Hey Shoga, followers and favouriters, this is my thanks. Watch this space...

They all listened with bated breath, and on the edge of their seats. The old man's smirk broadened as he saw the sparkle in the recruit's eyes.

"Sanguinary cultivators are powerful beings who cultivate their Heart's blood and soul. They make their Heart's blood more and more powerful, and their soul more bloodthirsty and profound...until they are ready to choose a path to ascension."

"The path is the vital part for all cultivators...all true heroes and heroines of the past knew the significance of the path. When a path is chosen, their soul must successfully take the form of the weapon chosen. Only when a cultivator has chosen a path, can they begin their true journey to ascension, by nurturing their Heart's blood and their soul together, as the sanguinary trains"

...my Heart's blood?

Xing Kai felt anxious and worried. He knew he had barely any Heart's blood left at all. Almost all his vitality and natural talent had been destroyed when he spat out so much Heart's blood in his grief.

"As the stories say, there are some rare talents, with exceptionally powerful souls and incredible ability...that can train in 2 paths."

The man paused. The recruits eyes were blazing with admiration and desire.

"These monstrous talents are called 2-path sanguinary. They have incredible potential and vast power on a battlefield, as they can adapt to the sudden and volatile changes in war, with their dual weapon mastery. They are unrivalled masters of warfare."

The recruits widened their eyes and all of them thought of the legendary heroes from the old stories, who could wield two weapons and would carve deep channels of slaughter and carnage in war. Their eyes shone with admiration and excitement, young men and old alike.

"As for the path to choose...that mostly depends on the cultivator. Many people have a natural belonging with a certain weapon, and choosing it as their path, increases their odds of successfully completing the soul transformation and begin treading the path of ascension. However, those monstrous talents are special since their soul can handle two transformations and still not be destroyed. Once a path has been chosen and the soul takes that weapon's shape, either sword or bow, you are classed as a true sanguinary cultivator."

Everyone except Xing Kai nodded their heads in agreement with the old man's words. Many of them had already decided on a weapon to train with according to their favourite hero from the stories they heard. But Xing Kai found all of this new and surprising.

So that's how it works...those with 2-paths should be incredibly powerful and more likely to ascend right?

"However, the difficulty in reaching that Stage is huge...many cultivators die at another person's hands before they successfully find a path and transform their soul. And even then...many cultivators suffer an agonising death as their soul fails to transform and instead tears. Any cultivator whose soul has torn, die a horrible death and can never reincarnate."

The old man's voice turned grave and his eyes sharp. The recruits gulped, and the determination in many of them faded slightly from their eyes.

Could that strange ring be my soul? No, no no that thing is in pieces and is far too strange...plus I've never sensed my soul before, why now? I wonder what that thing is though...

"Naturally given the numbers of people in this country, the big cities have many who reach that Stage. After that a whole new world opens up to you, as a sanguinary cultivator. But that life is difficult and many perish in the face of the Death Retributions that they must endure over the course of their lives."

The recruits nodded.

What's a Death Retribution?

"The ladder to ascension is a tall and narrow one. A cultivator must inevitably push many others off, if he is too climb higher. It is full of bloodshed...so much bloodshed would obviously cause Death Retributions to appear more often and more dreadful than the last."

Ahh so a Death Retribution is the consequence of killing many people on the path of cultivation...I suppose all cultivators receive that challenge...

"The steps up the ladder to the gold sky, are separated into important Stages. The first few are essential to forming the correct foundations for ascension; they are Blood condensing, Soul condensing, and Path finding. After that there are other stages, of which the final three are the well known Lord, King and... Emperor of War Stage."

Xing Kai and all the other recruits burned these names into their minds, all aspiring to become the next great War God and have legends written about them.

"Sir, what about those freakish monsters?"

One of the recruits of younger age called out. Many of the recruits nodded their heads with understanding, while Xing Kai frowned.

"Ohh you mean the blood cultivators. Well to be honest this...this nobody knows much about. Some claim the blood cultivators are the devils, or perhaps an alternate path of cultivating...some even say that blood cultivation is the true way to ascend to the gold sky."

Many of the recruits frowned. The stories everybody heard from their mothers when they were being scolded, was that a horrible monster cultivator would suck their blood dry and eat them. Surly that couldn't be the true path to ascension?

"Sir, how can those freaks be true cultivators, how can theirs be the true path of cultivation?"

The old man frowned and snorted at the young recruit.

"Did I say it was the true way? I merely told you that people say it is the true way to ascend...I did not say that it was the true way to cultivate."

"But sir, how can that freakish blood cultivation path be the true way to ascend but not the true way to cultivate? Surely it must be both or neither. Cultivation is all about the path to ascension isn't it?"

"True. Cultivation is about ascending to the gold sky. But, the path of the blood cultivator is not chosen by anybody. It happens due to some strange occurrences...and it is fundamentally impossible to choose to become a blood cultivator; hence most do not even consider it a true path at all."

The recruits bobbed their heads with a strange, relieved look of understanding in their eyes. The old man appeared more knowledgeable in the recruit' eyes, but to Xing Kai he could feel an air untruthfulness to the man's words. Almost as if the old man was guessing what he said...as if he was unsure.

Blood cultivation? That must be why some villagers had such a bad opinion of cultivators...wait...could that be what I am? I have absorbed blood before...and refined it...

Xing Kai felt his heart begin to hammer heavily against his rib cage. He wasn't certain, but it seemed that most likely he had become a blood cultivator, just based on the name alone.

"Then what about a heretic? I thought all blood cultivators are heretical?"

The old man turned to face another young recruit.

"A heretical cultivator is he who does not follow the mandate of the Heavens. He chooses to oppose the gold sky. His path is much harder to walk, as he faces Heavenly Tribulation as well as Death Retribution. Heretics are the third category of cultivators...they are as different to Blood cultivators as blood cultivators are to sanguinary cultivators."

"Sanguinary cultivators follow the path ordained by the Heavens to ascend...blood cultivators are an obscenely powerful group that the Heaven's tolerate for some reason...but heretical cultivators must walk their own path. The fusion you speak of is possible in this huge world...but yet none have ever been spoken about in the legends...why do you think?"

The recruits frowned in thought, and came to their own conclusions. Truly, in the stories Blood cultivators were reviled and appeared tyrannical, as were the heretics in stories, yet they had never heard anybody say that blood cultivators were heretical. Could it be that all blood cultivators were heretics or none at all?

"From my understanding a heretical blood cultivator, would be far too ghastly to be allowed to exist. They would likely be struck down by a particularly powerful Heavenly Tribulation, and exterminated...or their path of cultivation is so difficult that they fail to ever progress very far."

"Then who is the strongest? Is it heretics or blood cultivators or..."

The old man snorted and glared at the recruit who asked this question. His scar gleamed and trembled for an instant.

"Cultivation is not that simple, you fool. He who has the strongest Heart's blood has a indestructible body, while he who has a more powerful soul will have the most powerful attacks. That alone is what matters, not what category you belong to."

The old man was indignant and his nostrils flared.

"Our own Piercing Cloud's 3rd province has a mighty and righteous Archer King, who would beat any 2-path sanguinary beneath King Stage. He has even beaten a heretical cultivator of the Lord Stage of the Spear. You show great disrespect to everyone when you ask such ignorant questions. Just because heretics or blood cultivators have greater strength doesn't mean they are better."

The old man was red in the face and spit glistened in his lips.

"Little brat, things like blood cultivators and heretics are far, far and far away from our small little world in this town. A heretical cultivator is struck by tribulation as soon as he forms heretical Will, according to how severe his Will is. With all the injustice and war in the whole world, many curse the Heavens...but how many actually become heretics? How many actual carry such powerful Will, that tribulation is required to exterminate it? Forget about Lord Stage heretics...before a person even begins cultivating how is he meant to survive Heavenly Tribulation? Those individuals are wild and dangerous, and ferocious to the extreme. Yes heretics are mighty, but not automatically better than any other. Most heretics fail to ever get past the first few Stages as the requirements for breakthrough become huge."

The old man seemed to settle down a little.

"You need not worry who is stronger, and who is weaker...although heretics have an unnaturally powerful Will, they lead an impossibly difficult life. How many can live a heretic's life? Sanguinary have their own advantage, while others have their own."

The recruit shied away into his seat and bowed his head. All the recruits were sobered up from their wild fantastical dreams.

The world is truly huge...so many different ways of becoming powerful...but why did he say heretics have to survive tribulation before cultivating? Can a person only become a heretic before he starts cultivating? So can cultivators not form heretical Will? And why was he so disturbed by that question...almost like he was jealous haha...

Xing Kai squinted his eyes and stared at the old man, trying to get an idea of what was wrong with him.

The man calmed down and wiped his chin and lips.

"Needless to say, there are many powerful cultivators in the world. Sanguinary cultivators are all you have to deal with, don't think about blood cultivators or heretics. They are both rare to the extreme, and the world too large for anything definite to be said about either of them. The world has seen the rise of all kinds of powers, comparing them just based on heretics or blood cultivation is absurd."

The recruits nodded their heads. Suddenly Xing Kai was waving a piece of parchment from his seat at the back and highest row of the hall. He had written a question while the man spoke.

"Ohh you're the mute brat who broke the nose of an Early Blood condensing Stage militiamen, during the entrance test...hehe someone read out what he's written."

"It says...can a cultivator not become a heretic?"

The recruit sitting close by to Xing Kai frowned as he read the question.

"No...a heretic closes himself off from the path of sanguinary cultivation...and who knows what effect it has on blood cultivators. Since heretics become cut off, a cultivator can't form heretical Will and expect to keep his cultivation. He'll lose all of it, hence a heretic must be a non-cultivator from the beginning."

Xing Kai nodded his head slowly as he thought this over. Then he wrote another question down and passed it to the young recruit beside him.

"He's saying...Has anyone ever managed to ascend?"

The recruit smirked and everyone burst out into laughter. They all knew the answer to this question.

"What an idiot. He must be a village fool"

"Truly he must have lived under a narrow tree to hide from the rain"

"Hold on, didn't the instructor say he beat an Early Blood condensing Stage militiaman?"

"Must be a mistake. He's obviously a runt from a backwards village, or some strange broken down clan somewhere"

The snickers and comments were all heard by Xing Kai, as they didn't even bother to lower their voices. The old man frowned, glancing at Xing Kai's dark eyes, and noticed that he was unfazed by the ridicule.

"To answer your question...not one person has ascended in thousands of years...in this vast, endless, cruel world we have seen the meteoric rise of Bojing Hai, a 3-path sanguinary cultivator who managed to reach Emperor Stage in Spear, Sword and the Bow...yet he disappeared hundreds of years ago having apparently failed to ascend. He has been the strongest to walk the earth since the last ascension."

Emperor Stage in 3-paths...what a monster

Xing Kai's eyes flickered slightly as he heard the man's words, but he stayed composed on the surface. He quickly scribbled down another word.

"The kid's wrote...Nightmare?"

The recruits all stopped snickering and whipped their heads back to the old man to see his response this time. The old man chuckled and nodded his head a few times, as he rubbed his chin.

"Good question. But I really don't know what a Nightmare truly is."

"The best I understand of them, is that they are most likely related to blood cultivators, and their path to ascension. As you all know, a Nightmare is so named as they are truly a bane of all wars. Whenever a war occurred and a Nightmare appeared...absolutely everyone was slaughtered. All Nightmares that have appeared in history, have slaughtered like no other...even Bojing Hai included. It seems like Nightmares need to kill vast numbers of people to ascend...and then they disappear."

"Sir, since Nightmares are so strong, why do they appear so often but Emperor Stage cultivators so rarely?"

"Fair point. But you're mistaken. There are at least 3 Emperor Stage War Gods in every country, including our own, except they don't appear in battles very often. However Nightmares, only appear once every century or so...and then disappear in under a few years. There are 2 known Nightmares in the world right now, but at least 17 Emperors. If there were any fewer, the Nightmares would have killed everything on this land already."

"But sir, no one has ascended in thousands of years, why do Nightmares not count then?"

"It's like I said. I don't know what a Nightmare is, I only guessed it had something to do with blood cultivators. The last ascension has been so long ago that I don't know if a blood cultivator has ever ascended at all. That's why I think it is possible that blood cultivators perhaps become Nightmares in their final Stage, and then leave this world. Whether they go the gold sky or elsewhere I don't know. But no Nightmare, whatever they are, have failed to leave in 5 years of appearing."

"Then surely the 2 Nightmares will be leaving soon, right?"

"Yes...they will. Both Nightmares should be leaving after one final massacre in the next few years..."

This doesn't make sense...why doesn't everybody stop wars for a year towards the final year of the Nightmares existence and see what happens? Plus why are the Nightmares so successful in leaving but there are so many Emperors that fail to ascend, even that monster Bojing Hai couldn't ascend...

Xing Kai rolled the ink bottle between his fingers as he thought. He wanted to get as much information as he can, now that he had the chance. Xing Kai scribbled again and showed it to the slightly annoyed person beside him.

"The kid says...do heretics go the same place as blood cultivators/Nightmares?"

This made everyone raise their brows, including the instructor.

"No heretic has ever survived the Heavenly tribulation when they attempt to reach Emperor Stage. The most powerful heretic known to me is King Daiyu. She was a truly despotic War God; a King Stage heretic with 2-paths...even Emperor Bojing Hai would have avoided her. However she too died under the Heaven's tribulation."

The old man was very pale and sweat glistened on his forehead. He spoke slowly.

"Listen well all of you. No heretic has been allowed by the Heavens to reach Emperor Stage...it is unimaginable how powerful an Emperor Stage heretic would be, when at King Stage they can already rival Emperors. But...they are a forbidden existence. Be careful what you say...no heretic has ever ascended...they have all died...none has escaped Heaven's wrath. Disease, luck, wars, tribulation...one way or another heretics have all died young."

The old man felt sweat rolling down his back at the thought of such a thing. An Emperor Stage heretic was an intolerable abomination for the Heavens. Cultivators knew this, so they tended to avoid discussing such an almighty being for fear of being smote by the Heavens.

How insane is that? This is even more confusing

Xing Kai felt his heart pounding heavily and his palms becoming sweaty. Even his brow had sweat breaking out. His teeth clenched and his legs tapped repeatedly against the floor, as he thought about such a powerful being.

I want to become that strong. I too shall rise to that level of power...and surpass it...this...this feels so...

Xing Kai had never felt such a thrill before, and it deeply shocked him that he actually had such a passion for cultivation. He thought his whole life would be without colour and purely driven by revenge and hatred for his weakness. But now Xing Kai felt that cultivating to a supreme level was his purpose. He wanted power so he wouldn't lose anything he cared about, but now he also wanted power because he enjoyed it. Xing Kai's Heart's blood shifted imperceptibly, and wriggled with satisfaction at the prospect of ultimate power.

Hold on...what about...

Xing Kai gasped loudly, which made all the recruits turn and look at the boy who was scribbling with a passion on the parchment. Even the old man was intrigued and curious to see what would get Xing Kai so heated.

As soon as Xing Kai finished scribbling, he flourished the parchment to the young recruit beside him. An insane maniacal glow could be seen in Xing Kai's young eyes, which made the recruits shiver strangely.

The 19 year old recruit hesitantly took the parchment between his hands and read the scruffy writing slowly.

Everybody watched with shock, as the recruit paled and sweat immediately broke out on his forehead.

"ARE YOU INSANE? I REFUSE TO READ THIS ALOUD"

The recruit threw the parchment back as if it was burning him and then scuttled away from Xing Kai. Another quickly snatched the parchment as it drifted through the air and similarly he paled completely and threw the paper away with a screeching sound.

"Alright that's enough, pass the parchment to me"

The old man felt worried but incredibly curious now. He lunged forward remarkably fast to snatch the parchment out of another's hand.

The recruits ranging from 17-54 of the 8th recruit batch watched the old scarred man turn a ghostly pale shade. The instructor's hands shivered and he suddenly tore the paper into pieces.

"We will not d-discuss this m-matter further. End of lecture, all of you return to your barrack"

The old man's voice was stumbling a little and he looked at the pieces of parchment on the ground as if they were a terrible beast.

"Boy, you would do well to remember the story of Han Cheng. He too spoke a little carelessly, but the Heaven's did not even forgive his dogs and chickens."

The recruits were only just standing up out of their seats, when they suddenly froze after hearing the reference to Han Cheng and his burning. He was a well known merchant, who made his money selling weapons between warring provinces. One day he apparently insulted all cultivators for their stupidity and laughed at the Heavens for creating cultivation in the first place. His whole family had heard him, and they all burned to death a few moments later, while their mansion was completely unscathed.

They burned to death during winter, while their carpets were unscathed...if it wasn't the work of the Heavens what else was it?

"Just what did that kid write? How heretical must it have been for the instructor to fear the Heaven's wrath?"

This question bounced around in all their heads, as they stood up to leave. They all looked at the fallen torn parchment, as they wondered what could have been written, with fear and morbid curiosity.

Pity...where would I find a person who knows the answer but is also willing to tell me?

Xing Kai reluctantly left with the others, ignoring the stares he got from the recruits. He didn't know the story of Han Cheng so he was unconcerned.

"That boy...old lady Zhou had a feeling he wasn't normal...first the healing...then the spar at the entrance test...and now this fearless question"

The old man rubbed his head, wiping the fat drops of sweat away from his forehead. He then flicked his fingers and a strange force struck the pieces of parchment and turned them to dust; without a second look back, he left the hall with slightly hurried steps.

He never felt so incredibly grateful that a little boy was mute.