An hour later
Harith successfully sneaked back into his room. He found a tray with some food on it but he wasn't even in the mood to eat. He had just killed someone...for the first time in his two lives. What the hell even came over him, why did he go to such lengths? All he wanted to do was save the girl and give the guy and little beating but he killed him instead.
"Shit shit shit" Harith couldn't focus. He went into the bathroom and poured some water on his face. Although he tried not to think about it, the melted face and blood stained ground kept haunting his mind.
He had to calm himself down and think about his next course of action. He hadn't even completed a day here and he had already done something as huge as taking a life.
After cooling off he went back to bed and closed his eyes. It had been a long day...he needed more rest.
....
3 hours later
Harith woke up with a rumbling belly. He knew what he needed to do. He couldn't sleep well without taking some food. He was hungry as hell.
Devouring the meat and gulping down the orange juice next to it Harith rubbed his belly and crashed to the bed in satisfaction.
....
The Sect's meeting hall
All the elders and The sect master were sitted around a table. Today was a very important day for them and the sect as a whole but an urgent matter had just come up.
A letter was placed on the table, it had a ribbon attached to it's edge.
"The Great water serpent sect has sent another challenge sect master, we can't keep ignoring this lest we lose face" One of the elders spoke. He looked worried and yet angry at the same time.
The Great water serpent sect was the Raging flames sect direct rival. In the Region where they stayed, Four main sects were established- The raging flames sect which focused on the fire element.
The Great water serpent sect which focused on the water element.
The Whirlwind sect which focused on the Air element
The Eternal tortoise sect which focused on the earth element.
Legend says the sects were established by four great descendants from an unknown but very powerful family.
Naturally, given their assumed relationship and location, rivalry grew among the four but it was a sort of friendly rivalry. They even had a tournament which they held once in four years and all that.
But things changed between the Raging flames sect and The Great water serpent sect when an event occurred that resulted in the loss and birth of two separate lives. Ever since then The Great water serpent sect harboured hatred for the Raging flames sect and one of their favourite ways of showing this was through issuing multiple challenges.
This sort of behaviour out the Raging flames sect in a tight spot, if they decided to accept the challenge there was a high chance they would lose considering the power of The Great water serpent sect. But if they refused that would not bode well for their sect as they would be disgraced an called cowardly among others. Who would like to join a cowardly sect?!
"Are we obligated to accept the challenge by any laws?" The sect master asked with a grim face.
"No sect master" An elder of the sect responded.
"Then we shall ignore it and move on with our activities" The sectaster replied.
"How long will we continue to avoid this" Another elder of a higher authority than the former wasn't too pleased with the sect master's words.
"As long as it takes. The younger ones aren't ready for a fight yet" The sect master was adamant.
Silence filled the room as he spoke. What he said was true, the younger generation of their sect was far behind The Great water serpent sect.
"Is there anything else" The sect master asked.
"No my Lord" A guard answered
"Then I shall take my leave. I trust you all should as well. Today is a very good day, don't let those people ruin it" The sect master said and left.
In the young master's room, a naked body with a badly bruised face lay on the floor lifeless. The males gathered around it. One was a guard and the other two were the young master and his friend.
The young master's face was grim. His friend was found dead on his celebration day...could this be a bad omen?
"Who did this" The young master asked.
"His death is under investigation my Lord, but from the degree of burn the murderer is atleast a level three fire practitioner" The guard answered with his head bowed.
"Hmm, let me know how the procedures are going but for now keep everything under wraps. I don't want anything interrupting my ceremony" The young master said. Today was a very important day for him and also for everyone in the sect.
As the son of the sect master, the young master was naturally in line to take over the sect sect when his father died. Today's the day he would be bestowed the title of the next sect master and some ritual were supposed to be performed before doing that.
"Yes my Lord" The guard bowed and carried the body out of the room.
The young master fixed his robe and looked at his face in the mirror. "Let's go, it's almost time"
...
In the morning when Harith woke up he felt horrible. There was no doubt that the body of the man he killed had been discovered by now.
"Do you know how much that plate cost?!" a voice spoke with anger.
"I'm sorry master yin, my hand slipped." A woman responded. Harith recognized the voice to be that of the woman who called him son.
"What could be happening" He muttered as he got up from bed and left the room. Could someone have found out about the murder and come looking for him?! Outside the room was a long hallway. Different people walked frantically, carrying various objects out in and out. Some decorative objects, flowers, food, even weapons. It seemed they were preparing for an event of some sort.
"Aigoo, clean this up and get working. You'll pay for this later" Harith finally saw the man yelling. He was a very short man, and he had features like someone he was very familiar with. "Landlord Chen?" Harith called out in shock. Landlord Chen from his previous life was yelling at his mother...how the fuck is that possible? did landlord Chen die and reincarnate too?
"eh, Are you talking to me?" The man who Harith believed to be landlord Chen looked at him. Harith had almost screamed the name at the top of his lungs so master yin heard him pretty much clearly.
"Jinwu you're awake?" The woman noticed Harith.
"All the more better, the both of you work together. The ceremony starts in thirty minutes" Master yin said and walked away.
"Jinwu it's good you're awake. come help me" The woman signalled to Harith and started packing the broken ceramics on the floor.
Jinwu? Why did she keep calling him jinwu? Harith wondered but still heeded to her words and helped. She had fed and and was the owner of this body's mother. He was obligated in a way. Besides he had to live under her wings till he was strong enough to make a home for himself.
"Ay how was your sleep eh?" The woman tried to make small chats with Harith. Ever since her the day of element awakening, her son had never been the same. He began to talk less and became detached from the world, even her. And he kept getting bullied by his peers. She wished she could do something but she was just an ordinary maidservant.
"it was fine" Harith's answer was brief.
"I guessed so, I wanted to wake you earlier but I saw you were resting comfortably so I decided not too" The wan rubbed Harith's head and smiled. "Head to the kitchen and bring the red plate there, I'll finish taking care of this"
"ok..." Harith responded and left immediately. He was avoiding having a conversation with the woman lest she notice he was not truly her son. He had no memories that the original owner had so it would be hard adjusting.
Harith found the kitchen through the people taking out food and he brought out the red plate, gave it to the mother and together they left.
At the center of the sect was a huge building. Built as big as stadium. It wasn't the first time Harith saw something like this but it was definitely still awe inspiring. Next to the building was a long golden pole held by the giant statue of a man.
"What is this feeling" Harith wondered. His heart was racing the nearer he got to the statue. Like he was facing something far beyond his power...but it was just an ordinary statue so this added to his confusion.
The people going into the building would look at the statue in reverence and sometimes even kiss the feet.
A few minutes later the preparation for the ceremony was finally over, it was time to start.
An entourage of guards lined up at the entrance to the building. In a row of five, on each side, they stayed as one blew a large horn. "All welcome the sect master of the Raging sect" The guard spoke in a voice that commended authority.
Instantly, every person fell to the floor and bowed. This was normal custom, the sect leader was the highest position one could attain in a sect. All sect leaders commanded the respect of the members of this sect, this was just one of their ways of showing it. So not a single soul apart from the guards dared stand...wait.... someone's still standing!
The guard who had blown the horn noticed that a head still poked out of the crowd. The guard instantly frowned, standing now was indirectly disrespecting the sect leader. As he prepared to unleash his anger, the head vanished from the top and bowed with the rest of the crowd.
Harith's mother dragged Harith down as quickly as she could. This boy had almost caused trouble on a very big scale, what was he thinking?!
Harith was displeased. Why would he bow to another human? That was like forsaking himself just to glorify another, his ego wouldn't allow that. But still, he knew not to cause trouble now. He still had to figure how to control his new found powers, maybe he would learn something here.
"Ouch" Harith felt someone knock his head. He could see the woman's angry face telling him to bring his head down lower.
"Sect leader" The guards said as they saw the sect leader.
Harith raised his head a bit and was able to see this well respected sect leader. The sect leader was a very normal man, with a long hair and a goatee...nothing too fancy. His face was normal but his eyes...his eyes were glorious.
The entirety of the eyes of the sect master were dark blue. White star shaped symbols formed a circle around the place his iris was supposed to be.
The unique eyes of the sect leader was due to him coming from a prominent family of diviners. They studied the everything about the stars and the heavenly bodies and how the fate of humans were connected to them.
As the sect leader walked towards the entrance he felt a unique form of energy masked in the crowds. "Hmm?" He stopped and tried to focus. The energy seemed to be coming from where the people of master yin's kitchen gathered but since they were much he couldn't pinpoint it.
"My Lord, you may enter" The head guard spoke, bringing the sect master out of his thoughts.
"Ah yes. Is he ready?" the sect master asked as he walked with the guard.
"He is my Lord, your son is truly gifted" The heads guard responded and didn't forget to flatter him.
"Hehe he really is" The sect master was very proud of his son. His son was the only one to have awakened two elements after the founding of the sect. And during his birth it had been prophesied that his son would bring about a great event, such that has never happened in the history of the sect. This little man would take the sect to places far and beyond!
The sect master was the first to enter the building and after that the vast many. we're free to enter.
The inside of the building was truly like a stadium, with seats arranged in rows going from top to bottom. A section of it was made with golden seats, and in the middle of the golden seats was one that was bigger that the rest and had more decorations. It also had the best view one could possibly wish from that high up.
It took about ten minutes for the dust to settle and after that everyone was seated. Harith was in the far corner, where one could barely see what was happening on the stage.
"Now the sect master shall address the people" The head guard from earlier spoke. The crowd went dead silent as they waited for the sect master's speech.
"Members and practitioners of the Raging flames sect" The sect master spoke. "It is with pride that I conduct this ceremony for we all know the fate pronounced onto my son at the time of his birth. He has grown up to be on befitting of the prophecy, and should it come true the raging flames sect would no longer be looked down upon by the rest of the world. Our rise is near and he shall lead it. Please welcome Baxia, My son and the future sect leader" The sect master smiled.
As soon as the sect master finished, the young master walked through the entrance of the building. He was dressed in dazzling clothes and his face was marked with some paintings.
The young master walked to the center of the stage and knelt on one knee "Father" He said.
"Adorn him" The sect master stretched out his hand and a ball of fire appeared. The ball shaped itself into a crown. He thrust his hand and the crown went directly to the young master.
The crown gently settled on the young master's head as it slowly burned him. The young master was quivering, this was something he had to endure to be the next sect master.
The fire was no ordinary fire. As something that came from the renowned sect master himself it was very powerful and only one with a great pain threshold could endure it's assault.
The crowd watched on as the young mastered suffered. He had fallen to both knees now and was sweating buckets.
"Stand" The sect master ordered. "To lead the sect is to carry it's burden on your head while showing strength to the world. Stand!"
"Y...yes Father" young master Baxia responded. He raised his legs with great strain and finally stood up. His eyes were bloodshot his face was turning red as he endured the crown's power.
"You are blessed" The sect master said and immediately the crown disappeared from young master Baxia's face.
Seeing that, the crowd cheered and smiles appeared on everyone's faces. Their young master, the genius of the generation had finally received the blessing of the sect master. He was officially next in line to become the next sect master.
Young master baxia exhaled a sigh of relief and fall back to fell to the floor. He tore off a part of his cloth and tied it on his forehead where the crown had been placed. "Bring in the food and the drinks" The sect master ordered with joy. The crowd roared in return. The sect master was not a stingy person, He had killed plenty of cows for this day so there would be more than enough food to go around. The house of master yin was in charge of the cooking so everyone knew they were expecting nothing short of a blissful meal."Eh the young master is really strong isn't he" Harith's mother said to him."hmm" Harith nodded in agreement. Enduring the pain of crown of fire on one's head sounded like something he wouldn't like to try."it's time to serve the food, I'll be back. Don't cause any trouble while I'm gone" Harith's mother said and joined the people that carried food around.Harith stared at her as she left...did she always have to work so tirelessly? Even if she wasn't his real
The atmosphere of the event was more cheerful than before thanks to Harith's miraculous save. Harith now stood in the middle of the stage, sweating all over. He was right next to Young master Baxia who was wearing a big smile. Harith didn't know much but he certainly knew how to tell fake from real. And also, wasn't it this guy na this friends that ganged up on him?"Jinwu, today you have saved the lives of master Chen's kitchen. Thank you" The sect master nodded.Harith smiled a little in response."For this deed I shall grant you a reward. Ten thousand jins shall be awarded to you for your efforts" As the sect master spoke and signalled to one of his guards.The crowd clapped and cheered. Ten thousand was a huge sum of money to any teenager. As a result, jealousy began to arise and some wished they had reacted the same way Harith did."Thank you sir" Harith maintained the smile on his face. He didn't know how valuable Ten thousand jins was but from the crowd reaction it had to be s
The pressure was immense! Harith felt like the weight of the world was placed on his shoulder. He started sweating and found it a huge problem to move his eyes not to talk of moving any part of his body. Cho cheong sighed what she was trying to avoid had happened."Why are you late?" A familiar voice spoke. Elder Jang appeared with his hands behind his back and he wore blue robe."I...I l..los...lost my way" Harith struggled to answer. Under this pressure there was no way he could think of lying."And you?" Elder Jang turned to Cho cheong."I overslept master" She responded albeit much more calmly than Harith. This wasn't a first time thing so she was already used to it in a way."Since it is your first time you will be spared. Elder Jang said to Harith. "As for you, this will not go unpunished. For now, go join the rest" He finished talking to Cho cheong and left.As soon as Elder Jang left the pressure Harith felt disappeared entirely.With a sigh of relief he relaxed a bit and look
"what?!""Master Jang!"The students were frightened and disappointed. The martial arts section was their weakest part as they relied mostly on their elemental powers but now Master Jang was saying they couldn't make use of their powers? Those fiery things looked pretty string, how the hell did elder Jang expect them to win with only direct combat?!Harith nodded in approval, this development was for his benefit. He wasn't as strong as the others when it came to fire usage but he knew a thing or two about martial arts from his previous life, he could cope. And seeing as the others were uncomfortable with the idea he guessed they weren't that strong when it came to martial arts.Cho cheong sighed with a downcast face. She was already less than average in the elemental power department and she was even worse in martial arts, there was no way she was getting any of those eyes.Meanwhile inside the hole,Dang gu stopped his fire and immediately made a run for it. He panicked and headed fo
"That rock giant has appeared because you refused to follow the rules of the task and fight. As long as you run without fighting heading the you would be prevented from acquiring the emerald eyes. Let that rest deep in you" Elder Jang said in all seriousness."So there really is no hope...." "Only way to win is to fight" The students were distressed. Elder Jang had taken all possible measures just to make sure they fought. Was he always the relentless?"I will go next" Young master Baxia state suddenly. "Eh? Who said that?""Young master Baxia?""It's about time he stepped up" Elder Jang smiled. He had been waiting for Baxia to talk all this while. Young master Baxia was a very peculiar occurrence happened only once in the history of the four sects. As such he paid very special care to his training...he would lead the sect afterall."Elder Jang, I will be going in now" Young master Baxia bowed.Elder Jang nodded and then young master Baxia dived in.Baxia had made all the necessary
"How are you feeling?" Harith asked. He walked with Cho cheong who was looking a bit better now but the bruise on her face was still very evident."I'm okay. It'll heal in a short while" Cho cheong said and touch her eye."You did quite a great thing in there, I'm impressed" Harith spoke from the depths of his heart. Cho cheong had come the closest to taking the emerald eyes. If elder Jang had come clean earlier maybe it would have been a different story."It wasn't anything much, I just ran around and got knocked out" Cho cheong blushed from embarrassment but one could see the joy on her face if they looked closer."Well, Just to make sure you're really okay, let me escort you home" Harith smiled. He had no motives and was just being a gentleman..."Eh? My house is quite far from here I'm not sure you would want to walk that long" Cho cheong quickly denied him."I don't mind. I mean, I have nothing to do so..." Harith shrugged."okay...." Cho cheong finally agreed.The two went back
At that moment two guards arrived. They had hurried breaths so it was obvious they had been running for quite some time."S...stop" One of them spoke as he held his chest and scrunched his face."Ah Elder Jang" The other one noticed Elder Jang and bowed immediately. The second one too followed.Elder Jang raised one of his eyebrows in a look that questioned the guards."Elder Jang they forcefully came in through the sect's gate. We tried to stop them but before we could do anything they were long gone" One of them said with a worried look."So you broke into the sect, and also barged in here. You better have a good excuse for this?" Elder Jang looked at Rose with an angry face."I told you, u brought friendly competition" Rose smiled as she pointed at the two with her.Elder Jang took a low at the other two person with her. He couldn't see much of them as they had long black robes on them but from what he sensed, they would be of the younger generation."You two leave and report to th
Hao Feng had the brightest smile on his face. This woman had really stuck to her words and actually given him the emerald eyes. He just had to beat her candidate...which he did easily. Even he was surprised at how easy he had done that. Sure he had a few cuts here and there but that was all, she didn't really prove much trouble in taking down."Guys what are you waiting for?" Hao Feng excitedly said to the crowd and he waved his emerald eyes for all to see."She really did give him!""It wasn't even that hard for Hao Feng to beat him" The crowd was ecstatic. Hao Feng was a average at best in terms of power but he had still easily taken the girl down. If they went then it was basically free emerald eyes assured."I wanna go next!""No me me, elder Jang pick me!" The students struggled to come forward. Elder Jang on the other hand wasn't too happy. This girl Rose had brought felt so weak compared to what he expected from an average Great water serpent sect youth practitioner. The averag