" I am one of the guardians " the old man affirmed again. His face showed a complicated expression.

" Master, don't joke around you can't be one of those traitors. you are the savior of mankind the Mortal Sage," Aiko was feeling suffocated from what she heard.

" As you can see my time is near I don't know how long I will last so I must pa.s.s this responsibility on to you, I am sorry but you are the only one I trust completely to find a successor. " said the old man. His tone was very serious. Aiko realized the matter was even more serious than she had thought. So didn't intervene any further and waited for him to continue.

"I will show you how mortal arts came into existence. Remember what you see now must never be revealed or it may bring a catastrophe to the whole kingdom." said the old man. He didn't reply to her anymore but continued further. Aiko also didn't speak anymore the Mortal Arts were the most adaptable arts in the whole continent.

Even though it wasn't the strongest it allowed mortals to possess the strength far surpa.s.sing their bodies. Especially the Extreme Mortal form it had allowed mortals to fight even stronger beasts than themselves.

She had even seen some versions of it where some military generals were even able to push further one step they called it Extreme mortal forms. But her master had never allowed her to cultivate it. It was mainly for military and common people.

The old man suddenly tapped on the ground. A ripple of spirit energy went through the room sealing the entrance.

creak

The ground opened with a circular pattern with a crackling sound the whole room started to shake. A small opening opened up in the ground. Aiko could see the golden patterns on the walls. She knew this was a formation. She suddenly saw something rising up from the ground.

while what seemed like a paG.o.da appeared from the small opening of the ground. it was a

black paG.o.da with a length of an arm.

Suddenly a large pressure builds up in the small room. The formation activated trying to neutralize the pressure.

The surrounding s.p.a.ce started distorting while lighting started flying here and there. It was like a very heavy ma.s.s had been placed.

Before Aiko could feel the pressure the old man appeared in front of her. She only saw her master putting his hand on the paG.o.da which started rotating in mid-air as soon as the old man put his hand on it. Dark-colored energy started emitting from the paG.o.da.

She felt a large amount of life force leaving her master's body into the paG.o.da.

' Master no ' Aiko wanted to stop her master. The life force she sensed was far surpa.s.sing even hers, She realized it was sucking her Masters's life force.

zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzz

But before she could stop him something she saw, made her stop in her tracks.

Black-colored patterns started appearing they formed a few words in the air.

" cough cough. " the old man suddenly coughed up blood. He staggered back two steps. He hurried tapped on the ground again. Few golden chains emerged from the surrounding and bound the paG.o.da.

The paG.o.da retaliated it seemed like it wanted to like something delicious was in front of his eyes. It still wanted to come close to the old man but the chains didn't allow it.

" Master, are you alright. " Aiko suddenly asked. She saw her Master's face was very pale. She waved her hand a few pills appeared in her hand. she fed them to the old man hastily. His complexion looked very weak.

The old man accepted the pills and his complexion brightens up a little after eating the pills.

" I can't even reveal the first phrase now hahaha" the old man laughed self mockingly. He was feeling very dejected" This is the true source of the famous Mortal arts of the Mortal kingdom. It all based on the first phase I was able to understand."

" Master what the h.e.l.l is that we should destroy this thing," asked Aiko with a fearful expression she didn't care what he said but rather all her focus was on the paG.o.da bound in chains it was like trying to break free.

' This thing is definitely something evil.' thought Aiko. The baleful energy that was leaking from it was terrifying.

" I don't know," said the old man. He was very straight forward " Take care of this place don't tell anyone about it. I will teach about how to control this formation. "

" But what about the senior brother Mu Li," asked Aiko. He was the current mortal sage it was supposed to be him than her who should be learning about this place.

" No don't tell him, He can be the mortal sage it's just a t.i.tle but You must find a cough cough. successor, only you can do it." The old man coughed again. He wasn't an expert in soul arts like his disciple. He knew his disciple had a special kind of soul.

" Master Mortal arts is an honorable technique while that thing is evil I don't believe it. " Aiko revealed her confusion about how could such a great technique come out of such an evil thing.

She had seen evil techniques the Mortal Arts, it wasn't even close to it. Her master had provided a simplified version to the military of the mortal kingdom.

While Mortal palace holds the complete version of it. But suddenly she realized something an understanding expression dawned on her face but it was suddenly replaced by the expression of horror.

" You figured it out didn't you " the old man saw changed expression of his disciple. He knew she understood the matter clearly. " The Mortal Arts gave mortals powerful strength but it didn't come without a price. "

" The strength gain didn't come out of nowhere, it burns your life cycle. especially after the third stage what we call it the realm of an extreme mortal. " The old man spoke with a dead tone. He knew what was going through her mind. It was he who made this art but the reference was Demon Sutra.

It was the greatest secret of the mortal kingdom he didn't know what was a Demon but he was sure it wasn't anything good.

Aiko felt her heart tremor one after another it was like the world had turned upside down.

She knew how much of a great role played Mortal arts in the war between beasts and mankind. While the cultivators were numbered most of the population were weak mortals. When the war started it was catastrophic to the whole continent portals started appearing in some regions. The beasts outnumbered the cultivators by a large amount.

Cultivators were dying and mortals were too weak to even become the cannon fodder. Beasts were gaining more and more foothold on human lands.

Then her master appeared who took charge of mortals he gave them a new lease on life Mortal arts. This has completely overturned the whole situation, those who cultivate mortal arts would have sudden gain in strength making them of the same level as a cultivator. It was like a secret technique that would substantially increase users' strength.

This has provided a great edge to Mankind to fight against beasts who had natural strong bodies. With the mortal arts, mankind was finally able to stop the rising momentum of the beasts.

' Mortal arts is an evil technique. ' Aiko finally realized why her master didn't allow the complete version to enter the military like the simplified version. Only these special candidates found by her were allowed to cultivate the complete version.

" Master you mean everyone that died cultivating the complete version was isn't because they made a mistake ", Aiko asked in a horrified tone. She had seen many candidates dying while cultivating the complete version her master had provided. The soul puppets had a complete version of her Master provided. She had seen some went berserk and mostly died.

Aiko suddenly felt her knees getting shakier she couldn't stand straight. All these years she had taught many people the complete version of mortal arts, all of them were kids who had nothing she thought she was rescuing them but it was the opposite she was leading them to their death. Up till now, only 12 have survived and every one of them joined the Mortal palace became her master's disciple.

Aiko suddenly felt a sweet sensation in her throat.

" Listen to me it was not your fault, I never told you about it " The old man saw Aiko's mental state was very disturbed by all this. He tried to explain further but Aiko didn't let him.

" Master I don't want to involve myself in this anymore, I will keep this a secret but I won't find any more candidates for you I am done with this place. I never thought that you were one of those disgusting traitors "Aiko replied in a lifeless and cold tone. Many kinds of thoughts going through her head. She left the room leaving her final words.

" Master with your pursuit of saving the mortals I think you have become a Monster yourself. " The old man heard her words.

" I didn't want to do this either. "mumbled the old man his expression dismay. The old man tapped the ground again and the paG.o.da went back into the underground. he didn't try to stop her, He knew this could be the reaction of his disciple when he decided to tell her the truth about him.

The old man looked upward there was another statue on the ceiling. it was a woman she had a similar mark on her forehead like Aiko. Her sculpture was hidden not to be seen in the shadows.

" Sister even though she didn't meet you in person but she is just like you. I am sorry it looks like I will be joining you sooner." The old man mumbled.

" Emperor I Zhang Wei have failed my task," said the old man while bowing towards the man with the heavy sword.

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