The Call of Uncharted Paths

Chapter Three: The Call of Uncharted Paths

"I'm doomed" Mo Xuechen thought to himself before he turned to look at the sword with hate in his eyes *Why call me here if you want to have me killed* he thought to him self .

The sect disciples attacked him immediately to kill him and a wave of Qi suddenly sent them flying backwards and an old man with white hair flew downwards and he landed before Mo Xuechen. "This kid is under my protection, leave now and you will live" the old man said with a serious expression "Get out of my way old man" the leader said and he attacked again and the rest followed him and the old man waved his hand and an intense spear Qi was released from his hand piercing holes through their head. They all died with a surprise look on their face.

Mo Xuechen rested against a gnarled trunk, his mind whirling and his body tingling with residual energy. Moments before, when he thought he was going to die, this gaunt but muscular old man had fallen from the heavens like an autumn leaf before annihilating the threat with one sweeping gesture of his hand. Mo Xuechen smiled wryly. *Well, that was a surprise.*

"Who are you and why are you helping me?" Mo Xuechen asked as he struggled to stand on his feet "My name is Lin Dongyan also known as mad Lin, I'm quite popular in this place you know" the old man said suddenly acting all nice and friend making Mo Xuechen give him a suspicious look. "I have no idea who you are. Why did you help me?" Mo Xuechen asked and the man had a serious expression

"Instinct" the old man said surprising Mo Xuechen and he facepalmed the instant he heard the man's remaining words "I thought you were a girl, so instinctively I came to save a damsel in distress" Dongyan said

"Unfortunately I found you, me and my terrible luck" the old man sighed and just as Mo Xuechen was about to talk back in anger the man brought out a wooden tablet placed it in Xuechen's hand "Since fate has broius together today I have to give you something. Take this, and come join me in my sect" the old man said and Mo Xuechen quickly tried to return the tablet

"I cannot accept this, I am only a servant of the Tang family and don't deserve this honour. I only want to live as a humble servant" Mo Xuechen quickly said but the man returned it

"When you're tired of being alone," the old man had quoted, his voice playful but knowing, "let this be your guide home." Mo Xuechen had simply nodded, coolly deflating the offer. "It wouldn't hurt to have this as insurance" he'd said, with a near-offhand demeanor, even as the excitement of the encounter still coursed through his veins.

A glint of mischief played in his eyes as he slipped the tablet into his pocket. He wasn't yet willing to commit himself to any sect, however promising, but it was pleasant to know that the door was left ajar. He walked towards the sword after the old man left and then drawed it out of the stone. The sword was drawn easily this time and didn't reject him but the sword was quite heavy. It has inscriptions drawn on both sides.

When the noise of war subsided, Mo Xuechen went on his way alone through the forest. The savage, changeable world of Rising Dragon Mountain was just as much a testing ground for his flesh as it was a storehouse for alien flora. The forest revealed their secrets in the whispered softness of leaves and the distant, forlorn howls of night hunters. And even in the midst of this wild serenade, Mo Xuechen's mind was swift and sharp.

He rested in a sunny clearing where the natural Qi swirled like silver haze.

There, he placed on the ground a small pouch of herbs he had previously picked up for the Tang estate his outer duty and began to seriously practice the God Assassin Technique. Every careful motion, every deliberate breath, was a step toward his one-pointed pursuit of power. As he moved with the style, the Qi within him became more concentrated, a silver-purple glow that billowed out and around him. He sensed a quiet break-through a spurt that meant of reaching Qi Refining directly from the Bone Refining phase. His body consumed all the Qi in the air instantly making him jump an entire minor realm. Not bad for a mercenary turned slave,* he thought to himself with a self-satisfied grin.

The moon hung far overhead Xueyue City, its silvery light throwing shadows over the Tang estate. In a private courtyard, Mo Xuechen sat cross-legged, his breathing steady, his mind focusing like a whetstone on steel. His body still hummed with the leftover energy of his recent breakthrough.

The God Assassin Technique was always running like a chasm an abyss that revealed its depths only when he was ready to go deeper. And tonight, the abyss called.

He closed his eyes and looked inward, focusing his Qi into running the technique. Immediately, a torrent of foreign energy poured through his meridians, causing his backbone to shiver. His vision blurred, and the next thing he knew, he was standing in a vast emptiness, face to face with a dark silhouette enveloped by boiling mist.

It was neither man nor animal—just an echo, a shadow left by the creator of the technique.

"You have walked the path of silent death, but your blade is dull, you might be the number one sword master but your blade is dull compare to mine. The first step to true mastery is to make your sword an extension of your will."

As the words fell, Mo Xuechen felt something heavy materialize in his hand. Looking down, he saw his sword, but now it was altered a ghostly, phantom copy of the real thing, glowing with an ominous dark light.

"The Silent Blade First Form: Phantom Severance."

The dark form struck without warning. It was a ghost, striking from angles Mo Xuechen could barely perceive. He had little time to react before instinct kicked in. He sidestepped, his body weaving with the fluid motion born of countless battles, and slashed out with his sword.

The shadow's strike should have missed. But it did not.

A thin, barely visible arc of Qi shot out from the shado'ssword, cutting through his torso before dissipating into nothingness.

Mo Xuechen's eyes went wide. Not just an average sword technique this attack had left no trace of Qi fluctuations behind. A silent sword technique, one that killed him in silence, without warning. The perfect weapon for an assassin.

The shadow figure recreated itself, its nebulous form sewing itself back together.

"Again."

Over and over, Mo Xuechen repeated the motions, each strike refining the art of Phantom Severance into muscle memory. It was unlike any swordplay he observed each slash generated an invisible blade, capable of severing flesh, Qi, and even a person's soul.

When his consciousness stirred again, he was still sitting in his courtyard, panting, sweat dripping down his forehead. The night wind was colder than before.

He took hold of his sword and stood up, assuming a stance. This time he moved with single-minded determination, his sword slicing through the air in a deadly arc.

A nearby candle flickered. Then, without warning—

The flame was cut in half and the walls of the courtyard cracked.

Mo Xuechen sneezed.

"Now this. this is a technique worthy of an assassin, but I caught a cold"

In the Green River Sect's outer court elders hall a great chamber illuminated only by the leaping light of ritual candles and the perfumed tendrils of sandalwood incense..

Elder Wei Jian, had his face filled with grief and seething anger as he stood before the altar. Clutched tightly in his hand, he held a broken fragment of a soul jade, its once unblemished surface now cracked and tarnished. His voice, as deep and resonant as the tolling of distant temple bells, cut through the murmurs of the assembled disciples, handmaids, and servants.

"Who dares touch my son!" he said out loud with anger as he erupted with his. "Where last did my son say he was going to?" Wei Jian asked in a frightening tone

At his request, a junior disciple stepped forward with trembling hands. "Elder, the record said that your son was last seen taking a mission to go to a remote clearing on the outskirts of Rising Dragon Mountain. The disciples who also followed him there have not returned and their soul Jade has also been crushed."

A chill of fear ran through those who were present. As the eyes of Elder Wei Jian wandered the hall, his repressive Core cultivation energy seethed forth in a wordless, churning torrent. Instantly, the air itself appeared to become more solid; the Qi was so intense that some of the fragile vases trembled and shattered completely, the shards cascading across the cold stone floor. The handmaids and disciples stepped back, their faces pale with terror, as if the sheer power of their master might consume them.

"Such audacity!" Wei Jian thundered, his voice echoing within the hall as he pounded his fist upon the altar. Breaking glass was followed by the shocked shiver of his followers. "Who dares touch a disciple of our sect!"

Wei Jian's eyes narrowed into icy anger. "We will be going to Rising Dragon Mountain by dawn, Someone must suffer for my sons death" he declared.

A few of the older masters, clad in their Dark green robes gather at a courtyard as the started at the hall and the old man throwing a tantrum. "The sect leader wouldn't be pleased to her this" one of them said "Well I hope he doesn't end up like his son" another one said and they all sighed before they left

*Back to the Tang Estate*

Under a crescent moon silvering Xueyue City, affairs continued at the Tang estate as they always did: with their classic combination of luxury and strict obligation.

Tang Rou the golden daughter known for both her exquisite beauty and her promiscuous behavior was walking round the slave courtyard and then saw Xuechen.

"Who is that" Tang Rou asked her handmaid "No one knows actually but he really is handsome" the handmaid said excited Her dark, intelligent eyes scanned the Mo Xuechen hungrily. "I'll have him this night" She said with an evil smirk and Mo Xuechen felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Why do I feel like something bad is about to happen" Mo Xuechen said to himself before he sneezed again "I guess it's because of the cold. I still can't believe cultivators catches cold" he said to himself before he want into his courtyard again.

A servant suddenly ran over into his room, "Miss Tang Rou wants you to attend to her this night." He said excitedly "Why would she want me to serve her? She has a lot of handmaid to serve her" Mo Xuechen asked confused "No one really knows, all the male servants who served her never made it back alive same with all other females of the Tang family" the servant said and Mo Xuechen remember how his body died in this world

"Oh no. I'm doomed. Why did you come here all excited only to deliver bad news" he cried out as he slapped the back of the servant head before entering his room "Don't forget she is waiting for you tonight" the servant said before leaving