10 An Unfathomable Dao Heart

Two boys chased each other around a fountain in one of the luxurious courtyards of the mansion. Hedges, grown from various types of spirit vines, shrubs and bushes,0 created a circular border around the courtyard. A path made from rube and sapphire gems of the Saint Grade, spread from a door leading into the mansion, outwards, looping around the fountain and then exiting underneath a steel gate. Trimmed spirit grass, tinged with a little blue at its tips, surrounded the pathway. The boys ran around, trampling in the grass, falling into the hedges and leaving trails of dirt and mud on the gem paths. Joy rode their faces. Giggles, as lovely as a newborn's first laughter, filled the atmosphere. Warm rays of sunlight plunged into the scenery, making the grass and hedge a shade lighter.

Dong Meirong watched the scene with a smile on her face. She was back. She truly was. Happiness overflowing, she rushed towards the two boys and snatched them into a warm hug. Confusion plastered the kids' faces when tear drops splattered onto their necks. Still, they returned the hug, squeezing into Dong Meirong.

"Go tell your sister that I'm back, "she stifled the flood of emotions beating back behind the windows of her soul.

The two kids nodded their heads in understanding and rushed off, lathering the gemstone pathway with more mud. This wasn't real. Her memories flooded back into her. This was an illusion created by the Immortal Slaying Mirror. But maybe she could enjoy the atmosphere one more time.

Kneeling down, she broke a piece of the grass and brought it to her nose. Intoxicating. The familiar raspberry-like scent from the grass pierced her nose, squeezing droplets of tears through her eyes. Her soft pale fingers kneaded the piece of grass into her palm, savouring the rough sandpaper-like texture of the grass. The simple moments in life that she took for granted came back to haunt her when she lost this place.

Flames licked every surface of the Zhao Clan Mansion. Dried blood stuck to the dirt. The scent of iron melded with the thick black plumes of carbon and dread. That was a few years ago. Her second chance already came. And she couldn't stop the events from happening all over again, but she was given a chance to amend the wrongs that occurred by throwing Long Wei's ashes over the mansion.

"The path my heart chooses is not this one, " Her voice shattered the wonderful illusion constructed using one memory she was attached to. Only the Immortal Slaying Mirror was not so easy to break.

Another scene replaced the previous one.

The look in the young master's eyes didn't sit well with Elder Bohai. As one of the few people to witness Long Wei's growth from the moment he was born until the present, he mastered the subtle changes in his genuine expressions. The gaze Long Wei spotted now only occurred once in front when he was eight. At the time, Long Wei was a tad different from the man he was now. It was the first time Long Wei left the Palace with someone other than his father. The Emperor left him in charge of Long Wei's descent into the secular world to grind out the unneeded bits of arrogance embedded within his bones and blood.

They disguised themselves as beggars for three months and travelled on foot from the east to the west of a large continent within one of the mortal planes controlled by the Imperial Family. Long Wei's eyes blazed with anger after a man accidentally shoved into them. His intent to kill choked the atmosphere. And even he, a full-fledged warrior, felt shivers crawl up his neck. The young master formed a ball of spirit qi in his hand and tossed it at blinding speeds. An entire village was wiped off the map thanks to a single man's unintentional mistake.

The young master now was a man capable of logical thought processes and didn't rush to anger. At first, he thought they got rid of that irrationality through the bits of training they did. He was wrong.

Everyone was in shock as they watched Dong Meirong break past half of the mandatory hundred Dao Heart trials like she pressed her finger into wet paper. Her speed in doing so terrified them to the core. A mere twenty seconds into it and she finished the first hundred. Elder Mo couldn't help but raise a brow at her accomplishment. As long as she kept a similar pace, he would forgive her tardiness.

"Isn't the fastest time to clear all hundred mandatory tasks fifty seconds? "a young man named Wu Yang said.

"You are right. I remember. It was Qian Jian who set that record one to two hundred years ago. Many tried breaking it but failed. Do you think she can do it? "a lady with a bright pink face and a thick-inked tattoo of a snake clicking around her neck said, "I believe in her. It's way more fun when records are broken fast. "

"Look! "

Thirty seconds in seventy-five pulses of light. Dong Meirong's face gradually paled, shredding the last bit of beauty-based presence she had. The crowd of students gazed at the Immortal Slaying Mirror as it flashed from purple to white at a constant pace. Some of them started chanting the seconds, as others joined.

"Thirty-nine! "

At the specially crafted pavilions on the right of Elder Mo, a pair of Transcendent Dao Children spoke as they watched the Immortal Slaying Mirror. One of them was a young pretty lady with deep purple skin. Swooping light purple marks ran down every inch of her skin. Both her arms latched onto the arm of a young man. She pressed her chest into his arm and rested her head on his shoulder.

"She's going to make it, isn't she? "The young pretty lady whispered to the man with earth-brown skin wearing a bright red robe with gold accessories.

"She is. And if she does. I'll take younger cousin's approach to this. I'll skip this round and bank in the last two to win the two cosmic beads, "the man said, with a calm face.

The girl had a lovely smile and it never left her face. Snuggling into him, she closed her eyes and slept. A small smile cracked on the man's lips as he rustled her hair. Most of the Transcendent Dao Children didn't clamour about Dong Meirong's astounding performance. Some of them frowned, wondering if they could best her speed should they take part in the Dao Heart Test. Some had thoughts of poaching her to their side but quickly scratched those thoughts out of their mind after gazing up at the pavilion Long Wei sat in. Offending him for a single person was far from worth it. A few felt happy that another talent worth competing against arrived.

The crowd of examinees went wild once Dong Meirong reached ninety-five pulses within forty-five seconds. She was so close to breaking the record, and she didn't even know it. Nerves hung in the air as the speed of each pulse suddenly dropped by a fifth. Bitten nails fell to the ground, running hands wares the air, ad deep exhales cooed it.

"Forty-five! "

"She's at ninety-five pulses. "

"Forty-eight, ninety-seven Pulses! "

"She is not gonna make it! "someone shouted.

"She is. She is, "a man frantically pointed at the mirror.

"Forty-nine, ninety-nine pulses! "

Silence choked the group of examinees the moment she was a second away from failing or breaking the record. Anticipation pounded against their hearts as their eyes tore through the Immortal Slaying Mirror. White faded into purple and into white again.

"One... One... One-hundred pulses, forty...forty-nine seconDS! "the first person to break the atmosphere stepped forward with trembling hands, "the two hundred year record! It's broken."

"This Daddy witnessed history baby!!"

"History! "

A cup of tea shattered in Long Wei's hand. The hit water sizzled the moment it made contact with his skin, but he remained unaffected. What he witnessed cemented his decision to kill Dong Meirong. He never feared people. But those with strong Dao Hearts had the reputation of never remaining mediocre throughout their life. Someone with Minor God Potential, along with a solid Dao Heart and an enemy? The chanting from the crowd didn't push down the acid building up in the pots of his stomach.

He hated the feeling of powerlessness. The Emperor was his father. His father appointed crown prince thanks to his Supreme talents that surpassed that of his older siblings. Yet, at this very moment, he was powerless. Powerless to wipe off a nuisance from the face of the earth, lest he lost the fragile status that hung on his head.

His first brother was waiting for him to make a mistake that would rightfully strip him of his crown prince status. If he lost his patience and killed her then, protecting the Zhao Clan massacre secret, he'd put his crown prince status at risk and his father's current reign at risk. If he let her live a little longer, she could spill the beans regardless, which could prove disastrous for the Imperial Family.