Solitary Glade

Does time exist if we don't? Does it only exist when we choose to measure our lives with it? Would that mean that to take yourself away from others is to take yourself away from time, do you follow its flow if you are alone and forget about it? Or does someone count for you?

The outer court mountain that originally homed the disciples now lay quiet and empty, only the rustling of trees and growls of beasts disturbed its majesty but even they were like a drop in an ocean compared to its vast size.

Over many years the disciples had trained and worked together in preparation for the inner court promotion competition, they had entered in high spirits aiming to win only to be beaten down and defeated carrying the dead bodies of their friends home. They had believed themselves to be strong only to realise that other outer disciple groups had been waiting for longer and building up their strength, biding their time.

The competitions had tempered them, no longer did they fight amongst themselves and kill each other, now they worked together as a whole cohesive group to win and enter the inner courts. This is what the Mistfire Sect wanted to promote, their method of doing this had been improved and refined over many years.

Now the mountain stood tall and silent, the many disciples that had called it home now gone, training and cultivating in the inner courts. The mountain was having its rest, this was the Mistfire Sects rotation, this allowed the mountains resources time to sprout and regrow as the demonic beasts bred to replenish their dwindling numbers after having been so thoroughly culled.

No one paid attention to an empty mountain, no one walked its vast terrain or gazed at the stunning views. Why be concerned with a small mountain when you live on a larger one?

There was no one to see a strange figure sat upon a rock in the middle of a quiet glade, surrounded by a pond of crystal clear water.

A tanned figure with his legs crossed, silently feeling the wind as it caressed his skin. Long dark unruly hair travelling down his back giving him a wild and unkempt look as a dishevelled beard hung down his face. A strong body rippling with lean muscles covered in scars and callouses, prove of a harsh solitary life.

The glade around him quiet as the wind breezed through, causing the grass to sway as the water lapped and surged only to grow slow and sombre as it neared the figure sat upon the rock, even the sunlight pouring down hit the man gently, soaking him in its warmth, all the while the man sat still and unmoving just like the rock beneath him.

The wind continued with its playful nature, circling around the glade, floating through a simple lean too and disturbing the furs that lay resting there. Further on it travelled, through a small patch of unearthed ground where many herbs and plants grew, most known for their edible and nutritious properties.

Finally growing bored of this game it flew away travelling further across the mountain, the only thing it left untouched were the papers spread before the man, faded and yellow with age they lay unmoving, also basking in the sun.

If the wind had stayed it could have watched as night descended in the glade, the sun travelling along its path as the man remained on his rock unaware of the passage of time, just a small content smile fixated on his face as he sat there.

A surge of essence swirling around the man being the only sign of life.

…

"Master where are you going? You need to stay and rest up, we worry for you."

Stood before Master Zhong were his aides, three cute and lovable girls, all fair skinned and well endowed staring at him with their adorable eyes. Many times other Elders had expressed their wishes to combine their families and marry their nephews to his three aides but he refused every time, he treated these girls like his own daughters.

He had saved them many years ago whilst fulfilling a mission for the sect and had long since shared his family name of Tang with them after having raised them.Why would he give them away to men that weren't of their own choosing?

Even though he was a father figure to them he never asked them to call him father but uncle Zhong felt too weird for them so they all settled on master, understanding that he knew how they loved him as a father.

Tang Ming was always happy and bubbly, constantly cheering up all those around her earning her many fans from the Mistfire disciples. Tang Mei was the most charming of the three as her eyes would capture people and draw them in, becoming lost in her eerie beauty. The last of the three and the smallest was Tang Min, always looking cute and adorable but hiding a very inquisitive and clever mind.

Master Zhong enjoyed their company, especially since he had no children of his own, having never found a women after pouring so many years of his life into alchemy and cultivation. Not to say that he had never tasted a woman, a brief memory flashed across his mind as his old face grinned, earning him three glares from the girls as they understood him well.

Coughing to hide his embarrassment, he addressed the three girls.

"I am just going for a short walk, I have been in this petal garden watching nature as it changes and need some time to digest my incites. Don't worry about these old bones I've got lots of years left in me."

Truthfully he was just bored and wanted to stretch his legs, what was the point of growing old if he couldn't enjoy himself occasionally… maybe he should go see Hwei-ru for a while.

"Hmph… you just want to go see Hwei-ru…."

"...no doubt he's also out of crystal petal wine…."

"...ahh unrequited love is so sinister, he grows bored of us already."

The three girls sentences froze Zhong on the spot, he truly had raised them to be too wily, they always knew exactly what to say.

This is why he never got married.

But despite the words they spoke, they couldn't hide the love they felt for him, they truthfully only wished him well but wanted to pull his old bones a few times.

With another cough his old face flushed red, " I will bring you back some good items if I find any…." before being able to finish his sentence cute little Tang Min had already interrupted.

"Sister Ming is out of fire dew to condense more bone cleansing pills, Sister Mei needs Sky peaches to work on her complexion after refining for too many nights and I need some more beast bones."

He had been tricked and played, he truly doted on these girls too much but wouldn't have it any other way. Watching as they beamed him smiles and ushered him goodbye they pushed him out of his own house and shut the door waiting for his return.

With a sigh and a smile he took off into the air, an easy trick for someone at the peak sky spirit stage with one foot already into the heavenly realm, it was just a matter of time before he managed to break through.

Looking down he could see the sweet trio waving to him from the house before carrying on with their own things. Truly more of an estate than a house as it spanned nearly a quarter of the mountaintop, situated atop one of the largest Mistfire Sect mountains with dense heaven and earth essence enabling his herb gardens to grow more efficiently. This was one of the small things he could enjoy from being a top grade alchemist in the sect, there were many other alchemists but he enjoyed the best treatment.

Floating through the air he couldn't decide on where to go, usually he meandered throughout the inner sect or nearby cities hoping for a good deal. But today he felt different, a strange fresh breeze flew past him almost as if guiding him, turning around his great eyesight could see the vast mountain ranges that the Mistfire Sect called home, spreading all the way to the horizon. They were the top Sect in the Azsire region for a reason.

He could see many inner court disciples scurrying around as he looked down from high in the air, all busy cultivating and striving to improve themselves, truly a sight to see across the many mountains that they covered. But he felt drawn further out to the edge of view, the outer disciple mountains, a place practically barren in comparison to the inner court but still godly for the average cultivator and mortal.

Feeling some strange tug he followed the flow of wind that pulled at his robe and guided him onwards.

He enjoyed the sense of peace and tranquillity as he soared above the clouds, like a second landscape it stood before him, occasionally broken by the tall peaks and spires of the mountains below, when he was this high up he truly felt at one with the world and loved every second of it.

The wind changed its course as he descended down, below him stood many smaller mountains of the outer court, owned and controlled by Elder Chen. One, in particular, caught his view as the wind flew down further, tugging at his robe, many cultivators ignored the flow of wind thinking it was nothing but Zhong believed in the winds of fate and was known to follow that wind eccentrically, for months at a time.

Sweeping the mountain with his soul sense he found nothing, just the souls of demonic beasts as they bred and lived their lives in the unknowing confines of the mountain. But still, the wind tugged at him drawing him down, following slowly he gradually sensed a rich aura of nature coming from below on the mountain, too fine to be felt at a distance. Only able to be sensed as he grew closer, even then he only noticed due to all the work he did with rare and exotic plants that were also rich in this aura.

What was on this mountain?

Gliding through the trees like the wind itself Zhong came across a small quiet glade, it gave him the feeling that it was detached from the world and him being there was somehow… wrong.

Silently sat on a tree branch he observed the glade and the quiet figure of the man that sat upon a rock.

Compared to the rest of the mountain this quiet glade had an extraordinary concentration of heaven and earth essence, still nothing compared to the inner court but a rare find in this place.

But how didn't his soul sense notice the man sat there, was he a hidden master approved by the sect leader? If so then surely he would be given a much better place to cultivate and not this out of the way mountain.

Not wanting to disturb the man whilst he was cultivating Zhong cast his eyes around the glade. An old worn out lean-to up against the side of a boulder, coated in leaves and furs that looked like they had seen better years but still giving off a very warm feeling, this man must have been here for a very long time. Still looking around Zhong automatically categorised and assessed the herbs growing in the glade, they had been very well cared for and gave off a rich aura of nature explaining how he couldn't sense the man from so far away as they masked his essence.

Was this man an inner disciple who came outside to find a place to cultivate in peace and solitude or a rogue cultivator? If he was a rogue cultivator then he wouldn't have been able to break into the sect with just a cultivation at the 7th stage of the human realm. Even the weakest inner court disciple had long transcended from the human realm into the soul refinement stage, was he an outer court disciple?

Curiosity and a sense of eagerness filled Zhong's mind as he wanted to solve this unique puzzle he had found, but disturbing this man didn't feel right to Zhong so he would wait and visit often to learn more. Waiting for this man to wake up of his own accord.

Eyeing the man up Zhong took notice of his muscled and scarred body but more importantly the scraps of cloth tied around his waist and the unique spirit mark they gave off. All clothes and goods produced by the Mistfire Sect for disciples would contain small traces of spirit marks to identify intruders easily, even when disciples left the sect and re-entered all goods and belongings would be checked again, on and after entry.

The grey scraps informed Zhong that this man was indeed an outer sect disciple, but his wild hair and unruly beard hid his age, with his eyes closed in meditation Zhong couldn't assess his age from the whites of his eyes either.

Truly a mystery. Did Elder Chen know about this man? But if Elder Chen did then he would stop at nothing to recruit him ever since the two upcoming disciples Zhao Lin and Zhao Yun had joined Elder Hwei-Ru after taking many benefits from Elder Chen.

Thoroughly humiliating and slapping Elder Chen's face, all along it had been Elder Hwei-Ru who had first brought the girls into the Mistfire Sect and set Elder Chen up.

In silence Zhong sat still, watching and absorbing every small detail of the glade as the man cultivated, even though he knew that the young man couldn't sense him with his peak sky spirit cultivation he remained still from respect for this strange figure.

At his age it was rare to find a mystery after experiencing so many things. He couldn't help but wonder what this disciples name was, surely someone in the sect knew him? But if they did then he wouldn't be left alone on this mountain after rotation. Any normal disciple would shout for rescue or rush to another mountain range, seeking help if this usually happened. Did he choose to be here?

Perhaps his girls would catch the fancy for this young man and ease some of his troubles, Zhong couldn't help but chuckle in his mind at this thought. Ming and Mei at the ages of 19 and 18 hadn't shown any interest in boys at all stating that none were good enough, whilst young Min at 16 scared them away with her sharp tongue and wit. Would this young man fare any better?

Seeing the sun start to set Zhong was amazed at how long he had been watching for, deeply engrossed in the mystery in front of him. He had better hurry or suffer the wrath of his young ladies, with a gentle breeze Zhong was gone as if he had never arrived, only the flowing wind that played in the glade remained.

The man upon the rock still unmoved with a gentle smile on his face.