CHAPTER:7[CYCLE OF HUNDRED SOULS]
On the stairs to a tall pagoda, an old woman lay, holding a gourd full of alcohol. She opened her mouth and drank it.
The old lady drank and emptied it within a single minute, not even spilling a single drop.
Her old face turned young, the gourd slipped from her hand, it rolled and bounced on the stairs until it shattered into multiple pieces.
The old lady yawned and grabbed another gourd. In her waist, a total of five more gourds were hanging, She drank the gourd until it emptied.
After a while, her old-fleshed eyelids became heavier, and she slept on the stairs.
Far away, in a quiet, poorly maintained room, every corner filled with spider webs and dust particles as decoration. In the middle was a clean bed , and on the bed, a young body rested.
As the sun set, the young body inside the room opened its eyes. Those eyes were irregular and never heard of.
The left eye appeared normal, while the right eye featured two pupils, one coloured purple and the other resembling the natural colour of the left eye.
The body belonged to Wu zian. His gaze looked tougher than steel. From his right eye's purple pupil, a scenario was being reflected that he had never seen.
In the scene, the ring of Death shined, releasing a bloody lustre. One hundred souls surrounded it in a circular pattern, growling and crying with endless pain.
The ring of Death shined above the soul of Wu zian, like a crown
From the crowd of souls, one soul with a very young figure flew, detaching from the group. It stopped on top of the Ring of Death.
The young soul began to cry loudly and scratched its body as everything that he had experienced in life surfaced before him; it included the sorrow of losing his parents, regrets for chasing beauties instead of cultivating, and grief caused by his brother's death.
The young soul melted into a white liquid, which slowly dripped onto the ring of death. Its bloody lustre bled through the pale essence, glowing even brighter as it sank into Wu Zian's soul.
This cycle continued one after another, souls melting, dripping on the ring of death and Wu zian.
Ring of death has its own consciousness, and it had previously absorbed all the souls of perished cultivators in the mountain cliff massacre. By the ring, this cycle of souls was being controlled to forge Wu zian. Forging Wu zian to be able to withstand any difficulties that will appear in his path of cultivation.
Cultivation is a path to heaven. On this path, a cultivator experiences pain and suffering, betrayal and deception, envy and rivalry, perseverance and willpower, triumph and glory, ambition and greed, regret and self-reflection, loneliness and sacrifices. Through this cycle of a hundred souls, the ring of death was transferring all the life experiences of the hundred souls into Wu zian.
All these suffering of a hundred cultivator was being transferred to Wu zian. After each transmission, he felt the pain of cultivation, the pain of the cultivation world and the pain of living.
Inside the room,Wu zian felt mentally and physically exhausted. Even his soul was exhausted by the cycle of a hundred souls. He glanced at the room and walked out.
Outside, the light of the moon passed through Wu zian. Unlike before his body features were completely different, leaner and slender physique, with extremely long black hair smoothly flowing down to the waist, a light beard around the jaw, and the right eye featured two pupils.
Wu zian enjoyed bathing under the warm light of the moon. Gradually, the exhaustion slowly dissipated. Next, When an organism breaks the fragile confines of its egg, the first light of its life provides the warmth of coming into existence. Wu zian felt this same under the light of the moon. The sensation of birth enveloped him.
After a while, Wu zian saw an old woman entering the courtyard, carrying a gourd in her left hand. As she got closer, the smell of wine reeked in the air. She felt sleepier and sleepier before she could reach Wu zian. She fell unconscious on the ground.
The moon reached its peak, the old lady lay on the same bed where Wu zian had rested just a while ago. Wu zian sat on the chair near her. After a while, the old lady gained consciousness. She checked her waist for a gourd but was unable to find it, so she glanced around.
A hand approached her, handing her a gourd full of alcohol. Firstly, the old lady took it and looked at the person in front of her.
"You... you are finally awake." She gulped the alcohol."My old bones were getting cramps taking care of you." She sighed.
Wu zian was still healing from the impact of the cycle of a hundred souls. He remained silent, staring at the old lady with eyes full of questions.
The room was dark not having a single source of light, Wu zian black hair and black robe synchronized with the atmosphere. In the sight of the old lady, Wu zian's purple pupil was visible.
The old lady smiled and took another sip, savouring the wine before speaking."You have changed alot, when she brought you here, you were on the edge of death, but now you have the charisma of young dragon eagerly waiting to soar in the sky."
Wu zian's eyes flickered, wavering his tough gaze."Who brought me here?" His voice carried a weak tone.
The old lady pondered for a while. She gazed at Wu zian and responded, "A girl carried you on her back, her body soaked completely in your blood. She came like a gust of wind, carrying you as if you were nothing but a fallen leaf. That gust whispered into my ear.'Five years.' Then, she left, leaving you behind."
"Five years." Wu zian murmured.
The old lady noticed fluctuations in Wu zian's body as she told about that girl."At the beginning, I was also clueless, but now I truly understand what it means by 5 years."
Wu zian's eyes looked hungry, starving for endless answers.
The old lady broke Wu zian's silent gaze with a light laugh."Cultivate. Walk on the path of cultivation, and you will find the answer to every question you are searching for."She raised her shoulder slightly, set the gourd aside, and said, "You are currently in the Blue Sea Sect's outer area, and I am the Library Hall elder, Bei Yin."
Wu Zian's eyes narrowed, and he scratched his hair, finding out he was in the Blue sea sect.
Looking at Wu zian state, the old lady said,"I have been taking care of you for almost 2 years now, I can prepare a recommendation letter for you to get selected in this sect."
The calm state of Wu zian wavered in his heart he became happy, but the happiness lasted for only a second. After the forging, he was a completely different person than before, the difference could be said to be the difference of heaven and earth.
Although Wu zian didn't have the memory of those souls, he had the experience of living a hundred lives, he knew nothing was free in this world. Free meant nothing more than a mere illusion, luring only weak minded people, a illusion that manipulates a person, making the person grateful towards something they never wanted and even if the person wanted it they would be under the weight of others kindness and mercy, this weight unknowingly lowers their dignity In front of their benefactor.
As Wu zian had expected, the old lady asked for a price; the Day Wu zian learns to brew spiritual liquor, he would receive the recommendation letter.