Devil's Rise

With one sword, I would kill all that lay in my path. With one sword I would avenge the death of my mother. With one sword I would destroy the s.h.i.+ clan, whose name I bore.

"Who are you?" I heard a voice echo in the wind as I sat by my mother"s grave.

"I am s.h.i.+ Da! The One Sword of the Moon Dusk World!" I said as I picked up my old rusty sword.

I snuck out of the clan, not looking back. I knew if I stayed in the s.h.i.+ clan, the only thing that awaited me was death. They paid me no notice. How was a mortal with no protection supposed to survive in the cruel Moon Dusk World?

From that moment on, my training was unending. I took shelter in a local mountain. I diligently practiced my swordsmans.h.i.+p from dusk to dawn. Every day, I knew I had to give it my all. For a few months, my life was rough, I knew nothing of how to practice cultivation.

One day a traveling drunken old beggar meandered his way onto my mountain. He had dirty clothes that hadn"t been washed in weeks and reeked of alcohol. I knew the smell of alcohol well because my father was an alcoholic.

He drunkenly said he admired my dedication to the sword, but if I didn"t have any proper direction, I would make it nowhere along the martial path.

"Watch this," he said as he stole my old rusty sword.

"Hey, that"s mine!" I said as I tried to regain my stolen sword.

He slashed out with the rusty sword and chopped the mountain I called home in half.

"Great master, this is my home! Why have you destroyed it?" I said.

"I am Liang Fen, sect leader of the Heaven Splitting Sect. Would you like to join the Heaven Splitting Sect to learn about the true Dao of Sword?" said the thieving old beggar.

This was surprising to me since sects were very highly revered within the Moon Dusk World. Many sects were even above clans since they recruited from everyone in the Moon Dusk World who had talent. This would be a glorious opportunity, I would finally join a sect and learn the true Dao of swordsmans.h.i.+p!

"Yes," I said I forgave him for shamelessly destroying my mountain abode. Since I was joining a sect I would have a new place to live. There was nothing special about my mountain. It was just some dusty far-off hill where not even the dogs would s.h.i.+t.

"Good, kowtow to your master," said the old beggar.

I immediately kowtowed to the old beggar as my master.

"Where is our sect located, Sect Master Liang?" I said after kowtowing to him.

"The Heaven Cutting Sect is the greatest sect of the Moon Dusk World, unknown by the mundane world. Every generation we only have one master and one apprentice. Our sect headquarters are the very heavens above you. Our sect training grounds are the very ground beneath your feet. Everywhere you walk is the territory of the Heaven Cutting Sect," said the dirty drunken beggar shamelessly, he couldn"t even remember the name of his own sect.

I had been scammed! This wasn"t a sect, this was a fantasy of this deranged old beggar. How dare he say his sect headquarters were the very heavens above me and our training grounds were everyone else in the Moon Dusk World. There were no limits to his shamelessness.

"I can see within you the drive and courage to practice the Dao of the sword. For this reason, I will take you on as my apprentice. Remember to spread the fame of the Heaven Splitting Sect far and wide in your travels. Let all of them know that we can even cut the heavens down!" said the deranged old beggar.

"I will now teach you the first move of the Heaven Cutting Technique, Earth Splitting," said the shameless old beggar as he continued to use my stolen sword.

He then proceeded to teach me Earth Splitting. It was the sword attack he had done before destroying my mountain. I diligently watched as he showed me again and again how to perform Earth Splitting.

I almost cried as he destroyed mountain after mountain. These were all superb places for me to take up residence! Those… Those were G.o.d"s precious resources. How dare he destroy G.o.d"s precious resources!

"We of the Heaven Splitting sect only practice the sword, there"s no gathering of qi or meditating or any of that nonsense these other sects teach. My master is the very heaven above you, he teaches me every day and dares for me to have the audacity to cut him down!"

"If you ever need help training, seek guidance from your grandmaster. All you need to do is to practice the technique of Heaven Cutting and your cultivation will naturally rise," said the shameless old beggar.

That was the moment I knew I had truly been duped. This shameless old beggar didn"t even have any cultivation techniques for me! I was pitiful though, at least with these sword skills I would have some direction in my training.

After that day the shameless old beggar disappeared, I figured he went off to get some more booze or something. I could only hope he would one day return to enlighten me more on this Heaven Cutting technique. But I didn"t put much trust into the words of a deranged alcoholic.

I went to a new mountain and practiced Earth Splitting every day. After about a year I mastered Earth Splitting, I could now cleave the earth in two, and I had somehow broken into the Qi-Gathering realm.

I went to go look for the shameless old beggar in the nearby town to get more direction on my next stage of training, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Who are you?" I heard a voice speak from the heavens.

"I am s.h.i.+ Da, the One Sword of the Moon Dusk Realm!" I said matter-of-factly.

"Why does someone keep asking who I am? I am s.h.i.+ Da! The One Sword of the Moon Dusk Realm. All I know is the sword and soon I will get my revenge for the death of my mother!"

I tried to enlighten myself on the Heaven Cutting technique. I sought guidance from grandmaster like the shameless old beggar had told me, the heavens were now my teacher.

I practiced the sword technique every day, but could not find any great enlightenment. I knew my time secluded on a mountain was over. A great cultivator couldn"t spend all his days in seclusion and reach the top of cultivation.

I had to find worthy enemies to temper my blade. Only then would I be able to have a breakthrough in this Heaven Cutting technique. So I left my lonely mountain in search of other qi-gathering youths to spar with. From this moment on, I will build my reputation as The One Sword, legacy disciple of the Heaven Splitting Sect!

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