Chapter 13: Going Incognito

At the top of the mountain, a dark shroud covered the surroundings. Within it, An Shan was standing, listening to reports. To his side, the unconscious Xiao Mei.

“It is as I feared,”

An Shan said. There were four protectors in front of him.

He was in the middle of receiving investigation reports from these protectors. This first one was regarding the cultivation manuals. In the sect, all of them had been severely corrupted. The Divine Scripture he had left was forbidden from being read without ‘guidance’ of a Grand Elder with the title Divine Scholar. This scripture was the source of every cultivation methods in the sect. To make matters worse, instead of being open to everyone to think and ponder, only core disciple, elders and above had access to it.

Additionally, they were forbidden from forming their own opinion about what was the real meaning the verses in the scripture entailed. If anyone did, they would be socially persecuted. From the report, quite a few families loyal to the will of their ancestors had been persecuted throughout history. As years gone by, people came to accept such ruling as the norm. People no longer dared voicing their differing opinion.

This really made him uncomfortable.

“Even persecution... So freedom of expression, suppressed. That’s really bad, youngsters and old men alike turned rigid, stagnating... Alright, second report,”

“Yes, Ancestor. Regarding the two types of books,”

The second report was about the Books of Guidance and An Shan’s saying. It entailed their origin, their history, their spread and other details. It was serious, as the practice had become culture, and falsehood accepted as the truth.

Listening to the report till the end, he knew what to do.

‘Implement change. Not too fast, not too slow,’

If he implemented change too fast, there would be revolt for sure. However, if it was too slow, there would be many more victims, especially so among the young generation. The dogma in his society was cult-like in nature, forming extremist and followers who could not think rationally.

‘This, is not an accident. This is deliberate,’

Much thought crossed his mind.

Who did this? What was their purpose? After hearing the third report on Dan pills, he made his mind in regard to it. As for the fourth report, about the overall condition, political and social mindset of those within the sect, he formed a better idea of how low his sect had fallen.

It was worse than the earlier reports.

“No wonder we’re losing territory, and people hate us,”

“Ancestor?”

“Good work! Continue investigating, it won’t be long before I’ll issue the next command. We’ll implement change soon enough,”

““Yes, Ancestor!””

“And I’ll be going around the sect investigating first hand afterward. Ru-er, cover my back in the day. Mu-er, at night.”

““Yes!””

Dismissing the rest but the one called Ru-er, An Shan sat in meditation.

When Xiao Mei came to him for help, he was a bit upset with this child’s mischief. However, it crossed his mind that it might be a good chance to see the whole sect for himself, incognito. With his appearance, his abundant and lively life-force due to the turtle shell, even a Grand Elder like Su Min could not sense his real age. What Su Min did not detect back then, was his cultivation level. She did not used her spirit search, and he did not activate his Qi.

Moreover, An Shan had a lot of enemies, powerful enemies such as the two world superpowers. Though his mainland was far from them, he knew best not to think lightly of their influence. His existence would be best kept hidden, at least for now.

‘The True Masters won’t sit still, should they know I’m still around. Demons and demonic cultivators lived longer afterall,’

If he was to go out in public incognito, he would have to do something with his cultivation. Having the public aware of his existence was akin to declaring to his enemies to ‘come at me’. Deciding not to be reckless, he began to suppress his cultivation.

‘Suppressing my Soul and Titan-Stars might reduce my sleepiness. Then again, I should leave a little thread of soul, just in case.’

Since his soul still did not recover, he decided to suppress it along with his cultivation.

With this, his sleepiness should be reduced. He was not sure by how much, but he knew how powerful the sleepiness was. Even with 5% of it shared with An Hong, symptom of it was already evident in that descendant of his. Fortunately, it only caused him to be a deep sleeper.

With black-covered Ru-er covering his back, he was at ease. Thus, he began suppressing his soul, forcing most of it to enter a state of rest. Leaving just enough of his soul active, he could stay awake longer, but the downside was clear; he would not be able to use his Soul Technique before lifting the suppression. Now, he regressed his cultivation from Soul-Titan down to Titan-Stars.

Next, he suppressed all three of his linked Titan-Stars. Within his Heavenly System, a form of large cloud covered the huge stars. Soon, their energy was suppressed within, leaving only a little of it seeping out. If the elders were to check his cultivation now, they would not be able to tell what level he was in.

‘…I’ll just form a false Sub-Star,’

Using a little bit of the cloud and the energy seeping out, he formed a false Sub-Star. It was called false, since it did not generate its own energy. Taking what little energy seeping out from the cloud, its light and vibration were so similar to a Sub-Star. However, he knew that would not be enough. Heavenly-Star stage cultivator would be able to tell something was wrong from the energy flow.

To cover their sense, he needed to be thorough.

‘Eleven false Protostars, orbiting the Sub-Star,’

Lights started to form out of the cloud.

Soon, eleven small points of lights emerged, orbiting the earlier Sub-Star. The movement of these Protostars orbiting the Sub-Star was so smooth and natural, it was so similar to the energy generation coming from a core disciple of the sect. With this, as long as he did not come into contact with a Titan-Star cultivator, or scanned by a Soul-Titan, he would pass as a genuine Core Disciple, a new Sub-Star cultivator with eleven Protostars still in Star Formation.

Unfortunately, this method carried certain risk. While he reduced his sleepiness greatly, he was limited to cultivation energy of Sub-Stars Stage. He still could increase it slightly, but to undo it completely, would take time.

“Alright, done.”

When he finished, it was sunrise.

The majestic light filled the horizon, and he could see the cities and towns further distance away from the sect’s mountaintop. With the view, the image overlapped with what was in his memory. The towns back then became mega cities, villages became cities while forests were cleared for villages and roads. Meanwhile, all the way to the shore two hundred kilometres from his position, the city he created back then had turned into a nation of its own.

Clearly, much time had passed.

Appreciating the view for a bit, he took a deep breath. The memory of times past, the comrades who stood by his side, his sworn siblings who sacrificed so much for their ideals, all came into being in a flash. He wondered, could it be he was the only one still lingered in this world? Friends, enemies, nobodies… Did everyone left already?

“…I can reverse cultivation, but I can’t reverse time,”

He stood up, hand raising Xiao Mei up into the air, he spanked her back to the world of living. Eyes opening, drool was coming out from the little troublemaker.

“H-huh? Is it time for breakfast?”

“It’s time for lecture,”

“…Ah!”

Finally recalled what she thought as the last moment of her life, she remembered why that happened. She felt her butt, it's still there! It was swelling, but the pain subsided. Shaking his head, An Shan remembered he ought to warn this troublemaker first, or his identity would be out in the open in a matter of seconds. Hm, then again, who would believe her?

Anyway, best to take precaution.

“Mei-er, listen. From now on, in public, address me as Older Brother Shan, alright? And never tell a soul about my background, you hear? Just say I’m your distant relative, and that you don’t know anything else about me,”

“Eh, Ancestor become big brother, what do you mean?”

“I mean that if you do not follow these instructions, forget about helping your friend. Your butt will be the one needing help,”

“Hiii— I understand, Ances— No, Shan big brother!”

“Hm, better,”

Satisfied, he let the dark shroud surrounding them dispersed. He took her with him. From his ring, a sword came out. Jumping down the high cliff, he threw the sword down. The sword floating, he landed his feet soon after. With that, he continued sliding down below, with Xiao Mei on his back. Ru-er behind them merged with the sunlight, disappearing completely.

Following the small finger of Xiao Mei, An Shan flew towards the flat land in the middle of the mountain, a city. Among the many buildings forming the city, several dozens of them were enclosed within great walls. Its grand golden gate caught his attention. Near the entrance, several hundreds of young men and women were gliding through the air in robes and clothing of various colors.

Some with their sleeves stretched out wide like an eagle, some riding on their sword or large fan, while quite a few girls let their umbrella led them through the air. Older ones among them flew using crane and bird-like wooden figure, opting for comfort rather than style. Those with sword slashed the air and let their energy burst from behind, propelling them forward. While flying, they were clearly practicing their sword arts, further honing their sense and movement.

All of them, were in Sub-Stars stage.

“Core-disciples,”

Once cultivators reached the Sub-Stars stage, the energy generated from their Sub-Stars would be strong enough for them to achieve temporary flight. This kind of flight was also called limited flight. This was because they had to use equipment to help them stay in the air, including their sleeves. In addition, their flight was quite short, and they could not fly high, since that required energy much higher than what they could generate. Often, they only flew around the same height as high buildings. If they came from the mountaintop, they could not help but slowly losing altitude.

“Hm? Is that…”

Among the many core-disciples, one girl on land stood out. She looked barely sixteen, with purple robe and pants tightly hugging her body, and padded armor covering her arms and legs. White see-through clothes wrapped her body. Barely showing her upper arm through it, it gave her a unique sense of fashion.

Red marking was on her forehead, made in elegant lines as if a crane spreading its wings. It was a simple cultural reminder for her, to be focused at all time.

She was walking towards the grand gate, while the eyes of the honor guards as well as from those in the air, were watching her. Due to recent events, she had been the talk of the disciples in the sects. She was Ling Shuren, and from afar, An Shan recognized her.

It seemed she still went to the lecture hall even after that embarrassing incident. From what An Shan understood, the Grand Elder who was conducting the lecture had quite the reputation. He was known as an expert and a Divine Scholar. It seemed she considered the lecture important enough, even risking embarrassing herself.

‘Divine Scholar, huh,’

When he first heard the term from An Hong, he frowned. Never in his life did he hear it, and it was a term only appearing after he went into that long Soul Severing.

It seemed someone with the title ‘Divine Scholar’ prided themselves as successors of An Shan, the Founding Ancestor of Absolute Aegis. They styled themselves as the sole group of experts of the Divine Scripture he left behind, and forbid others from interpreting it on their own. There were many stories about An Shan telling his followers to follow the guidance of only Divine Scholars, and never deviated from their path. Similar stories strengthened their image and legitimized their title, and they were spread widely for more than a thousand years. The stories were spread by storytellers, religious teachers and from their own mouth, often repeating it during any of their lectures.

‘…Follow them? I never said such a thing. Though I did say never deviate from righteous path, my saying was taken out of context,’

While each Divine Scholar might not like each other and bickered all the time, they knew well when not to. When their prestige was challenged, or someone attempted to interpret the Divine Scripture using his or her logic, they united and went into offensive together. Using ridicule to discredit the said person and posing as experts with their articulate speech, the masses generally believed them. Many Divine Scholars did not even shirk from giving out verdict, even condemning such person to death. The end result, the said person would be socially persecuted, and in some cases, murdered by those who believed them and their verdicts.

Remembering the report, An Shan had a headache.

‘What should I do, should such practice enters the sect?’

He put that aside for now. He believed he ought to listen to this guy firsthand before deciding anything. No longer deliberating, he glided down towards the gate with Xiao Mei still on his back. Being closer, Xiao Mei finally able to see Ling Shuren, and with a happy expression, shouted;

“…Shuren elder sister!”

“Eh, that voice, Xiao Mei?”

Ling Shuren turned around, yet could not see her anywhere. Only after hearing it the second time, she turned up, finally landing her eyes on An Shan and her young friend Xiao Mei. They landed beside her, just before the grand gate guarded by several honor guards of the sect.

After he put her down, she hurried towards Ling Shuren.

“Elder sister!”

“Xiao Mei, what are you doing here?”

“Ah haha, I’m just tagging along…”

Before she finished answering her, she hugged her waist. Hugging, sniffing as if never wanting to let go. Seeing her like that, Shuren patted her head, smiling.

“Now, now… You’re already eleven. Why’re you acting so spoiled?”

“No, sister! Xiao Mei worried about you! Why are you here again! That fatty, no-brainer good-for-nothing elder clearly hates you being here—”

“Hush! He’s still a Grand Elder. You’ll be in trouble speaking like that,”

“Uhh,”

She pouted, no longer speaking.

Seeing An Shan looking at them, Ling Shuren finally took note of him. His face registered into her mind, she had a weird, familiar feeling. Yet she did not think she ever exchanged conversation with him. Then, noticing his core disciple’s token on his waist, she whispered;

“…Xiao Mei, this brother is?”

“Ah, this is my Ances— Eh, An clan’s distant relative… Shuren elder sister, this is my big brother Shan.”

'This little,'

An Shan almost went forward to knock her head, fortunate for her she changed the introduction midway. With her introducing him, An Shan did not hesitate to cup his fist near his chest, making a salute of an equal. Seeing him doing so, Ling Shuren hurriedly saluted him the same, but he was the first to speak;

“My name’s An Shan, pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Ling,”

“A pleasure to meet you as well, Elder brother An. My surname is Ling, and my given name is Shuren, but it seems you’ve heard of me?”

“From this little child, only good things. She’s quite fond of you,”

“Really now…”

“But Xiao Mei’s not a little child,”

Due to her current situation, Ling Shuren could not detect An Shan’s cultivation.

One definite way to detect cultivation would be to use spirit search, but that would be considered rude if it was done by one of equal or lower status, or more so in this situation where one had just met the other. The other way would be to touch the person, or to sense the vibration coming from him when he used his Qi. However, with An Shan not activating his Qi, she had no idea what level his cultivation was even this close. Yet whatever it was, she saw that he was a few years older than her, so she treated him with that in mind.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Ling Shuren started to grow comfortable with him. It seemed he did not grow up here in the sect’s central headquarters, and had just arrived here from out of town. With his elegant style and confident demeanor, she wondered;

‘Did he come from regional headquarters? It seems he had no qualm associating with me,’

She was glad, for he did not form any negative view about her, as many core disciples did. While much of the reason stemmed from her joining core disciples too young an age, she never felt they hated her or something like that before. The negative feeling turned bad only a couple of weeks since she returned to attending lectures here. In addition, the attitude of many Grand Elders towards her recently made it worse.

It felt quite out of nowhere for her, as if they were releasing their pent-up frustration on her or something. Being directly under their guidance, many core disciples began showing similar attitude. She could feel eyes looking at her as if asking, what’s this girl still doing here?

It turned even worse a few days ago when Grand Elder Rizhi clearly showed his attitude towards her, telling her to leave the lecture hall without even explaining why. He just said she was not qualified, treating her like a pest in his presence. Such conduct only empowered those who had dissatisfaction with her. Well, she knew her cultivation had regressed, but to treat her like so due to this? Was that really the reason? This really puzzled her. Could human really act like this? It seemed unnatural, and it went against her understanding of human behavior.

Well, she was merely sixteen afterall.

This brother An however, clearly was not aware of such growing sentiment. There was also this odd familiarity she had about him. She was confident this was their first meeting, but… Interested, she was about to ask a few more things, but the bell rang before she managed to.

“Time’s up, it seemed. Xiao Mei, I must go. Grand Elder Rizhi’s lecture is about to begin,”

“Ahh, must you go? That fatty’s bullying you! Why must you—”

“I need to. I’m happy for Xiao Mei's concern, but he’s an expert in Divine Scripture afterall,”

“Mohh—”

“Don’t worry, I still can hear from outside. My seniors the Honor Guards, kind enough to let me,”

“Hmph, if you’re such an M, I don’t wanna care anymore! Hmph, I wasted my butt worrying, but you… Do as you like!”

“Now, now... Where did you learn such a weird phrase, wait, what’re you pouting for? Hm, did your butt grow bigger?”

“No, don’t touch! I’ll bite—”

“Ha, it seemed Xiao Mei will grow up prettier than this sister. This sister is jealous,”

Persuading the stubborn Xiao Mei for a bit more, she decided there was no more time. After pinching her cheeks playfully, she stood up. Her eyes landed on An Shan, noticing him waiting for her. This piqued her interest. Associating himself with her and Xiao Mei, did he not care of others talking?

“…Um, brother An, you’re going there as well?”

“Well, I’m a bit interested. But I’m not sure of the venue, mind if I follow?”

“Not at all, let’s go together then… if you don’t mind me leading?”

“I asked, naturally I don’t,”

After bidding the pouting Xiao Mei goodbye, both of them walked into the grand gate, passing through the honor guards. Together, they walked towards the Core Disciple’s Lecture Hall.

…

Chapter 13 End