Ultimate Wuxia RPG Story Thread

[CC]

Outside the ruined Inn. Some moments earlier.

As the crowd surrounded the dying Lu Changfeng, he beckoned to a young teen nearby.

A young 1 pouch disciple of not more then 16 years ran up to the Chief.

"Jie Feng! You are young but among the few disciples here, you are the most trustworthy! Here, take the Dog Beating Stick and find Elder Zuo, I mean Zhuo! The heavy burden of leading the Beggar Sect is on her shoulders now! And this scroll, it is the handwritten manual left by our Great Ancestress Heroine Huang and passed down only to the Sect Chiefs. No one has fully mastered it until Master Cui and myself came along. It must now be passed to Elder, no, CHIEF Zhuo. Amongst all the sect members, only she has the potential to learn its contents fully. The beggar sect must not return to the days when the Chiefs were weak and could not even master the crucial skills of the Sect..."

"You... you must not fail!"

"Brother Yan. Please assist my young disciple in this task! The 2 treasures must find their way to Chief Zhuo! On behalf of our decades of friendship, help me this last time!"

As the Dog beating stick and scroll were pressed into the hands of the young Jie Feng, Twin Sabre Yan Hongye cupped his fists to Lu and swore :"rest assured Brother Lu! Your last commandment will be fulfilled. I will escort this young disciple until we both find Elder Zhuo!"


Meanwhile. At the Fragrant Peony Inn. Luoyang


Among the business community. News travelled fast. Sometimes even faster than any news in Jianghu.

And the news was that another Inn had been destroyed!

2nd Master Shao shouted in indignation "These damn wulin hooligans! Everytime they appear we honest businessmen suffer!"

Old man Peng wailed :"My Luohan Pagoda Inn is the next largest! They will surely gather there next! I am doomed! No way! I am closing the business and taking a trip out of the city until this nonsense is over!"

Uncle Yong Dalu immediately jumped up: "Dammit, that means my shop is next! I am closing the shop too!"

With a loud clamour, everyone rushed out to make preparations to shut down their businesses until the wulin conference moved out of town.

Within half a day, no inn or restaurant remained open in Luoyang City.


./

[druid]

" What is this about Zhu Yuan Zhang? Has that dog died?"

" Teacher? But how did... Was she here the whole time or did she just arrived... but there was neither sound nor sight..." thought Jun Yan as a figure moved into his line of sight.

She wore like always... shades of grey, with silky black hair and a mask covering her face.

" Tell me everything..."

And so Jun Yan did.

His teacher listened with the attention that a hawk gives to its prey. Unrelenting.

She displayed no expression when Jun Yan mentioned about the Two Swords; was in shocked about Taoist 9 Wings, eyes widened about the Black-faced Buddha, and shed a tear upon hearing the death of Yu Lian Zhou.

At last he was done. But then he just had to ask...

"Teacher... what is Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi....?"

[Ren Wo Xing]

Ding Zhitan's face was expressionless as he re-bound the scroll, slipping it within the folds of his cloak.

"Was it the White Camel Mountain to which you paid a visit, or to the tomb of the Western Poison?"

That is no concern of yours. You took something from the corpse of the Black Faced Buddha. Give it to me. Or return the scroll.

With elaborate casualness, Ding Zhitan leaned back against the wall. "The manuscript of the Last Empress of Yan, I presume. But that is valuable to both of us, whereas this scroll is of value only to me, and not you."

The monk did not answer. He simply stared at Ding Zhitan. For a moment, though, it almost seemed to the Master of the Five Poisons Sect that purple flames were dancing in the monk's eyes.

"Consequently," Ding Zhitan continued, after a moment's pause, "You cannot expect me to just give it to you. That would not be a fair bargain...and I, Ding Zhitan, would rather die than be at a disadvantage in a dealing." Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw the monk shift. "But..." Ding paused again, reaching into his cloak to once more pull out the manual he had just received. He couldn't help himself, as he again thumbed through the lovingly crafted, hand-written scroll. After a few moments passed, he looked up and nodded towards the Yamato monk.

"I'll let you read it."

_________________
The monk had gone now. He left in a blurring motion, seeming to leave behind after-effect images of himself as he retreated without so much as lifting his foot up to walk. It was like no type of martial arts or qinggong that the experienced old master-assassin had ever seen. The martial arts that the Japanese practice truly are bizarre and unorthodox to the extreme. But he couldn't be bothered by that now.

With shaking fingers, Ding Zhitan once more untied the scroll. It had a simple title, but one which had set his heart aflame as he saw it, no matter how hard he had tried. 白驼秘技! [Secret Manual of White Camel Mountain.]

He sighed with admiration as he lost himself in reading the scroll. All kinds of poisons of unsurpassing ingenuity and incomparable lethality were recorded within it. Some, he immediately thought of ways to use in mixtures with the poisons of his own Five Poisons Sect, forming unbelievably potent mixtures. Mixtures which, if ingested, would kill even the Lord Buddha himself, or the Jade Emperor! And others, he immediately saw as the pinnacle of evolution of a certain type of poison, which his own sect had only started to climb the path of. The secret poisons devised by generations on generations of the Ouyang family, then refined by the last master of the White Camel Mountain truly were no inferior to his own.

"Western Poison, ah, Western Poison," he mumbled to himself, half-entranced. "In your time, you could be considered the first amongst equals in martial arts, at best. But in poison, even I, old Ding, have to admit that you are first without equal!"

The most secret manual of poisons, written by the truest master of poison, the Western Poison Ouyang Feng, himself! Only another expert potioneer and poison-maker like Ding Zhitan himself could understand and appreciate the beauty of the concoctions within. "What a fool that Yamato monk was, to give this up," he sighed, slipping the scroll securely back into his robes. "I wonder what he truly wants."

The spider came out of its trance, and once more began to weave its unfinished web. Only now, its web glistened with virulence, and its bite had become even more toxic as it waited for the flies.

[CC]

Something was not right!

Why did that strange Yamato monk agree to his terms? Why did he not take the scroll by force, given his abilities, that should have been possible.

Could Black Faced Buddha be right and the scroll a fake or otherwise useless?

Ding forced those thoughts behind his mind and went back to looking at his new treasure.

A purple flame flickered faintly on the White Camel Mountain Scroll.

What treachery is this?!

Purple Flames flared up around the scroll as Ding panicked. Beating the flames up did not seem to work and in desparation he doused the entire scroll into a nearby water trough.

Between the strange flames and the water, half the words on the scroll were destroyed. Luckily, Ding with his affinity and understanding of poisons had already understood most of the formulae.

"In any case, I'd better commit everything left to memory and destroy this scroll to prevent any others from learning it" thought Ding.

"Treacherous Yamato Bastard! I'll remember this..."

[CC]

Some days later.

A hidden cave. Deep within Wudang Mountain. Hubei Province.


4th Generation Wudang Disciple Chunyu Qiang wiped the tears from his eyes as he stood outside the darkness.

Cupping his hands in salute he called out "Grand Martial Uncle Song. Disciple Chunyu Qiang has news for Grand Martial Uncle."

From within the cave, the voice of Wudang Elder Song Yuanqiao calmly drifted out "Speak."

With a trembling voice, Chunyu Qiang reported :"Sect Leader Yu has passed away! The other senior disciples that accompanied Sect Leader to Luoyang has all perished as well! The remaining junior Wudang disciples all humbly begs Grand Martial Uncle Song to rise from his solitary retreat to lead and advise us."


Midnight. A discreet house in Luoyang City.

Ding Zhitan sat up. His assasin's sense was aroused again. Readying his poisons, he thought to himself :"Now what? Was that Yamato monk back?"

"Spider King Ding Zhitan!" A deep voice was heard from outside.

Using his lightness skill, Ding flew out of the specially constructed escape window, wary of an attack.

Outside, a large man with his features covered by a large straw hat stood.

"What do you want?" Ding hissed even as he prepared to launch his Scorpion Needles and Venon Pouches.

The man removed his hat. A gray mask with black tendrils covered his face.

"Gray Ghost (Hui Gui) Nangong Chan of the Black Mist! What do you want with me?" Ding peered cautiously around for the other members of the Black Mist. His hairs all standing on edge.

Nangong Chan spoke :"We understand that the Spider King is always ready to earn some profit?"

"Hmmm. Go on." Ding was getting interested now.

"5 Taels of Silver for every orthodox Wulin member killed. 10 Taels for anyone from Kunlun, Kongtong, Dianchang, Beggar or the 5 Swords Sects. 15 Taels for anyone from Shaolin or Wudang. These are just for normal disciples and students. Take this scroll. In it are the names of the important disciples, elders and leaders. Anything from 100 taels to 5000 taels in there. All yours for the taking. Your Decaying Corpse Poison should come in handy here... ah ha ha! But...... you only get paid if the wulin believes that Lin Gong Gong sent you.... We won't be too calculative about the exact numbers too."

"Take this as a token of our sincerity!" Nangong Chan threw a handful of banknotes onto the floor and disappeared into the darkness in the blink of an eye. Incredible Lightness skill! Truly deserving of his nickname the Ghost.
Ding carefully picked up the banknotes. 2000 taels in all. Things were getting intriging! He started weighing his options and risks....

./

[druid]

She blinked. Once. Twice. Lost in her thoughts. Her eyes pieced Jun Yan. He felt uncomfortable. Grandfather was silent too though he could not see him, silence gave him the answer.

Unable to take the stare, he turned his head away and mumbled...

"Come to me, Oh holy fire, What joy is in life, what pain in death, for righteousness against evil, happiness and sadness, as I return to earth, hopefully the living, will receive happiness.”

His teacher's eyes widen, her mouth opened. No sound. Then pain as Jun Yan flew across the room and crashed into the rocks with his bare back. He blacked out.

" WHO TOLD YOU ALL THIS?!" bellowed his teacher as she lifted the crumpled body of Jun Yan and shaking him as if he had the weight of air...

"WHO! Was it that dog Zhu Yuan Zhang? No... her?... It cant be..."

In a flash Jun Yan's body went flying again, as his teacher threw him away as if his was a mere rock in her hands...a blurr and his body was denied of any further injuires as his grandfather now held him in his arms...

His teacher was gone. But it was only a spilt second ago that Jun Yan's grandfather moved to catch Jun Yan...

" My boy, what have gotten yourself into again? And who have you met?" whispered his granfather as he carried his grandson away from the submit of Blue Cloud mountain...

[Tom]

A sigh can be heard from a corner of the wrecked inn. Fang Wudi sat on a bench, lying his head on a table. He was miserable! The two disciples whom he had brought with him on this trip had died earlier when Jiudala stomped. He slapped his large fist onto the wooden table. BAM! Some dirty dishes and chopsticks fell onto the floor.

"What are you fretting about?" asked a voice.

Fang Wudi sat up and looked the direction of the voice. It was Ren Nilai.

"Elder Ren!" Fang Wudi cried out in respect and despair.

"I heard from Wulin pugilists that Chief Lu entrusted the task of finding SWORD GOD to you, am I right?" Ren Nilai stroked his gray beard.

"Unfortunately, yes. But I don't have the power nor the brain to pinpoint the location of this SWORD GOD."

"Haha! You're in luck!" Ren Nilai exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" A look of hope can be seen on Fang Wudi's square face now.

"I am acquainted with SWORD GOD's..." started Ren Nilai before Fang Wudi interrupted him.

"YOU KNOW SWORD GOD?!" shouted Fang Wudi in excitement.

"Not so loud, please. And no, I don't know SWORD GOD."

"Then why you said so before?" Fang Wudi's face re-assumed a sad posture.

"Listen! I didn't finish. I meant to say: I am acquainted with SWORD GOD's assistant, a wondrous prostitute that can bring pleasure to any man..." said Ren Nilai before dazing off.

Fang Wudi is not a stupid man so he immediately knew what was happening. "You're a customer of her's?"

Before realizing it Ren Nilai has already answered, "Yes."

"How could you!?" shouted someone who happened to be eavesdropping.

Ren Nilai turned around and shouted, "Shut up kiddo! You have no idea how hot and sexy she is. She can seduce any man. Even an eunuch would fall at her hands!"

"So how can I find her?" asked Fang Wudi as he leaned towards Ren Nilai. This is the information he really needed!

"She is a top rate wh0re that works at Grand Cherry Blossom wh0rehouse. She is so soft...so white...so sexy..."

"Where is Grand Cherry Blossom wh0rehouse located?!" demanded Fang Wudi.

Ren Nilai chuckled. "Haha! You want to spend a good time with her too? This proves that no man can resist her. Even hearing about her can make anyone horny."

Fang Wudi was starting to get annoyed but he kept his cool. He needed this information and he can't afford to anger Ren Nilai. "Yeah. So where is she? And what's her name?"

"The wh0rehouse is located at Beijing. And her name is..."

Fang Wudi leaned even closer.

"Zhang Yawen."

[CC]

"Oh." Ren Nilai continued :"You would probably need to bring quite some gold with you if you intend to speak with her."

"Don't try to use force over there too. The brothel is well guarded by the Thousand Poison Hand Sect and she also has 2 personal guards - Swift Sword Lei Tang and Northern Sabre Li Huang." warned Ren.

"Senior Ren. You mean you are not travelling with me?" asked Fang.

"Ha ha! His old heart can't take it anymore!" someone wisecracked from behind.

BOOM!

Ren Nilai sent the palm backwards without turning. A corpse fell on the dirt floor.

"Did someone just say something?" he asked in a mocking sweet voice.

Silence.

"I cannot travel with you, brother Fang. The situation is most dire. Too many powerful threats are lurking. You must seek SWORD GOD, I must seek help from another source." said Ren.

"Another source?" asked Fang.

"We need more information on these mysterious enemies as well as the location of some personalities valuable to our cause, I can only think of one place to go for such knowledge." Ren paused again for dramatic effect.

"Where?" Fang leaned forward and the crowd craned their necks forward silently.

"The Qiqi Book Pagoda at Fragrant Crescent Valley. The 2 most knowledgeable martial scholars reside there. Triple Story Saint Zha Liangyong and Enigmatic Drunk Xiong Yaohua!" Ren proclaimed.

"Triple Story Saint and Enigmatic Drunk!" the crowd gasped along with Fang.

"Yes." Ren nodded. "Triple Story Saint will always answer the question but he will always give 3 close versions, leaving you to decide for yourself. Enigmatic Drunk.. well, he doesn't always give a straight answer if at all, preferring to answer with mysterious imageries and thats provided he is sober enough to answer in complete sentences...."

"That, brother Fang is where I am headed now." spoke Ren as he rose to leave.


./

[druid]

Jun Yan was dead tired. How he wanted to roll over and just die. But could he? Many a times he wanted to end it all. A straight bang to the wall with his head, or perhaps just jumping down from the mountain. But something held him back. It wasn't that he had to help Wulin from being destroyed by the government, nor the longing to see the girly Han Fei who's face has plagued him in his dreams very recently... but something else... burning deep within his soul...

A movement. He sat up straight. Sounds... of a body part moving... He moved to the cave's opening... and saw his teacher... hitting the wall of the cliff with her legs.

" What the... Teacher..." He understood. She was demonstrating to him a new skill. Silently he stared, and adsorbed what he could. The hours flowed and soon his teacher reached the end. She left with a gentle leap of the ground...

" Hmmm... Let me see..." with that Jun Yan began to try out the various stances of the foot skill that he had just learn... but to no avail. His body failed him again, and he coughed out more blood. He swore.

" Damn. Till now, my injury has not recovered and my left arm is useless! Ah..." Finally fatigue overcame him and he fell into a deep slumber amidst the snow covered mountain top of Blue cloud mountain while dreaming of all that had happened.

He awoke, to see both his teacher and grandfather staring at him. He averted his graze.

" It was a lady that told you about Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi and the chant was it not?"

His teacher spoke. In a gentle tone.

He nodded.

" Very well. She finally came." Spoke his grandfather as he looked at Jun Yan's teacher.

" Yes. Perhaps, now it the time of change."

" Tell him! Tell Jun Yan... why should we..."

" Very well. Listen up disciple. For i will only tell you once. Your left arm is almost unless now. The injury that you sustained is far too serious for me to heal. And yes, we are related to the Ming cult... but that was way ages ago...

" Your teacher was the disciple of the Yang.."

"Enough! That he need not know. Let him rest." His teacher hissed venomously at Jun Yan's grandfather and left the room.

His grandfather bowed his head... and spoke...

" Of Yang Xiao and Fan Yao..."

With that he left Jun Yan in a dazed state. Such overflowing and disorganized informations. He stared into nothingness and mumbled...

" So that's why..."

The next morning he found himself in the cold, snow all around him and numbness. He was out in the open, far from the manor of his teacher.

" Awaken already? Good. Today we start your punishment. You will stay here till I am satisfied. No fires to be built, and only two meals a day. No bed, no blankets for you too. In th day, I will give you work to do. If you do not meet my expectations... no food. At night you will sleep here... try to escape and you will suffer till you beg for death. Understood?"

He paused. He stared at her...

" Teacher... how did I end up here?"

She was dumbfounded. Unexpected. With sheer effort she turned her back and replied...

" Your grandfather found you..."

And so, began Jun Yan's training...

[Tom]

deleted...

[MangoBoy]

"My orgin lied at Kaifeng... Kaifeng... what can be so special about that place? and what is the You-Tai?" Tian Long said to himself as he walked back and forth... For several weeks now, he had been staying at Peach Blossom island, learning from the manual that his step-father left him... Though the wording on it is simple, and is short, it has drastly improve his inner power, though not as strong as most of the greats in Wulin at the moment, and that there is no way in Hell that he can take on Eurnuch Lin or any of his cronies...

"Master Tian Long, Master Guo would like to see you..." A servant said to him.

Study's room
Guo Zhongxin, the grandson of the famed warrior Guo Jing and Huang Rong, and the son of Guo Polu, surly showed the Martial art talents of his ancesstor... He had achived martial art ablity that is almost unrivaled in the Central Plain... But he barley showed his face to the world, so not many people know him... He sat at the corner of the room, reading a Martial Art manual and talking to QingEr, his only daughter when Tian Long came in...

"Uncle Guo, you called for me?" he asked.

"Yes LongEr, I have some news for you... I just got a letter from my friend in LuoYang, he said that many of the Martial Artist is trying to look for me and come to Peach Blossom island... They are seeking a "Gui Gong" that supposly ahve the power to walk across the ocean... According to the ancestral rules, we cannot have strangers come to this island... I want you to go to Wudang, and bring this letter to the 6 Heros of Wudang, and invite them to the island... They are the only people I really trust in the Central Plain...."

"But Uncle, if this pimp actually come to this island, what will you do?"

"Hahaha don't worry... This island is surrounded by numerous traps and whirlpools, there is only one safe route in, and it is known to few..." He laughed "QingEr! when you are traveling with Brother Long, I order you to obey his every order, and listen to him all the time... You know you, your martial art ablity is not that strong, yet you like to look for trouble... Tianlong's word are my words... understand?"

"Yes, dad" she said

"TianLong, take care of her for me... Also I have two weapons I want to give you two... TianLong, take this jade flute, it is passed down from my Great Grandfather, Hunag Yaoshi, it is made out of the strongest and rarest jade avalible, it is truly a priceless and powerful weapons... Take good care of it...QingEr, take this sword..." He pulled out a long and beautiful sword from one of the drawer, it is bright and give out a beautiful and powerful aura. "It is the Heavenly Sword, passed down from my Grand Auntie..."

"Uncle Guo wasn't this sword the treasure of the Emei Sect?"

"Pah... those damn nun is good for nothing... After that Zhou Zhiruo left, they have been fighting among themselves for power... and this sword was stolen by some Goverment agents, I killed them and took this weapons from them... I don't intend to passed it back to the Nuns, unless they really prove themselves worthy of the weapons, plus it does belong to my ancesstor in the first place..." He said "So QingEr Tian Longm you two take care... I have prepared a ship for you down by the dock already... I wish you luck..."

[MangoBoy]

Opps double post, please delete for me

[CC]

A clearing in a secluded forest. Near Luoyang City.

"You have really came. Good."

"I keep my promises. I'd like to think that my words have some value"

"Good. You can also put that sabre you are carrying aside. Do not insult us. We want to see the legendary flying daggers."

With a light flick, He Kangyu unsheathed the sabre and tossed it into a tree trunk behind Zhang Wuque and Hua Wuji, embedding it at a point 7 feet high. With a smile he continued :"We have no great emnity, blades are blind in battle. How about this, I shall stand here. If you can prevent me from hitting that tree trunk at any point below the sabre, you win."

The Relentess Sword and the Merciless Sword stood silently behind their impassive white masks for a while.

"Have you brought what we wanted?"

He Kangyu patted a small bundle beside his feet. "The painting is here."

"One last thing before we begin."

"Speak."

"And what is it you want if we lose, since you do not want our lives."

He Kangyu grinned again.

"I want those two masks covering your faces! I want to see your real faces"

The first dagger was unleased.

A flash of silver streaked across the several zhang distance. In the time it took to blink an eye, the flash was already inches away from the trunk.

A dagger fell to the floor. The sword of Zhang Wuque was already back in its sheath before the small dagger hit the grass.

"Do not insult us further!" Hua Wuji drew his sword.

Two flashes of silver flew out once more towards the tree, two swords were drawn.

The daggers changed course!

The swords reacted.

Before the two daggers hit the ground, 6 more sparks of bluish white flew towards the tree. All 6 arched in mid flight, changing direction while increasing their already dazzling speed.

2 crescents of light crossed the tree trunk. 6 shards of light flew into the darkness of the surrounding forest.

"Excellent swords! Not a single wasted movement! Forgive my impudence!"

He Kangyu leapt upwards, with the sun at his back, the blinding glare hid the 24 specks of silver that shot out 6 at a time as he reached the apex and descended.

From the front, top, sides and even arcing around the back, 24 streams of energy converged in the blink of an eye.

The Relentess Sword and The Merciless Swords flared in a blazing burst of energy..

The sword energy seemed to swallow up the grass, the leaves, the forest and even the sun.

Nothing moved except the two sword streams.

Darkness.

Light.

Twilight.

Darkness.

Nothing moved.

One last shard of light flickered!

One last dagger defied the sword streams.

No matter how fast the sword. How can one blade be at 2 places at the same time?

One sword can only occupy one space!

This is an undisputable fact!

But the swordsman does not always need a sword!

Light returned. The wind rustled the leaves back into their trembling dance.

Crimson flowed down over the immaculate white.

"The tree trunk is untouched." Zhang Wuque hissed through gritted teeth as he pulled the dagger out of his arm and flung it away.

"Indeed! I have lost!" He Kangyu walked over to retrieve his sabre from the trunk and dropped the painting at Zhang's feet.

"Wait!"

"I have lost. The painting is yours."

"We... want to see the flying dagger."

"There is nothing to see. I have used up all my daggers." He Kangyu gestured to the broken shards of metal littering the floor.

"You will have one more. The one that matters."

"As I said, my words are not empty. I have no more flying daggers left on my body. What you wish to see..... is not what you think it is."

He Kangyu walked into the dark of the forest.

Hua Wuji picked up the painting. Holding it up, he unscrolled it next to the wounded Zhang.

An exquisite painting.

Of a beautiful priestess.

Dressed in Emei Sect Robes.

./

[IcyFox]

The Return Of ZHUO Jia Li!


Jie Feng and Yan Hongye came up to a secluded and serene bamboo grove. They put their belongings next to a bamboo tree and walked towards a small clearing. Yan held up his hand and Jie stopped.

In front, a cute young maiden dressed in rags was wielding a steel rod. The rod spun and twirled in quick successive blurs around the slender figure. The bamboo leaves swirled in the wind of the moving rod and the air around hissed sharply, then whistled gently.

Suddenly the rod came to an abrupt halt, its tip pointing right in front of a young bamboo shoot. The shoot did not even move at all. Then a hundred bamboo trees behind the young shoot suddenly cracked and snapped, then collasped onto the ground at the same time!

"How swift is thy rod!" muttered Yan.

Jie and Yan quickly cupped their hands and said in a clear voice, "Juniors pay their respects to Chief Zhuo!"

The smile on her face faded into incredulity.

"What!" she exclaimed.

Yan cried out, "Junior deserves death! Chief Lu... Chief Lu... he..."

Zhuo Jia Li croaked, "What happened to Chief Lu..."

Jie sobbed, "Our Chief is dead!"

The steel rod dropped lightly into the grass, as did a tear from Jia Li's eye.

She then said, "Hey. You don't mean to say *I* am the new Chief?"

Yan almost choked, "Yes. And here's the Chief's Dog-Beating Stick. Juniors await Chief Zhuo's commands."

Zhuo Jia Li trembled as she accepted the jade green bamboo stick, then bowed to the sky.

She shouted, "Chief Lu! Rest assured! I will not let your sacrifice be in vain! I've already mastered the Dugu Nine Rods, the Yue Maiden Rodplay, the Guanyin 1000-Palm Rods, the Fuxi 8-Trigram Rod and the Sun Wu Kong Rodplay! I'm now the Goddess of Rod, Rod Goddess ZHUO Jia Li!"

She let out a sigh followed by a grin.

"I'll be back! Let's go, guys!"

[druid]

He was happy. The weeks flashed by and he gained so much, so much that he felt almost himself again... but he knew better. He turned back and stared at the mountain once more... the feeling of awe and home was no more. He sighed and begun the long walk back to the cities...

Night already came when he stopped at an abandon temple. He stood still. No one. Good. He entered and made himself comfortable for the night. No sound could be heard as a delicate looking rod and a scimitar left his hands and came into contact with the ground. He smiled. His arua was getting stronger... He sat down and thought of the past weeks... his training...

He had mastered much from the nightly lessons by his teacher, only after a visit by his grandfather. The old man creeped into the small cave where his grandson was sleep and forcfully wake him from his deep slumber. From there on, everything was explained. Why he was punished, the origins of his teacher, and above all the truth above his arm.

He smiled when he heard that his teacher and sealed all the acupoints on his arm to speed up its healing. He laughted when his grandfather told him about the "daily tasks" that his teacher wanted him to do. For he had guessed her intentions, and he had felt its full effects on his body. He was much stronger. And rejuvenated. And on and on his grandfather went, till he could no longer focus his sight. Sighing at his own long windedness, his grandfather threw a embarass look and recited a sentence and two....

He perked up. He recongised the words... Could it be?

Following the recitation of his grandfather, he felt improvements in his injuries.. He smiled...

And so every night, the lessons begun... he learned as much as he could, adsorped the essence of each type of martial art that his teacher displayed, till at last she covered all aspects of the ten forms of martial art. After which ignoring his sleep, he cultivated his own inner energy... following the words of his grandfather.

Till on night, his teacher came. But she was pale. He sensed something was amiss. But never did he had the chance to ask why...

" Tonight, your training will be done. I will impart to you some martial arts skills that are either long lost or are treasure and secrets of various sects... look and remember them well..."

And with that his teacher went into a trance as she displayed The Great Veda Flaming Rod and Formless Demon Taming Leg from Shaolin; Fluttering Wind palm of Golden Bell school; Divine Silver Finger; Black Panther claws; Jiu Ye Xian Tian Jian from the Western sword school and the Blackened Wind Sabre.

He looked and stared. And cried. He knew that after this dance, she would be gone. For good.

The sabre set was completed. He looked up. She smiled.

" I hope that one day you would bring honour to the Ming Sect. Goodbye my student." She flew away...

He knew. Her body was broken.

He stared into the night, as snow came flowing down in small flakes...

" My boy, grieve not. She met someone way above her. It was what she always wanted. Remember what we taught you. Take these, she would want you to have these. Goodbye my child..." the voice faded as a shadow was seen at the edge of the cliff... far too steep...

He stared again. Gone.

He stared at the where his grandfather had stood... A rod, a scimitar, a letter, and a manual that was entitled..." skills of the Great Ming Sect and its compliation".

[druid]

It was still late into the night when Jun Yan opened his eyes. He was not tired yet his body demand sleep and so did his left arm. He winced. And looked at it. He finally moved and flexed his fingers... but still it could not wield nor hold a weapon. But he was working on it, the blocked acupoints that was sealed by his teacher, were slowly unlocked by his sheer hard work. Only two were left. He was patiently waiting for that day to come.

He sat up, assumed a comfortable position and just stared blankly at the interior of the temple. He was at peace. Or so he thought. For the briefest second, he was glad. Then reality came in.

He sighed.

He flipped the manual and begun to read....

" Having read this, the Ming Cult should have ceased to exist at this very moment. I Yang Xiao, current Leader of the Ming Cult have failed in my duty to preserve and protect our beloved brothers and sisters of our glorious sect. Hence dear reader, a heavy burden has been placed on you. Slay the betrayer named Zhu, self proclaim emperor of the central plains so that the souls of my sect may rest in peace...."

He closed it.

" Yang Xiao... hmmm."

He reopened the manual, another random page...

" The history of our sect was long and bloody, always fighting for our survival. Yet we were blessed with members who were loyal and brave. Today a great fighter from the government single handed defeated and slay many of our top fighters. Though we manage to win by superior numbers and chased him alway, i fear that one day he will return to destroy us. A pity he works for the government, for with his skills he would have been a most perfect ally. In the case that he do return, i can only hope that the next leader fully learns the skills i have written here for they will greatly increase his chances of standing up to the Fighter. A pity that no one has yet mastered the Great Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi, for with it one can stand on par with the Fighter. I have said what I should said. Train well and protect the sect, dear reader."

And it was sighed off, simply as "Yuan". But something bugged Jun Yan... it was the date... hundred plus years ago... even before the fabled Five greats of the Central plains!

" A handbook that is passed down from leader to leader of the Ming Cult? Interesting...."