The Eternal Sanctum

Whilst a certain young girl sat in the tranquil and peaceful Sanctum bem.o.a.ning her misfortunes towards the unwilling listener that were the heavens, a rather pot-bellied man lurched into an adjacent room of the Yang Clan’s Plum Blossom Hall.

The middle-aged man paid no heed regarding the original occupant’s wishes, slamming the door open as he leered towards the darkened interior of the wooden room.

“Brother Yang,” Shen Haoren spoke with an even voice,gradual and deceptive of his true thoughts.

“Today, you must give your brother some face. Tell me, whyare you embarking on such a path?”

The interior of the dark room remained silent, save for the faint buzzing of three specks of scarlet light circling around the other in a rhythmic, elliptical pattern.

As the fiery sparks of light encroached the upper height of their vertical orbit, their radiance casting an odd hue of light upon the room’s occupant.

The countenance was refined and diligent with an underlyinghint of handsomeness, but the middle-aged man could distinctly spot a trace ofcold scheming. Accompanied by the hastened whistling of the three sparks, thehandsome countenance raised its gaze to greet the intruder.

Shen Haoren and Yang Jian stared at the other in prolonged silence, their lips unwilling to move as their hearts relayed message after unceasing message in silence.

The two cultivators awaited until a final stick of incense sputtered out besides Yang Jian on an ebonwood desk, before Yang Jian parted his lips to speak.

The voice was heavy and fatigued, but a prideful glare shonethrough. Hearing the disinterest and exasperation resound firmly in his ears,Shen Haoren released an enormous sigh as he closed the door and planted hisbody against the wooden structure.

Illuminated in the dark, the pot-bellied man and handsome man shared an unknown glance.

As Yang Jian arose from his relaxed posture to alight another incense stick with one of the three sparks of flame circling around his body, Shen Haoren interjected with a similarly exhausted voice.

“Brother Yang, I know how you feel about this matter.”

The words were meek and suppressed before the silent auraradiating off from the Young Master of the Yang Clan’s body, prompting ShenHaoren to steel his resolve. The middle-aged man clenched his fists underneathhis robes, tightening his brow as to retain his courage from dissipating.

“Out of us four brothers, Brother Yang is the oldest byseven years,” the pot-bellied man parted his mouth with a hesitant, reminiscentexpression.

“Similarly, out of us four brothers, Brother Yang has facedthe problem for at least a decade longer than us.”

“How are we to breach the thin, but impenetrable barrierthat stands before us and the Core Formation Realm? We have remained at the peakof the Spirit Building Realm for at least two decades, and yet the eclipse ofthe boundary has yet to grace its countenance to either of us brothers.”

Yang Jian relinquished his body to its prior, seated lotus position, his arms gently resting against his t.h.i.g.hs as he fell into a period of recollecting thought.

“Indeed… we have gazed upon the horizons of the SpiritBuilding Realm for far too long,” the handsome man raised his head in assent.

“As members of the upper echelons of the Hundred ClanCoalition, we have no lack of spiritual medicines or ample cultivation ormartial arts techniques. Far too many resources, that there should be nohardship on our paths along the heavily resource-intensive and arduous journeyof cultivation.”

“And yet, we who are regarded as talented geniuses areincapable of progressing past the final boundary into the next realm, whilstothers easily breeze through the tender filament as though it never existed.”

Shen Haoren’s fingers rubbed at a golden coin to calm hisnerves, his mind seething with a multitude of thoughts. Reflecting onto thewords his Master had once imparted onto him upon their last encounter, themiddle-aged man couldn’t help but reveal a wry smile.

“The realm of Body Tempering, Foundation Establishment, andSpirit Building are mere preparatory realms in the journey of cultivation, anddoes not require any effort on the part of the cultivator,” he echoed with aghostly voice.

“When traversing from the lesser realms to the upper realmsof cultivation, resources matter not, and only the enlightenment of the heartcan glimpse upon the method of breaching past Spirit Building.”

“Words of your Master?”

Yang Jian tapped his right t.h.i.g.h with his index finger, his left object palming an unusual, slender object made from steel.

The handsome man ruminated for a few moments, before his lips similarly broke into a rueful smile.

“Then, Brother Yang, why must you enact upon this journey?”Shen Haoren’s eyes narrowed into a fierce glare, his heart teeming withdiscomfort and anxiety.

“Brother Yang, you must realize that this is not the propermethod of achieving enlighten-“

“Brother Shen, I know,” the reply was flat and devoid ofanger, as though Yang Jian was not criticizing his own actions but someoneelse’s.

“If our Masters had noticed that I would stray onto thispath, they would wish that they had flayed me since I was a youth. However… Ican only become desperate.”

The words were sorrowful and suffused with a no smallquantity of regret and resentment, but the expected anger was unable to befound. Shen Haoren hummed in frustration as he rubbed at his hair, an unwillingexpression on his countenance.

“Desperate?” the middle-aged man’s large belly heaved withrighteous anger.

“You stand at the pinnacle of the Spirit Building Realm,unmatched by any other! You stand at the top of the Yang Clan, where even us threebrothers can only flock aside and gawk in awe. You have such blessedcirc.u.mstances, and yet you call yourself-“

“I am at the pinnacle of the Spirit Building Realm, but sowhat?” the handsome man released an eerie chuckle.

“Unmatched at the Spirit Building Realm, but the weakestCore Formation Realm can squash me to death with a single breath. An aristocratof the all-powerful Yang Clan of the Hundred Clan Coalition, but we do not rankwithin the top twenty clans. My destiny is written as one of glorious blaze andrighteous ardor, for I am named Yang Jian.”

“However, having obtained a chance – a chance to breachapart this barrier and traverse into the Core Formation Realm to rewrite mydestiny into one not granted by my ancestors but that of my own… how could Inot throw myself upon it?”

The Young Master of the Yang Clan lowered his left hand to gently pry away the cloth covering the mysterious object resting on his t.h.i.g.h, his fingers lightly stroking at the cold and smooth surface with a sentimental expression on his countenance.

As Shen Haoren lowered his gaze to glimpse upon the object that had thoroughly captured Yang Jian’s interest, the middle-aged man’s brows couldn’t help but knit.

On that countenance of which he had seen righteousness, passiveness, and an eternal calm – he finally saw a tinge of malevolent insanity grace across those collected eyes, as though the gate towards heaven was directly before his fingertips.

“The young lass that was travelling with you – she is quiteliterally the travelling boon, ah.”

Yang Jian sighed with exultation and relief, his c.h.e.s.t displaying a solid heave of pride and might.

The handsome man’s fingers tapped at the hilts of the pair of objects before his body, and his voice adopted an odd tint.

“Brother Yang, you do know that your actions count as nothing but theft?”

Shen Haoren cleared his throat with an unwilling expression on his countenance.

“Old Shen, why be so rigid as so?”

Yang Jian released a hearty chuckle. The handsome man pushedthe pair of butterfly swords towards the middle-aged man, sweeping his widesleeves to clear the oppressive mood devouring at the sanity of the room.

“Old Shen must clearly be aware of the potential hiddenwithin these blades. And to be clear – we of the Yang Clan spent so much time andeffort rescuing that lass from the assassination attempt a few weeks ago, notto mention continuing to house her even after those subsequent massacres causedby her hand.”

“Then she and the expert protecting her life in the shadowswould be the one to owe a favor,” the middle-aged man persisted with cold beadsof sweat dripping from his brow.

“Brother Yang, you shouldn’t collect the favor without evenconsulting the lass about it.”

Yang Jian’s lips curved into a smirk as his finger reached out to tap onto the blade.

As the index finger lightly contacted the steel blades of the twin butterfly swords, his lofty voice struck like hammers onto Shan Haoren’s willpower.

“Brother Shen, to us practitioners of the cultivating path –what do the whims of a mortal have to do with us? Furthermore, the power hiddenwithin this pair of artefacts can instantly allow all four of us tobreakthrough our deficits and change our destiny – just how can we pass thatup!?”