Martial Inheritance

chapter 11:

Martial Inheritance

Celestial mists swirled around Wan Jie as he meditated in silence, recent memories swirling through his awakened mind. For a timeless period he had ventured beyond material creation, communing with cosmic entities and experiencing states of being impossible to articulate in limited language. Even one glimpse would drive a mortal mind to madness. 

But Wan Jie's spirit had expanded and his essence deepened over cycles spent absorbed in transcendent contemplation and refinement. He was ready now to bring a flame of enlightenment back to the mortal world mired in darkness and ignorance. The time had come to seek out those worthy of inheriting his hard-won wisdom.

Rising from his empty void of contemplation, Wan Jie manifested himself through the celestial channels connecting realms. He coalesced within a secluded mountain grotto marked by his psychic imprint, arriving in a flash of azure brilliance and fluttering robes. This remote hideaway would serve as his temporary anchoring point on earth.

It had been two mortal decades since Wan Jie ascended from the elven temple, though subjective eternity had passed for him in cosmic communion. The world below continued turning obliviously, though ripples of his promised return still spread in secret. Seekers of truth might interpret the signs and come find their destined mentor.

  Settlements of disciples would draw too much disruptive attention at this stage. Better to wait and evaluate candidates naturally drawn by karmic magnetism - those whose higher purpose resonated with Wan Jie's own. A global revolution began within each awakened soul yearning for relevance amidst the mundane.

And come they did, arriving singly or in pairs to the obscure grotto. Young itinerant martial artists pursuing their wandering quests, disillusioned monastics seeking more fulfilling truths, scholarly recluses investigating whispers of celestial arts. All felt inexplicably compelled to divert their journey for reasons they could not articulate when pressed.

Wan Jie assessed each visitor with a glance. Most lacked the mentality and spirit to contain the full teachings. But a few showed potential with wisdom and focus that belied their youth and humility. They would stay and learn. The others kindly sent away with only some minor pointers to aid their wanderings.

For arduous months, Wan Jie's chosen students cultivated themselves diligently. They refined their meridians and concentrated qi until able to manifest energy and practice transformative visualizations. Budding skills honed through meditating beneath frothing waterfalls, balancing atop slender peaks, and willing desert blossoms to bloom. 

Bodies honed and minds expanded through mastering these exercises under Wan Jie's strict tutelage. What took normal sects years to impart, these youths absorbed in weeks thanks to their master's foreign methods. He crafted tailored ordeals to accelerate each student's progress down the transcendent path.

The day came when Wan Jie gathered his disciples before him, their auras shining with restrained power. The time had come for them to reinforce their gains and truly step beyond mortal limits into the realm of gods and demons. Only through surviving tribulation could their Dao hearts be refined pure.

"The inner realm awaits, but the gateway is narrow. Prepare yourselves." At Wan Jie's command, reality trembled and rent. A massive portal tore open leading into a chaotic space filled with swirling primordial essence and titantic silhouettes just beyond sight. Palpable danger suffused this domain, but ripe opportunity awaited those bold enough to seize it.

One by one, Wan Jie gestured for his students to enter the primal interstice alone. From his perspective, they proceeded at blinding speed relative to the material world, spending months or years cultivating amidst the formless dangers. When each disciples finally returned, only minutes seemed to have passed, but they had already become powerful adepts. The trials had awakened their true potential. 

"Well done, my children. Go now and spread our radiance through the benighted world." Wan Jie opened a parting portal back toward human civilization, sending his transformed students away with pride. In time, they would establish their own influential enclaves seeded from his wisdom. For now, their absence left him both melancholy and excited for the next crops.

Many more came seeking Wan Jie's tutelage in the coming months and seasons. His methods and existence remained mysterious, passed only as veiled legend between travelers. But fate drew the worthy toward his secluded grotto school. Generations of youths learned then dispersed into the world.

Seasons turned. Celestial arts, once jealously hoarded by isolated orders, took root across scattered clans and secular society. Wan Jie's students in turn cultivated their own acolytes as his techniques propagated. Subtle cosmic radiance gradually leavened the mundane world. The first fruits had become seeds for a sweeping awakening.

A decade after his return, Wan Jie paused to survey the rippling transformation. The time was soon approaching to embark on the next open phase of his grand work. His discreet grotto sanctuary sufficed no longer. An entire sacred mountain sanctuary awaited construction further north, beyond mortal borders.

There Wan Jie's true academy could welcome thousands of disciples from across the land, structured properly to facilitate their ascension. A central competing ground would allow comparison of talents. The purest hearts could receive advanced instruction directly from Wan Jie in secluded inner halls.

Yes...here would be his seat to guide civilization toward transcendence for eons to come. But the land must first be purified and consecrated. Wan Jie summoned his latest class of accomplished disciples through a shimmering portal. They emerged and immediately fell to their knees in devotion.

"A new era dawns, my children! Beyond these lands stretches terrain veiled in primordial darkness. Go forth now and cleanse it. Construct my sacred sanctuary there that will shine through the ages as a guiding beacon."

The students rose together, fists pressed solemnly to hearts. "We vow to complete this honored task, master! None shall hinder your vision!" WithDEFINE Bows of respect, they set out north through the portal. First would come consecration of the land. Then mammoth foundations and soaring spires to humble mortals and gods alike. 

Soon thousands would flock to the growing sanctuary, seeking the wisdom flowing freely from its enlightened halls. So Wan Jie's illumination spread like the rising dawn. In time, heavens themselves would transform through his compassion and guidance.