It was evening in the Demon Sect, just a few hours before the sun was about to set. The rays of the setting sun spread a faint evening warmth as a flock of birds flew across the sky towards the west. It looked as if those birds were chasing the sun itself.
That same evening, Abhay was in the backyard of the palace, watering the garden with a water jug. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from behind the palace, heading towards the garden. It was none other than Tamash, who had come to the garden looking for someone.
Tamash scanned the area with her eyes to find the person, and soon spotted a boy holding a jug, watering a plant. Tamash immediately called out to the boy, shouting, "HEY ABHAY, WHERE ARE YOU? COME HERE FOR A SECOND..."
Hearing Tamash's call from behind, Abhay stopped watering the plants and walked straight towards her, still holding the jug.
"What happened, Head Maid? What do you need me for?" Abhay asked.
Tamash said softly, "I have some good news for you, Abhay. In about a week, Mistress Yamini wants you to meet a special person."
Hearing about this new person, Abhay scratched his head and asked, "Mistress Yamini wants me to meet a special person? Who is it anyway?"
Tamash relaxed her shoulders, crossed her arms in a comfortable posture, and said, "Look, you don't need to worry too much about this person. When the proposal to meet arrives, you'll get the chance to meet them. Okay?"
"Yes, Head Maid," Abhay replied. Just as he was about to leave to resume watering with his jug, he turned back and asked Tamash with a bit of nervousness, "Head Maid... is Chhaya going to the market today?"
Tamash raised her left eyebrow arrogantly. "Yeah, so? Do you want to go?"
Rubbing the back of his head, Abhay smiled with his innocent face and said, "Yeah, how did you know?"
Looking at his innocent face, Tamash slapped her forehead. "You trying to impress me by working hard again and again, and constantly asking when Chhaya will go to the market."
"Then tell me, Head Maid, why don't you let me go outside this palace?" Abhay said with slight irritation. "Is some ghost going to eat me out there, or am I still a kid who isn't allowed to go outside?"
Tamash lightly smacked the back of Abhay's head. "It's not like that, kid... It's Mistress Yamini's order that you shouldn't be allowed outside the palace until you meet that special person. If that has entered your thick skull, then go back to work. You shouldn't worry about other things. Got it?"
Tamash then turned around and went back inside the palace, leaving Abhay standing right there in the garden.
Abhay walked back to the flowers with his water jug. As he sprinkled the water, he muttered in his mind, 'Man, two whole weeks of hard work down the drain. For the last two weeks, I've been trying to convince Tamash to let me go out, and on top of that, Yamini has forbidden me from leaving the palace. If this keeps up, when will I ever complete my given target?'
The day passed just like that, and the night's moonlight covered the earth. Cold winds were passing through the windows of Abhay's room, making the whole room slightly chilly. A kid wrapped in a blanket on the bed was shivering violently, as if he was freezing even with the blanket on. It was none other than Abhay, shivering because of the cold gusts of wind coming from the window.
Shivering on his bed, Abhay sniffled his runny nose under the blanket and said, "Man, I was so tired from working that I fell asleep as soon as I got here. And on top of that, I totally forgot to close this window."
Abhay then let out a loud sneeze.
"Achoo..."
Sniffling slightly, Abhay summoned his system and looked at his status.
[ Host: Abhay ]
[ Age: 12 years old ]
[ Cultivation Level: Mortal (Body Refinement - Lower Stage) ]
[ Mool-Ansh: 0.153 ]
Still wrapped in his blanket, he got up from his bed. Looking closely at the total number of Mool-Ansh, he said, "Wow, 153. Well, I'm still short of 47 Mool-Ansh. But I'm not worried about that. In these last 2 weeks, while trying to convince Head Maid Tamash, I made her quite angry, which helped me get a lot of Mool-Ansh. And the other two maids barely think about me, so I get very few Mool-Ansh from them."
He went to close the window and muttered, "Just a little bit more time, and then I will activate that hidden core feature. Then I'll find out what's so special in that hidden core feature that it's demanding a whole 200 Mool-Ansh."
Just as Abhay was about to close his window with both hands, a bright light crashed down on the other side of a large palace in the distance. After about 3 seconds, that light suddenly disappeared. Abhay widened his eyes and said, "What was that light anyway?"
About 15 minutes earlier.
At the far end of the palace's rear courtyard stood a circular ring made of rough cobblestone and ancient rocks, about 1.5 stories high. Suddenly, the ring stirred, and a blinding white light erupted from it. Three people stepped out of it, as if the ancient stone ring was acting as a portal. The three people emerged in a heavily injured state; they were Vishakha, Takshak, and finally Maya.
Due to the noise and the flash of the portal in the rear courtyard, two people rushed into the courtyard from the palace, as if they had been waiting for someone's arrival for a very long time. Those two people were actually Yamini and Vyom.
Yamini ran in and shouted at the guards patrolling the courtyard, "Call the Vaidyas (healers) immediately! Hurry!" Following Yamini's order, a guard ran inside the palace.
Vishakha, Takshak, and Maya were completely bloodied as they came out of the portal. Vishakha and Takshak were supporting each other, walking forward slowly, and Maya was right behind them.
Compared to the other two, Vishakha had fewer injuries, but one of her arms was brutally mangled, as if some beast had clawed a chunk out of it, and the white bone inside was clearly visible. There was a deep sword cut on her stomach, she had lost a lot of blood, and blood was pouring from her head.
Takshak's body and back were covered in arrow wounds. He had taken blows from heavy weapons all over his body, causing severe internal injuries and shattering several bones. His shoulder and knee were brutally crushed, as if those spots had been attacked repeatedly.
And right behind them was Maya, who was holding someone's severed head in her left hand. She arrived bearing multiple sword and arrow wounds... some arrows in her back, some near her shoulder and heart. Maya's body was covered in injuries. There were deep sword cuts on her arms and legs, and a small cut on her right eye, though the eye itself was unharmed.
Yamini immediately ran to support Maya and hugged her. Crying, Yamini shed tears on Maya's blood-stained shoulders.
Maya calmed Yamini down and said gently, "Calm down, Yamini. Nothing happened to me. See, we have returned safe and sound."
With streams of tears flowing from her eyes, Yamini asked, "Why did you go on such a dangerous mission yourself? You could have died, Master."
Resting her hand on Yamini's shoulder for support, Maya said, "Let's go inside the palace now. We'll talk about the rest later."
Seeing the terrible condition of Vishakha and Takshak, Vyom felt sad and said, "Oh kids, what happened? Who put you two in such a bad state?"
Taking a deep breath, Takshak said, "Don't worry so much about me, Elder Vyom, I am fine." Gritting his teeth and hiding the pain from his face, Takshak added, "Let's quickly go to the Shailyachikitsa (Medical Hall). We will all be healed there."
Supporting Takshak by the shoulder out of concern, Elder Vyom said, "You don't need to hide your pain. You can safely lean your weight on me so I can take you for treatment."
Accepting Elder Vyom's suggestion, Takshak placed his steps slowly and said, "Alright then, let's go."
Vishakha and Elder Vyom gave Takshak a shoulder to lean on, helping him inside the palace, while Maya was also taken inside with Yamini's support.
Inside the palace, 3 Vaidyas were called for the three injured to treat them as quickly as possible. The three were sent to the medical hall, where several anesthetic and body-numbing pills were used for their treatment.
Vishakha, Takshak, and Maya received stitches in several places on their bodies. Ointments and bandages were also applied. But Takshak's condition was far worse than the other two. He hadn't been badly cut by a sword or pierced by terrifying arrows; instead, one of his shoulders and a knee were completely shattered, as if they had been smashed by a heavy object like a mace or a hammer.
Takshak was taken to a special chamber where they treat the critically injured whose treatment is almost impossible. During treatment in that place, even numbing pills don't work for the internal pain, and the procedure is extremely agonizing and full of screams.
Meanwhile, Vishakha and Maya's wounds had been stitched and bandaged. The Vaidyas sent both of them to the palace's Prana Pool. The Vaidyas told them to stay in the Prana Pool for exactly 2 weeks.
The Prana Pool area was a completely open hall, with a pool in the center made by mixing various rare herbs, chemicals, and ingredients. Its green liquid could heal all injuries in a matter of days. Even though the process was very slow, it could heal muscles, internal injuries, or even damaged organs.
In the Prana Pool, Vishakha and Maya were submerged without any clothes on.Vishakha was submerged up to her face; she didn't look like she was in the mood to talk about the recent mission. Maya was also submerged up to her shoulders at the edge of the Prana Pool, her eyes closed, circulating her internal origin energy throughout her body.
Maya suddenly opened her eyes and looked at her left arm. Her arm had turned slightly black, and the veins had turned dark brown. Maya immediately suppressed the blackness from her arm and cast an illusion technique over it, making her arm look completely normal again. With a faint smile playing on our lips, "This is just the beginning."