Chapter 5: Azure Dragon Scripture
Li Jian scowled as he looked at Shen Mu with eyes that could kill. It was clear that had this other person not arrived, then Li Jian would without a doubt have caused problems for Xue Wei, but now that the son of the City Lord was present, he did not dare to do anything.
"You won't be this lucky next time!" Li Jian sneered as he turned around and left, leaving behind only Xue Wei and Shen Mu where they stood.
"I am so sorry!" Shen Mu said apologetically, and he truly looked incredibly sad. "I was too obsessed with getting my hands on a Rising Mountain Dewflower that I even lost track of you, and when I returned, I saw you were caught by Li Jian."
"Li Jian is a no-good guy; he is not a nice fellow. Try to stay clear of him whenever you can." Shen Mu sighed, but although he looked sad, a twinkle sparkled in his eyes and his arms were grabbing hold of a paper bag with a jade case within. It was clear that this was his treasured Rising Mountain Dewflower.
Xue Wei shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he said blandly. He was not disappointed in Shen Mu vanishing like that, because he had never really expected anything from Shen Mu, and although the latter considered them friends, Xue Wei still only saw him as an acquaintance.
Xue Wei returned to look at the stall in front of him as if nothing had happened before and ended up purchasing a few books. Shen Mu tried to convince him to eat out at one of the dining places, but Xue Wei was adamant on returning home.
He had made it a ritual to always eat his meals together with his uncle, and this was something he did not want to lose out on.
This was not the last time that Xue Wei visited town. As the weeks and months went by, Xue Wei went to the markets at least once a week to purchase newspapers, books, and other readable information from the vast world.
It was not every time he went with Shen Mu, sometimes he went on his own, and when he did, he quickly experienced that Li Jian would know about him coming out to do some shopping.
Li Jian would not let go of any chance to ridicule and torment Xue Wei. At the start, this began as verbal sparring, but Xue Wei was very scholarly. He had read so many books and knew so much that it was impossible to defeat him using words, and thus Li Jian had no other option than to resort to using his fists.
At the beginning, it did not hurt Xue Wei too much. Li Jian was still just a mortal and a ten-year-old child to boot. Although he had gained some Qi, he was still not a first layered Ordinary Warrior and thus his punches did not sting too much, but as time went on and he became stronger and stronger, Xue Wei became more and more alert.
Li Jian made sure to always hit Xue Wei where the clothes covered his body so that no one would notice the bruises and wounds, but from time to time rumors of the bullying made it through town and arrived at the mansion, reaching Xiao Lei's ears.
When this happened, Xiao Lei would be furious. He would explode with anger, and it took everything in Xue Wei's power to keep him from going to kill Li Jian, or at least beat him up.
Slowly, years went by. Nothing much changed in the proceedings of Tiankong City, and although not many spoke about Xue Wei any more out of fear for what Xiao Lei would do if he heard them, everyone looked down on this particular young master. It was hard to respect someone who could not even become an Ordinary Warrior.
"Trash! How can someone like you even be allowed outside! You should just be hiding inside your mansion. If it were not for your uncle, I'd have crippled you for real already!" a cold and cynical voice sounded next to Xue Wei as he was walking on the street.
As he heard the voice, he sighed internally and straightened his face, completely hiding any and all emotion that could be shown.
"Young Master Li, how come you are here? I thought it was time for you to train?" Xue Wei asked casually as he lifted his head and looked at the young man in front of him.
Although some years had passed, Li Jian looked very much the same as he had done when he was a child, albeit his features had matured over the years.
Xue Wei had learned at what time the young masters of the prominent families within Tiankong City were training. It was at this time he would usually venture out into the City, but from time to time he would be unlucky and run into a young master or young miss that was taking the day off. Today was exactly such a day, and Xue Wei could not help but sigh to himself because of his bad luck.
"As if a piece of trash like you understands what it means to train in the first place," the young master of House Li snorted as he looked at Xue Wei maliciously. "Beat him up!" he grinned to the men behind him, and without delay, the young men behind him all jumped out and started kicking and beating down on Xue Wei.
These were all cultivators, and although they were only Ordinary Warriors, their strength far exceeded Xue Wei’s. He could not even hold the slightest wisp of Qi within his body, and as a result, he was beaten rather badly.
Usually, the young masters would not beat Xue Wei too much as they knew about the looming dragon behind him who would go into a fit of rage whenever Xue Wei came home wounded, but today they ignored every bit of caution and kicked and hit Xue Wei till his entire body was aching and yellow and blue bruises sprouted all over.
Returning home, Xue Wei was not too worried about himself. What worried him was how his uncle would react when he gets to see these wounds, and he sighed as he entered his room. He was planning on telling a maid to draw a bath for him when he noticed, to his great surprise, that there were no maids or servants anywhere in sight. The mansion was eerily quiet.
Looking around in his room, Xue Wei noticed that something was amiss. On the table were some things that he had not placed there, and he went to look.
On the table were a leaflet, a document, a big chest, a handwritten note, and a ring. At first, Xue Wei picked up the note and read it.
"Little Wei, it has now been five years since I took you in, and I have enjoyed every single moment of the time. I never once considered you a burden, and to me, you are more important than the entire world. Unfortunately, I need to leave for an unknown period of time. You can stay in the mansion as you please."
"I know that in these five years that what has bothered you the most is not the lack of memories, but the fact that you could not cultivate. I have spent a lot of time and resources, and finally I managed to get my hands on a cultivation technique which could be suitable for you."
"The reason you cannot cultivate is not because of poor talent but because you need a special Martial Art manual, and this I have found for you. It is called the Azure Dragon Scripture and was originally made by the ancient clan that controlled the Eastern Territory, but by now they are long since legends."
"Do not share this Scripture with anyone else and when you have memorized it, burn the copy that I have left behind for you."
"Secondly, I have also left behind the documents and deed of this mansion. If you are to live here, you should own the mansion. You can always give it back to me when we meet again."
"Thirdly, I also left a chest filled with gold coins for you. Living is not free and especially not in a city like this. There should be enough gold to last you until I return."
"Finally, I left you my ring. My ring is not an ordinary ring. It is the symbol of my family. When you get strong enough, you will notice that it also has some hidden uses, but you need strength first of all."
"I have not told anyone that I have left for long. My friends and the major families believe that I have gone hunting Primordial Beasts for a couple of years. Do not tell them anything differently."
"I look forward to seeing you again soon – your uncle Xiao Lei."
Having read the letter, Xue Wei felt both ecstatic and depressed. He was ecstatic at the prospect of him possibly being able to cultivate, but he was heartbroken that his uncle had needed to leave. These last five years had been great exactly because his uncle had been by his side to look after him. No matter how useless Xue Wei had been, his uncle Lei had never looked down upon him, nor had he treated him badly.
"I will become strong and make you proud!" Xue Wei swore and ensured that no one could enter the room before he sat down and started reading the Azure Dragon Scripture.
The scripture was very similar to the martial arts he had seen before, with the only change being that it flowed through a different pattern in his body before entering his dantian.
The cultivation within the continent of Chang'an was split into different ranks. The first rank was the rank of an ordinary Warrior, which had nine layers, then came the ranks of an Earth Warrior, which was similarly nine layers, followed by the rank of a Sky Warrior before one became a Heavenly Warrior.
Heavenly Warriors were amazing; even Tiankong City only had three heavenly warriors, where his uncle was one of them.
The majority of the younger generation were all Ordinary Warriors, but some of them were in the seventh and eighth layers, their strength nearing the Earth Warrior stage!
Tiankong City was one of the major cities within Heping Kingdom and all the young masters were considered geniuses of their time.
Although they had not been fed medicinal pills, their family had spent some copper, silver, and even gold on buying medicinal plants for their consumption to increase their strength.
Xue Wei had never been able to cultivate, so he was not even in the first layer of the Ordinary Warrior rank, but he was not going to give up easily. Now that he had understood that his uncle had found a chance for him to become a cultivator, he was willing to become even more hardworking than anyone else to make up for the five years he had not cultivated.
As soon as he had learned the Azure Dragon Scripture by heart, Xue Wei took a small candle and burnt both the copy of the Martial Art alongside the note that his uncle had left behind before he picked up the ring he had been given and placed it on his finger.
He took a deep breath and calmed his heart, which was beating rapidly from the excitement.
Taking in a deep breath and seated in meditation, Xue Wei felt how the energy in the surrounding area all rushed towards him, and as he guided it through his body in accordance to how the Azure Dragon Scripture said he should do it, Xue Wei was hardly breathing due to being too anxious. Was this really going to work or was it just a pointless effort?
The energy that flowed through Xue Wei's body slowly changed from a white mist-like energy into a dense golden wisp of energy. This golden wisp of energy entered his dantian and slowly rotated around itself in a never-ending spiral, sending pulsing waves through his body.
Xue Wei opened his eyes, and he was ecstatic! This was only a small wisp of energy, but because of this, he had already become an Ordinary Warrior of the first layer!
"Nothing can stop me now!" Xue Wei said to himself, and his eyes gleamed with excitement.