It was genuinely a weird feeling.
Pity directed towards me when they had their tongues ripped out by the sect.
Just the thought ran shivers down Qi Chen's spine, his stomach felt emptier than ever and his mouth tasted sour.
The only thought on his mind was 'What is going to happen to me?'
The ominous and oppressive feel of the mountain did not help with calming his nerves, every step only made the dread in him grow.
Should I just run for it?
This is a remote spot, these two are attendants, and maybe, just maybe no one will notice?
But it was just a fleeting thought, quickly shut down by the image of those killed earlier on.
Escape?
From a cultivator?
The feeling around his throat tightened, as the tyrannical fear overrode his small flicker of defiance.
Death is the only way.
The fear made his breath ragged, it was loud, the sound of his heart beating against his chest and the shallow, uneven and rapid breathing.
Fear is truly an interesting emotion.
The most primal emotion, and the one separating the majority from the heroes.
Heroes braved the waves of fear, and ordinary people?
Well they drowned in it, crippled by it, reduced to nothing but a corpse in the endless waves.
Qi Chen was drowning.
The more he walked, the more constricted he felt, his legs were stiff and he felt that he could not stop walking even if he wanted to.
The two attendants sandwiched him, one walking in front of him and the other behind him, while maintaining a certain distance, they were close enough to grab him whenever they wanted.
I am trapped.
This was the single thought occupying his mind.
He didn't even have the confidence to break free from them.
After all, he was but a scholar, while healthy, was far from physically fit, he didn't even have the smallest bit of delusion that he could beat the two in a battle.
A body unused to labour, no matter how hard he struggled, would be far from enough to break free from two strong men.
The trip was as quiet as it gets, with the only sound being the raindrops and occasional thunder.
The cold rain seeped into the very embrace of his robes, making them cling tightly onto the surface of his skin.
The heavy downpour only added to the fear within his heart.
I don't want to die.
How laughable.
Who would want to?
It was a bitter, childish thought.
Amidst his thoughts, a light tap landed on his shoulder.
"AHH!"
He shrieked before falling backwards.
His hands scraped across the mud, landing on a sharp stone, yet the pain at this moment was negligible, compared to the weight in his chest, it all felt so manageable.
The attendant's expression did not change, yet his eyes showed some understanding, pointing at a gate, he nodded before turning back, presumably back to the examination grounds.
As they left, it was only him left in the rain, his robes were stained with mud, the cold piercing rain was relentless, uncaring and cruel.
The gate was as if the gate to hell.
Less of a door, and more of a mouth that would swallow him whole, a step in there and he would never, never be able to live under the sun again.
His legs were wobbly, refusing to step up, even though they knew that what awaited inside was far from nice.
His knees threatened to give up any moment and his vision faltered against the oppressive might of fear.
The rain seemed to be a countdown, yet despite the fear, he fought with every fibre of his being, finally standing up.
Knock Knock.
"Yes yes, coming."
The door soon opened, revealing a man clad in black robes, his face showed no traces of time, a face that could not be said to be exquisite, yet carrying a feel of a cultivator's dignity.
"You are?"
"The examiner told me to come here."
His face immediately lit up, becoming even more welcoming, a huge smile showed on his face as rows of pearly white teeth shone.
"Oh, you are sent by Old Bai."
"Give me a while, I will contact him."
He rubbed the jade plaque on his waist, before a red mist appeared around it.
Closing his eyes, a small stream of a black mist poured from his fingers, covering the jade plaque.
Was that qi?
Despite being a mortal, Qi Chen could guess that it was the mystical qi.
Cultivators were after all quite well documented in the mortal realm, many mortals knew the basic details of cultivators.
That black mist seemed as if the qi he had only seen before in books.
As the black mist covered the plaque, it began to shake violently, before a small flash of red light covered it.
It was a long moment of awkward silence, the man was closing his eyes, with his fingers pointed at the jade by his waist.
Is this how cultivators communicate?
A wondrous sense of curiosity appeared in his mind, but as quickly as a bubble pops, the thought immediately dissipated.
Now is not the time for this!
But curiosity, like Pandora's box has already been opened, he stared intently at the jade plaque.
Truly wondrous, immortal arts are beyond the comprehension of us mortals!
While he was absorbed in the wondrous scene, a voice snapped him back to reality.
"Oh ho! You truly are a rare one."
His eyes were bright and his smile was even wider, looking extremely welcoming.
"Your name is Qi Chen right? Old Bai has already told me about you and your talents! Quick! Come in!"
He pushed open the door with one arm and pointed towards the abyss-like interior, his hands making a 'please' signal.
"Esteemed immortal master, can I know where you are bringing me?"
Stepping through the door, Qi Chen could no longer contain his questions, previously he got no answer out of the attendants, the suspense of fear was enough to drive him crazy.
Even if the answer was to be killed, he knew he would at least feel a bit better than the dread he is currently feeling.
Despite the dimly lit interior, a warm smile was still visible on the guard's face.
"We are bringing you to a very special place, one that rarely operates. I have just contacted the head of the pavilion just now and he is very excited to receive you."
Without getting a definite answer, Qi Chen's sense of unease could not be dispelled, fear welled up further inside him, like a well.
He knew that in a place like the Demonic Heaven Sect, 'excited', 'special' and 'rarely' are the exact words you would never want to hear.
But using some logical conclusions, he already deduced that he probably would not die.
If he would there would be no reason for the two to be so welcoming and 'warm' towards him, while pill refinement might be a probability, inferring from what the Guard said earlier, it was more unlikely.
Despite logic telling him so, the sense of unease did not ease one bit.
He could not shake off the sense of foretelling from the pity the two attendants showed.
He was certain his fate would be worse than death.
But if there is one thing mankind is willing to endure all for, it is to live.
"Please follow me."
His smile did not drop one bit, still ever so welcoming, warm and kind, yet somehow the greed in his eyes radiated intensely.
That look was the exact same that the examiner, named Old Bai, had shown him just now.
Just what exactly is with me?
Do I have some kind of extremely rare physique?
As an avid reader, he had learned through scrolls about cultivators that their 'talent' originates from two main things.
Physique and the spirit root.
The spirit root can allow one to absorb more qi or more refined qi while a physique has many mystical effects, and is incredibly rare.
He was certain it was something to do with his physique from the examiner's reaction previously but what exactly had left him at wits end.
There were more questions than answers, and the immortal way of cultivators was not exactly known to be benevolent.
Seeing the fear and uncertainty in Qi Chen's eyes, the guard did not lose his temper, instead he consoled him.
"I understand you may be afraid."
"However our sect is incredibly kind and welcoming. There is absolutely nothing to be afraid of, especially when you have the Three Qi Harmony Physique."
His words were reassuring but the words 'kind' and 'welcoming' were the exact opposite of whatever Qi Chen has experienced so far.
Three Qi Harmony?
Even more questions have appeared.
Sensing his curiosity, the guard let out a small chuckle.
"We can talk along the way."
Despite the fear, curiosity got the better of Qi Chen, and he nodded.
The place was truly bizarre.
Despite it being inside the gate, it seemed to lead to nowhere, and rather than an interior, it felt like the void.
"Those born with spiritual roots have three qi."
"Mortals often have the misconception that qi is what allows us to perform Immortal Arts. While not wrong, it is specifically Spirit Qi that allows us to do so."
Spirit Qi?
"As said, Cultivators have three qi, Spirit Qi, Soul Qi and Life Qi."
"Life Qi is the direct manifestation of life force, Spirit Qi is our cultivation and Soul Qi is the strength of our soul, a person with depleted Soul Qi at death would fail to reincarnate."
Interesting!
Truly interesting!
Seeing the pure interest the Qi Chen was radiating, the guard continued before he was arubtly cut off.
"So can I take the depletion of Soul Qi as the death of your soul, and the depletion of Life Qi to be the death of self?"
"You are smart aren't you?"
The compliment caught him off guard, his scholarly pride swelled before he quickly extinguished that thought.
Pride?
In a place like this?
"You are correct. It can indeed be understood as so, however cultivators have a different way to view it."
"The depletion of Life Qi is a temporary death, as long as your soul exists, there will always be a second chance. However the moment your Soul Qi is depleted, that is true death."
"That is the worst fate that can befall on any cultivator."
"The death of a soul."
His words sent shivers down Qi Chen's spine.
It was truly eye opening.
The death of a soul, the death of self…
The words replayed in his mind over and over.
Mortals fear death, yet cultivators fear the death of their souls…
Does that mean cultivators, as long as their soul is alive, can be indefinitely alive?
Is that what they mean by immortality?
This…
This is insane.
Absorbed in his thoughts, Qi Chen licked his lips.
Cultivation…
"Does cultivation increase Soul Qi instead of Spirit Qi?"
The moment this question left his mouth, the guard stopped, before turning backwards, his face painted with surprise.
Genuine surprise.
"Are you from a cultivator subclan?"
"No?"
"You…"
"Heh. Truly a smart one."
His face showed a hint of approval, no longer filled with the previous influx of greed.
"You are correct."
"Few mortals can think of this, rather few cultivators truly understand this."
"However our sect is kind enough to share this knowledge with all of us."
He added, his eyes glowing with reverence, before giving a soft cough.
"Cultivation is refining Spirit Qi into Soul Qi. That is the essence of cultivation and its core."
"This is also how cultivators achieve immortality."
"I am sure the mortals these days have some basic understanding of cultivation stages. The fifteenth stage of cultivation is Nascent soul, which is the extreme establishment of your soul, even beyond Soul Establishment, at this stage, one can be said to be immortal, with few able to kill them."
"The physical is often weak, but true immortality… Is the soul."
"The essence of immortality…is the indestructibility of the soul."