Pathway To Eternity 14 The Last-Sword Sec

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Your own positive future begins in this moment. All you have is right now. Every goal is possible from here." - Dao of the way.

Ealier in the year, Haider had reached the age of ten. Age ten was the maximum a young cultivator must be to be successfully accepted into any major sect. They were very particular about the age because it was much more easier for the soul foundation of the young cultivator to be molded in a properly suitable way for the sect. Therefore, he could no longer delay in finding a sect.

Haider's grandfather, Aodh, who had been in charge of looking for a suitable sect for Haider had located the three most powerful swords sects on Terra. The Sword Saints sect on the Yamachi continent, the Infinite Sword sect on the Xuanpu continent and the Last Sword sect on the Ankhora continent.

The most famous was the Sword Saints due to the n.o.ble and wealthy families patronizing them. The largest in number of cultivators and biggest in size among the three was the Infinite Swords. The debatably most powerful in terms of strength and manuals was the Last Sword sect. All these sword sects were backed by powerfull figures, hegemons and ancestral G.o.ds who had ascended to the heavenly realms. Even legends had it that, the Sword Saints were backed by a pureG.o.d.

After a little discussions, the choice had been obvious, it could only be the Last Sword sect. Firstly, It was located on the same continent they live, with great reputation as a powerful sect. Secondly, they wanted somewhere closer to home, where they could reach quickly. Decision had been made, it would be the Last Sword sect.

Haider woke up very early. The day had finally arrived. It was the day for young cultivators to undergo trials for sect admission.

He cleaned his mouth with the willow twig before chewing some mint leaves, washed his body and put on his new robe. He quickly joined his family for breakfast, they would be accompanying him to the place.

They had been told that it would be a single day trial.

They arrived on time to see the entrance full of young cultivators seeking admission. Lots of cultivators had left by the look of things and thousands were still arriving. Kids were coming from different parts of the world, majority from the same continent of Ankhora. Obviously, Ankhora was a big continent, second only to Xuanpu in size. It had more than five billion people, of which hundreds of millions were general cultivators, but majority of these numbers were just cultivators that would die still sensing Chi talkless of gathering Chi. True cultivation started from gathering Chi, of which population were only few millions.

Out of these few millions, were the thousands of young cultivators who were still trooping unto the sect premises for the trials.

The setting of the sect premises were impressive. The cultivators didn't need to enter inside the sect premises for trials because at the entrance to the sect premises was a stone pillar.

An ancestral monolith! The stone of paths.

It was a marble monolith and on the monolith were three crystals; red[body], yellow[spirit] and blue[element]. Any cultivator of level lesser than Lianchi would be automatically pushed back by the monolith.

The red crystal was used to measure body strength, the yellow for the Chi energy level and the blue for the elements in general. As long as the three reached the brilliance level required, the monolith would give off a sound of acceptance, then the cultivators would proceed towards the mainhall where the sect elders were waiting.

That was everything required. Simply getting the monolith to accept.

As the young cultivators were arriving, they were placing their palms on the stone, thousands were leaving dejectedly because of their failures in meeting the requirements.

By the end of th day, the numbers would have been reduced to final numbers for admission.

Haider was in line waiting for his turn to face the monolith. He was nervous, anxious and expectant of what the results would be.

By the time it was his turn, only a few hundreds of people were left. He approached the monolith and placed his palms on the imprints. Immediately, all the stones lit up and the monolith gave the ultimate sound of acceptance. He felt calmness descended on him and was very happy when the acolytes directed him towards the main hall of the sect.

By late afternoon, all the one hundred disciples that pa.s.sed the trial were all in the main hall. On the podium of the hall, were the sect elders who were all nascent soul cultivators of early to middle stages and the grandelder who was a peak stage nascent soul cultivator.

The grandelder raised his head to look at the new disciples and nodded his head.

"We welcome you all to the Last Sword sect. Here at Last Sword, we work towards the progress and welfare of all our members especially new members. It is always our sect's ideology to behave ourselves. As ethics is a very important thing we should have."

He broke off to make sure they are all following his words as he spoke.

"We all know that you all are from different parts of the world and are abiding with different rules. I believe they all share a common vision: to help young cultivators get used to outside rules. It's a fact that all of you would eventually acquire the necessary knowledge, leave this place and enter the life outside, in which it is ruled by laws, of which survival of the strongest is paramount. It is important for you to have a sense of what they are, not only for the benefits of the sect, but also for the establishment of good values for yourselves."

He paused, allowing that to sink in.

"To give you more words showing showing the importance of this. There is a rule that needs students to be courteous and compa.s.sionate. It is easy to comply with this rule, but seldom do discciples know the underlying meaning of it. Some of you may manifest stronger strength or higher cultivation level than others, you don't need to be too boisterous about it. You are all working towards the same goal, to be better than your best. You will need to get in contact with people of different groups when embarking on the road to workforce therefore you need to find ways to get along with other disciples, sect acolytes and sect elders. Being courteous and compa.s.sionate leaves them an impression that you are a disciple with good and decent wisdom. Friendly compet.i.tions are accepted and welcomed as long as they don't threaten the lives of others and with the supervision of at least, a sect master. Once again, we welcome you all."

Spreading his arms around his sides.

"These are our sect elders, each a great leader of his or her own field. They will be guiding you attaining the necessay knowledge."

After the grandelder's speech, the sect elders introduced themselves one after the other.

"w.a.n.g Xiu, house of light. Walk the way of light and see its true glory. I welcome you all."

"Li jing, house of flora. Always take a time to smell the flowers, purest sensation. Welcome."

"Bambang, house of terra. Embrace terra and feel a mighty and binding power. Welcome ."

"Callidora, house of water. Nothing can resist water, it contains the truths. I welcome you."

"Diona, house of wood. The loveliness of the woods is before sunrise. You are all welcome."

"Aegeus, house of fire. Be courageous like fire, burn away impurities. Welcome to the life."

"Nereus, master of shadow. Shadow is part of life, it only like its privacy. Welcome all."

"Ming Yue, house of air. Don't forget to breathe, good for the body and soul. Welcome you all."

"Lixue, house of ice. Everyday is an ice day, always have it. Nice welcoming you all."

"Ju Long, house of lightning. See the full flash of lightning and be dazzled. Welcome."

"Pangfua, house of dreams and illusion. Dream and disguise the emptiness. Welcome."

"Hesiod, house of metal. Discover metal and discover the power of becoming. Welcome."

"Kos.h.i.+ng, house of Necrosism. All things are poison and nothing without poison. Welcome."

"Manchu, house of s.p.a.cetime. Distort s.p.a.ce and it affects time. I welcome you."

The grandelder continued his welcome speech after the sect masters finished their introduction.

"Simplicity, patience and compa.s.sion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compa.s.sionate toward yourself and you will reconcile all beings in the world."

The grandelder directed the new disciples towards the center of the hall where there was a circular ring on the floor with himself at the front of the ring. The disciples would stand in the middle of the ring to determine their element affiliate in the view of others and they would say their names to the grandelder. Then, the grandelder would call out their names and elements affiliation for the houses'acolytes to register. And sects badges would be handed to the disciples by the acolytes.

When it was Haider's turn, he stepped into the circular ring and it flared softly.

"Haider Amynthas. Light and lightning."

The disciples continued to step into the circle to fully determine their affiliates. House of air, house of terra and house of fire had thirteen disciples each. House of water, house of light, house of ice, house of woods and house of metal had eight students each. House of lightning and house of shadows had five students each. House of dreams and illusions, house of flora and house of necrosism had three disciples each and the house of s.p.a.cetime had two disciples.

There were eighty five disciples of one element affiliation, thirteen disciples with two elements and two disciples with three elements affiliation. Although the disciples with two elements were also hard to come by, disciples with three elements were the most revered and coveted in the sect, their potential were limitless.

Wow, three affinities. What would happen if he could add fire to his own? Fire, lightning and light, he would be able to create ribbons of fire with some lightning and light. Hehehe, that would have been a pretty sight. He could even create a fire dragon, head of fire, body of light and tail of lightning. Hahaha...pretty stuff.

Haider broke away from his daydreams in time to hear the grandelder's words.

"Now, that you have all registered for the admission, the sect doors will be opening a week from now. Go and make necessary preparations, you will be here for five months from admission date. You will be given two months break after which you are expected to return for second phase of another five months. And, when you are coming, bring twenty five gold coins for the first phase and after the break, another twenty five gold coins which makes fifty gold coins every year. If you are having trouble payjng, see your house master. Once again, you are all welcome. You can all leave orderly now."

Haider was eagerly happy to inform his mother and grandparents about it. They were already waiting for him near the entrance when he came and quickly joined them.

"Mother, grandpa, grandma, i have been accepted." He said with a big smile.

"Congratulations." They chorused happily in support.

"And we will start a week from now."

"This is good news. Let's celebrate this when we get home. It's already getting late."

"Yes, we will celebrate it at home."

They rode swords ligths out of the area before Reena used teleprtation to transport them home. She was keeping her nature quiet.

In minutes, they have reached home. They celebrated his admission in the usual way of magical turtle's meat cooked with lily tubers and ground lily leaves. Added on top of the meat was the delicious wasp honey. It was a true celebration all night.

The following morning, Reena informed lord Primus through the communication stones of Haider's admission.

"Oh, that's good news. This will benefit him a lot, Reena. I will come over in the evening."

"Okay, uncle Primus."

Since waking up, he had been checking everything he would need before he leaves for the sect.

Robe, his mother would take care of a new robe for him, not that he would need much since they will give them sect robes. These personal robes would be for informal oca.s.sions. He would need some wrriting parchmenets and quill. He would need many things and a big bag.

He couldn't think properly enough of what he needed, hence he decided to train his body using the no name technique they recieved from his uncle, lord Primus. His body had become ectremely strong and powerful, his strength could rival that of a evanesce core cultivator. He continued training until late afternoon before leaving for the pond side.

On the way to the pond, his mind wandered off again to what he needed to take with him. He would surely take his two robes, he would pack some turtle meat, some lily tubers and leaves. What more could he take? He wanted to take many things but there was nothing much to take. Maybe, he would have to think properly.

Reaching the pond area, he sat down in lotus position to clear his mind. What if he could pack a whole turtle's meat with him? That would have been better. Or, his mother could be bringing him more meat. No, not ideal. He had to look for a bigger bag. He closed his eyes and clear his mind to meditate. He couldn't meditate for long before deciding it was enough. He was on his way back to the cave when lord Primus.

"Uncle Primus!"

"Haider, good to see you. How is my nephew doing?"

"Very good, uncle. Uncle, i was accepted into the Last Sword sect."

"Yes, your mother told me. I'm very proud of you Haider. That's why i brought you a gift." Lord Primus flicked his hand and a small bag appeared in his hand, the size of his palm.

"Here, take it. Go ahead."

Haider took the small bag from his uncle and continued to look at it totally dumbstruck.

"Yes, it's a spatial sac. I thought you might need something like that to pack the things you need."

Haider's mind was in ecstasy, he didn't know when he fell on his knees in front of his uncle with teary eyes and bowed.

This would cost a big fortune. How could he recieve this for nothing?

"Aww, no need of that now, you are my nephew. I should be doing this for you anyway. Now, stand up, come on, stand up."

Haider as if in a trance, stood up slowly.

The rest of the family met them this way and were a bit curious.

"Lord Primus, we meet you well. Welcome."

"Lord Primus, we welcome you."

"Uncle Primus. You are here." Reena looked from lord Primus who was smiling to Haider who had tears of joy.

"Is everything okay, uncle Primus?"

"Nothing Reena, Haider was just too excited that i brought him a spatial bag. You see, nothing wrong."

"..." Reena.

"...." Aodh.

"...." Euanthe.

"Hehehe. I told you, it was nothing."