Chapter 56: The Truth of the Fall Part 1

"I didn't think I would be called," Yao muttered as he walked onto the stage, Freezing Tail still in its scabbard.

"Not going to draw your sword?" the outsider spat. "I'll at least give you the honor of knowing who killed you. My name is Liang. Die, like your junior."

"That fool should not have fought at all," Yao sighed as he walked toward Liang. "His weapon was inadequate for the task, much like yours."

"You bastard!" Liang roared and burst toward Yao, his scimitars crossed to behead Yao. Everyone watched, eyes widening, as Yao made no movement at all. Everyone cried out and averted their eyes, thinking Yao to be dead. However, they heard the cry of an older male and looked back. Yao had actually caught the scimitars with his bare hands.

"What?" Liang cried.

"Yeah. My body is strange. I can't be cut my ordinary weapons and trinkets. Don't know why, but I'm not complaining," Yao shrugged as he crushed the scimitars with his tyrannical strength and punched Liang's throat. Liang choked as Yao kicked the back of Liang's left knee. As Liang fell on his knees, Yao grabbed his head and smashed it on the ground. He stomped on the back of Liang several times before the opponent lost consciousness.

"Yao?" the Overseer said, narrowing his eyes.

"What? I'm not one for finesse. I like gazing at the clouds and not wasting movement, Overseer," Yao bowed and kicked the unconscious Liang back to his sect. "He can keep his life. I need to make a report to the grandmaster."

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"You're leaving?" one of the disciples cried.

"I kicked his ass. I don't need to be here further. I have other duties to the sect," Yao snarled at the disciple. "You would bar my way? On my way to the grandmaster?"

"Of course not, Senior Yao," the disciples cried as the Overseer glared at him.

Yao walked over to the Overseer and whispered, "Their numbers are too many and it is clear they are not here for a friendly competition. I must do my duty and warn the grandmaster and his wards."

"Do it," the Overseer nodded. "I'll keep these ones at bay. None are a match for me as all they complied to the sect's rules. If the core disciples fall, they will strike me down. You have until then."

Yao made sure to walk as normally as possible. He did not want to gain the attention of the others more than he already had. Yao left the inner sect area and returned to the outer sect area. Yao paused as he entered a crossroad to two paths. One lead to the mountain where the core of the sect had while the other led to an abandoned mountain that contained various magical beasts that roamed its grounds. He entered right road and stopped before a forest of a group of peach trees that were planted all over the foot of the mountain. Yao went toward one that he had visited many times before, the same one where he had been atop on of its branches to gaze at the clouds.

Most people did not know why Yao was allowed to stay at that tree in peace. it was as mysterious as the inner sect and outer sect not being built near the core of their sect. They didn't know it, but the core of the sect was built there at the advice of the grandmaster, the Great Lion Turtle, itself. It wanted outsiders to believe it lived on that mountain and even had the headmaster deceive the sect's disciples. Only truly talented disciples, who passed its test, were able to visit the grandmaster when the Great Lion Turtle visited the core sect.

Three years ago, it had been a year since Yao had entered the sect. That same year, he had visited the Great Lion Turtle as it had wanted to meet the one who evolved its Great Serpent Strike technique. When it gazed upon him, it deemed him worthy of knowing where it truly lived and had him guard one of the entrances to its home. However, he had never been inside. The benefit was that the opening, at the bottom of the tree's roots, had dense quantities of spirit energy.

It was there that he had cultivated. He always wondered about why his Mystic Stone was different than others. Just this morning, a few hours before Han went to find him, Yao Wu had a breakthrough and discovered why he was different. As Yao entered the hill where the tree lay, Yao felt the planet's life force stir within him, as if something was blocking his connection and could no longer be contained. His Mystic Stone shattered, replaced by the Mystic Crystal. With it, his memories returned. He was not Yao Wu. He was Shu of the Lu Clan.

"Ugh, shit," Shu moaned as he fell to his knees. "Is this the illusory formation? If so, why did I regain my memories? Why am I Shu when I am still Yao?"

"This petty formation cannot block our connection forever," the Great Spirit within him said, its voice echoing in his mind. You blocking the scimitar with your bare hands was the key. Your body is weak, but your soul is strong. It allowed you to remember your strange demon body technique. It had fused with your skin long ago. It is not a technique you practice anymore, as it has become one with your body. Same with my own physical body. How can this formation seal your soul from me? No spirit is more powerful than that of a Great Spirit. If they were mages, it would have worked as they are not Practitioners. The illusory formation has lost its hold on you. Quickly run out of here and pass its test."

"I can't. I have to do Yao's task. I feel as if the task is vital for my escape," Shu said, entering the bottom of the tree. Shu quickly used his dark spirit technique, Phantasmal Sky, to move ten times his speed, going deeper inside the tunnel he had entered. He could feel the pull of a foreign influence, as if it tried to stop him from executing his technique. All he could hear was the echoes of the Dragon Fox's laughter in his mind as he accelerated his speed.

Shu smiled as he saw light at the end of the tunnel. He slowed his speed as he entered a bright, underground sanctuary. His eyes widened as he saw bright green crystals lightened the sanctuary, like stars in the sky, as he had entered a place similar to a grand garden. At the back of the sanctuary was an ancient being. He wore a simple white cloak over his body with a crown of antlers on his head. Shu cried out as he felt something akin to an invisible hand grab him, pulling him toward the ancient elder.

"Hello, Shu. You are the descendant of the one known as Lu Feng. No one is watching you right now. I have stopped your scene and switched to one of the other nine who are trapped in the same illusion as you. As you might have guessed, you have broken the illusion's hold on you. People will believe you have made your escape as you walked toward the peach tree," the ancient one said. "I am more ancient than Lu Feng. He never heard of my sect before he was bron or went into hiding."

"Can it be? Are you the Great Lion Turtle magical beast I met as Yao Wu? If you are human in this illusory formation, than you are a magical beast that reached the Spirit Sage tier, not a human Spirit Sage!" Shu gasped. "Does anyone know of your origin?"

"None, save the Bone Demon, the Overseer of the Planet. I spiked his intrigue as it is rare for a magical beast to reach the Spirit Sage tier in my day. Perhaps you have met him. Perhaps not. As a magical beast, I can sense a being most holy and powerful in your Mystic Crystal. It must be the Dragon Fox. Otherwise, why would a drake bow to you. No doubt, your ancestor must have figured something out. He never came out before. You and he must have a connection of sorts," the ancient elder said.

"What happens now?" Shu asked.

"Yao made it to this sanctuary. He died a few years later, trying to get revenge for his sect. Han and Ling left the Rokkam Kingdom. They died of old age as they did not reach the Spirit Knight tier. The next tier in cultivation rids the possibility of death by the expiration of lifespans. In other words, you can live for eternity if you are not killed first. I had a son. He was the one Yao had met, not me. He believed he met me. My son died, betrayed by one of the core disciples who revealed his location. He lived in the other mountain, masquerading as me," the Spirit Sage sighed. "I ask that you live as Yao a little longer and escape as he did. That way, no one suspects what you did here today. I also request a meeting with you and your ancestor tonight. I must share some news with him."

"That means I cannot use my techniques," Shu nodded. "How will I return?"

"I will send you back to the cross roads, as I did to the real Yao long ago. You must head back into the array you told Han about. That is how you will succeed in this game. You cannot die. Even I cannot fake your death here as the people will watch you once more. Can you accept my request?" the Great Lion Turtle asked.

"I will accept. I get to learn this variation of the ten spirit techniques. It is a superior version fit for me," Shu nodded, while a purple light surrounded him as he closed his eyes.

"Everyone run! We're under attack!" voices shouted as buildings burned and death cries filled the sky with grief and regret.

Shu rushed to the inner sect, pausing as he saw the Black Mantis Sect members make their move. He drew Freezing Tail and cut the man in front of him as he raced to the square. Shu narrowed his eyes as the man he beat up before raced toward him, brandishing a two-handed scimitar with rage in his eyes.

"Yao Wu!" Liang roared as he raced toward him. Shu shifted his body to the side, narrowly dodging Liang's downward slash. As Liang lost his balance from the strike, Shu swirled and beheaded him in a flash. Everyone in the square paused as they felt the ground quake. They lost their footing as the quakes grew stronger and more frequent. Then the winds grew fierce and they could hear a loud growl.

"What's happening?" the Overseer frowned as he noticed all the Black Mantis Sect members bow and plant their backs against the wall of the square.

"Dragon!" the disciples cried as a black dragon appeared from over the mountain where Shu had been as Yao, gazing at the clouds earlier that day.

"What kind of dragon is that?" the disciples cried as they stared at the black dragon, trembling with fear in their legs and shock in their hearts. The dragon's front arms had its wings on the back of the arms. it's hind legs had large spikes on the sides. Like a mantis, it had four wings, each of them blasting the air with tremendous gusts with every flap of the wings. Its eyes were also like a mantis, compound with no eye lids. Its eyes were oval and extended from its eyes sockets to the side. It had horns extending to the back of its head with spikes from its brow to the end of its tail. It was an abomination. That is what humans called magical beasts that were the only ones of its kind. They always feared the mutations among magical beasts.

Get out of the square!" the Overseer shouted, seeing fire gather in its mouth with his superior eyesight. Everyone ran, screaming as fire burned the skies and burned the land. The smell of burnt meat and ash filled the sky as the dragon flew over the inner and outer sect, burning rivers of fire on the land on anyone not wearing black robes. The Black Mantis Sect members ignored the screaming disciples and headed toward the main building of the inner sect, greed in their hearts as they sought to loot its treasures. The Overseer and the inner sect masters retreated into the building as they tried to fight them off.