Heaven's Shadow

Chapter 1

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The t.i.tle is Tian Ying (天影), which literally translates to the Heaven’s Shadow.

Author: Xiao Ding (萧鼎) i.e. Desolate Cauldron

Raws: 阴阳分天地，五行定乾坤。

纵横千万里间，总有人间一幕幕悲欢离合，在恢弘长生的仙道中上演着。
有光便有暗，天穹之下光辉之中，仍有沉默的影子悄然前行着……

The world is split into Yin and Yang and is made up by the 5 elements.
On the ancient divine central continent under the heavens, it is currently the prosperous era of the cultivators where billions of lives thrive.
In the far-reaching lands, there are always happiness and sadness, reunion and separation of the mortal world happening in the long lives of those walking the path of the immortals.
The light is always accompanied by darkness. Under the radiance of the heavens, there are silent shadows moving about…

There is a flicker of light in the darkness

On a night when the moon and stars are absent, there isn’t a single ray of light in the Mist Barren Lost Valley. Other than the fleeting spark of flame that could be vaguely seen in the faraway core of the valley, most of its territory is shrouded in endless darkness.

The night scene has a desolate feeling to it while the fleeting melody of the wind felt slightly chilling. As it blew, layer after layer of darkness floated upwards like the waves of the sea. This is the fog unique to this valley.

The valley is enormous. If it was in the day, one could see the incredible sight of towering mountains rising all around. But, in the dark, one could only vaguely see some tall silhouettes, reminiscent of a solemn giant standing on this plot of land.

In the center of two mountains facing the northwest lies the one and only entrance and exit of this Mist Barren Lost Valley. Outside the valley, on an equally rugged, winding and arduous mountainous path, there is a silhouette of a human walking towards the entrance.

A killing intent emerges suddenly from the darkness. Up ahead on the mountainous path, a voice of a person could be heard, a mutter of some sort. The silhouette of the person who is walking to the entrance pauses for a moment. Using the slight radiance present in the night sky, it could be seen that the man approaching the valley is a youth dressed fully in black.

The youth’s face is calm, as though he isn’t surprised by the sudden appearance of an obstruction. After listening to the whispers in the darkness, he used an equally hushed tone to reply the voice.

A question and an answer. It seems to be a pa.s.sword of some sort, or perhaps a code word.
Afterwards, the killing intent hidden in the darkness subsides gradually. The black-clothed youth continues to proceed forward. Just that, this path leading to the Mist Barren Lost Valley may seem quiet and cooling but on this night, it seems to be exceptionally guarded. On the way up, just this kind of cross-examinations has already happened more than thrice.

The black-clothed youth answers fluidly and pa.s.ses them one by one with a calm expression. In the dark skyline and the cold night gale, he gradually approaches the entrance of the valley.

Beside the mountainous path leading to the entrance, there is a small hill. A few pieces of rocks of differing sizes were scattered all over the hill. The outline of a man dressed in white could be vaguely seen on the top of the hill.

The black-clothed youth stuns and stops in his track for a short moment before turning around to stroll towards the hill.

There isn’t any path up the hill. Wild gra.s.s that grew all over the hill dances slightly along with the wind. When he was about to reach the top of the hill, the black-clothed youth sees that there is a wooden token protruding upright from the ground. There is a bizarre picture carved on it: On the top, G.o.ds were flying in the heavens. On the bottom, the vengeful souls were howling in agony. In the middle, an incomparably gigantic tree stood indomitably, reaching out to the heavens and h.e.l.l. Overall, it looks like a carving of a giant tree with G.o.ds above and vengeful spirits below living on the tree.

The black-clothed youth’s sweeping gaze lingers on the wooden token for a short moment before turning to the figure dressed in white with his hands behind his back.

Dressed in white, he is extremely striking in contrast with the dark night. It is also at this moment when hearing the footsteps, the white-clothed person turns around. He is an extremely handsome man. When he sees the black-clothed young man, a hint of a smile appears on his lips as he says, “You’re here, Hei Lang.”

The black-clothed youth whom he called Hei Lang nods his head, walks over and says, “Yun Jian, if father were to see your current attire, he would surely reprimand you.”

Yun Jian’s face is calm as he smiles in reply, “That’s not a problem. Today, now that the big event is around the corner, he should have quite a lot of matters to handle in the valley. He won’t have the time to pay any mind to me.”

Hei Lang laughs and walks over to stand by Yun Jian’s side. In the night skyline, other than the desolate Barren Valley of the Lost behind them, countless mountains could be seen in the distance. Even though its true form cannot be witnessed in a single look in the dark, it is easy to imagine how grand and spectacular they are.

Yun Jian suddenly breathes out heavily and says, “Hei Lang, how many years has it been since you joined the Immortal Sect?”

“6 years.”

“Such a long period of time.” A sentimental look appears on Yun Jian’s face. He immediately follows up with a smile and says, “I still remember you were still a child when you first came here, around Xiao Qing’s age. In the turn of an eye, the both of you have grown up.”

Hei Lang smiles in silence.

Yun Jian continues, “Right, Xiao Qing is here tonight as well. She will probably reach here a while later. Will you be waiting for her here?”

Hei Lang shakes his head and replies, “The elder has given me one last pill of ‘Blood Soul Crystal’ to enter the valley for the ‘Fallen G.o.d Curse’. It’s just that when the G.o.d Curse occurs, I should be unable to exit. It will be better for me to meet her after I leave the valley.”

Yun Jian’s eyebrows shoots upwards as he looks at Hei Lang with an unreadable look on his face. After a few seconds, he sighs, “The Blood Soul Crystal is a rare and precious treasure. Only a person of your capabilities would be able to obtain it. No wonder my father seems to be treating you even more intimately than this true son of his here.”

Hei Lang lifts his head, looks at Yun Jian and frowns. He seems to want to say something but in that instant, Yun Jian laughs and says, “Alright, I am just teasing you. After all, given our relationship, do I still need to doubt you?” After saying these, he seems to have thought of something as a playful look appears on his face. He says to Hei Lang, “Right, after you are done with the matter, hurry up and return back to me. Xiao Qing would most probably have a secret that she would want to tell you.”

Hei Lang stuns for a moment and immediately asks, “Secret? What secret?”

Yun Jian smiles, “If I were to say it, then will it still be considered a secret? Hurry up and go, just remember to find us after you return.”

Hei Lang ponders over it and nods his head slightly in reply, “Alright.”

After saying this, he nods in farewell towards Yun Jian before turning around and leaving with big steps. Not too long later, he walks down the hill and enters the valley, disappearing into the boundless darkness.

After Hei Lang has been gone for 10 minutes, there seems to be motion at the foot of the hill once again. After a short moment, a light sound could be heard and a slim figure comes flying upwards. In midair, the figure skillfully turns around and lands perfectly beside Yun Jian. The figure is a beautiful lady.

A slightly joyful look appears on Yun Jian’s face when he caught sight of her but after seeing how she jumped to his side, he frowns and humph, “Nonsense! Aren’t you afraid that you might just get careless and fall downwards. At that point, it would be too late for regrets.”

The beautiful lady smiles mischievously in response. It seems that she is very close with Yun Jian. She grabs his arms and says, “There is big brother here, what do I have to fear!”

Yun Jian shakes his head and smiles bitterly, “How could I have such a heartless little sister. Oh right, Hei Lang has just departed from here and entered the valley.”

The little sister that he spoke of refers to this beautiful lady named Yun Xiao Qing. After giving out a sound of ‘ah’, she looks towards the valley and complains to Yun Jian, “Seriously! Big brother, why didn’t you stop him? You knew that I have something to tell him.”

Yun Jian shakes his head and said, ‘His task is urgent. He has to send the Blood Soul Crystal to the ‘Daljara Array’ in the valley and wait for the ‘Fallen G.o.d Curse’ to activate. He also must a.s.sist father and the other elders, so it really isn’t appropriate for him to be delayed here for too long.”

…

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