Blood River

1. Coal to Diamond: Part One

I will be reuploading the 'group hunt' chapters, but decided I should start with this instead, since the book is lowkey about Jin Zixian (not rly, him being in the Jin sect is just the main pivotal plot change). This arc covers how he got into the Jin sect and his experience in the first years. I will reupload the group hunt chapters with minor changes afterwards and continue with the story from there.

Enjoy~

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The air was filled with wails and screams of resented souls. Two cultivators fought, blinded by the thick coat of resentment, whilst simultaneously trying to protect their child.

This sides of Yiling had been long abandoned as it was closest to the burial mounds, cultivators often finished their attempts at cleansingthe saide place here, and anyone who was stubborn to cross the border into the damned lands was never seen again.

The couple of rouge cultivators fought tirelessly, their sword glares being the only light amongst the thick black clouds of resentment formed by the ghouls and malignant spirits.

The woman clad in white, held their child, kneeling on the ground while trying to protect him, this was Cangse Sanren, she was a rouge cultivator, known since a young age for her skills, being the only rouge to ever be invited to study at the cloud recesses; her skills were undeniable. She kneeled further away from where her husband stood, he had long told her to leave with their child, but she couldn't, how could she leave the love of her life?

Not only that, the resentment that had surrounded them formed a thick wall. They were about 3 kilometers away from the burial mounds, yet could already not hold themselves on their own. The man clad in black and blue, Wei Changze, was no simple fighter either, he was once the head disciple of the Jiang sect, the 5th amongst the great sects in terms of military strenght, he defected to become a rouge with his wife, his skills were wide-spread often being considered better than his sect leader, yet, here he stood at the brink of his strength.

Cangse carried her child in her arms, finally being able to make a protrusion through the black clouds with her sword, she grimaced with every movement as the voices inside were too loud, making her head feel as though it would explode.

She dragged her body outside the dark fog, with her 4 year old hugged tightly in her arms, she walked for a few feet before putting the child down and looking at his face - he looked terrifyingly calm.

"A'Ying, remember, no matter what happens, A'niang and A'die love you, okay?" She asked the boy, kneeling down to his height again.

The boy's fair features were overshadowed by confusion, he couldn't understand her words, he looked deep into her eyes, not saying a thing, trying to understand the emotion in her eyes.

"Do you understand, dear?" His mother pleaded, a tear escaping her eyes, the younger's eyes widened as he reached his hand to the woman's cheek and cleaned the tear with his small hand.

She smiled at the gesture - a pained smile - covering his tiny hand with her own. "Go back to town, mn?" His mother coaxed again, no longer wanting a response from her earlier request.

"What about A'niang and A'die, we're going together.." this wasn't a statement, but a question by the young boy who finally spoke, his voice was laced with uncertainty, he wasn't well-versed in the topic of death and danger, but he could tell when something was wrong or when he was scared, and he was suddenly overwhelmed by this emotions.

"A'niang and A'die... we can't come right now.. so just go first okay?" Cangse Sanren tried to coax the younger again, but before she could continue to push or the kid responded, a blood curdling scream sounded from within the black clouds behind her.