Chapter 0: Prologue

Time: Unknown, perhaps a very long, long time ago.

Place: Shen Zhou

Since the early dawn of man, humanity have observed the strange and hostile world surrounding them. From the sound of rumbling thunder, the fearsome bursts of lightning, the heavy rainstorms accompanied by howling winds, devastating floods that wrecks destruction and cost massive loss of lives, and countless other natural disasters, humanity reached the stunning conclusion that these strange and powerful forces of nature were beyond the power of any one man to create and impossible to resist against. This insight leads them to believe that divine beings lived in the nine heavens above, and demons dwell in hell, beneath the great earth. Because of this, tales of divine beings passed down from one generation to the next. Owing to humanity imaginations to rationalize the harsh and unpredictable world around them, humanity created elaborate rituals to worship these false gods.

From ancient times till now, no man, no matter how powerful or great they are in life, have ever escaped from the cold grasp of death. All men craved for life’s sweet delights and fear death’s cold embrace. Just the mere mention of death will send a small chill of fear down the spine of men. Due to this irrational fear, humanity begins their fruitless struggle against death in search for Immortality.

Compare to other living species, humanity is physically weaker, but yet they have dominated all living species. This is no small feat. Humanity’s secret to their dominance is being able to pass the knowledge they gathered during their lifespan and passing it on to the next generation. So as one man lie down, another man rises up to pick up his mantle. Following the same process that they did for dominance, humanity persistently continued their lifelong pursuit for Immortality. Unfortunately, up till now, Humanity still has not found the secret to Immortality.

However, stories are told that a select group of Taoists have seen into the fabric of creation of Heaven and Earth. Using what they have learned, these Taoists have decided to take humanity destiny into their own hands. Using mysticism, alchemy, and various other magical tools, they can make Heaven and Earth shake with the sound of thunder.

Other stories tell that many of these enlightened Taoist Elders live to be thousands of years old, maybe even achieving immortality. The common people assume that these enlightened Taoist have become deities, so therefore attracting more people to join in the practice and study of the Way of Tao.

Shen Zhou is a wide and open land. However, only the Central Plains is lush and fertile. Nine out of ten people lived here. The surrounding lands of the Central Plains is treacherous and almost uninhabitable to man. This is mainly due to large mountainside and toxic water. In addition to this, various wild and dangerous beasts roam through this inhospitable area. Rumors of blood thirsty barbarians tribes exists here. According to ancient legends, there are still remnants of ancients creatures and long lost civilization hidden there, but no one alive have seen or witness this



To this day, many priests practice the way of Tao, but very few have complete understanding of it Due to the large expanse of Shen Zhou, the Taoist priests are many, they practice various ways, but not all Taoist priests’ practices are the same. Since they have not discovered the secrets to Immortality, the world is split into multiple sects and clans, both good and evil. Due to these differences, these sects and clans compete against one another which often resulted in endless killings.

With Immortality remaining a distant and elusive goal, strength and power became the focus of many of these practitioners. Today, Good is in ascendence, and Evil is on the decline. Thus the Central Plains is the domain of the various Good sects and clans. Of these Good sects and clans, three stands out as pillars of the Central Plains: Qing Yun Sect, Tian Yin Temple, and Fen Xiang Valley.

This story begin with Qing Yun Sect.

Note:

Qing Yun Sect \= Green Cloud Sect

Tian Yin Temple \= Sounds of Heaven Temple

Fen Xiang Valley \= Incense Valley

Chapter 1: Qing Yun

Qin Yun Mountains tower magnificently over the Central Plains. On the north side of the mountain flow a large rvier called Hong Chuan (洪川) and to the south, lies Yang Cheng Town (河阳城), an important town due to it’s strategic geographic location. Qin Yun Mountains stretches consecutively for hundreds of miles long, filled with undulating ridges and peaks. There are seven high peaks that are often surrounded by clouds. On an normal day, the peaks would be hidden by these clouds. Qin Yun Mountains is famous for their dense forest, serene waterfalls, jagged cliffs, and rare wildlife.

More famous than these natural wonders is a religious sect located at the foot of these mountains called Qin Yun Sect. Qin Yun Sect has a long varied history. From its founding until now, Qin Yun Sect has been in existence for over two thousands years. It is one of the top tier sects in the world of good and evil today.

Legends say that the founder of the sect was a master practitioner in Jiang Hu (martial arts world) who spent half of his life disappointed and wandering aimlessly. At the age of 49, he traveled thru Qin Yun Mountains. Here, he saw how divine the mountains looks and felt. He felt that heaven have spiritually blessed this place. Immediately, he descended to the foot of the mountains. Feeling inspired, he trained in the Way of Tao. Not long after, he discovered an ancient, unnamed book within a secret cave. The book contained secret knowledge of profound magical and martial arts that were both incredibly wonderful and powerful. Blessed with this treasure, he focused his time to train from this ancient book. Twenty years quickly flew by, with minor improvements to his skills, he left the mountain. Weathering the ups and downs of Jiang Hu, although he did not dominate the world, he did establish himself a reputation as a hero. Returning to Qin Yun Mountains, he established a sect called Qin Yun Sect. The arts he learned from the ancient book was similar to the Way of Tao, so he set aside his mundane clothing, and started wearing the marking of a Taoist priest. He called himself Son of Qin Yun. Later disciples would proclaim him Qin Yun Saint. Qin Yun Saint lived to be a 167 years old. He accepted ten disciples. At his deathbed, he told them the following: “I have learned many magical arts during the latter half of my life. The skill that I am most proud of is Feng Shui. Qin Yun Mountains is a rare and blessed location, and will definitely allowed us to become a top tier force in the future. No matter what happen, my heirs must never give up these mountains ranges. Remember these words. Remember these words.” The ten disciples firmly nodded their heads in agreement and promised him that they will follow his death wish. Content with their promises, Qin Yun Saint closed his eyes and died peacefully.

During the next one hundred years after Qin Yun Saint’s death, instead of flourishing, Qin Yun Sect went thru a great decay. It is unknown if this was due to heaven’s will or a lack of faith of the Qin Yun Sect’s disciples, but Qin Yun Sect encountered one misfortunes after another. Of the ten disciples that Qin Yun Saint accepted, two died early; four died trying to make a reputation for themselves within Jiang Hu; one became disabled, and one went missing. Only two out of 10 disciples survived.

The misfortunes continue during the next fifty years, when, within a hundred miles surrounding Qin Yun Sect, a massive earthquake hit causing terrible flooding; thereby killing countless people within the Sect. Those who survived these catastrophes were mostly untalented and did not do Qin Yun Saint any justice to his reputation. To rub salt into the wounds, enemies attacked and demanded their sacred book. If it was not for the magical weapons that Qin Yun Saint left for his heirs, Qin Yun Sect would not have survived these catastrophes. These misfortunes continue for another 400 years. Qin Yun Sect did not prosper at all, but continue their downward decline. It could be said that Qin Yun Sect was on its last leg. Qin Yun Sect was only able to retain one out of the seven peaks, Tong Tian Peak (Sky Peak). The other six was taken by enemies and was used as a base to attack, loot, and harass Qin Yun Sect and the surrounding areas with no one to put a stop to them. Observers from other sects who did not understand the situation were merciless in their comments about Qin Yun Sect misfortunes, accusing them of falling to the Evil path and were in cohoots with the bandits.. Qin Yun Sect’s disciples try to explain the situation and kill the enemies, but they lacked the skills to do either. Reflecting back, this was indeed a dark period within Qin Yun Sect’s history.

It was not until one thousand three hundred years ago, that a new development happen to turn the situation around for Qin Yun Sect. It is unsure if Qin Yun Saint’s death wishes finally came true or if heaven was tired and decided that it had punished Qin Yun Sect enough. During the eleventh generation of Qin Yun Sect, a talented, moral disciple with peerless character appeared and took leadership. His name was Taoist Qin Ye (Green Leaf Taoist). Qin Ye’s layman’s surname was Ye. He was originally a poor scholar. Although he was extraordinary gifted, due to how poor he was and his lack of connections, he was unable to get a post within the government. Fate, feeling sorry for Qin Yun Sect, cross Qin Ye’s path with Wu Fang Zi (无方子),the tenth generation leader of Qin Yun Sect.

At the age of 22, Qin Ye was accepted as a disciple of Qin Yun Sect. A year after Qin Ye join the sect, Qin Ye have grasp all the secret arts and Taoist ways that Wu Fang Zi could teach him. He seized the rank of the number one disciple within Qin Yun Sect. Another year after that, it was only due to years of Wu Fang Zi years of training and deep insight that he was able to fight on par with Qin Ye. Wu Fang Zi was both shocked and pleasantly suprised. Seeing this, he decided to take out the ancient sacred manual that Qin Yun Saint left back and gave it to Qin Ye to reflect and meditate on. Secluding himself to Huang Yue Cave behind Tong Tian Peak, Qin Ye mediated and trained from the ancient sacred manual.

Thirteen years later, all was quiet on the night of a full moon. The full moon was high up in the sky, bathing the entire mountain range with its radiant light. But suddenly an evil wind came from up behind the mountain, howling and shrieking like the raging sound of an angry dragon, causing clouds to hide the moon radiant light, casting darkness on the mountain. The howling winds could be heard for miles around, causing goosebumps for all who heard it. Suddenly, a large explosion could be heard from within Huang Yue Cave. Qin Yun Sect members ran to Huang Yue Cave to investigate. From the cave, a bright purplish light rose up from the earth and illuminated the sky flooding everything with it’s warm glow, and Qin Ye slowly emerge. His hair and beard have changed completely to white, and his face was glowing causing everyone there to wonder if he had attained immortality and became a Saint.

After 13 years of secluded mediation and training, Qin Ye formally renounced the worldly life, and officially became a priest. For his priestly name, he took the word Ye from his surname and the first word Qin from Qin Yun, and he named himself Taoist Qin Ye. That day, Qin Ye bidded farewell to his master and said, “Master please wait. Disciple will take leave for a day to take care of some business and then return.”

Qin Ye departed, leaving everyone confused. The next day, Qin Ye returned. The enemies located on the other six peaks have been surrounded and eradicated. Qin Ye’s skills was deadly and efficient. Within a short period of time, he have made a reputation for himself and his sect within Jiang Hu. A year later, Wu Fang Zi transferred the leadership of the sect to Qin Ye. Wu Fang Zi retired from the day to day matter of the sect to fast and meditate in peace. Qin Ye took his leadership position seriously. He whole-heartedly helped his fellow sect members, chose a successor, and due to the knowledge gained from the ancient book, he gained considerable wisdom and power.

Fifty years later, Qin Yun Sect had become a pillar of power for the good sects within Jiang Hu. After another 200 years, Qin Yun Sect had become the defacto leader of the good sects. Qin Ye lived to be 550 years old. He kept strict discipline within his sect. He accepted 7 disciples and divided the seven peaks among them. He ordered the 7 branches of the sect to live in peace and harmony. The main branch of the sect was based on the central peak, Tong Tian Peak.

At the foothill of Mount Qin Yun, away from the big city of “HeYang”, about 50 miles to the northwest, there exists a small village called Cao Miao Village (Grass Temple Village). It is home to about 40 families. These families are honest hard working villagers, who gathered firewood for a living and sold the collected firewood to Qin Yun Sect. The villagers commonly saw the Qin Yun Sect disciples go up and down the mountain. Qin Yun Sect had always taken care of the villages within the mountains. The villagers had no worries. The village and Qin Yun Sect had a harmonious relationship.

Today, the sky was heavily covered with clouds, making Mount Qin Yun dark and boding. The villagers of Cao Miao Village have live here for generations, so a grim sight like this did not changed their daily routine or cause them to notice anything out of the ordinairy.

“Stinky Brat, where can you run off to?”

The sound of yelling follow by a small laugh came from the mouth of a young boy, about 12 to 13 years old. His name was Lin Yu (林惊羽). He was leading 5 other children as

they chased the boy ahead of them. The boy being chased was about ten

years old. The ten years old boy would often turn around and make faces

at the other children chasing after him. The 10 years old boy was named

Zhang Xiaofan (张小凡) .

Zhang Xiaofan turns around and yelled “Pooh, what kind of idiot do you think I am!” After saying that, he ran even faster.

Continuing their chase, soon they reached a dilapidated, old temple. Zhang Xiaofan, quickly bolted thru the door of the old temple. Not paying attention, he tripped over a board and promptly fell down. Lin Yu and the rest of the children were ecstatic when they saw this turn of event. They piled on top of Zhang Xiaofan and started beating him. Lin Yu said, “This time we have caught you. What more do you have to say?”

Zhang Xiaofan promptly responded, “This doesn’t count! This doesn’t count! You ambushed me.”

Lin Yu was suprised at his response and angrily yelled, “How did I ambush you?”

Zhang Xiaofan responded: “Great job, Lin Yu. Are you going to tell me that you didn’t plant this board here so that I would trip?”

Lin Yu yelled back, “How in the world could I do that?”

Zhang Xiaofan, bit back his tongue, gave a defiant look at Lin Yu with the intent of refusing to give up. Lin Yu got angry and started to beat him into submission while yelling, “We stated earlier, if you we caught you, you will have to admit defeat.”

Zhang Xiaofan stubbornly refused to submit. Lin Yu, red in the face, added more strength to his hands and started choking him while yelling out over and over again: “Submit or not?”

Bruises started appearing from the beating that Zhang Xiaofan was getting, but still he refused to submit to Lin Yu and his gang.

Lin Yu, in his anger, continued his choking and yelling. Not noticing that the other children have started to back off and have huddled off together, Lin Yu continued on. Then suddenly, within the old temple he heard, “A Mi Tuo Fo, quickly stopped your beating.” Two fingers darted out from the Buddhist monk and touched both of Lin Yu’s hands, causing electric shocks to course thru his body causing Lin Yu’s hands to limply fall to the side.

Release from the choke, Zhang Xiaofan grasped desperately for air, but overall was fine. The 2 boys stared at each other for a while, remembering the situation that just happened. Lin Yu quickly said, “I’m sorry Xiaofan. I don’t know why...”

Xiaofan shook his head and took a deep breath and said, “Don’t worry about it.” He then turn over to the monk and said, “Sir, who are you?”

The rest of the children move their gaze to where Xiaofan was looking at and saw within this old temple, there was an old monk standing there. His face was old and wrinkle. He was wearing an old robe, and from top to bottom, he was very dirty. Held between his hands was a rosary of jade beads that was crystal clear and blinding to the eyes. The curious thing was among the dozen or so of these smooth jade beads of the same size, there was a bead that was not jade or stone, but was dull and dark violet.

Main Line Chapter 2 Confuse

The old monk did not respond. He peered down at the boys, looked at Baye a few more moments then thought "very good potential, but why such a bad temper?"

Shaw Danon stepped forward and said "hey, who are you? Why have I never seen you before?"

Grasstemple Village was near Jadeon. The inhabitants were mainly Taoist (Dagos); so, Buddhists (Fuwa) were rare near here which was why Shaw Danon was curious.

The old monk looked at him with a smile on his face and responded, "Young donor, your life was at stake. All you needed to do is give up. Had this old monk not helped you, you might have died already!"

Shaw Danon stood there a moment and thought about what the old monk had just said; however, he could not find an answer for him. All he could do was stand there.

Baye glared at the old monk and pulled on Shaw Danon’s hand saying, "Xiao Fan, this old monk is weird, don’t bother with him." Then Baye pulled Shaw Danon out of the temple; the other children followed behind them.

Shaw Danon looked back at the temple. The sky was getting dark, but he was still able to see the old monk in the standing in the temple lonely, but the face was getting fuzzy.

※※※

Midnight.

Thunder roared. The night wind blew. The dark clouds were coming.

A storm was coming, with a thirst for blood.

The old monk still in the temple, meditating, looked up, Mount Jadeon is getting hazy, with no sound of people, only the sounds of wind and thunder.

A great storm!

As lightning flashed, it lit up the temple for a second, the old monk was already standing at the door. Looking at the sky, he frowned.

At the west-end of the village, a black gas appeared. The old monk, standing in the temple, stared at the gas.

Suddenly, the black gas spiraled, like a tornado, moving toward to the temple. Traveling at great speed; the monk could see Baye was within the black gas.

The old monk did not hesitate, his skinny body leaped into the black gas.

From an unknown place in the dark, a sound of surprise came, "huh?"

After a few moments, the black gas stopped and circled above the temple. The old monk carried Baye down, a part of his cassock had been torn off.

Under the weak light, Baye’s eyes were closed; breathing steadily, difficult to tell if he was sleeping or fainted.

The old monk didn’t put Baye down. Looking up at the black gas, he said, "Mister’s skill is deeply profound; why are you attacking a little child? What a shame."

A voice responded from within the darkness; "and who are you? How you dare to interrupt my plan?"

The old monk did not answer, but said, "this is near Mount Jadeon, if Jadeon knew that you, sir, are killing people here, I am fear for you, sir, will have a really difficult time."

The man in the darkness responded, with disdain, "What is Jadeon? They only have a large number of people. You old bald-headed monk, give me that boy now."

The old monk clasped his hands together responding, "Amitabha, monks are mercy. This old monk must not give the child to you."

The man in the darkness responded, "stupid bald head, you want to die."

As he spoke, a red light began flashing; Yin energy and ghostly spirits instantly flooded the temple.

"Poison Blood Banner!" the old monks face turned angry. "Animal! You practice that type of evil item, against nature and harm the people. I must not let you go!"

The voice did not respond, except for a cold laugh; suddenly, the sky turned red, the scent of blood permeated the air, a two yard banner appeared, ghostly wails grew louder, and the sound of bones crushing filled the air.

"Bald head, die!" the man in the black smoke shouted, and a ghostly face appeared on the banner bearing three horns, four eyes, pointed teeth, long fangs, the eyes on the ghost’s face opened, "Roar!" it became solid, arising out of the banner, attacking towards to the old monk.

The old monk grew even more angry; the more powerful the Poison Blood Banner is, the more people need to be killed to power it. With the power of the banner the man is using, it must be fueled by at least three hundreds people’s blood.

That person is heartless!

The ghost is getting closer, old monk still didn’t put Baye down, using the left hand which is holding the Jade Prayer Beads, he drew a circle in mid air, forming Lion Mark, gold light flash on the fingertips, a golden wheel appeared, blocking the ghost.

"All you have is just a little..." he not finish the word "trick", when he felt his right arm got bitten by something, the body become numb with paralysis, eyes grew black, the wheel is about to fall.

The ghost’s face forehead separated in half, a large eye appeared, destroyed the wheel and hit hard against the monk’s chest.

The old monk fell back, Baye dropped to the ground, the old monk’s ribs broke, he fell onto the wall with so much force that the wall collapsed.

"HAHAHAHA..." the man laughed wildly.

The old monk stood up, blood spouted out from his mouth, dying the cassock crimson. The poison is getting closer to his heart.

He looked at Baye; he saw a colorful centipede coming out from his clothes. Size of a palm with 7 tails, each tail has its own individual color; very beautiful, but containing horror within.

"Seven Tails Centipede!" the monk’s voice let out as a low groan.

The black smoke growing heavier on his face, blood kept on flowing out from the mouth, seemed like he was going to fall, but not willing to. He look up at the black gas, "you hid that rare poison in that boy and waited, hiding your strength, finding the right time to attack me, you are after my life are you?"

The man in the gas gave a cold laugh "hehehe; right, I am after you Puzhi bald head. Had I not done this, it’s not easy to face your Skysong skills. Now hurry and give me Sinister Orb; in return, I will give you the antidote for Seven Tails Centipede, so you can live!"

Puzhi smiled, "shame that my name has ’zhi’ (note1), and cannot stand the thought of you practicing Poison Blood Banner; as such, there is no way that I could want to give you Sinister Orb." His face growing more serious, "If you want me to give you the evilest thing in this world, never think about it!"

The man in the dark got mad, "then go see your Buddha!" The ghost appeared again, it turned, and flew toward to Puzhi.

Puzhi roared, the cassock flapped wildly despite the lack of wind, his body looked bigger than before, left hand filled with strength, the string of Jade Prayer Bead broke, jade light flashed, the beads flew in front of Puzhi, only the purple orb fell straight toward to the ground.

Puzhi’s hand turns, and catches the falling orb, both hands forming Vase Mark, the whole body shone with gold light, and his mouth shouted, "Yan, Ma, Ne, Ba, Mi, Mou!"

"Six Words Incantation!"

When Puzhi said "Mou", all of the Jade Beads lit up, the ghost came near, but couldn’t advance anymore. It froze in mid air.

Although he blocked it, his body still shook and fell back a little, the Seven Tails Centipede is the most powerful poison, even with a hundred years of Fuwa practice, its still hard to defend against it. But on his face, a smile appeared.

"Dai!"

Puzhi made a Lion Roar, a Bead broke into pieces, forming the word "Buddha", striking at the ghost.

The ghost screamed, the red light began to retreat. The man in the dark said, "You bald head!"

He tried to do something, seven, eight Jade bead turn into the word Buddha and hit against the ghost. When the ninth bead hit, five eyes smacked and the ghost fell on the ground, turning into blood.

At the same time, Puzhi coughed out blood, again, the blood had already turned black.

"Ah!" a scream came from the entrance of the the temple.

Puzhi and the man looked at the door, they saw Shaw Danon; Shaw Danon stared, horrified, at the scene.

The Seven Tails Centipede flew, as fast as lighting, toward to Shaw Danon.

Puzhi pointed, a Bead flew between Shaw Danon and the centipede; the centipede, knowing the power of the Bead, flew upward, into the black smoke.

The man in the smoke said, "Hehe, you are deserving to be known as Skysong’s Four Divine Monk, you can defend against my ’King of Poison Blood’ while heavily injured, but you got poisoned by Seven Tails Centipede, how long you think you can survive? Now hurry and give me Sinister Orb."

Puzhi’s eyes start to spout out black blood, "even if I am going to die, I need to kill you, devil!"

All the beads lit up, flew toward the black smoke, the bead that chased the Seven Tails Centipede went behind and ambushed him.

"Bang, Bang, Bang" green light shone everywhere, all the black smoke dispersed; a man in a black cloak descended slowly, his face could not be seen; only his eyes, a sword was tied on his back.

Puzhi said, "Sir, you are very strong, why not show your face?"

"Bald head, today I must kill you!"

He took his sword out, the sword has soft light, luminescent but not hurting the eyes.

"Nice sword," Puzhi said.

The man walked seven steps, sword pointing toward the sky, saying:

"九天玄刹，化为神雷。

煌煌天威，以剑引之!" (Note 2)

Dark clouds gathered, lightning began flashing, huge storm started roaring.

"Thunderblade!" Puzhi said with surprise.

"You are Jadeon!"

Note 1: Zhi mean wisdom

Note 2: "Rage of Nine Skies, turn to divine thunder.

Might of heaven, arrive at this sword!"