Disruption

Murky clouds covered the sky as water poured down onto the Imperial Palace like bullets. A frail old scholar sat cross-legged in front of the Emperor's study hall, closing his eyes in wait. Gusts of ferocious wind blew into his face, causing his messy white hair to soar, yet he remained unperturbed. If one looked close enough, they would discover that his clothes were perfectly dry although he was sitting outside in the night amid a downpour.

When a blazing flash of lightning struck, twenty dark-robed figures charged out from the roof toward the blocked entrance. The old man opened his eyes and grunted, causing the unending droplets of rain to gain the sharpness of one thousand swords. Everyone but the leading attacker was reduced to dust by the seemingly harmless weather.

The leader laid on the ground in paralysis as the look of horror in his eyes was revealed.

"How could you reach the Nascent Soul realm on the brink of death?", he questioned.

The old scholar smiled and replied, "I haven't"

Realization dawned as the last assassin tried to move closer, "You could have lived another 20 years. Why did you sacrifice your Golden Core? Is it worth it?"

"Don't think that your identity and intention to rebel can be hidden, Duke of Yan. I shall be remembered in the history books as a hero, my martial arts will be inherited. Cultivation is a road with no end but death. Only the words of a pen can let me transcend my time."

The Duke of Yan laid there resigned and silent as he thought out loud, "So it is that simple."

The thunder accompanying the flash of light boomed as if to declare the end of an era.

…

The bells of the palace tolled throughout the capital as people spread the news fervently, "The Imperial Preceptor has died! He defeated 20 Golden Core enemies with one move. The Emperor has declared that his Living Water Sword Art be put in every library in the nation. What an unprecedented honor!"

The hubbub in the streets persisted until the sun began to rise, which forced people to attend to their daily work. The sects were simmering in chaos, however, since cultivation knowledge had never been accessible in any library in the Dynasty.

The capital city of Huxi was full of blossoming trees this time of year. No traces of the severe storm was left except for the glistening morning dew that adorned the countless flower petals floating around.

In one of the many streets, everything was peaceful and quiet until a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard pushed open the door of his house, shoved out a cart selling sparkling sticks of hawthorn candy, and began a pattern of flamboyant humming.

Li You was a philosophy lecturer at a private preparatory academy in the United States. On a typical day, he had suddenly awakened in a completely different world, one filled with qi and ancient dynasties. His life in this world was lonely and destitute, but he always enjoyed talking to the children playing on the streets and helping out other families. He had never cultivated before, but security was decent enough that he would not have to worry about being in peril.

Today was different though. As soon as he walked into the middle of the street with his cart, a white blur from the sky banged into him, causing both his cart and body to be flung onto the ground.

It was a man dressed in a steward's garb with apparent injuries. Li You quickly stood up, patted the dust off his clothes, and dragged him inside his house to heal. He put a wet towel on the head of the man, and used a rag to bandage up the injuries.

He left his house and resumed selling candy from his cart all over the capital. When it was evening time, he returned to his house and slept on the floor. The following morning, the injured man woke up.

He asked blandly, "Who are you?"

Li You replied, "I'm just a common street vendor who saved you."

The man continued, "Don't think you can play tricks on me like my first or second brother. You will not achieve the motives you desire."

Li You laughed, "The world has more good people. Don't think so much about the way things are. The heavens and earth are infinitely huge in their majesty and we are infinitely small. How can you understand all the workings that govern the world and act upon your life if it is beyond the surmising of human perspective?"

The man stood up and walked around the quaint house. He saw a stack of paper on the only table and when he looked closer, he saw they were poems.

He recited the one on the top aloud, "You ask me why I dwell on the green mountains; I smile but make no reply for my heart is carefree. As the peach blossom flows downstream and is gone into the unknown, I see an earth, a heaven, unknown to men."

The recovering man marveled in delight as he quickly cupped his hands, "I wonder which senior this seat, Qin San, has been blessed to encounter?"

Li You replied, "I am Li You"

Qin San continued, "I have memorized all the famous poems under the sky, but I have never seen these ones. They are creations of yours, sir?"

Li You answered, "Yes, they are but musings of my past."

"Your poem about the peach blossoms has especially given me comprehension on my Falling Flower Swordplay. I implore sir to give me pointers.", remarked Qin San in a humble tone.

Li You panicked inside but gathered the resolve to become more integrated with the world, even if he had to muster up a false, confident front. He said, "Show me the moves of your style."

Qin San unsheathed a wooden sword hidden on his side and began executing the sword art step by step. His strokes were filled with melancholy and anger, making the humming sound of crying swords.

Li You raised his hand to signal him to pause and instructed, "Springtime is here on us. A fallen flower is not trapped in decay, but rather, it undergoes the cyclic beauty of rebirth. Falling flowers give way to new, budding life in the form of leaves. Why should you be filled with anger if the loss of a flower's beauty is only a new beginning and revitalization of life?"

Qin San had a look of awe and said to himself, "It is a perpetual cycle of nature. I see! I see!"

Qi concentrated into the room and gathered into his body as a wave of power rushed in and out of him. He had broken through to the Foundation Accomplishment Stage. Qin San's face was illuminated by a bright smile as he performed the Falling Flower Swordplay again, but this time, it appeared in harmony with nature and unending without points of break within the complex sword moves.

Qin San got on one knee and gratefully exclaimed, "Senior Li has given me invaluable, life-altering advice. Normally, Foundation Accomplishment Cultivators can be elders in the world of sects or generals in the army. I have reached such a strong stage yet I still cannot see your cultivation. Admirable! Admirable!"

Li You rushed to lift up the grateful youth, but Qin San remained on one knee and took out a pure jade token with the golden character "Qin" engraved onto it.

He continued, "I am the Third Prince of this here Dynasty. My Emperor Father is struggling in the chaotic backlash he has received for his sweeping reforms of providing martial arts to the populace. The Heaven Circling Sword Sect is targeting me because I am the only Prince in the capital. Senior Li, I wholeheartedly beg for you to be my teacher and save me."

Li You received the Imperial Token and declared, "One person can defeat a thousand enemies through strategy and overcome the sky. I will show you a greater world before your eyes."