The mark

He still remembered the deity's words "this mark i reward you today for your loyalty,my first soldier liu ming. You followed me through thick and thin and were decisive enough to understand your priorities this is not only a reward but a investment. It signifies my trust in you. But remember, my trust doesn't come cheap. don't. disappoint. me."it rang in his head like a constant reminder of his past his voice was magnificent almost as if it was one with the world. The trees would sway as he spoke ,

the animals would instinctively lower their heads as if paying respects to their lord and birds? they would dare not fly in the same sky he was in.

His body shrouded in light that gave him a otherworldly presence. liu ming never knew the face of the lord he followed.

sometimes he doubted if this lord had a face at all after all who was to say deity were the same as humans? he carresed this mark on his chest that he had once cherished and sighed."i've been sighing a lot recently"

the reason he had not used this mark was not because he couldn't but he did not want to.

He had a instinct that the moment the mark was used he would sow karma with this Deity and that might not end well for him. As a warrior he knew to trust his instincts

so he had left the mark alone all this time but today he was going to leave this mark as an inheritance to his grand children

he knew his life was at an end.

his family were ordinary people with no cultivation . He told his grandchildren stories about cultivators and deities and this would be their final test. He knew that once this mark was seperated from him by himself he would face punishment of god so he couldn't be close to his home during that time. He gritted his teeth and took out a dagger that was made of an unknown glowing material. He took the dagger and cut his skin in the shape of the mark the dagger glowed strongly when in contact with the mark as if struggling .but as he cut what was surprising was that it was not his skin that cut but a translucent layer that would be impossible to be seen with human eye. It was his soul and in that peice of soul lay a golden mark he put this mark in the same box as the book and sealed it with some chains these chains had an evil aura to them, he made it so that only his grandchildren would be able to open it after they become adults .

he wrote a letter which contained his will sealed it with a crimson thread that faintly glowed before dimming out . He planned to give it to his trust worthy house keeper who was a middle aged man who had been taking care of him for 22 years it contained money , spirit crystals and the thread was a rare treasure that cannot be contaminated with karma. With this he could rest assured that the 'deity' would not find trouble with his family afterall he had made sure to not sow any karma with his family members even with his grand children he made sure to give subtle hints of gods and cultivators with his stories but avoided any big hints. After all maters were taken care of now came the final step for as time went on he could feel gods punishment descending upon him slowly .

He took one last glance at this ordinary house that he had spent 25 years in and sighed" in the end who knew and ordinary house of mud was still better than a celestial palace"

and in the darkness of night he took off on a horse into a lonely space he did not bring any defensive items with him he sent away the horse and sat there with legs crossed waiting.

but the punishment did not come what came was the familiar figure he once worshiped his stature as majestic as ever his voice this time was not the gentle one he remembered but extremely cold that would send shive down your spine" i told you my trust comes at a price liu ming"

liu ming did not get up or salute he no longer served this 'deity' afterall " i have always wondered what i was to you . you do not care about my life or that of any humans what are we to you a means of entertainment ? you tell us to sit we sit you yell us to run we run? is that it?

the 'deity' listened in silence did not interrupt this silence made liu ming uncomfortable the 'deity' then spoke "liu ming you have a lot of celestial artifacts that you used on your family to cover up our karma , where do you think you got these artifacts from who do you think left it there for you to take?" he did not wait for liu ming to respond but said extremely calmly" tell me liu ming fid you think you betrayed me because you hated me were these thoughts your own? did you think i gave you the mark for you to use or a certain precious grand child of your family?" at this point the 'deity' had a sinister feeling to him

liu ming's heart sank 'this is not good did he plant those memories in me? could he see the future ? who is the grandchild he refers to?'

the more he thought the more he felt himself naive he was against a person he did not know he tried his best collecting treasures for 54 years to cut of his karma but in the end he was still naive as he thought of this his face became more and more bitter. tears welled up in his eyes it was not that he was afraid but now he understood he had played into the 'deitys' hands and doomed that certained grandchild of his to a life of misery.

he bitterly said " it was my lifes biggest mistake to trust you" but even as he said he was secretly reaching for the glowing dagger tied to a secret pouch in the sleeve of his robe . he did not know if this would work but it was his last means to struggle to take the 'deity' down with him . having thought of so much he took the dagger and stabbed the 'deity'. the 'deity' did not evade he let the dagger hit him as the dagger collided with the light of the 'deity' it melted like butter to fire. the deity reached out his hand and suddenly it was as if void broke the there were cracks in the air it was as if the sky was shattering like fragile glass

in liu mings eyes the 'deitys' hands were like the hands of heaven as they reached towards him he saw the sky shatter like glass in each of this glass he could see himself but the him in the glass were different some were children some were women some were old men animal,insects he vaguely understood these were all his past and present in different timelines. But as the 'deitys' hand approached these lives started disappearing as if they never existed and then it finally reached liu ming he felt his world turning black as he collapsed in his heart there was only bitter hatred for the 'deity' and regret if he knew this would be his end dragging his family he would have chosen to be a loyal dog

(this was to create a image for the 'deity' liu ming will be a side charecter in the later chapters our mc's journey will begin from the next chapter)