The Way of the Sword (BL)

Finally edited! Edited by Shae_1812.

(...)

As Song Yan watched all that treasure in his interspatial ring, his eyes glittered with pleasure, while a painful smile formed on his small lips. Song Yan alone was richer than many of the ancient sects, at least 5 times more. However, there was a big problem with that.

"What good is it for me to have all this fortune if I cannot spend or enjoy it?", thought Song Yan bitterly. Even if he would sell these items or take advantage of this gold, after all, he is just a 10-year-old child and most certainly he would be killed by some thug or gang because of his fortune if he sold those items in a small town. As for going to the capital, that would be suicide, for along the way he could be ambushed by slave sellers or "recruited" by mountain gangs. So even though Song Yan was very rich, he can only look at his wealth with a bitter smile on his lips.

Of course, there were some items that he could pick up for his own use such as jade stones recorders. These are items that record the knowledge of some kind. Furthermore, when one accesses that knowledge with their spiritual consciousness, this knowledge is etched in the mind automatically! So, the person does not need to know how to read or write to acquire this knowledge. This helped Song Yan a lot, who was not completely literate yet and can only read rudimentarily.

Song Yan too could access a few tablets and elixirs that were ready and stored in boxes of cold jade. Of course, only a few could be consumed by him, since many of these items needed to have high cultivation to be able to harness the strong energy that the tablets and elixirs had. Song Yan can access some weapons, but could not activate his true powers, since he is weak. 

Yi Yuga came out of the bath and was wearing a simple but perfectly clean outfit. He had short black hair, which was wet right now, paired with strange green eyes. Yi Yuga's green eyes showed that one of his parents was the son of some other alien race on the continent. This was also one of the reasons that led the village leader to make this family a scapegoat for that unsolved crime!

Song Yan, sensing the presence of Yi Yuga, withdrew his consciousness from his ring and smiled at the thin and clean 10-year-old boy.

"Brother Yan, I'm hungry", Yi Yuga said as he felt his stomach protesting hungrily under his thin little hand. "Yi Yuga, I have something to tell you", said Song Yan earnestly, ignoring the words of the pitiful and hungry Yi Yuga. Yi Yuga became serious while listening to Song Yan's words, as his brother rarely used his full name with that serious expression.

"We are going to test for the Celestial Sword Sect", said Song Yan very softly with no joy in his voice as if it were something trivial. "But what about your promise to Uncle and Aunt Song?", asked Yi Yuga, curious about this decision of his brother Yan.

"I can be a pig wherever I want, but you need guidance to grow and become a tiger!", said Song Yan confidently, as if it were normal to wish to be a pig even in an important sect. "Brother Yan ...", said Yi Yuga emotionally! He knew that his Brother Yan preferred to stay in the forest, which was far safer than being inside a large sect, but just to give him a brighter chance, he wants to give the Sky Sword a try.

"It is not only for you, but I also want the protection of the Celestial Sword sect, so I cannot just hide here. Maybe the Song family in the capital put this forest down to try to find me," Song Yan said with a full face of tiredness, talking and sighing as if he were a small adult.

"Brother Yan, I will become a tiger and I will protect Brother Yan until you can also become a tiger!", said Yi Yuga solemnly. This was an oath amongst siblings who had been through storms and misfortunes together. It was just that they were only 10-year-old children who had spent most of their lives struggling against bitter difficulties!

"Okay, now let's train! Even if I have to be a pig, you should perform well before the Celestial Sword sect", said Song Yan with a gentle smile on his small childlike face. The training that Song Yan talked about was the one that he learned from one of the recording jades stored in his copper ring! These recording jades have the shape of a light green disk.

Now it is necessary to explain that in this world there are 4 ways to reach the top of the martial force: first is "Mana Cultivation"; second is "Body Cultivation"; third is "Cultivation of the Spirit"; and the fourth is "Cultivation of the Scholar".

Mana Cultivation is the most widespread in the Hua Continent, which consists of capturing the essence of heaven and earth by absorbing and storing in the cultivator's dantians.

Body Cultivation is much used by some sects. It consists of capturing the essence of heaven and earth by absorbing and storing it in the flesh of the body, like in the muscles, bones and in their blood.

Cultivation of the Spirit is widely used by the Magus Arcane sect, which consists of absorbing the Yin and Yang energies of the natural world into their souls, thus strengthening the soul to grow the power of the body. 

Cultivation of the Scholar is a mysterious cultivation art that involves all three of the above. This type of cultivation existed since even before the Dark Ages. The legends say that it came from the Age of the Martial Emperors and was said to be a very mysterious cultivation technique. Today this technique is considered a legend lost in the annals of history!

Song Yan cultivates the Art of 1000 Knowledge, which is one of the techniques of Cultivation of the Scholar! So, is Song Yan a great martial artist who has not been seen in thousands of years? Is he powerful and strong?

Unfortunately, he is not! Song Yan only managed to train with this technique until the peak of Qi cultivation, however, he cannot overcome the barrier to enter the Realm of the Foundation. What limits his talent is that his bloodline does not wake up. He did not quite understand what this bloodline was, but he only remembered his mother's words the day before the calamity struck his family.

"Yan'er, mother will seal the power of our lineage in your blood. Sorry for what your mother is about to do! I want you to have a simple, ordinary life; a happy life. Our blood lineage will only bring disaster to you and so it is better this way!", his mother's voice at that hour was soft, but even today he could feel the sadness behind that sweet voice.

"Yan'er, father will leave an opportunity for you to awaken the lineage in your blood. This is because I know there will be a day when you become a man and at that time you will try to achieve some things that may help you. But I hope, like your mother said, that you never need to awaken this power of our lineage. However, when you're sixteen, follow the map I'm going to put in your mind. If you do so, then you can have as much power as you want at that time.", his father's voice was thick and rough, but it was also very warm and loving.

"Yan'er, whether you regain this power or not, always remember two things in life: Firstly, always be patient and good. The karma of the righteous will always be brilliant, which will also give you more opportunities to grow. And secondly, I and your father love you very much. Even if our face is one day fade away in your memory, you must remember this feeling. Love is the most important feeling of all, and you can win everything with it! I only hope that one day you come to realize this.", Song Yan's mother said in a warm voice while at the same time there was an infinite sadness in her voice as if these were words of farewell.

Whenever Song Yan remembers that day, he thinks that his parents already knew they were going to die and leave him behind. And this makes every situation very suspicious!

Mainly, by the fact that Song Yan does not remember anything before the day he arrived at the Song Family's summer mansion, he does not remember the Song Family of the capital or some other relative! Song Yan shook his thoughts on his parents and handed the jade disk to Yi Yuga. It contained a breathing technique from the Scholar Cultivation called "Breathing Like a Wolf". It was a holistic breathing technique that tempers the body, strengthens the spirit, and creates Mana within the body. If this technique were to be put out there, it would shock the sects and make them fight a bloody fight to get this Wolf Breathing technique. 

In Song Yan's other hand was a small jar made of clear jade with ten fat brown pills that had a slight red glow. Song Yan threw this small jar to Yi Yuga saying, "This is a nutrition pill. After training for 1 hour consume the pill and repeat the training for about 10 times. This pill will help you regain a relatively healthy appearance and will also increase your cultivation by 2 times". 

Later, Song Yan explained how to access this jade disc. So, after understanding the whole process, Yi Yuga sat cross-legged meditating for the first time in his life.

Song Yan calculated that Yi Yuga would be at the height of Qi Realm by the third day of the Celestial Sword sect selections. This would elevate his status to that of a super-genius as soon as he takes the test. As for himself, in addition to learning the cultivation of the scholar, he also had proficiency in alchemy, enchantment, training, blacksmithing, taming animals, medicine and some more. Of course, all these he knew at the basic level and nothing at an expert level. In his current age and body condition, he was far from being an expert in all these subjects. 

Song Yan suspected that without his awakened lineage, he would be a person who had all the talents but was good at none! He looked at the starry sky and realized it was late at night by the time he finished studying another jade album about medicine. He sighed and stretched, noticing that it had been four hours since he started studying and since Yi Yuga had started training.

Now Yi Yuga stood before a very old tree with a small green leaf between his fingers. He was concentrating green jade energy on that leaf, and then he used the leaf as if it were a sword. Yi Yuga's attack made a slight scratch on the tree's thick trunk! Yi Yuga's breathing was too deep and complicated to analyze, but there were some windy features around Yi Yuga. Looking at this, Song Yan nodded contentedly, thinking to himself that now Yi Yuga could pass with brilliant success on the sect's test. "Brother Yuga, I'm going for a walk around and will be back here in about two hours", said Song Yan as he walked out of the magic matrix. Yi Yuga just nodded back in acknowledgment, not worried since Song Yan knew this forest like the palm of his hands! 

Song Yan as always made a full circle around the camp, checking if there was some demonic beast of low rank lurking around. After seeing that all was calm, he headed to the same place he always went when he was going to make a major decision in his life or when he felt alone and anxious. The shattered mansion of the Song Family, where his beloved parents were killed and where his life had changed forever.

However, upon arriving there, Song Yan realized that someone was already there! This person was not weak at all! On the contrary, he was very strong and besides that, there was a strong smell of blood and a murderous aura being emitted from that person! 

Had someone come to kill him? 

Or was it something even more sinister?!