Against The Heavens -1 Interlude 1. The Dream Of The Burning Monk.

He was just a weak youth, how was he supposed to defend himself against the attacks of these four youths, who had already reached the middle stage of the Mortal Rune realm? His only choice was to grit his teeth and let them do as they wished to him, to endure all the pain, all the curses. But suddenly, the hail of attacks stopped, a sweet voice reaching his ears.

"Are you okay, little child?"

Jing Yimu's vision was still blurry when he felt a warm stream of energy enter his body, his wounds quickly healing. When his vision returned to normal, he could finally see who had spoken to him, who had saved him from the beating.

There was a couple, a man and a woman, standing by his curled up body, the four people who had beaten him now sprawled on the ground, whimpering in pain, the mark of a palm on their cheeks. The man was looking at Jing Yimu with a disinterested expression, but the woman had a slightly worried look on her face, her soft and somewhat cold palm placed on his back. The energy that came from her palm felt so warm to Jing Yimu, so safe and comfortable.

Jing Yimu did not respond to the woman's question, his mouth agape as he looked at the two people with a dumbfounded expression. The man was tall and handsome, an elegant and regal aura radiating from him. He had eyes like black holes, his long azure hair tied into a neat ponytail. The woman had delicate and exquisite features and had clear emerald eyes that shone like gems, her silvery-white hair looking like silk as it flowed down her back.

But it was not their beauty that caused Jing Yimu to be dumbfounded, it was the fact that he had seen these people before. It was less than a year ago when the sky outside his hometown suddenly turned dark, violet lightning tearing the sky apart. And standing amidst that violet lightning, was this couple, their bodies standing tall and proud. They faced a large group of people, but their enemies were unable to even last ten moves, decimated without being able to put a single scratch on the couple. Two powerful people like them had bothered to save someone as insignificant as him. While he was remembering that scene, the woman spoke up again, her voice so soft and charming.

"Your injuries are healed now, but you should take more care in the future. There is no shame in running and hiding if you find yourself unable to beat your enemies. Take this, it should help you if you get any more wounds in the future."

The woman handed him a small bottle, an herbal fragrance emitting from the opening of the bottle. Jing Yimu could hear a few pills rolling around in the bottle, and there was no doubt in his mind that the pills were far too good for someone like him. But the woman did not even give him the chance to refuse, stuffing the bottle into his hands and then standing up. She grabbed onto the elbow of the man who had been standing calmly behind her, the two vanishing into the city.

This was Jing Yimu's first meeting with the future Thunder Monarch and Poison Empress, his first meeting with the people he would one day lead into ruin.

It was this meeting, the soft care of Fang Ying, that caused Jing Yimu to throw himself into cultivation. It turned out that he had a high affinity for the laws of fire and wind, his relentless training producing quick results. But even when he got stronger, he never stopped his repet.i.tive cultivation. He wanted to become even stronger, to become able to stand by the side of that beautiful woman that had even cared for a n.o.body like him.

He also followed her example, helping others whenever he saw them in peril. He fought demons and evil cultivators, ma.s.sacred devils and monsters to secure the safety of countless cities. Even the weak people who would be considered n.o.bodies, worth nothing, he would seek them out and help them.

Before he knew it, stories of a monk clad in fire and wind spread around the world, the people calling him the Burning Monk. But Jing Yimu paid no mind to these stories, continuing his pursuit for strength and justice always searching for the countenance that haunted his dreams.

People thought that Jing Yimu had never married or had any relations with women because he was fully focused on cultivation, but they were all wrong. The reason he had never even glanced at any women was that the face of Fang Ying was firmly engraved in his mind, appearing whenever he closed his eyes. To be with her was one of the reasons he was so adamant about his cultivation.

And in the end, his repet.i.tive cultivation paid off. He met up with the Thunder Monarch and the Poison Empress again, but this time he was no longer a weak youth who was crumpled up on the ground. His cultivation was a bit weaker than theirs, but he could stand in front of them as equals.

He was ecstatic, he could fight side by side with the woman he dreamt of, he could aid her. The only thing that brought him down was the fact that Fang Ying was completely set on Li Yang, she never even gave Jing Yimu a glance. But he could ignore it, he did not want to ruin what the two of them had, to tear them apart.

He buried his feelings deep and continued to fight by their side, quickly growing closer to Li Yang. In Li Yang, he found someone that was similar to himself. He had started as a normal and weak youth, but thanks to his brutal effort, he had dragged himself forward, never stopping his efforts as he chased after the peak. He was their equal, their brother, he was content.

So when was it, when did these whispers appear in his mind? When did the world he saw start to distort and twist? Exactly who was it that was telling him about the things that Fang Ying was capable of if she lost control? Who was it that showed him images of decayed cities, all life rotting under the poison that Fang Ying unleashed?

Jing Yimu never questioned any of these things, they simply felt so natural to him, as if they were not worth questioning. Slowly they started to fester in his mind, terror gripping his heart whenever he thought about the possible future. In the end, he could only bury his feelings even deeper and do what he felt was necessary, do what had to be done to save the world he had grown to love.

But no matter how he tried to explain this to Li Yang, he seemed unwilling to listen. Even when Jing Yimu said that there would be no peak to chase after if Fang Ying killed everyone, Li Yang refused to listen. Had he been wrong, was Li Yang not someone who chased after the peak with all his heart? The whispers in his mind quickly gave him his answer. Li Yang's mind had already been poisoned, tainted by the woman who was always at his side.

The answer seemed so obvious, so fitting, so Jing Yimu never questioned it. Not only the woman he loved but even the man he called brother, to save the world, he would have to kill them both. Jing Yimu buried his feelings and ignored the pain, not for one second believing his choice to be the wrong one. He gathered up like-minded people, friends he had gathered over the years, and did what he had to do.

Many people died, but the end result was still the salvation of the world, the death of the Thunder Monarch and the Poison Empress. After healing from his wounds, Jing Yimu returned to the hill where they had died, but it was already gone, taken away by Li Yang's other friends.

Jing Yimu had prepared several traps and people, making sure that none of Li Yang's friends would be able to interfere in what he considered his solemn duty.

After killing Fang Ying and Li Yang, the whispers stopped sounding out within Jing Yimu's mind, but the words and images had already festered in his mind. He also started working on erasing any information about Li Yang and Fang Ying, rather than having their true story known, he would rather have them be quietly forgotten. He had prepared himself to be tracked down by Zhao Feng and the others, killed by their collective effort for what he had done. But they were never able to find him, even when they were in the same city, they seemed unable to spot him.

Time continued to move, Jing Yimu's cultivation almost grinding to a halt, barely increasing over the years. But despite his cultivation barely increasing, his aging had already slowed to a halt, time seeming to have lost its grip on him. His friends aged and died, even Li Yang's friends, people just as strong as Jing Yimu, were forced to attempt reincarnation. But Jing Yimu barely aged, continuing to travel around and helping people, the stories of the Burning Monk continuing to spread.

Eventually, word of a cursed realm reached his ears, so he went to check it out, to see if it was a danger to the world. And to his surprise, he recognized the places within the cursed realm, they were places he had both heard about and been at before. And to his excitement, the legacy of the Thunder Monarch was buried within the realm.

He was forced to kill the previous Thunder Monarch before he managed to produce an heir, so there was no one to carry his legacy forward. But now, Jing Yimu could pick up the legacy and hand it to someone worthy, raising a new Thunder Monarch, one that would not be tainted by poison. While imagining this wonderful dream, Jing Yimu was completely unaware of the fact that he would never be able to leave this hidden realm.