Looking at his father, Xue Zunjing didn't know how to feel.
"What you're telling me, is that I'm to be sent to the Devil's borderfield, according to imperial decree? And that this was decided by the elders due to my lack of talent? That I would be sent to die."
Qin Taixu didn't know what to say to that.
It had been three days since the Incident in Qin forest, and the news had spread quickly.
Xue Zunjing, the trash bastard child was no longer a trash!
He had awakened a Dao body of ice!
He jumped through a whole realm on a whim!
His previous treatment in the clan was changed overnight, but this one thing couldn't be changed.
Due to the fact that the elders made such a decision with haste, the imperial palace already has been sent our reply to the decree.
"Have you told my mother yet?", Zunjing's eyes clouded. In his previous life as Haku Yuki, the loss of his mother, and the depravity of his father shaped his being in ways unspoken. In this life, he took his relationship with his mother quite seriously, and the thought of being away from her hurt his heart immensely. She was frail, and her constitution wasn't the best. How would she handle this news?
"No, not yet. I don't know how to start that conversation"
There was a crippling silence.
Zunjing got up, before turning around to leave, his long white robe fluttering slightly.
"I'll tell her.", he said before walking out of the pavilion they were in, and then speeding away in a flash, a testament to his new cultivation.
....
....
As Zunjing was jumping from building to building in the compounds, he began to contemplate the last three days, and what happened at the lake.
What was that voice he heard in his head? And what's the "Heavenly Dao Frigid Body"?
"Ding!"
{Looking for info...}
{I am the manifestation of your Scholar's Dao, the Scholar's Dao system. And the Heavenly Dao Frigid body is a type of Dao constitution, one of which is of the extreme yin type, with affinity for wind, water, and ice.}
Zunjing jumped in fright!
He looked around frantically, trying to understand where the voice came from.
"What do you mean you're a manifestation of my Dao?"
{Looking for info...}
{Sometimes, when a genius is born, the Dao manifests a gift for them. These people are known as Heaven Defiers, as their powers defy the heavens. I am your manifestation of the Dao.}
Zunjing's eyes squinted in suspicion, his mind coming to a million different conclusions.
"Then what are you capable of? And why did you just appear?"
{Looking for info...}
{The System exists as a compendium of knowledge. Anything you've read, or glanced at, the system can compile it for you. In fact, all of the answers to your questions were gathered this way.
The system also exists as a direct gateway to enlightenment. The more books or information you collect on the topic of which you mean to comprehend, the more powerful the enlightenment, Comprehension, and talent you receive for that topic.
In regards to your second question, I've always been here, however due to your previously weak constitution I couldn't be used, or it would strain your body. Hence, I only awakened when your Dao body was beingrealized.}
Zunjing paused outside of his courtyard.
"So you mean to tell me that everything you've told me is information I've read on my own? Why can't i remember it?"
{Because this information was compiled from lullabies and fairytales your mother sung to you as an infant}
Huh? So even fairytales and fables are valuable conduits for enlightenment? Good to know.
{As long as the system can verify there's truth or artistic value to the info, anything can be used to compile for enlightenment}
Taking in this new information, Zunjing wasted no time accepting his new situation, before walking towards his mother's room.
Knocking on the door, he heard a soft "You may enter", before heading in.
Xue Zunjing's mother, Xue Xiawei, was a beautiful woman with long black hair, and eyes so brown that it gave others the illusion of comfortability. However, due to her frail condition, she often lay in bed or stuck to her residence, often unable to showcase her beauty to the world.
"Mom"
As Zunjing walked over. Xiawei turned around to see her son, before sitting up in confusion and worry.
Zunjing had white hair!
She was confused.
"What happened to your hair? Why are your eyes blue? And...your aura. Have you cultivated?"
The more she noticed, the more she spoke, the more confused and surprised she was.
"A lot has happened. I have something to tell you.", Zunjing said despondently
A sense of foreboding washed over Xue Xiawei, she didn't like the solemnity in her child's tone.
....
....
"You're....going to the devil's borderfield?"
Xue Xiawei was shocked, tears spilling down her face with abrupt haste. She couldn't comprehend what she had just heard.
"I-is there any way they can have this revoked? Why you? Out of your five siblings, you have the lowest cultivation, and before three days ago, you didn't have any at all!"
"Not to mention you're the youngest...! You're just a baby...Why would they send my baby to die? Why?"
"No! This Makes No sense..! My baby...? No..."
Zunjing just stood there, his mom eventually crying herself to sleep.
His heart was heavy and his head was light, but he knew that this couldn't be changed.
The Devil's borderfield is a situation even the Imperial Dynasty can't handle own its own, and unfortunately, that means that everyone has to pitch in. Because otherwise, everyone is at stake.
He didn't feel too bad about being sent to war at his age because, in his past life, that was normal.
He had already been a killer in his past life. And he was only fifteen then. In a way, this was no different.
He wishes he could find a way to help them understand that he's going to be okay, but he knows that there's no point in that.
But he knows he'll survive. Not because of skill, or backing, nor foresight. But because he has something to protect.
He leaves the courtyard, intent on surviving, for his mother.
....
....