Chapter 3. Mo Zitian

On the outskirts of the Canyon of Powerlessness, a gray-haired old man and a little boy were sitting in a cave opposite each other. On the ground between them lay a chessboard carved out of stone with pieces placed on it.

"Grandpa, I lost again, I don't like this bad game anymore! I don't want to play it anymore, you always win!" the boy was indignant.

"You can't stop playing chess, if you don't beat me at least once, you'll never be able to go outside this cave!" Mo Canghai answered him with a soft smile on his face.

Four years have passed since the day the sky changed its color for a brief moment.

The current him was significantly different from his former self, most of all changes were in his gaze. His eyes were no longer covered with a bloody veil, and once again revealed their deep green color to the world. In them, once absorbed in resentment and hatred, now one could distinguish only love and care and, perhaps, a slight worry.

"That's not fair! You always tell me about what a huge and colorful world awaits me outside the cave, but you never let me leave it!" the little boy continued to be offended and indignant.

Mo Canghai thought for a short moment, and then said with a sigh.

"Zitian, you're old enough to begin to understand some things, so listen to me carefully. The time has come, and now I will tell you one story from which you will have to draw your own conclusions."

"Story? Is this story about the outside world?" The boy asked enthusiastically.

"You can say that, but this story is mostly about me." Looking at Mo Zitian's excited look, he decided first of all to cool his ardor. – But do not rush to rejoice, earlier you asked me why I carved another chessboard when we already have this one. So, from now on, every time we play chess, you will have to learn to play two games at the same time.

"What!? No, Grandpa! I won't do it!" the kid protested.

"You will, and it's not up for discussion! Now sit back, listen and don't interrupt, sooner or later you'd have to hear it anyway!" Mo Canghai said in a serious, uncompromising voice.

Mo Zitian immediately calmed down at the sight of such a grandfather.

"I, Mo Canghai, was born and raised in a large family, in the Mo clan. Our house was very far away from here, in a place that majestically bears the name of the White Tree City. It is one of the ten largest cities in the Mines Country."

"Even then, the Mo clan had a little influence, but it was still at the very bottom of the White Tree City food chain and kept afloat only through trade relations with stronger clans due to some connections established by the two previous generations of the clan."

"Since childhood, I have shown an unusual talent for cultivation compared to other children of the clan, when I turned ten and my spiritual meridians opened, I successfully entered into Body Tempering Realm, and when I turned seventeen, I broke through into Cloud Condensation Realm, becoming the third Great Master in the Mo clan. Before me, only my father Mo Chen, who was the Patriarch of the clan at that time, and my grandfather Mo Dong, who held the position of Grand Elder, were like that."

"There has always been an irresistible thirst for adventure in my heart, so that same year, with the blessing of my father, I left the White Tree City and began my journey, moving further and further away from my native lands with each new day. It lasted for five whole years before I managed to return."

"During this time, I visited many cities and even wandered in the neighboring Volcanoes Country, met a lot of good and not so good people. I also overcame numerous adversities and got a few chance encounters, thanks to which I basically became what I became later."

"When I returned, I was already an accomplished young man and the youthful inexperience on my face was slowly fading away along with the smoldering thirst for adventure in my heart."

"Upon returning back, I learned that the Great Elder, unable to withstand the passage of time, died suddenly, and due to the loss of one of his strongest members, the Mo clan fell into decline. My return gave the Mo clan new life and hope, at that time my cultivation base was already at the peak of Cloud Condensation Realm, I surpassed my father and became the strongest member of the clan."

"After learning that I was no longer going to leave the clan, my father appointed me the new Patriarch, and he took over the status of the late Mo Dong, becoming the new Great Elder. This was enough for our joint efforts to restore the fallen Mo clan."

"Two more years later, when I turned twenty-five, I became known as the most talented young man born in White Tree City in the last hundred years, because I broke through into Vortex Transformation Realm. Becoming a Heaven Master at such an early age helped me raise the status of the Mo Clan in White Tree City to a new level."

"In the same year, I married Zhao Meili, the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life. I met her during my wanderings, then one glance was enough for me to be fascinated by her for the rest of my life. Despite her humble origins, her beauty seemed to be unsullied by the world. Perhaps it was she who caused my desire to settle down, perhaps if I had not met her that day, I would have continued my journey, while my father and my clan would have continued to suffer in White Tree City, but everything happened as it happened, and I am glad of it."

"Five more years after my wedding, the Mo clan was firmly established in White Tree City, and I was already a father of many children. My gorgeous wife gave me three wonderful sons, the eldest was named Mo Hantian, the middle Mo Xuantian, and the youngest Mo Yuantian. I was very happy with my life, during which fate favored me everywhere... at least I thought so, up to a certain point…"

"Probably, considering that my life was really going too easily, heaven sent misfortune to my house. My beloved wife was touched by an unknown, but very serious illness, because of which she had to spend all her time bedridden. For two years, I went around the doorsteps of every famous doctor or alchemist in the country, spending a huge amount of wealth in order to invite them to my place, but none of them could help her. At the sight of her illness they only bowed or shook their heads, and eventually after a while she... died. Her departure was a heavy blow for me, severely crippling my physical and mental health."

"After the funeral, I sat for a long time in front of her grave, asking myself what would happen if suddenly one of my sons got the same disease, would I be forced to helplessly watch again as a dear for me person dies?"

"Since then, the purpose of my life was to study alchemy and medicine. I often began to leave the clan and leaving the management of it on the shoulders of my already elderly father. I went on trips and even when returned I spent most of the time busy with my research."

"So another eleven years of my life passed. My labors were not in vain, during my many wanderings I managed to gain some opportunities, and I achieved great success in medicine and alchemy. Then I was already 43 years old, the heyday of my youth was left behind, and all my children grew up significantly and having gained some fame in White Tree City became proud sons of the Mo clan."

"Hantian was 17 years old, he grew into a beautiful, handsome young man, reminiscent of me in my youth, and he even surpassed me with his talent for cultivation, moreover, unlike me, he had a heart truly striving for cultivation and battles."

"If in my youth I could be called an adventurer who dreams of adventures, then he should be called a warrior who wanted fierce battles and pursued ways to increase his own strength. I knew that his achievements on the path of cultivation in the future would definitely surpass mine, and therefore, when he told me that he wanted to go on a trip, I did not stop him, because at his age I did the same."

"When Hantian left, Xuantian was 16 years old, unlike his older brother, he had a more refined nature with a calm mind. There was some nobility inside him that I didn't have in my early years and because of this he was different from his older brother, he didn't have a desire for battles."

"Since childhood, he accompanied me in my studies and was very interested in them, so I gave him all-round support on the path he chose for himself, on the path of alchemy. A year later, he did not break the already established family tradition, and also left the clan, going his own way."

"Only Yuantian remained with me, who was 15 years old at that time, and who, unlike his older brothers, never pursued either strength or knowledge. He had only the well-being of the Mo clan in his heart, so over time the reins of the clan passed to him, and I spent more and more time in isolation, I was not interested in worldly affairs."

"However, my fame as an outstanding alchemist gradually spread, and the Mo clan met another period of staggering growth. With my support, and Mo Yuantian's management skills truly revealed, thirteen years later, the Mo Clan stood in line with the great influences of White Tree City."

"My cultivation base had been stalled for many years, my innate talent was not enough to hope that I would ever be able to break into River Manifestation Realm. However, this did not make me sad at all, how rare were Spiritual Kings? The number of such cultivators known to the public in the Country of Mines could be counted on the fingers of their hands."

"I didn't know how the subsequent fate of Hantian and Xuantian developed, at first they continued to send news about themselves, but by that time nothing had been known about them for more than ten years, as if they had completely disappeared. And no matter how much I tried to find information about their location, I couldn't do anything, and naturally I began to be tormented by thoughts about their unfavorable outcome."

"The outside world is a dangerous and cruel place, most of those who follow the path of cultivation die young, rarely is someone as lucky as my grandfather to retire by natural death. However, I didn't want to believe it, and I still don't want to, maybe they just left Fiery Cloud Empire, got so far on their journey that they simply can't send a message."

"Yuantian, who never left me, grew into a wonderful man, becoming the second Heaven Master in the history of the Mo clan after me. He got married, giving me a daughter-in-law who was not inferior to my late wife in her beauty, and together they gave me a grandson, calling him Mo Qinghai, besides, at that moment they were still waiting for a girl."

"Watching my family grow, I regained the happiness that I once lost with the loss of my wife. I spent most of my time babysitting my new grandson. And so my peaceful days passed, exactly until one day a catastrophe struck our house, plunging me into the depths of despair."

"I knew that the rapid rise of the Mo clan was endangering the interests of many people, and I made preparations in advance, but I still could not prevent what happened. Some of the forces of White Tree City, enlisting the support from outside, attacked the territory of the Mo clan. We didn't have the strength to resist the invading enemies at all, there were seven Heaven Masters among the attackers, while there were only three on our side. The third was my father Mo Chen, who was able to successfully breakthrough into Vortex Transformation Realm after Mo Yuantian. My father's talent was not good, but thanks to the help of the pills I prepared for him, he eventually managed to overcome this barrier."

"Despite our desperate resistance, more and more members of the Mo clan were dying by the minute, and we could only watch helplessly, this was the second time in my entire life when I felt my inadequacy. The first time I was insolvent as a husband, and the second time I became inadequacy as the Patriarch of the clan, but soon after that I was expected for the third time as a son…"

"My father was the first fallen Heaven Master in this bloody battle, then for a brief moment I felt rage captivate my consciousness. However, with difficulty gathering my thoughts, I used a pill that greatly increased my strength for a short period of time. Fighting like a madman, and taking the blow of all enemy Heaven Masters on myself, I gave enough time to Yuantian to let him take his wife and son and leave the city. Even now I do not know if they managed to escape in the end or if they were still being overtaken by the enemies."

"Thanks to the power obtained with the pill, I was able to avenge my father, I burned to the ground that Heaven Master who was responsible for his death. And taking advantage of the confusion and fear in the ranks of the Heaven Masters that arose due to the death of their comrade, I managed to fool them and leave White Tree City. Getting as far away from him as possible, I left my clan to perish with pain in my heart."

"Subsequently, I also safely left the Mines Country behind me and found myself in the Hills Country, for many days I fled without looking back like a beaten dog. Due to the use of the pill and the injuries I received in battle, my cultivation level dropped significantly, rolling back to the Peak of the Body Tempering Realm, and my dantian was severely damaged."

"I planned to find a safe place and heal my wounds, then try to restore my cultivation base, but even then fate played a cruel joke on me. Two Great Masters in ghost masks grabbed me, leaving me with a moral emptiness in my heart and thoughts about how everything in this world is changing fast. Quite recently, in my peak state, I could have squeezed each of them to death like ants, but at that moment I was once again helpless before the circumstances."

"After my capture, they dragged me to this cursed place, which they kindly call the Canyon of Powerlessness." Mo Canghai finished with a sigh, perhaps his story was too long, which made his throat dry, he took a flask of water from his belt and drank from it. Then, finding Mo Zitian's questioning look, he continued. "Yes, this cave is located in the Canyon of Powerlessness. There is a mysterious force in this canyon that completely prohibits the use of spiritual energy, so all those who are unlucky enough to get into the canyon seem to seal spiritual channels, spiritual meridians and even dantian. From cultivators in this place, only the name remains, they do not differ from ordinary people in anything other than a stronger body."

"Moreover, there is another force in this perilous place, which the locals call the deadly wind. Although it is called wind, it is not really wind, it is cold energy that contains the aura of death. It's everywhere in this canyon, permeating every part of it, every stone, even me or you. You don't feel it, because you've never been outside the Canyon of Powerlessness, and you don't know what it's like to live without it. Besides you and me, there are several hundred people living here, none of them does it at will, each of them was caught and brought here by the ghost guards, those same cultivators in ghost masks, that's what they call themselves."

"The exact number of people living in this canyon is unknown, people die here too often, and recently captured prisoners come to their places. Why are the ghost guards doing this? Because they need miners! There are numerous deposits of spiritual stones in this canyon."

"Are these the stones that you mine all the time?" Mo Zitian interrupted him unexpectedly.

Mo Canghai sighed and explained to him.

"Spiritual stones are highly concentrated crystallized forms of spiritual energy that have a significant impact on the development of cultivators. In the outside world, they are used everywhere and are highly appreciated anywhere."

"I do not know for sure, this is just my guess, but nevertheless it must be that some powerful faction discovered the deposits, but because of the strangeness of the canyon, they simply could not conduct effective mining."

"Because the scariest thing in the Canyon of Powerlessness is not the power that limits spiritual energy. Instead, the deadly wind is much more dangerous for cultivators. The longer a cultivator spends time in this place, the more cold energy accumulates in his body, gradually poisoning a person's life force with the aura of death and thereby destroying his body."

"Who would want to voluntarily mine spiritual stones in such an ominous place? It doesn't matter how attractive wealth is to them if they don't have their own life left to spend it. Therefore, they began to catch mature male cultivators who were physically strong enough to force them to mine spiritual stones instead of them, and the geography of this place greatly helped them with this."

"There was only one way out of this canyon, there was no way to escape from it, it was surrounded on all sides by hundreds of yards of steep cliffs. In order to somehow motivate the prisoners to extract spiritual stones, they announced the conditions of release, assuring them that for a thousand extracted spiritual stones, you can guarantee your freedom, but as for me, all this is complete nonsense."

"Firstly, it is not so easy to get a thousand spiritual stones, because people here on average extract 3-4 spiritual stones per week. At this rate, in ideal conditions, it would be possible to extract a thousand spiritual stones within five years, but unfortunately, ideal conditions simply do not exist."

"In order to survive here, men need to eat, and no one will feed them for nothing. To get food for a week, you need to pay two spiritual stones for it, the transfer of which does not take into account the cost of liberation."

"With the remaining 1-2 spiritual stones, it will take more than ten years to release. It seems to be real, too, but being imprisoned here for a tedious six years, I still haven't seen anyone who could live long enough. Most of the prisoners die after 5-7 years due to the cold energy tormenting their bodies. Secondly…"

"Wait, Grandpa! You said you've lived in this place for 6 years, so you're going to die soon too?" Mo Zitian suddenly interrupted him, flustered by what he had heard.

However, Mo Canghai ignored him and continued.

"Secondly, even if a person like me appears and lives long enough to collect the amount of spiritual stones he needs, it won't change anything. Who will let the tiger go back to the mountains? No prisoner who leaves the canyon with the ghost guard will live long enough to feel the spiritual energy flowing through his body." looking at Mo Zitian's restless look, who was about to interrupt him again, he replied with a soft breath, "Not as soon as you think, kid. As someone whose cultivation base had previously reached Vortex Transformation Realm, my life force surpasses anyone else in the canyon, with my current condition, I am able to live for another five years."

"What about me? I've never even cultivated! And you're going to die in 5 years anyway, we need to get out of here urgently! I don't want you to die!" the boy panicked.

"Zitian, you're special! I picked you up in the middle of the canyon when lightning brought you from skies, it was the most amazing scene I've ever seen in my life. Therefore, you are different from others, the vitality in your little body surpasses the vitality of any other person I have ever seen. To live another twenty years in this terrible place will not be a problem for you. And to escape from here, no matter how much I would like it, is simply impossible, the only way to leave the Canyon of Powerlessness is to go through the Gorge of Forgiveness, but the ghostly guards have erected a strictly guarded Black Gate of Ghosts in that place."

"So we will definitely die here? I don't want to! It's not fair! I haven't even seen the outside world yet!" Mo Zitian was upset.

"Don't worry, not to mention you, if we're lucky, even my fate won't necessarily end here, because you and I, unlike others, have a big advantage."

"Advantage? What is the advantage?"

Mo Canghai grinned and waved his right hand, a glowing red diamond-shaped stone immediately soared above his palm. As soon as he appeared, he immediately vibrated and began pointing one of his sharpened corners into the cave.

"Grandpa, what is it? It's so amazing!" Mo Zitian was surprised.

"This is a soul shard!"

"A soul shard?"

"Actually, I don't know anything specifically about this stone, I found it in one of my adventures when I left White Tree City for the first time in my youth. Over the years, I have researched it countless times, read countless books about all kinds of wonderful stones and ores, but didn't found anything about it."

"The only thing I was able to find out for sure was that this stone seems to be alive, as if it has its own consciousness. In addition, after merging with me, he began to passively interact with my soul, absorbing part of my soul energy daily, and after a certain cycle returning it back to me. It seems that this stone requires soul energy for normal functioning, so I called it a soul shard."

"But this stone wasn't some kind of parasitic life form. After absorbing my soul energy after a while, he always returned it to me. Moreover, the energy that returned to me was much stronger and more durable than before, as if passing through a soul shard it was improved. It was this stone that allowed me to eventually become an outstanding alchemist, because for alchemists, the key to success is above all a powerful soul."

"And how will this stone help us escape from here? And why is he acting so weird?" Mo Zitian asked, looking at the stone trembling in the air.

"To be honest, I do not know, since I was dragged into the Canyon of Powerlessness, a soul shard for the first time in many years of being in my body began to show such a reaction. Among all the places in the canyon, I chose this cave as my place of residence only because of its unusual behavior."

"It seems that there is something under the cave that the soul fragment is in dire need of. Unfortunately, I have been digging the ground here tirelessly for 6 years and still have not found anything except that spiritual stones began to meet me a little more often than before."

"So, with this stone we can find something that will help us get out of here?"

"I'm not sure, kid, but there's nothing else we can do, we can only believe. But enough of that for now. Come to me."

"Why?" Mo Zitian asked in bewilderment, but still walked around the chessboard to Mo Canghai.

"Whatever happens, don't worry, now I will give you a soul shard."

"Will you give it to me? Why do I need it? Isn't it yours?!"

"Stop asking questions and give me your hand."

Mo Zitian obediently extended his right hand to him.

Mo Canghai took his wrist with his left hand, and with his right hand took out a stone knife from his bosom.

"Grandpa, what are you doing?" Mo Zitian was scared at the sight of the knife.

"Don't be afraid." Mo Canghai soothed him, after which, with a sharp movement of the knife, he made a small incision in the palm of the boy's palm, letting out a line of blood.

"It hurts, Grandpa!" he said in a plaintive voice.

"Be patient." Mo Canghai replied, after which he took the soul stone and applied it to Mo Zitian's bloody palm.

Touching Mo Zitian's blood, the soul stone trembled violently, and the light it emitted at that moment caused the old man and the boy to close their eyes at the same time.

When they opened their eyes, the soul stone had already disappeared, leaving a red mark on Mo Zitian's palm as the only reminder of himself.

"Wow, it disappeared in my hand!" Mo Zitian was surprised, forgetting about the pain from the cut palm.

"Ah-kha, ugh." beside him, Mo Canghai coughed up blood.

"Grandpa, what is it? Are you okay?"

"Yes, it's okay, in order for the soul shard to form a connection with your soul through blood, I had to forcibly cut off my connection with it. Don't worry, I'm not in any danger from this."

"The soul shard belongs to me now? And why do I need it? Why not leave it with you?"

"Zitian, the soul shard will give you great advantages on your way. It will nourish your soul and sooner or later I would have given it to you anyway, so the sooner you get it, the better."

"What about you?"

"Listen to me, I'm old, and my life force is running out, even if we miraculously get out of here, I can only live for a short time, it's no longer of any use to me, so I hope you promise me one thing."

"Grandpa, no! I don't want you to ever leave me! I want you to always be there! What will I do without you?" Mo Zitian shouted.

"Kid, I know it's hard for you to understand right now, but it happens in life, some things happen against your wishes!"

"But it's not fair!

"Remember, there is no justice or injustice in this world, there is no good or bad, everything in the world is relative and depends on which side you look at it from. That's why I'm teaching you to play chess, I don't want you to limit your vision to just one piece, even if that piece is the king, you have to learn to look at the big picture of what is happening from the eyes of each of the pieces, and even go beyond the chessboard. Therefore, no matter how dissatisfied you are with this, but my death hour cannot be avoided, sooner or later it will come."

"But…"

"Enough about it, as long as I'm here, I'll take care of you, but when I'm gone, you'll have to take care of yourself! Therefore, I will give you all my knowledge about the path of cultivation, about medicine and alchemy, in detail I will tell you exactly how the outside world works. And all so that the day you get out of here you won't be an ignorant youngster. Therefore, promise that from now on you will listen carefully and remember every word of mine, all this will definitely be useful to you in the future. And I'm afraid I don't have that much time to repeat the same thing to you several times."

"Okay, Grandpa, I promise you! I will obey you in everything!" Mo Zitian bowed his head, hiding the drops of tears formed at the corners of his eyes.