Immortal Vol 1 Book 1: Chapter 22

“It means that whenever I mention the signal, you have to listen to me. You have to listen to me even it’s something you absolutely don’t want to do. Otherwise, I will tell the grandmaster when I come back that you haven’t listened to me.” Zhong Shan seriously said.

“That’s no fun at all. I don’t want it.” Tianling-er showed her displeasure immediately.

“No, on this matter, we have to agree upon in advance. If the thing I ask you to do is wrong, you can tell the grandmaster when we are back and even the grandmaster will punish me for it, there will not be a word of complaint from me. But if you don’t give the promise that you’ll do it, then we will not leave here at all.” Zhong Shan said even more seriously.

“En, alright, alright. You really like to nag. I’ll listen to you.” Tianling-er unwillingly agreed.

Zhong Shan lightly smiled watching Tianling-er’s expressions. She was really a pampered princess.

“Let’s find something that’s unusual. En, you like to eat ‘osmanthus cake’, then we will use ‘osmanthus cake’ as the signal. Whenever I say osmanthus cake, that will mean that I am very serious and you have to listen to. It’s a must, a must.” Zhong Shan solemnly said.

“Alright, alright. Osmanthus cake. Haha!” Tianling-er burst laughing at the phrase. What kind of signal was that?

“Ok, then it’s settled. Wait for me for a while, I’ll get my stuff then we can go.” Zhong Shan nodded and said.

Zhong Shan went into his house and came out with a huge bundle which weighed 25kg. Zhong Shan put the bundle on his back, reaching out for the big machete, and said, “Ok, let’s go.”

“Give your bundle to me to put into my storage bracelet. It’s tiring just looking at you.” Tianling-er laughed.

Zhong Shan wasn’t pretentious at all and handed over the bundle to her. He was left with only the big machete in hand.

“Ai, my red silk is only a second rank item which can only carry me. You put on your Wind Chaser Boots so we can go together.” Tianling-er said.

“Right.” Zhong Shan put the big machete on his shoulder and with his Zhenqi circling, he quickly darted out towards one direction.

Tianling-er stepped on her red silk and followed him. She was filled with joy as she was about to leave the school.

Tianling-er knew the path to out of the mountains. She led Zhong Shan past the magic formation and come out of the Kaiyang School.

Zhong Shan saw the small cottage again when they were outside of the Kaiyang School. He sighed to himself; he was a member of the immortal school now.

Zhong Shan didn’t stop by the cottage to greet ‘Shousan’, rather he led Tianling-er das.h.i.+ng swiftly towards one direction.

When he had first arrived, it took him several months to go through the mountain range. Zhong Shan believed that with his strength now plus the Wind Chaser Boots, it would take no more than 15 days for them to reach his villa.

Running in the mountains for a whole day, both of them were somewhat tired by nightfall. They located a nice area. Zhong Shan took out two hammocks from his bundle. He tied both high on tall trees and spread some medicine to prevent poisonous bugs.

“Ok, we will sleep on those hammocks tonight.” Zhong Shan turned around and said to Tianling-er.

Tianling-er’s eyes sparkled, looking at the hammock between two trees. She looked at Zhong Shan with excitement.

“Zhong Shan, this is great. How did you think of it?” Tianling-er immediately flew onto one of the hammock and lied down on it, twisting and turning and swinging in excitement..

Seeing Tianling-er acting like a young girl, Zhong Shan shook his head but didn’t say anymore. He also leaped a few times to reach his own hammock.

“Alright, you can watch the stars. I’ll sleep now.” Zhong Shan said.

Tianling-er lying on the hammock, in a hyperactive state watched the star covered sky and listening to the chirping and whirring of insects. It looked like it would take a long while before she would fall asleep.

Meanwhile, over at the country of Da Kun and inside the Zhong residence, Zhong Shan’s shadow sat cross legged in his room.

Shadow Zhong Shan slowly stood up and grabbed a small book from the table next to him. On the cover, there were the words, ‘Shadow a.s.sault Technique’. It was the manual that the original Zhong Shan body has seen in the library of the Kaiyang School. There was also a piece of paper stuck in between pages, a piece of paper with the picture of Hao San.

With the manual in hand, the Shadow Zhong Shan slightly shook his body and instantly turned into a black silhouette, then turned again into a real shadow. The shadow pa.s.sed through the tiny door slit and went out of the house in the dark. Under the moonlight, a black shadow swiftly moving forward. It was as fast as a ghost and disappeared in a flash.

The shadow was different from the body. The shadow seemed to have an excellent innate talent in practicing Taiying Zhenjing. It progressed very fast; whenever the body had a breakthrough, the shadow would breakthrough immediately. As of now, the Shadow Zhong Shan was also at the third level of Xiantian.

Two hours later, a black shadow entered a valley. There were many houses inside the valley yet they were still hidden from the view.

Shadow Zhong Shan went directly towards a big hall right in the middle of all the houses. On the plaque on the hall, there were three black characters, ‘暗夜堂’ (An Ye Tang).

An Ye Tang was a nightmare for the rulers of Da Kun and the other five surrounding countries. It was an organization of a.s.sa.s.sins. Its members included numerous a.s.sa.s.sins with unparalleled strength. Many of them had reached the tenth level of Houtian. There was rumors that there were even some who had reached Xiantian. In these six countries, it was a term that would terrify people by mere mention.

In front of the hall, Zhong Shan showed his body and walked inside step by step.

There was only one person inside the hall. He was holding a lamp and studying a big map.

He didn’t sense Zhong Shan’s approach at all.

“Who is it?” Finally when Zhong Shan had entered the hall, the person, now alerted, turned around to look while holding a slender sword in his hand.

When he saw who had arrived, he relaxed.

This was a man about fifty years old, with an ordinary face. He had the kind of look that no one would notice in a crowd.

“Master.” When he saw Zhong Shan, he immediately greeted him in reverence.

“Ah, Anhuang, I have told you many times that we can just refer to each other as brothers. Why do you still do this? Besides, you have already reached Xiantian yet refuse to be selected by immortal schools, it’s very unfair to you.” Zhong Shan shook his head.

“Master, you have saved my life, gotten revenge for my clan, parents, wife, and children. I have sworn that I will be loyal to master for my whole life without any complaints. There is nothing about that which is unfair.” Anhuang respectfully said.

“You are now the head of An Ye Tang.  n.o.bles and royals of every countries would get the chills when they hear your name.” Zhong Shan shook his head and smiled.

“It is because of you master that I can accomplish all this. An Ye Tang will always be loyal to master.” Anhuang immediately said.

“En, I won’t keep talking so you don’t have to keep calling me master. This is a manual for Xiantian practice. You can continue with your practice.” Zhong Shan put the little book in front of Anhuang.

“A Xiantian practicing manual?” Anhuang said in surprise.

He carefully picked it up and saw ‘Shadow a.s.sault Technique’ written on the cover.

“I’m practicing Xiantian right now, but a different manual. This one is also a top manual; it has ten levels which can allow you to breakthrough into the Gold Core Stage. You practice hard, once you reach Gold Core Stage, I would find other manual for you.” Zhong Shan looked at Anhuang and said in earnest.

“Yes, I will practice very hard. And I will train the best a.s.sa.s.sins for master at the same time.” Anhuang respectfully said.

“Oh, yeah, inside the book there’s a picture. It’s the picture of a high level Xiantian. You send people out to search for him, whether he still lives or not, just try to find him. You don’t need to do anything after locating him, just let me know.” Zhong Shan spoke.

“Yes, I will use all my effort to find this person.” Anhuang bowed.

“Alright, alright, I’ll be going now. You continue.” Zhong Shan shook his head and said.

Zhong Shan slowly walked out of the hall. Once he was out of the sight of Anhuang, he turned into a shadow and moved quickly following the same route to go back.

Looking at the ‘Shadow a.s.sault Technique’ in his hand, Anhuang sighed but at the same time, he looked at the direction where Zhong Shan had disappeared into with determination in his eyes.

The Zhong Shan body woke up the next day before day break. He didn’t wake up Tianling-er who had stayed up most of the night. He took down the hammock and started practicing his machete form nearby.

Mountain Splitter! Annihilating Slas.h.!.+

He was practicing on a large rock; what he wanted to do was to cut the rock open like cutting tofu. He had to find the weak points of the rock.

It was Zhong Shan’s own invention. The one who created the form didn’t expect there would be someone like Zhong Shan who would not only practice on lumber but also on rock.

Zhong Shan practiced for two hours before he stopped. He sat down cross legged to do breathing exercise.

At this time, Tianling-er finally woke up. She saw Zhong Shan was practicing hard and felt somewhat ashamed. Tianling-er’s innate talent was the opposite of Zhong Tian’s. Hers was so good that she didn’t even have to put in too much effort and she could still progress faster than most people.

Zhong Shan didn’t dare to practice for too long since they were out in the wild. He only went through what he learned from cutting the rock before.

When he slowly opened his eyes, he saw Tianling-er’s flas.h.i.+ng big eyes. The rising sun s.h.i.+ned on her porcelain like face making her look like a glowing art piece.