Chapter 5: The Beginning of the Path
The child stood frozen before the mysterious man, who looked like a matured version of himself. The air on the grassy plain was gentle and warm, yet it carried a hidden majesty, as if this place was not merely an illusion, but a sacred land ruled by laws unknown to mortals.
The child swallowed hard, his eyes fixed on the man's features. He wanted to ask dozens of questions, but the words stuck in his throat. In the end, he could only repeat in a trembling voice:
"Wh… who are you?"
The man did not answer immediately. Instead, he lifted his head slightly toward the sky, as though he did not even see the child before him. A moment of silence passed—an eternity compressed into an instant—before his cold yet steady voice descended:
"I am what you will become… if you survive."
The child froze, his young mind unable to comprehend the meaning right away. "What I will become?" The thought itself seemed impossible. Yet, deep within, he felt that the words were neither a trick nor a dream. This man was indeed connected to him in a way he could not explain.
The man stepped forward once. The ground itself seemed to tremble beneath his weight, even though he revealed no spiritual energy or power. His very presence alone was enough to make the child's heart pound violently, as if he stood before a towering mountain about to crush him.
The man spoke calmly:
"You are weak now—so weak you cannot even protect your own life. But within you lies a different seed… a seed that will not be extinguished, even if the world itself tries to smother it."
The child involuntarily stepped back, his small hand trembling. He tried to speak:
"I… I'm just trash without cultivation… everyone says so."
The man chuckled softly, not with mockery but with a strange certainty:
"Trash cannot rise after death. Trash does not plant hatred in its heart that burns like fire. What you have inside is not weakness… but the beginning of a path."
Silence reigned once more, broken only by the sound of wind embracing the green plain. For a moment, the child felt the man's words sink into his soul, yet at the same time they stirred fear. Could he truly be more than just a helpless boy?
The man slowly raised his hand, and in his palm appeared a tiny point of light, like a pearl breathing softly. Its colors shifted between blue and silver, radiating a sacred power unlike any mortal energy.
He spoke as he gazed at the light:
"This… is not your power yet. But you will learn to make it part of you. Think of it as a seed… a seed that will grow with you, mature with you, and fight with you."
The child's eyes widened, and his feet moved unconsciously toward the light. He felt a strange warmth filling his chest, as if this point of light called only to him. When he reached out to touch it, it suddenly vanished and entered his chest, leaving behind a searing mark that made his heart leap violently.
The boy cried out in pain and fell to his knees, yet within the agony he felt something different… a faint sensation of power flowing into his veins—weak, but undeniably there.
The man approached him, his eyes glowing with a mysterious gleam, and said in a tone that allowed no argument:
"From this moment on, your body is no longer merely that of a weak child. This seed will keep you alive… but it will grant you nothing without a price. The path before you is long, and every step demands a cost."
The boy raised his head with difficulty, his face damp with cold sweat. He asked hoarsely:
"Wh… what path?"
The man looked far into the horizon, his voice carrying a deep echo:
"The path of cultivation… the path of blood… a path where every moment may be your last. But remember this well: if you want to live, if you want revenge, if you want to prove the world wrong about you… never retreat."
The child felt the words carved into his soul like an unbreakable vow. Yet inside him remained the torn innocence that whispered with fear:
"But… I don't know how…"
The man cut him off sharply:
"You will learn. The beginning is not knowing how—it is deciding never to stop. Your survival until now… that is your first lesson."
At that moment, the scene began to fade. The green horizon dissolved, and the blue sky vanished like smoke. Darkness returned to swallow everything. The last thing the boy saw was a faint smile on the man's face, and a phrase whispered before he disappeared:
"Remember… everything begins with a single question: Who are you?"
The boy's eyes snapped open, finding himself once again lying in the dark alley, his body covered in blood. The pain had not disappeared, yet his chest throbbed with a power he had never known before. The emptiness in his heart was gone. Something new r
esided within him… something that refused to die.