Chapter 27 Contemplation

"Haa, haa, finally." The disciples sighed as the sun began to set over the horizon. They had taken shelter within a small cave they found while running, and Wang Tian began to set up the night watch.

"I'll be taking first look out, then we'll alternate. You guys will be after me, then them after you......." Wang Tian explained while pointing at various disciples. After they began to eat their rations while mourning their fallen comrades.

Moving outside the cave, Wang Tian dug a hole in which he placed Tai Shan's corpse before burying him. "....Senior Brother, will we make it out of this alive?" Tai Shan's friend asked, clearly distraught after the encounter.

"I don't know." Wang Tian replied truthfully. This experience had truly been different from what Wang Tian had expected. He thought they'd simply be on the run for a few days and then escape somewhere. 'I was too naive.'

After burying Tai Shan the rest of the disciples began to head to bed, but Wang Tian stayed at the mouth of the cave, awake and alone with his thoughts.

'Where did it all go wrong.... why was I given the Dracodevil's Heavenly Body? All of my achievements up until now, have merely been the consequence of fate, but does that mean I am undeserving of my achievements? There are those who had more talent than me from birth, those Sons and Daughters of Heaven. From the beginning I was dealt a bad hand, but I was lucky enough to receive a blessing along the way, is that unfair? Was it simply a fluke? Am I unworthy? I couldn't even protect my Juniors....' Wang Tian pondered as he reminisced about his life.

His earliest memory was being in that orphanage. He didn't have many friends, no one truly cared about him and he was abandoned by his parents. They didn't even leave him anything not one thing, well even if they did it would have probably been snatched from him so it wouldn't have made much of a difference.

Thinking back on it, Wang Tian always felt unworthy, that he was unlucky. And for a long time he felt directionless, until one day he saw a battle between two cultivators. What he had asked the orphanage director back then changed his life completely.

"Who are they?" Wang Tian asked, his eyes shining brightly. He was only about 7 years old at the time. Some distance away two men were clashing, sword against spear. The ground trembled under their power, while gusts of wind blew through the surroundings.

"They, they're cultivators, people who can overturn heaven and earth. They aren't bound by normal rules and defy fate." The director replied, a longing seemingly deep within his eyes. Hearing this Wang Tian's ears perked up. 'Defy fate.'

Coming back to the present, Wang Tian realised something. "There's a price to pay for being a cultivator." He muttered to himself. He hadn't realised it until now but being a cultivator was intrinsically different to being a mortal. Sure, this fact is blatantly obvious for similarly obvious reasons, but that wasn't what Wang Tian was getting at.

Cultivators defied their fate, because of this they had to take each and every opportunity. Someone else succeeding meant they likewise had less chance of success, creating a cycle of endless greed and battle. The Skyward Sword Sect's sin was not being weak, rather it was because they misunderstood the rules of the game.

"Where there are winners, there must be losers." Wang Tian sighed. "Its just in this case, losing means death, while winning means growing stronger." He continued while looking out into the distance.

"Feng Boqin and the others are dead." This was the conclusion he came to, they had lost the game, so they had to pay a price. 'I need to be stronger. Stronger than Su Wu, stronger than Gong You, stronger than even Su Jian otherwise I'll lose one day.' With that thought in mind Wang Tian kept up night watch while thinking about his way forward.

His cultivation had been progressing at a steady rate, while he had made a bit of progress with his martial skills recently, and his physique was still as strong as ever. But clearly he was lacking something.

Thinking back to it, Wang Tian remembered his clash with Gong You. He had a felt a strange force at the time. 'His saber wasn't anything ordinary logically I should be as strong as Gong You but he dealt with me so easily..... I lack a treasure.' Wang Tian concluded as he flexed his hands.

He couldn't simply punching everything with his bare fists, and while he utilised a sword he wasn't all that suited to it either. "I need some gloves." Wang Tian muttered, as otherwise he'd eventually run into someone who'd simply cut through his fist and end him right there.

After this, the night swiftly passed as the moon rose and fell. Dawn soon arose and with that the Skyward Sword Sect disciples continued their running.

Each day was a struggle, they had to stay constantly vigilant incase of an attack, while fending off various beasts. Due to the now overall lower strength of the group, Wang Tian had to constantly deal with every demonic beast they encountered along the way causing him to feel dead tired almost every night.

Finally after a week of constant escape the day had arrived, they could finally head to the location Feng Boqin had told him about. "Hopefully this hell will end now." Wang Tian sighed before they began to rush towards the location.