Chapter 1

Zhou Liuxian squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep the horrifying scene in front of him from etching itself into his head. He covered his ears, wishing he could cut them off so he didn't need to hear the screams of despair as his village was being cruelly slaughtered. He couldn't stop the tears that refused to stop dropping, snot dripping from the edge of his nose.

'Mom… Dad… please… don't die…' Zhou Liuxian mumbled over and over, the pounding of his heart filling his ears. His face was wet with tears. Zhou couldn't tell if his eyes were closed or if the darkness of the hidden underground vault was shutting out all light.

"Zhou," Zhou froze up, fearing the person who had found him.

"Zhou Liuxian," Two small hands gently gripped the sides of his face, moving his head to look up at the person. Zhou slowly opened his eyes, fear paralyzing him.

"Zhou, it's me. It's me, Ye Zhong," The young boy that was kneeling in front of him said softly, wiping the tears that streaked the cheeks of Zhou. Zhou's eyes widened as he was so shocked that his friend was alive. He didn't even notice the blood-stained robes that Ye Zhong was wearing.

"Er gege," Zhou's bottom lip quivered as he started to cry again. He launched himself at Ye, sniffling loudly. Ye blinked twice, patting the back of Zhou to comfort him. Ye gently pushed Zhou away, grabbing a handkerchief out of his sleeve to wipe Zhou's nose.

"Er gege, where's uncle and auntie?" Zhou asked, still sniffling softly. Ye stiffened, gripping his fists and looking down, his eyes prickling. He shook his head, trying to keep from crying. Zhou felt that his heart had stopped, losing his parents and his parents' friends that he saw as his aunt and uncle. He glanced at Ye's closed fist, taking it and unfurling it, slipping his hand in his to squeeze it.

"Er gege, we will get revenge for our parents, okay? So don't leave me, okay?" Zhou asked softly, his voice cracking at the last sentence. He had already lost so many people he cared about, losing another would truly break him.

Ye glanced at their intertwined hands, his heart aching from the bittersweetness. He struggled to relax the tenseness of his arm, fighting the urge to force Zhou's hand away from him.

'It's not Zhou that has done you wrong. You live differently now.' Ye reminded himself as he squeezed back, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed down the lump in his throat that threatened to turn into tears.

"Of course, I won't ever leave you, Liuxian," Ye replied softly, reassuring his words with Zhou's first name.

Zhou grinned, before settling back down. He could still hear the jeering and laughing of the evil men outside, the men who killed his village. Zhou felt rage burn in his heart, anger that those people had dared to hurt his family and friends. Zhou gripped the black and white jade pendant that hung from his neck, the pendant is the gift for the birthday celebration that was meant to happen that day.

"Xiao er, come here. Mother and father have a gift for you!" Zhou's mother, Chen Xieren called, placing a red box on the table. Zhou came running from down the hall, throwing himself into his mothers' arms.

"Mama, do you know how old I am?" Zhou asked excitedly, his eyes shining. Chen smiled, pretending to act clueless.

"I don't know Xiao er, how old are you?" She asked, tickling Zhou's sides. Zhou giggled and laughed, trying to gently smack his mother's hands away from his sides.

"I am 7 today!" Zhou said proudly, holding up seven fingers.

"Wow, my Xiao er is so grown up, he even knows how to count! He's like a little man already!" Chen exclaimed, squeezing Zhou in her arms. Zhou grinned, giving his mother a big smooch on her cheek.

"Aiya, Xiao er, your mother loves you more than she loves me." Zhou's father, Zhou Wuying sat down next to his wife, placing a kiss on top of both their heads. Chen gave him a warm smile, sitting Zhou in between them.

"Mama loves me very much, but she loves Ba ba very much too!" Zhou said, grinning at his father.

"Aiya, I have such a good son," Wuying exclaimed, squishing Zhou's cheeks. Zhou pouted and slapped his father's hands away, seeming unhappy that his father had touched his face.

"Liuxian, make sure to take care of your mother when father becomes old, okay?" Wuying told Zhou, rubbing the top of Zhou's head. Zhou was still unhappy that his father was treating him like a doll, but he nodded hard, gripping his mother's arm as if she would disappear if she wasn't held down.

"Xiao er, mama and ba ba want you to have this." Chen reached onto the table, placing it in front of Zhou. Zhou released Chen's arm and opened the box, revealing the black and white jade pendant. Zhou's eyes sparkled as he touched the necklace, gently taking it out of the box. Chen took the necklace, putting it around Zhou's neck and clasping it in the back. Zhou took the pendant and examined it, following the lines of the jade.

"Liuxian, make sure to never take this off, okay? This necklace will protect you always." Wuying ordered Zhou. Zhou nodded, hugging first his mom, and then his dad.

"I promise." Zhou had said. He only wished that he had spent a little more time with his mom and dad because he didn't know that that would be the last time he would see his parents smiling.

~~~5 years later

Zhou walked around the sect, trying to find Ye.

'Weird, er gege is usually the one to find me at this time. I wonder where he is,' Zhou thought.

'He's going to be surprised when he sees that I'm the one to meet him first and not him meeting me first!'

"Brother Zhou!" Zhou turned around seeing one of his sect mates running up to him.

"Hello Brother Gong, have you seen er gege?" Zhou asked him. Brother Gong shook his head as he sneered inwardly.

'Er gege? How disgusting,' Brother Gong could only hide his thoughts behind a smile.

"No, I haven't seen Brother Ye, but sect elder Lian Yi is calling you. He is behind the arena." Brother Gong told him. Zhou nodded and bowed.

"Alright, I'll go over there right now," Zhou turned and ran off to hurry and meet with the leader. Brother Gong grinned and pulled out a communication device.

"He's on the way," he spoke. "Make sure that Ye is distracted."

Zhou came to a stop behind the arena and where the border of the forest started. There was no one in sight there. He was panting lightly. Although he did train a little bit in martial arts, without a benefactor, there was nothing much he could do with his limited strength.

"Sect elder Lian Yi?" Zhou called out, cupping his hands around his mouth. Searing pain erupted from his side as somebody kicked him. He flew away, groaning and holding his side as he skids on the ground.

"You idiot, don't talk so loud. You're gonna get us in trouble," Zhou struggled to stand up and saw who had kicked him.

"Brother Feng, what are you-"

"Trashy-xian, shut up, and stay still. Let your sect mates use you as target practice," Brother Feng said, walking threateningly toward him.

"I don't know why Brother Ye dotes on you so much when he's already getting initiated as an inner disciple at 13. You're only a couple of months younger but you're just leeching off of Brother Ye," he sneered. Spirit swirled around his fists as he cracked his knuckles.

Zhou trembled in fear, knowing that he might die if these people used spirit against him.

"Brother Feng don't use your spirit. If you leave traces of your spirit around here, they'll trace this incident back to us," Brother Gong appeared and grabbed Brother Feng's wrist, stopping him in his tracks.

"You're right Brother Gong. I don't need spirit to teach this trash a lesson," Brother Feng threw a punch at Zhou's face, knocking Zhou back down. Zhou held his cheek, tears springing to his eyes.

"Why me? I've done nothing wrong," Zhou blubbered out, snot dripping down his nose.

"Gross," Brother Gong snickered, kicking Zhou in the gut.

"Trash like you is sinning by just being alive," Brother Feng sneered, stomping on Zhou's arm. Zhou screamed as he felt his bone crack before getting punched in the face again.

"Oi! Shut up or else someone might hear you!" Brother Gong barked, continuing to abuse Zhou. Zhou couldn't even cry or protest from the amount of pain he was in.

'I'm weak,' Zhou thought, covering his head as punches and kicks rained down on him

'I'm too weak,'

'Er gege is being looked down on because I'm weak,'

'Maybe I really should just die,' Zhou let out a bitter smile as he shut his eyes, accepting his fate as he felt his consciousness fade away.

"Crap! Brother Ye is headed over here!" Another sect mate came running from the side of the arena. The two children stopped their assault and whipped around to look at the sect mate.

"Weren't the others holding him up, Brother Mo?" He asked.

"Brother Ye got away from them and started running here! He'll get here any second," Brother Mo replied in a panic

"Dammit! C'mon, let's get outta here before Brother Ye finds us. Then we'll be in real trouble," the three children ran away, leaving Zhou in a bloody mess.

Not too long after, Ye came, hair windblown from running. The spirit tracker he had placed on Zhou was weak, signaling Zhou was in trouble. He caught sight of Zhou's limp body on the floor.

"Liuxian!" Ye cried out, running over to him. He helped Zhou up into a sitting position and looked over him. His face was bruised and bloodied and he had numerous fractures everywhere.

'His breathing is labored, he might've broken a rib,' Ye gritted his teeth and hoisted Zhou onto his back.

"Sorry Liuxian, but this is going to be a bumpy ride," Ye concentrated his strength into his legs and continuously leaped forward, trying to land as softly as he could to not disturb Zhou's body.

'Dammit, if only I'd been a second faster, I would've seen who did this. If only I got away faster, I could've saved him. If only I got out of class a little faster, Liuxian would be fine. If only I told Liuxian to not leave our room, he would still be able to smile,' Ye's head filled with these thoughts as he headed towards the infirmary.

"Doctor! I need a doctor!" Ye shouted as he burst through the doors. The nurse there gasped and took Zhou, immediately rushing him into emergency care. Ye followed behind her, holding Zhou's hand.

'Please, wake up,'

Inside of Zhou's consciousness, Zhou was waking up and saw a small ocean.

"Where am I?" He asked weakly. There was no answer to him. He got up and looked around, seeing nothing but the small ocean floor.

"Zhou," a voice called out. Zhou looked around to locate the voice that had called him.

"Zhou,"

"Who are you?" Zhou asked.

"You understand that you are not supposed to be alive, correct?" The voice asked. Zhou pulled a look of confusion on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't have a benefactor. You were supposed to be killed," the voice replied. Zhou stiffened as he walked around.

"How do you know that I don't have a benefactor?"

"Relax, I am not here to harm you. Your parents entrusted me to take care of you," the voice assured. Zhou stopped walking around and narrowed his eyes.

"How do I know that you're telling the truth?"

"I do assume it's hard to trust or even talk to something you can't see," the voice said. A bright light flashed and Zhou covered his eyes. As he blinked, he let in a sharp inhale.

"You're the pendant that my parents gave me for my 7th birthday," Zhou said in surprise. The pendant glowed a soft yellow.

"Yes, that is right,"

"So what are you exactly then?" Zhou asked as he touched the pendant.

"Well, as you can tell, I'm not a normal pendant. I hold the consciousness of two people. These two people can emit the spirit of benefactors. You'll be borrowing their spirit to make up for the lack of your own," the pendant explained. Zhou nodded.

"I'm still confused, what is your purpose and how are you connected to my parents? I've heard of artifacts that can emit the spirit of benefactors, but to be able to use that spirit? My parents were simple merchants, they could never afford this type of high-level artifact. Nor do I even think that it exists," Zhou accused.

"A pendant that is able to hold and actively use spirit? You are either lying or you are a spiritual tool," The pendant laughed at Zhou's analysis.

"My, my, you're growing up so fast right in front of my eyes,"

"Let's just say that your parents are much more special than you first thought," the pendant said mysteriously. Zhou pouted, sending a light punch to the pendant.

"Does this mean I can cultivate now?" He asked.

"You've always been able to absorb Qi, it's just that the Qi would get stuck in your meridians. You have no spirit to help circulate the Qi to enter your spiritual ocean. But now you do,"

"Although you will emit the spirit of the Strength and Intelligence benefactor, you will really be using the spirit of Yin and Yang to cultivate," the pendant said. Zhou gasped, staring at the pendant.

"You're yin and yang?" He asked incredulously.

"... Was that not obvious? I am a half black, half white jade pendant," the pendant pointed out. Zhou facepalmed at his stupidity.

"So why can't I um, c-c-c, uh," Zhou's brain blanked as it sometimes did.

"Cultivate?" The pendant assisted humorously.

"Yeah that. Why can't I cultivate with a normal benefactor?"

"You don't have a normal constitution. Your constitution makes you incompatible with all benefactors. To make up for it, the world gives you very good luck,"

"Yeah, I've noticed that," Zhou said as he thought about it. He was somehow placed in the same room with Ye; he always somehow got the biggest fruits when they were being handed out as snacks; he always won the special prize at raffles that the sect held.

"Usually, you would be hopeless the rest of your life and have no ability to cultivate, but you have the power of me; a handmade god-tier artifact imbued with the power of yin and yang at your service," the pendant tilted forward in a bow like gesture. Zhou laughed and bowed back.

"But I still don't get how my parents were able to get their hands on an artifact like you," Zhou said. The pendant shook from side to side like it was shaking its head.

"You really know nothing about your parents,"

"What does that mean?" The world started to shake and get brighter.

"You're running out of time here, it looks like you're waking up,"

"What? Wait, you still haven't answered my question!"

"I don't have the authority to give out that information. All I can tell you is, your parents are most definitely alive. You must find out more about them on your journey and grow up to become a man they can be proud of," the fading voice of the pendant echoed out.

"Wait! What do you mean? My parents are alive?" Zhou called out in a panic.

'My parents are alive? How? There were no remains of my village the last time Ye and I checked'

"I hope that you live well Zhou! May we meet again under better circumstances!"

Zhou slowly opened his eyes and looked around. The bright lights powered by spirit were floating around in the air. The smell of herbs lingered in the room.

"Liuxian, you're awake," Zhou turned and saw Ye sitting next to the bed. He then felt his warm hands being held between Ye's cold hands.

"Er gege, how long was I out?" Zhou croaked out, his voice hoarse.

"It's been about 2 hours," Ye answered. Zhou struggled to sit up as Ye assisted him.

"The doctor said to stay still. You broke 2 ribs and have bruises everywhere," Ye scolded Zhou. Zhou waved his hand in acknowledgment and rested his head against the pillow.

"Weird, I don't feel sore," Zhou said, raising his arm wrapped in a cast to look at it.

"You don't?" Ye asked, tilting his head to look at him.

"I feel… much better than before actually," Zhou said incredulously. He immediately sat up and swung his legs around.

"Hey, you're not supposed to-"

"I know, but I don't feel injured," Zhou said before Ye could finish his sentence. He stood up and jumped a little, stretching, and swinging his limbs around.

"I'm completely fine," Zhou said in shock. Ye looked at him hard before he walked to the door and poked his head out.

"Doctor? Nurse?" Ye called out. A nurse from down the hall came over and looked inside.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing's wrong, but I feel fine even though I got beat up," Zhou said. The nurse panicked when she saw who the patient was.

"Excuse me, but you can't be standing up, you're-"

"I feel fine," Zhou insisted. The nurse looked at him before unraveling his bandages. She looked at him in shock.

"His body has completely healed," the nurse announced.

"So that's why I feel much better,"

"But how? You were barely hanging by a thread when you came here and the doctor spent an hour just wrapping you up," the nurse interrogated. Zhou panicked and looked over at Ye, begging silently in his eyes for help.

"I requested for a high-tier recovery pill as an early present for my initiation as an inner disciple," Ye lied, staring at Zhou. Zhou looked away in guilt. The nurse nodded and got up.

"Well, if that's the case, you can unwrap your bandages. I'll be back in a bit to cut off the cast," the nurse left.

"Thank you er gege," Zhou said as he took off the bandages.

"You're not off the hook," Ye said back, helping him. Zhou stiffened and glanced over at Ye, knowing he might be kind of screwed.

They got off all the bandages and the nurse came back in with a spiritual tool.

"This tool only cuts through non-living things, so it won't cut you," the nurse assured. She demonstrated on her own skin.

"See? Harmless," she took the tool and cut through the cast, cracking through the hard cement-like substance.

"It tickles," Zhou said, holding back a laugh. The nurse grinned and took off the cast, tossing it into the bin.

"Alright, you're ready to leave," the nurse said.

"Please look after him for a while. Even if he looks fine, we just want to make sure he heals back nicely," She bowed to both of them and left. Ye closed the door and turned to face Zhou.

"I didn't have time to grab your extra robes, so you can just wear mine," Ye said, handing him a pile of neatly folded robes. Zhou took them and took off the hospital gown. Ye quickly turned around, sighing.

"Give me a warning before you strip down," Ye grumbled. Zhou laughed and quickly put the robes on.

"Aw, c'mon er gege. You've seen me change a million times before," Zhou said, grabbing his hair tie from Ye's wrist.

"Let's go," Ye said. He opened the door for Zhou and left after him.

The walk back to their room was quiet and peaceful. Zhou often glanced at Ye who would look back at him. Zhou smiled before looking forward again. Ye couldn't help but feel worried about Zhou.

When they got to their room, Ye sat Zhou down on the bed and stared him down.

"Explain,"

"Um, I don't know how to start," Zhou admitted. Ye sighed and flicked Zhou's forehead.

"Just start talking,"

"Um, well, the pendant that my parents gave me is kind of like, the thingy that people make that has spirit and sometimes consciousness, what is it called again?"

"Artifact," Ye filled in. He groaned inwardly as he realized this was going to take a while. Zhou was smart but always seemed borderline illiterate.

"Yeah, artifact. My pendant is an artifact, and it holds the power of Yin and Yang,"

"It emits the spirit of the strength and intelligence benefactor though, but it's really yin and yang because my uhm, that thing that the body has," Zhou snapped his fingers, trying to remember.

"Constitution! My constitution isn't compatible with any benefactor's spirit. And because I have no benefactor's spirit to help Qi circulate through my meridians and settle into my spiritual ocean, the yin and yang spirit will help with that,"

"So you can cultivate now?" Ye asked, raising an eyebrow. Zhou nodded excitedly.

"Yup! I can," Zhou said before his smile fell.

"The pendant also said my parents are alive," Zhou muttered. Ye stopped and looked at Zhou.

"So that's how it is, huh," Ye said, sitting down next to Zhou.

"Yup, that's how it ended," Zhou said, fingering the hem of his robes.

"Are you going to look for your parents?" Ye asks, pulling Zhou's hands away from his robes.

"I don't know yet. While I can tell that the artifact wasn't joking when it said it's part about spirit and cultivation, I don't know whether it was telling the truth about my parents," Zhou said sadly. Ye looked at him complicatedly.

"Do you think it's possible that… with your parents being alive… my parents are alive too?" Ye asked quietly. Zhou looks over at him and see's Ye gripping the sheets, his bottom lip quivering.

"If my parents really are alive, then I'm sure that your parents are alive too," Zhou replied softly. He took Ye's hand in his own and squeezed it.

"We'll find them,"

"But you just said-"

"If there's even an off chance that your parents are alive, then we'll look for them," Zhou cut Ye off with a bright smile. Ye gave a small smile back and nodded.

"Then there's going to be a lot of work to do, isn't there?" Ye asked. Zhou sighed and nodded. He hadn't even started cultivating even after spending years in the sect.

"Wait, aren't you supposed to be questioning me a lot more er gege? Like, be a bit more worried? I just said I had a vision about my pendant talking to me. I said that it said that my parents are alive. Shouldn't this be causing a bit more concern to you, more than just, 'So that's how it is?'" Zhou exploded, smacking Ye's shoulder. Ye glared at him kicked Zhou off the bed.

"I've lived with you for years. The least I can do is believe you and your stupidity, no matter how unbelievable it is," Ye scowled. Zhou laughed.

"I've never heard you say this much in a day," Zhou teased.

"Only for you Liuxian, only for you," Ye replied, tossing the sheets over Zhou's head.