Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

"Ugh," Yan Zaizen slowly awoke from state of forced unconsciousness. His entire body felt both itchy and wet as he opened his eyes to survey the room. Observing the room, he saw an emerald color room with a black door that stood out considerably. The room itself was quite large, and even with a glance around, he felt that he couldn’t see it all. He was situated in a rather shallow pool of liquid.

"What’s this?" He lifted up his palm to find green liquid seeping through his fingers. It was reminiscent of water but thicker. It smelled of a unique fragrance that made him feel relaxed and safe, like entering the embrace and solace of nature. Despite the itchy feeling on his body, he didn’t feel like it was uncomfortable, but more so like that itch was constantly being scratched.

"I’m surprised. With your injuries, I thought it’d take longer." A voice said from behind him. Yan Zaizen’s pupils constricted to a needle as he immediately turned around causing soft waves to ripple in the pool.

"Who?!" He loudly asked.

"Shin Xuanji, Master’s eighth disciple. It’s a pleasure, Ninth Brother." Appearing before Yan Zaizen with soft steps, Shin Xuanji held a slight smile emitting friendliness. This smile of friendliness made Yan Zaizen feel odd, and his instincts were tingling at the sight of this youth.

Shin Xuanji looked to be around 19-20 years of age, incredibly handsome, soft black eyes that brimmed with intelligence, and long shoulder-length black hair. He wore black robes in a similar fashion to Han Genji, but they weren’t dirty or torn, and instead looked rather decent. The dirty old man looked like a bum off the side of the street, but this man looked like a handsome young master of some clan.

"Where am I?" He cautiously inquired, staying at the edge of the pool away from Shin Xuanji. For some reason, he kept feeling odd looking at that harmless smile of his.

"Home, Ninth Brother." He answered.

Yan Zaizen frowned at this. It seems like this youth and that dirty old man was more alike than he realized. They both loved to give crypt answers. Decisively deciding to ignore this youth, Yan Zaizen inspected his body with self-observation of his spiritual sense. He exclaimed in surprise upon finding out a majority of his injuries were almost healed completely. There were faint motes of green light fluttering about his body, constantly helping his body self-repair his body properly and correctly.

Shin Xuanji didn’t take being ignored to heart, "You’ve been healing in the Earthly Wood Spring for four full days, Ninth Brother. If you feel any discomfort, please, inform me." He approached the side of the pool while maintaining that slight smile filled with a friendly aura.

"Earthly Wood Spring. This...?" Ceasing his self-observation, he turned towards the Earthly Wood Spring only to find out it indeed carried traces of wood-attributed essence. World Essence that was attributed carried all types of miraculous effects, and if used to cultivate in, one would have a greater understanding towards that specific law. If one had a cultivation method aligned with that element, their initial stages of cultivation would be far easier, and their foundation thicker than other cultivators of the same level. A single drop of attributed essence was one hundred times the worth of a drop of world essence.

Too many uses, too little in the world.

"Yes. The Earthly Wood Spring is filled with wood essence and through a formation set up by Master, can help rejuvenate and heal the body." He replied patiently, then added upon some thought, "But you, Ninth Brother, were in the pool for four days, your injuries must’ve been quite intense." Shin Xuanji reached the pool, kneeled, and slowly caressed the Earthly Wood Spring.

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"May I know the name of Ninth Brother?" Shin Xuanji innocently asked. However, Yan Zaizen’s soul felt a strange intent emitting from Shin Xuanji. Vigilant and curious, he once more looked Shin Xuanji up and down in re-evaluation. This youth felt dangerous. However, he couldn’t think of a reason to hide his name.

"Yan Zaizen."

The entire room stilled suddenly, making the atmosphere feel awkward and thick.

"Yan? From the Yan Clan?" Shin Xuanji asked.

"Yes."

"Zen? From the head family line?"

"...Yes."

He wasn’t surprised that the youth knew the Yan Clan or his family line, Zen, but what surprised him was the feeling of danger kept increasing with each passing second. Typically, the names of a few races in the myriad realms were named with their surname originating from their family, their family line name being integrated with their actual name. Therefore, Yan Zaizen’s actual name would simply be ’Zai’. Han Genji and Han Zhenji were great examples of this, seeing as they were biological brothers.

"Zai?" Shin Xuanji asked as if recalling something.

"...Yes?"

Shin Xuanji looked at Yan Zaizen with a pair of inquisitive eyes, and then the atmosphere and sensation of danger completely disappeared. "Ninth Brother Zai, Master instructed me to inform him of your awakening. I shall take my leave." Getting up, he left the room with soft and well-paced steps. Yan Zaizen simply eyed him out the door, only releasing a soft sigh of relief after he left.

For some reason, he felt like he just escaped a death sentence.

Thinking about it, perhaps it wasn’t that simple.

The door opened almost immediately, revealing a dirty old man with a slight smile. Truly, teacher and disciple had similarities. Asuras. Asuras the lot of them!

"Come. Kowtow to your master." Han Genji demanded. Yan Zaizen was caught completely off guard.

Who wants you as a master?!

In truth, Yan Zaizen should be ecstatic - anyone would. An Origin Core Realm Cultivator taking you as a master is essentially being deemed a disciple of one of the powerhouses of the country, but Yan Zaizen felt differently. He had too many treasures that could easily be exposed by someone with a greater cultivation base, and he didn’t know Han Genji intentions. He was beyond what vigilant could describe.

Han Genji frowned.

Yan Zaizen’s heart tightened. He felt like he had a choice to make, death or discipleship. Taking a deep breath, he rose up from the pool and trudged his way over. He kowtowed three times to this dirty old man.

"Good! Good! Ninth Disciple of I, Han Genji, rise."

Rising up and looking at this dirty old man with that complacent smile on his face, he decided that if he was going to be forced to be his disciple, then he might as well milk it for all its worth and pray his secret stash doesn’t get exposed. "Disciple Greets Master."

With a soft nod of approval, Han Genji turned and left. His last words lingering through the entire cavern, "I’ll be going on a short trip. Lin Feilin, instruct him while I’m gone."

"Yes, Master." A cold, feminine voice responded.

Lin Feilin?

He walked through the door to catch a glimpse of Shin Xuanji and a female next to him. She looked like the epitome of ice-cold. He couldn’t help but shiver just looking at her. She looked to be about 23-24, had ice-white hair, light blue eyes that chilled the room, a neutral expression of indifference, and quite beautiful in regards to appearance. Similarly, she donned a black robe suitable for females adorned on his lithe body. It created a sharp contrast from her lightly colored features.

She turned to him. Her eyes felt like a black hole that sucked in all emotions and left only indifference. With a voice so cold it felt like it’d just turned winter, "Ninth Brother, get dressed."

He gulped. Looked downwards and found out he was naked.

Butt. Naked.

Shit, did I just kowtow in my birthday suit? Wait, where’s my clothes?

He turned towards Lin Feilin who seemed to have closed her eyes, and slight disgust at her lips. Was he really that disgusting to look at?