The world needs yin cultivators. They’ve been the only thing keeping some semblance of balance in it since their creation.

  By consuming the yin energy to power their cultivation, they balance the good, natural energy of the world and the yin energy produced from people’s negative emotions.

  Sadness, jealousy, fear, anger, frustration, envy, depression, guilt, grief, despair...

  They’re natural emotions that the natural yang energy produced by the world can balance easily, but now more than ever, they’ve become unnatural. All the injustices happening daily make these emotions overpower the natural energy of the world.

  And I… I feel helpless to stop it.

  The yin energy is tainting everything and making it much worse.

  If humans do not make a radical change and soon, they will lose everything. Karma spoke as her gentle face became downcast with sadness, she looked at her legs almost with fear, as if the end was creeping up her feet towards the rest of her body to corrupt her entire being.

  * * *

  Seph recited his tale to the elder of the yin disciples, showing him the fruit he had obtained before losing consciousness.

  “We don’t have a lot of time to explain this new life to you, son, but you’ve become a yin immortal,” the elder said. “Some call us undead or unliving, but it doesn’t matter to us in the least. We cultivate using yin energy, the accumulation of years of injustices, prejudices, and horrors among humans. We use them to cultivate our bodies and become stronger to fight for our very existence. We have as much right to be here as any person on this earth.

  “There are myriad ways to become like us. Usually, we are born from having a great injustice done to us or our desire for revenge right before our death. In your case, it was your desire to save your mother. As for the fruit you found, it’s a yin fruit. It can enhance certain aspects of your new body, but I’d advise against eating it now.”

  A renewed sense of horror gripped Seph. He looked at his blue hands and then back at the man’s face. He isn’t joking with me. All humans want to be immortal, but no one wants whatever this unholy existence is!

  “How do I go back?” he blurted out, looking between the elder and the disciples. Some stared back with pity, some with ridicule, and the stronger-looking ones with cold indifference.

  The man’s gaze turned sharp. “There is no going back now, boy. You either move forward with your cultivation, or you die. You’re better off joining our sect. We’ve got you covered against immortals and mortals alike. You cannot look at your reflection in a mirror right now, but you look like a corpse as much as any of the other disciples behind me. Mortals will attack you on sight!”

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  Seph looked past him at the disciples, taking in their macabre appearance.

  “But my mother... She needs Vitality Grass, or I’ll lose her forever.” He was on the verge of tears, but none came.

  “You are lucky, young one. I am an elder of the Yin Disciples Sect. We’re here to send these new disciples into the tree behind you. It’s your fate to join them for a chance to get Scorn’s Legacy. Once you’re inside, time will flow differently. It’s your only way to become strong enough to continue your trek across the mountain to obtain the grass for your mother and pass whatever violence the mortals will meet you with. You may even get lucky and find the grass inside. It’s not that rare, after all.

  “This is the opportunity of a lifetime. Whatever you find there is yours. All that the sect requires is the Annals of Scorn. We need his wisdom to give us purpose. This is one of the many places that potentially hold his wisdom, but the only way to get inside is if you are a brand-new yin cultivator who has made no progress in cultivation and has no skills or any special gear to give you an advantage. What is your answer? Do you accept my generous offer? The next words coming out of your mouth better be yes or no. I have no more time to waste on you.”

  Seph gulped nothing at all; his mouth had long run dry. He looked wide-eyed at the yin disciples ahead. Their expressions remained unchanged as they stared at him. The sight, coupled with wind stirring their robes and hair—for those who still had it—made for a very bleak and macabre scene.

  “Yes,” he decided. “I accept your generous offer, Lord Elder, sir!”

  Many of the disciples chuckled at Seph’s awkwardness at not knowing how to address the powerful man in front of him.

  “Good choice, son. Our lives may be hard, but by all the power we can amass, we can push through it, and we’re no pushovers. We can’t teach you any more about your new situation. I bet you feel your senses have become dull and you have become weaker than even your mortal self, but all of that will change once you get to cultivating. You will be good in our hands. That is, of course, if you survive the coming trial.”

  “Wait a minute, what do you mean if I survive?! I could die in there? Again? I don’t want to die twice on the same day! And what will happen if I die this time? I cease to exist? My mother dies because I couldn’t save her?”

  Seph bombarded him with these questions back-to-back, panicking. He had known his journey would be dangerous, but this was even wilder than his wildest dreams. He had never even dreamed beyond becoming a scholar. He was a water carrier.

  The elder leaned towards him, put his hand on his shoulder, and looked deep into his soul—if he still had one—and spoke.

  “Listen, youngster. Trust me when I tell you that this opportunity is the best thing that could have happened to you in your current state. We don’t know what is beyond this portal, but whatever is in there will set you up with an amazing start on your path of cultivation. Many of you can come back alive and well with substantial rewards for cultivators at your levels. Many of you might not come out, but it’s the law of the cultivation world now. Want to survive? Fight. Want to save your mother? Fight. Want to be strong? Fight. Want to be rich? Fight. Want to be immortal? Fight. Fight until your last breath. Fight with all your being. Fight because fighting is all we will do from now on. And by Scorn, I swear, WE WILL DEFY THE HEAVENS.”

  The disciples behind him exploded in war cries and cheers, and it dawned on Seph that even though they were regarded as unholy creations, they weren’t afraid of the human cultivators. They didn’t feel scared at all.

  He steeled his resolve and put on his most serious face. It was all or nothing. In these conditions, the climb up this mountain had been a death sentence anyway, and he had made it. Maybe not exactly, but at least he was still here.

  He could still save her. She who was dear to his heart.

  He looked at the elder and said, “I am ready. Let’s do this.”

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