Chapter 3:

As he opened the door to exit a man, probably the one from earlier, was waiting for him.

- "Hello Little master." – he said while bowing his head with his fist in his palm, a sign of respect.

- "Hi, have you been waiting here for the entire time? Must be tough being my dad's lackey." - Xian simply said.

A little surprised by that the man hurried to answer:

- "Oh no, I am but an humble servant for our Strength of God sect. Please allow me to guide you to our sect leader."

Xian was kinda disappointed with that, he wanted to joke around with the servant but instead only manage to make him more nervous. All those years being in another world made him forget how polite everyone always is because here title and strength are everything any small mishap can make your head roll on the ground without you even realizing it. To make thing right Xian replied:

- "Oh yes, of course, please do lead the way to my father."

Long story short, it didn't help. For a very long 5 minutes the two of them have been walking in an awkward silence which unpleasant at first did give the little master time to observe is surrounding that oddly enough he did not recognize. This is weird since it only has been thirty years, the sect architecture shouldn't have change this much.

- "A lot seem to have change since my seclusion, I understand now why my father sent a guide."

- "Yes, it has been 15 years and a lot happened during that time."

15 years not thirty? He thought to himself. That's insane, almost all of the street around have different buildings, what could have happened in so little time.

- "What type of crisis could have forced our great sect to change this much?"

- "About a year after young master seclusion, a monstrous triple-headed viper attacks us thankfully most sect members survived but since our sect leader wasn't present it destroyed most of the sect's town district. Good thing, our venerable first lady was here and successfully pushed the monster away or I fear the damage would have been a lot more than material."

- "My mother did? That's nice."

Then after this small chat it was back to the awkward silence. Thankfully, they arrived shortly after at the main hall where his father was waiting for him. The servant took his leave after a short polite greeting and Xian entered the hall.

- "Hello, son I've heard you pull an incredible trick making you look even younger!"

Wait what is he talking about? Oh, he's talking about how much my body regenerate after getting out of the cave. Wait I actually have no clue how that happened.

- "I take it your cultivation went well." - continued his dad.

- "I certainly learn a lot even thought my cultivation did not flourish I am confident it now will go even faster." – half-lied Xian.

- "Good because in 30 days you will participate in a tournament to determine who will lead a team to chase the monstrous triple-headed viper that attack us 14 years ago. I know this is sudden, but I trust that my son works hard on the path of cultivation and will definitely be able to come out on top in order to avenge your mother."

- "What do you mean father? My mother isn't dead…"

- "No, she isn't but she got harm during her fight and when she went back to cultivate she got into Qi deviation resulting on her lying on a bed half-breathing she is being kept alive with various medicinal bath but in afraid her life doesn't hold on much anymore."

In general, my father never shows any sign of weakness since on one hand he is the leader of the sect and on the other is cultivation is actually not that high only at the peak stage of earth and heaven; which is relatively rare but achievable by anyone who try hard enough. But this time I could see the pain in his eyes.

By the way, if you are wondering how all those levels of power are structured here it is. First, the foundation stage where one open his diantan. Second, come the organs refinement stage where all organs are solidified by an aura of Qi. Third, is the opening of the meridians only then can a practitioner truly call himself a cultivator. After that, the real challenge begins, well not for me since I'm awesome, but for your average cultivators they need to find ways to accumulate Qi in their meridians and diantan; there exist many techniques and items that can help someone to do that but since those are heavily sought after, the best ones are kept secret by sects and their creators. However, if one succeeds in getting one he can start to cultivate and when doing so he will go through what we call breakthroughs. Those are the power levels I was referring to, it goes like this: the realm of cultivator, the realm of growth, the realm of earth, the realm of heaven, the realm of earth and heaven, the realm of heaven and earth, the realm of rebirth and finally the realm of legend. It is said that someone that has achieve such a level can live up to 10 000 years. Currently, there is only one person on the continent that has reached this level and it's the leader of the number one sect: The Supreme Sect. Also, each level is separated in three stages: low stage, middle stage and peak stage. Currently I'm a rebirth realm middle stage cultivator. But let's come back to the story.

Honestly, just the words of my father weren't enough to make me understand the gravity of the situation but seeing the pain in his eyes shock me like a drop in still water.

- "Can I… see her?" - Xian ask a little scared

- "Yes but brace yourself."

In silence, both men walk in the corridors of the house Xian being guided by his father in this maze. When they approach the room, his father stops and pointed a door.

- "She's in the room over there."

- "Are you not coming in too?"

- "No, I can't." – is voice felt both stubborn and guilty.

I shouldn't press the matter he probably has his reason. As he toughs that Xian opened the door to find a room fill with the smell of spring, a gentle music played by a servant on a Guzheng, in the middle a small pond that two servants were preparing with various medicinal herbs and on the left a bed covered with a thin veil. Calmly, as the atmosphere of the room suggested it, Xian walked to the side of the bed to look at his mother. Horror can't even describe what Xian felt at the sight of his mother. She used to be a woman that had reached the peak of heaven and earth her green eyes were always set forward, her arms, belly and legs were muscular but not manly I remember how she was always wearing clothes that showed those features of hers. She was proud of her body she had told me once that for her, beauty: was strength and confidence; makes you wonder why she fell in love with a man weaker than her. Love works in strange ways I guess. But right now, she wasn't even a shadow of herself. At least half of her brown hair had fallen leaving spots, her left eye was grey and shaking, looking in the void while her right one was red as she probably had been crying in pain. Her musculature that she was so proud of, was nowhere to be found as if only dry skin covered in red patches and bones remain and on her neck was a patch particularly worse than the rest cover in blisters as if she had boiled alive. Slowly, her only "good" eye glare at her son standing next to her.

- "Xi…Xi…i…Xi…"

In between each sounds she struggle to breath.

- "Xi…i…i...Xia…a…an"

While watching his mother pitiful struggle to pronounce his name, Xian felt as if he was being choke and tear were pushing on his eyes forcing their way out. He basically threw himself on his knees next to his mother to hold her fragile hand, she was to weak to smile or cry. Xian approach his ear to hear better what she was murmuring.

- "Xi… youu… a… are…m…m…my…pride."

She took a pause to breath than continued:

- "becom… strong…er."

As she kept her gaze on her son face that was trying desperately to hold in his tear one of the servant approach him and said:

- "It's time for madam's bath."

Xian stood up to exit the room he wasn't in a hurry but watching his mom in this state was unbearable his legs subconsciously ran out. As he exited he simply stood in front of the door his eyes and mind felt empty, he was powerless. A man walks up to him and ask him if he could be let in. Suspicious, Xian look at the man but quickly recognize him, it was Chu Cheng Fen the doctor.

- "What happened to my mom, can she recover, is there hope?

The doctor showed eye that had a mix of pity and kindness for a child that could do nothing but watch his mother die. He informed Xian that the first lady at fallen into Qi deviation and now the Qi that was in her body is the same as poison but it's also the thing keeping her alive meaning that the bath they give her only close her pores forcing the Qi to not leave her body forcefully slowing her death that is sadly inevitable.

- "Why? Why is her Qi poison and why is it leaving? Is her meridian broken? If that's the case I'm sure we can find an heavenly water fruit to save her" -ask Xian.

- "If that was the case we would have already done it. I'm afraid your mom's problem isn't that simple her meridians are not just destroyed they're missing."

Missing? That explain why the Qi in her body act as poison it's like having blood but no veins but since her body has been cultivate to this level she can't live without it.

- "Then… then let's give her new ones!" – almost scream Xian.

The doctor look confuses but he didn't have the heart to crush the hope of a child to this extent, how could one give new meridians the imagination of the youth is farfetched, he thought, as Xian was running away.