Affirmative! Beep! Scanning Host's Body!]
Not even a second pass by before Eden responded again.
[Host's Body Has Been Analyze! Results: 1 minor head injury, 1 shirt, 1 pants, 1 ring, 1 pair of shoes.]
"A minor injury," Jiufeng thought. "All I need to do is get it patched up and I should be good. Hm? A ring?"
Jiufeng put his hand into his shirt and felt a circular object in there. He took it out and a white ring appeared.
"This ring..." Jiufeng felt a certain connection with the ring that he couldn't put in words. He put the ring on his left middle finger. He put his hand high in the air and the white ring shimmered in the moonlight.
"Time to go find the nearest city or town." Jiufeng looked around and found another pathway. He followed it with hopes that he would reach a residence.
.....
The moon descended as the sun rise, shining light upon Black Pinecone City. On Grey Street, an old restaurant was erected on the corner of the street.
The old restaurant had two story and on the building, a billboard hung high above the entrance. It had two characters on it: Sea () Dragon ()!
Sea Dragon restaurant was an old, but famous restaurant. It was established 20 years ago by Old Man Hai and is one of the most famous restaurant of Black Pinecone City. In its earlier years, the restaurant's reputation and prestige spread like wildfire.
Countless famous individual visited the restaurant over the years. Powerful cultivators, prestigious artist, wise scholars, and government officials were said to have visit this restaurant. Even the Mayor of Black Pinecone City has been seen in numerous occasions to have eaten here.
As the sun rise, the doors of Sea Dragon opened and a figure walked out. It was old man who wore black clothing and a bamboo conical hat on his head. The old man had wrinkles on his face and a pair of ancient eyes. However, his stature was tall, his eyes carried vitality, and healthy white hair on his head and face.
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This old man was precisely the owner and founder of Sea Dragon, Old Man Hai. Everyone morning, Old Man Hai would usually go out for a walk around Grey and neighboring streets.
"Yang'er should be coming any moment now," Old Man Hai muttered. "Might as well go now."
Old Man Hai closed the doors behind him and started walking through the street. Some shop and other restaurant owners also open their doors early and greeted Old Man Hai as he walked by.
"Good Morning, Old Man Hai."
"Owner Hai, how are you?"
"Hello, Old Man Hai."
Old Man Hai greeted all that talked to and spent some time talking to them as well. He has lived on the street for decades after all and has long since form relations with everyone in the street and some others in other streets.
Old Man Hai walked around for a long time until the sun rose all the way and the streets were bustling with people. He decided to walk back to his restaurant, however, he took a long path to go back.
"Hm?" While walking back the old man spotted something beside the streets. As he walk closer to it, he saw that it was a boy who was covered in dirt and patches of red dyed his hair. The boy appeared anywhere to be five or six and his clothes were ripped as well.
"Oh my." He picked up that boy and put him on his back. "Poor child, who could abandoned you here in this parts?"
Old Man Hai began to walk back again, however, this time, only with an injured, black hair child on his back.
.....
In Sea Dragon restaurant, many customers were sitting down and talking. The sound of talking, eating, and drinking was everywhere in the restaurant.
A group of men walked into the restaurant and one of them said, "Waiter!"
"Coming, sir!" A young man walked out of the kitchen and greeted the group of men. "A table for how many, sir?"
"Oh, Bai Yangjian!" The man had a surprise expression as he stared at the young man. "You returned after so long, huh?"
"Yep! I returned early so I can help Grandpa Hai with the restaurant. Very few works here after all so I had to or else, gramps might be in trouble, especially with his old age," The young man replied.
"Hahaha! Damn brat, if Old Man Hai heard that, you would be getting a beating right now!" The group of men laugh as the young man led them to a table and wrote down their orders.
Ten minutes later, the young man returned with an enormous amount of food of which he placed on the men's table. The men casually ate, paid for the bill, and left with satisfied stomachs. The young man went over to their table and cleaned up.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The sounds of a bell chiming and footsteps could be heard as the doors to the restaurant was opened. The young man looked up and went over to the doors with a smile.
"Hello, dear customer. A table for how many, sir?" The young bowed slightly before he straighten his back up and his expression blanked.
"Gramps, your back!" The 'customer' who just went in the restaurant was Old Man Hai!
However, Old Man Hai's face was serious as he kneeled down and laid down a dirty boy. The young man was surprise once he saw the boy.
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"Wash him up and get him a new pair of clothing. I'll go cook something up for him. Make it fast."
Old Man Hai quickly walk to the kitchen and the sound of fire and metal sounded from there. The young man quickly did as he was told. Half an hour later, on the second floor of the restaurant, the boy was cleaned, dressed up, and colors surface on his face.
His black hair was spread out all over pillow and an old man and young man were beside him, sitting in chairs.
"Gramps, where did you found this kid?" The young man asked.
"On the road," Old Man Hai replied. "I found along the way as I was returning to the restaurant. For such a young child to be abandoned, hah..."
The young and old man continued to talk. As they talk, the eyes of the boy fluttered and then he woke up.
"Where am I now?" The boy said.
"Hm?" The young and old man looked at boy.
"Oh, you're finally awake," Old Man Hai said.
"Excuse me, sir. May I ask where I am?" The boy politely asked.
Old Man Hai thought for a moment, "What a polite child. Could it be that someone really threw him just like that?"
"You are at Sea Dragon restaurant on Grey Street of Black Pinecone City," Old Man Hai said.
"Sea Dragon? Black Pinecone City?" The boy pondered for a moment before saying, "I see...thank you for telling me, sir. Are you perhaps the one that save me?"
"No, no, no, I only picked you up from the road. There's no need to consider me your savior. You would've lived even if I didn't pick you up," The old man said.
However, the boy still got up and kneeled in front of the old man. "Thank you, sir, for saving me. I know what would've happen if you didn't pick me up, sir. I truly thank you and if there is, I'll do anything to repay you for your kindness."
The young man and old man looked at each other and they both sighed.
.....
Time flew by as a month has pass since Old Man Hai picked up and rescued the boy.
At Sea Dragon, a boy was walking around the restaurant and cleaning the tables with a towel. He thoroughly cleaned all the chairs, tables, and some parts of the floor if they were dirty.
This boy had blue eyes and black hair that was tied into a ponytail. This boy was the child rescued by Old Man Hai and his name was Qing Jiufeng!
Qing Jiufeng was originally going down the pathway until he slipped and fell down a slope. The place at where he landed was also the same place where Old Man Hai found him, the side of a desolate road.
Ever since he was picked up, Jiufeng has been working for Old Man Hai at Sea Dragon. He also learned that the young man's name was Bai Yangjian and that he was the grandson of Old Man Hai's friend.
Bai Yangjian was a cheerful youth and he was very helpful and kind to anyone around him. He constantly advise and help Jiufeng and treated the boy as though he was his big brother.
"Jiufeng! Come up here and take a bath!" Bai Yangjian's voice echoed down from the second floor to the first. "Your shifts over, leave the rest to me! Make sure to go to bed early!"
Jiufeng stopped what he was doing and replied back, "In a bit Big Brother Yang!"
Three minutes pass by and as Bai Yangjian was walking down the stairs, Jiufeng was walking up. They both talked on the stairs for a bit before both went finally went there ways.
Jiufeng took off his clothes and descended into a hot, steaming bath tub with flower petals floating on it.
"Ah..." Jiufeng let out a sigh of relaxation and relief as he felt the hot water touch his skin.
However, a voice suddenly broke his mood. "Jiufeng!"
Jiufeng was completely surprised until he put up his left hand and a golden light flashed from his ring. From the golden light, the voice appeared again. "You should use this chance to finally cultivate!"
The voice was of Qin Daozi's. Jiufeng recently discovered that Qin Daozi entered his ring after the collapse of the white space. He didn't how the latter did it, but he didn't mind it. However, every now and then, he would Qin Daozi say something about him never thinking that he would be the 'old man' or 'spiritual grandpa' that lived inside the ring.
"Whatever that means," Jiufeng thought.
For the past month, Qin Daozi has been repeatedly telling Jiufeng to cultivate, but the latter has been refusing since he couldn't find a good place to cultivate. Even during bathing, he didn't have time as he would use the public bath house where other people were.
In fact, only for today when the bath house needed to check for recent damages did Jiufeng found time to cultivate, which was now!
Jiufeng closed his eyes and the image of a book appeared in his mind. On that book was the line: Divine Asura Idol. Jiufeng first time cultivating will be in the body refining path using the body refining art: Divine Asura Idol!
The book in his mind opened and golden inscriptions and letters flew out from the book. His mind was filled with these golden words as he continued to follow the instructions in this book.
As Jiufeng cultivate, a gust blew around him as he mediate in tub. The gust then turned into a breeze, which then turned into a small tempest that surrounded him.
The small tempest then compressed into a small ring of wind. A stream of that wind then entered his body as he mediated on the Divine Asura Idol. Specks of lights appeared in his head and a surge of power appeared in his body.
Realizing this, Jiufeng knew exactly what happened. He completed the first requirement to cultivate, absorbing natural energy in his body! Be it body refining, magic casting, enchanting, or pill making; any and all form of cultivation must start with the first step which was to absorb the energy of nature into your body!
The small tempest was in fact a tempest of natural energy rather than one of wind! The natural energy continue to flood into Jiufeng's body.
Black liquid and dirt appeared surfaced on his body in the outside world. This was the impurities of his body, the impurities of a mortal before he cultivates.
When a person starts cultivating, their body would go through a complete change as their body flood with natural energy. This was especially so for body cultivators who focused on cultivating and refining their body.
As the natural energy flood his body, Eden suddenly popped in his head.
[Beep! Beep! Host Is About To Reach Star Transformation! Error! Error! Star Transformation Can't Be Reach! Breakthrough Can't Be Reach!]
The natural energy flow in his body suddenly halted. Jiufeng was instantly stupefied. What happened? Why has the flow of natural energy stopped?
[Beep! Beep! Current Cultivation System Doesn't Match With New Cultivation System! Switch Cultivation System?]
"Switched system?" Jiufeng didn't know what Eden meant by 'Cultivation System', however he still said yes and Eden responded.
[Affirmative! Switching Cultivation System! Current System Levels: Star Transformation, Star Rotation, Heavenly Constellation, and Celestial Sea!]
[Beep! Beep! New Cultivation System: Body Transformation, Spirit Cycle, Spiritual Vortex, and Primal Sea!]
"New Cultivation System?!" In his head, Jiufeng's eyes were saucer as a new surge of information was in his head and the flow of natural energy continued again.
And then, in the next minute, a rumbling sound came from Jiufeng as an aura of natural energy was around. The natural energy flowed everywhere around him as Eden came up again.
[Beep! Host Has Successfully Breakthrough! Congratulations! You Have Reached Body Transformation Stage 1!]
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And Thus, We Hoped
The sun was dying, and Earth slowly became a frozen wasteland. Amidst the violence and the wars and the battles, a single ship was sent into the stars. A vessel that contained the future of ?humanity?, built with the meager, remaining resources of a certain group. A vessel built from the will of the people who wished for the human race to continue on. What was the chance that it would complete its journey? What was the chance that it would find a planet suited for life? No one knew. And no one could guess. And once the ship left, there was no more they could do. And thus,?we?Hoped.
8 129The Iron Veil
Author's note: The following is the first 21 chapters of THE IRON VEIL (approximately 50K words). To purchase the complete novel, please visit: https://amzn.to/2IVwHJZ To get a free OmniWorld short story (which you should only read after completing The Iron Veil to avoid spoilers), please visit: http://www.randynargi.com/the-iron-veil/ It’s not a game. It’s a nightmare. 25 year-old Justin Boone has been waiting his entire life for an adventure like this. Breakthrough technology developed at a government sleep study program allows participants to interact with each other in the OmniWorld, a shared dream state that resembles an online role-playing game. 2.3 million people applied to participate in the first public test. 5000 were chosen. And Justin is one of them. But he soon finds that he’s not one of the lucky ones. Not by a long shot.
8 115Progenitor of Mana
Leo had always felt something was wrong with him. Hell, the world even confirmed this for him with the bundle of mental and physical health issues he had to battle his whole life. At least he always had his imaginary friend, The 'Voice', to guide him through his most troubling times. But what happens when the world comes to an end at the behest of something called 'The System'? And maybe The 'Voice' wasn't as imaginary as he thought as it had been telling him this day was coming for a year. This story is not for the light hearted, at least that is the direction I have it going.
8 172Cosmic® • Stefan Salvatore
"Stars can't shine without darkness."
8 275Living With My Bully
(Original Version, New Version in Progress that I suggest waiting for if you'd like) "I'm sorry for your loss." I hear and look over to see Oliver, "I've been in a similar situation, I may not have lost someone this way, but I definitely did lose someone. My family and I will be here for you and will help you get through this." He says biting his lip. I smile a bit. "Thank you Oliver, hearing you say that really means a lot to me." I tell him. I can barely see Oliver look back through my tear-filled eyes but then I feel two arms wrap around me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Meet Iris Mitchell, she's known as the nerd in school with her best friend, Kayla. Iris is also extremely stubborn and doesn't know when to shut her mouth. She also likes to watch Netflix 25/8 with Kayla. But in school, Iris is bullied by Addison Meyer and the one and only, Oliver Sullivan. Meet Oliver Sullivan, he's known as the bad boy in school but also the bully of many students in the school, and Iris is one of them. All the girls want him, except Iris and Kayla, they fantasize about famous actors and fictional characters. Oliver is mostly found hanging out with his friends Adam, Lucas, and Ross. But outside of school, Oliver is an extremely different person and no one knows. Well until Iris moves in with him, of course. Iris' father, Christopher Mitchell, dies in a fire, at his job, saving people on the top floors. With no mother or relatives to go live with, Iris needs to move in with a family, and her dad knew the Sullivan family pretty well. What's going to happen when Iris moves in with her bully? Read to find out!7-9-19//#18 in bully8-3-20//#4 in teenfiction
8 149She-Wolf
Selene Vulpes, the new girl at Beacon Hills High School. She didn't come alone to the school, she came with secrets. Many of them. She doesn't only have secrets, she knows some too. In a world where werewolves are a thing, will she be able to keep them all? Or will they get discovered one by one? And by who?
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