I SHALL SEAL THE HEAVENS

Chapter 1: Scholar Meng Hao 

The State of Zhao was a very small nation [1. The State of Zhao is named after the historical State of Zhao]. Like other small nations in the lands of South Heaven, its people admired the Great Tang [2. The Great Tang is named after the historical Tang Dynasty] in the Eastern Lands, and they admired Chang’an [3. Chang’an is named after the historical Chinese city Chang’an]. Not only did the king carry this admiration, all scholars in the State of Zhao did. They could see it, almost as if they stood atop the Tower of Tang in the capital city, oh so far away.

This April was neither extremely cold, nor scorching hot. Light winds caressed the land, passing the Qiang Di flutes of the Northern Reaches, blowing over the lands of the Great Tang. Under the twilight sky, it lifted the fog-like dust, then swirling, twisting, reached Mount Daqing in the State of Zhao. Then it fell onto a young man who sat there on the mountaintop.

He was a lean young man, holding a bottle gourd and wearing a clean blue scholar’s robe. He appeared to be about sixteen or seventeen. He was not tall, and his skin was somewhat dark, but his bright eyes sparkled with intelligence. And yet, all his intelligence seemed to be hidden by the frown on his face. He seemed lost.

“Failed again...” He sighed. His name was Meng Hao, an average student from Yunjie County, which lay at the foot of the mountain [4. Meng Hao’s name in Chinese is 孟浩 (mèng hào) - Meng is a family name. Hao means “great” or “many”]. Years ago, his parents went missing, and did not leave much behind in the way of assets. Education was expensive, so he was almost completely broke.

“I’ve taken the Imperial exams three years in a row. In all that time, I read books written by the sages until I wanted to throw up. Maybe that isn’t the path for me after all.” Filled with self-deprecation, he looked down at the gourd bottle, his eyes bleak.

“My dream of becoming an official and getting rich just keeps getting farther and farther away. I might as well forget about trying to reach the Great Tang... How useless to be a student.” He laughed bitterly. Sitting there on the silent mountaintop, gazing at the bottle gourd in his hand, he looked increasingly lost. He began to feel fear. What would he do in the future? Where would he go?

Perhaps a high-ranking official would take an interest in him, or a beautiful young maiden. Or would he continue to take the exams, year after year?

There were no answers to the questions. He was but a teenager, and this feeling of being lost had devoured him like a giant invisible mouth. He truly felt afraid.

“Even the teachers in town can only make a few pieces of silver. That’s worse than Uncle Wang’s carpenter shop. If I’d realized that earlier, I could have learned some carpentry skills from him. At least then I wouldn’t be starving like I am now.” He grew silent for a while.

“I don’t have much food or money left at home. I owe Steward Zhou three pieces of silver. What am I going to do?” He raised his head and looked up at the sky, blue and grand. It was so large you could not see its ends. Much similar to how he could not see his future.

After a while, Meng Hao shook his head and took out a slip of paper from his robe. He read it carefully, placed it in the gourd bottle, then stood up and threw the gourd down the mountain.

At the bottom of the mountain was a wide river which never froze during the winter, and was said to flow all the way to the Great Tang.

Meng Hao stood on top of the mountain, watching the gourd bottle drift further and further along down the river. He stared unblinking. For a moment, he seemed to have glimpsed his mother, and the happiness of his childhood. The gourd carried his dreams, his wishes, and his hopes for the future. Perhaps one day someone would pick it up, open it, and read the note.

“Regardless of what I do, be it study or work, I will keep on living.” This was his personality: intelligent and determined. If he wasn’t this way, he would not have been able to survive after his parents left.

He raised his head toward the sky, the stubborn look in his eyes growing deeper. He was about to head down the mountain.

At that exact moment, he heard a weak voice coming from a nearby cliff. The sound seemed to be borne along by the wind. As it passed Meng Hao’s ears, it was almost too faint to notice.

”Help... help...”

Meng Hao stopped for a moment, shocked, then listened carefully. As he concentrated, the sound of the voice calling for help grew stronger.

“Help...”

He walked a few steps forward until he had nearly reached the edge of the peak. When he peered over the edge, he saw a person, his body sticking out of a crevice halfway down the cliff. Pale face full of fear and desperation, he cried for help.

“You... you’re Meng Hao, right? Help, Scholar Meng! Help me!” It was a teenager. As soon as he saw Meng Hao, he expressed surprise and happiness, having suddenly found hope in a desperate situation.

“Wang Youcai [5. Wang Youcai’s name in Chinese is 王有才 (wáng yǒu cái) – Wang is a common family name. Youcai means “to have talent or ability”]?” Meng Hao’s eyes grew wide as he looked at the young man. He was the son of Uncle Wang, who owned the carpentry shop in town. “How did you end up here?”

Meng Hao looked at the crevice. The cliff itself was quite steep, and it seemed impossible to climb down. The slightest carelessness would send the climber falling into the river.

Considering how fast the river flowed, if you fell in, the chances of dying were about ninety percent.

“It’s not just me, there are other people from nearby towns,” Wang Youcai gushed. “We’re all stuck here. Brother Meng, let’s not chat, please, just help us get out.” Perhaps he had been hanging out of the crack for too long. His hands grasped at the air, and if not for his compatriots, who grabbed him by the shirt, he would have slipped and fallen down the cliff. His face turned pale with fear.

Meng Hao realized the danger. But he had climbed the mountain alone today, and had no rope. How could he save anyone? At that moment, he turned and realized that the mountainside was covered with rattan vines.

As frail as he was, it took him two hours to find a rattan vine that was long enough. Breathing heavily, he dragged the rattan to the cliff. Calling out Wang’s name, he bent over and lowered the rattan down the cliff.

“You still haven’t told me how you got down there,” Meng Hao said as he lowered the vine.

“By flying!” It was not Wang Youcai who spoke the words, but another young man who stuck his body out of the crevice next to him. This boy looked feisty and intelligent, and spoke with a loud voice.

“Bullshit! You can fly?” mocked Meng Hao, pulling the rattan vine back up a bit. “If you can fly down here, then why don’t you fly back up?”

“Don’t listen to his nonsense,” said Wang Youcai, clearly worried that Meng Hao wouldn’t lower the rattan vine back down. “We were captured by a flying woman. She said she’s going to take us to some Sect to be servants.”

“More bullshit?” said Meng Hao dismissively. “Only Immortals from legends can do that. Who believes in that?” In books he had read, there were stories of people who became rich after meeting Immortals, but it was all just lies.

Just as the rattan reached the crevice, Wang caught it. But then, Meng Hao suddenly felt a cold wind behind his back. From the temperature around him, it seemed winter had returned. He shivered. He slowly turned to look back, then screamed and stepped forward into emptiness, beginning to fall off the cliff.

He had seen a woman in a long silver robe and pale face, standing there staring at him. It was impossible to tell her age. She was extremely beautiful, but radiated a coldness that made one feel as if she had just crawled out of a grave.

“Sometimes when you find certain things with certain qualities, it’s just fate.”

When the voice hit his ears, it felt like bones rubbing together. This woman seemed to possess some sort of strange power, and when Meng Hao looked into her eyes, his whole body felt ice cold, as if she could see through him. As if he could hide nothing from her.

Her words still floating through the air, she shook her wide sleeve, and suddenly, a gust of greenish wind picked up Meng Hao. He flew down the cliff with her. His mind went blank.

When they reached the crevice, the woman waved her hand and threw him inside. As for her, she stopped moving, as did the greenish wind. Wang and his three friends scurried backward in fright.

The woman stood there, not saying a word. She raised her head and glanced at the rattan vine.

Meng Hao was so nervous he had started shaking. He stood up, glancing around quickly. The crevice was not spacious, and was in fact quite narrow. Even with only a few people inside, there was not much room.

His eyes fell on Wang and the two other young men. One was the clever fellow; the other one was clean and pudgy. The two of them shivered, looking as if they might cry from fear at any moment.

“I was short one person,” said the pale-faced woman. Now she looked at Meng Hao instead of the rattan. “I’ll put you in with them.”

“Who are you?” asked Meng Hao, concealing his fear. He was an educated person and had a strong personality. Despite being afraid, he controlled himself and did not panic.

The woman said nothing. She raised her right hand and waved, and the green wind appeared again. It lifted up all the young men, and they flew out of the cave together with the woman, shooting up into the sky. They disappeared. Left behind was only Mount Daqing. It stood there, straight and tall, merging in the darkness of twilight.

The blood drained from Meng Hao’s face. He saw himself within the green wind, crossing the sky. As he flew above the ground, wind blew into his mouth, making it impossible to breathe. A word appeared in his head.

“Immortals?” He held his breath for the amount of time it would normally take to breathe ten times, until he couldn’t hold on any more. Then he passed out.

When he opened his eyes, he found that they had landed on a platform paved with green stone, halfway up a mountain. More rolling mountains surrounded them. Clouds and fog drifted about; this was definitely not the mortal world. The beautiful peaks of the surrounding mountains looked very strange.

Wang and the other young men woke up, scared and shivering. They stared at the back of the woman.

Standing in front of her were two Cultivators wearing long green robes. They appeared to be in their twenties. They had sunken eyes with fear-inspiring green pupils.

“Excellent work, Elder Sister Xu,” said one of the men, his voice flattering. “You found four talented young babies.”

“Take them to the Servants’ Quarter,” said the woman, her face cold, not even looking at Meng Hao and the others. Suddenly, her entire body transformed. She became a rainbow and then disappeared into the mountains.

By this time, Meng Hao had recovered his composure. He stared, numb, at the place where the woman had disappeared. An expression appeared on his face which had not appeared there for sixteen years. His blood boiled.

“Servants?” he thought. “If the work is for Immortals, the pay must be good.” Now that he knew the people didn’t want to kill them, he took a step forward.

“Sister Xu has reached the seventh level of Qi Condensation,” lamented the second of the Cultivators. “The Sect Priest bestowed a Wind Pennant upon her, which means even though she isn’t at the Foundation Establishment stage, she can still fly.” He looked arrogantly down at Meng Hao and the others.

“You and you,” he said pointing at Wang and the clever young man. “Follow me to the Southern Servants’ Quarters.”

“What is this place?” Wang asked, his voice and body both shaking as the Immortal pointed at him.

“The Reliance Sect.”

Chapter 2: The Reliance Sect

The Reliance Sect, located within the borders of the State of Zhao, on the southern edge of the lands of South Heaven, was once first among the Four Great Sects. Even though it was still famous in the Southern Domain, it had experienced a decline in recent years and did not maintain the glorious position it once had. Nowadays, compared to the other Sects within the State of Zhao, it could only be considered inferior.

Actually, it hadn’t always been called the Reliance Sect. But a thousand years ago, a Cultivator appeared who caused a great sensation in the Southern Domain. He’d called himself Patriarch Reliance, and had forced the Sect to change its name as such. He’d trod roughshod over all the other Sects in the State of Zhao, plundering their treasures, remaining unrivaled for some time.

But things were different now. Patriarch Reliance had been missing for nearly 400 years. If it were not for the fact that no one knew if he was alive or dead, the Sect would already have been swallowed up by some other Sect. It was past its glory days. Considering the lack of resources in the State of Zhao, and pressure from the other three Sects, if they wanted to get new recruits, they were forced to kidnap people to act as servants. There was no way they could open their doors to recruit openly.

Meng Hao followed the green-robed man along the small paths that wound among the mountain peaks. The surroundings were garden-like, with strange rocks and odd-looking trees everywhere. Amidst the beautiful scenery, extravagantly decorated buildings with jade roof tiles rose up out of the clouds and mist. Meng Hao sighed continuously. Sadly, the fat teenager next to him wailed the entire time, somewhat ruining the mood.

“I’m finished, really finished.... I want to go home,” muttered the fat teenager, tears rolling down his face. “There’s mantou waiting at home, and fish. Dammit, dammit. I want to inherit the family land, become a rich old man, and have a few concubines. I don’t want to be a servant here.”

He muttered under his breath for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, until the green-robed man turned. “If you spout one more bit of nonsense,” he said coldly, “I’ll cut your tongue out.”

The fat teenager suddenly trembled violently, his eyes shining with fear, but he shut his mouth.

When he saw this, Meng Hao began to reconsider how wonderful the situation might or might not be. But he had a persistent personality, so he took a deep breath and maintained his silence.

After a while, when they reached a point about half way up the mountain, Meng Hao saw a row of flat buildings emerging from the roiling fog.

Seven or eight young people wearing hemp robes sat outside the buildings. They looked exhausted. As Meng Hao and the others approached, the young people noticed them, but did not call out any greetings.

Some distance away, a young man wearing a light blue robe sat on a crag. His face was long, almost like a horse, and his robe was obviously more expensive and fancy than those worn by the other youths. Though his face was cold, when the green-robed man approached leading Meng Hao, the young man stood and greeted him with cupped fists.

“Greetings, Elder Brother.”

“These are two newly arrived servants,” said the green-robed man impatiently. “Please arrange for their accommodations.” With that, he turned and left, not even glancing at Meng Hao and the other young man.

After he left, the horse-faced young man sat down again, crossing his legs and coldly glancing over Meng Hao and the fat teenager.

“This is the Northern Servants’ Quarter,” he said in a cold, emotionless voice. “The Reliance Sect does not support slackers. Now that you’re here, you will work for thirty years, upon which you can leave. If you try to escape, well, there are many wild beasts in these lonely mountains, and you will certainly die. Go retrieve your work uniform. From now on, you are isolated from the mortal world, and will work peacefully as a servant.”

The fat teenager trembled even harder, his face filling with despair. Meng Hao remained calm. In fact, deep within his eyes was an indescribable sparkle. The horse-faced man noticed. He had held this position for many years and had seen many young people captured to be servants, but had never seen anyone as calm as Meng Hao.

“If you have a good temperament,” he said lightly, “you may not need to labor for the full thirty years. You can practice cultivation in your time off. If you manage to reach the first level of Qi Condensation, then you will be promoted to the Outer Sect.” He flicked his wide sleeve, whereupon two hemp robes appeared in front of Meng Hao and the fat teenager. On the front of each robe was a wooden badge the size of a thumb, engraved with the character “Servant.”

In addition to the robe, there was also a small booklet, upon the cover of which was written three characters: “Qi Condensation Manual.”

As soon as Meng Hao laid eyes on the characters, he began to breathe hard. He stared at the booklet and recalled how when discussing the cold-faced woman, the green-robed man had mentioned the seventh level of Qi Condensation.

“We can become Outer Sect disciples when we reach the first level, but that woman has already reached the seventh level... what is Qi Condensation? Perhaps that is the way to become an Immortal, like they talk about in stories.”

If that was the pay he would receive from his work, well, it might not be money, but it would be worth hundreds of pieces of gold in the outside world. Meng Hao’s excitement rose. He grabbed the robe and used it to wrap up the badge and booklet.

“The East Seventh house is where you will live. Starting tomorrow, your job is to cut wood. Ten logs each, every day. You are not permitted to eat until your chopping is finished.” He closed his eyes.

Breathing deeply, Meng Hao imitated the young man and saluted with clasped fists, then walked toward the house, followed by the fat teenager. The building appeared to be a siheyuan courtyard dwelling that had been expanded multiple times. Following the signs, they located the seventh one, then opened the door and entered.

The room wasn’t large. It contained a table and two small beds, and though simple, was quite neat and tidy. The fat teenager sat down on one of the beds, then, unable to hold it in anymore, began to cry.

He was about 12 or 13 years old, and he cried loudly. It surely echoed outside.

“My father is a Lord, and I’m supposed to be a Lord too. I’m not supposed to be a servant.” He seemed extremely distraught, and his fat little body trembled.

“Stop crying,” said Meng Hao, trying to comfort him. “Think about it. It’s not that bad here. We’re working for Immortals. How many people would envy us if they knew?” He quickly closed the door.

“I don’t want to work for other people,” he replied. “My marriage has already been arranged and engagement gifts sent. My poor, beautiful lady hasn’t even married me, yet is already a widow.” The more he cried, the more heartbroken he grew.

A strange expression appeared on Meng Hao’s face. This fat teenager was still young, he thought to himself. I can’t believe he’s been promised a wife, yet has never even felt the touch of a woman’s hand. He sighed emotionally, thinking about how amazing it would be to be rich. This fat teenager’s family is so rich that he never has to worry about food or clothing. And yet I have nothing. Even after selling my ancestral home last year, I still owe Steward Zhou a lot of money.

Thinking of the money he owed made him laugh. Now that he was here, Zhou could come to chase after him for the money if he was strong enough. If not, he would be dead by the time Meng Hao left.

The more he thought about this place, the better he felt about it. He didn’t need to worry about money, or lodging or food. He even got payment worth hundreds of pieces of gold, and that was before he even started working. Considering that this was a dwelling-place of Immortals, it could truly be said that he had unexpectedly been rescued from a desperate situation.

The fat teenager’s crying had begun to annoy him. Ignoring him, he pulled the manual out from the hemp robe and started reading. After reading the first line of the first page, he felt shocked.

“A person should have something to rely on. If you are a mortal who desires riches and titles, if you are a Cultivator who wants to live a life free from worry, join my Reliance Sect. You can rely on me.” That was the introduction to the manual, and it was signed by Patriarch Reliance.

Even though it was only a handful of words, they were filled with an indescribable power. It was both an invitation and a description of the Reliance Sect. Meng Hao felt numb, and then, everything suddenly made sense.

“The Reliance Sect. Is this the meaning of the Sect? People must find something to rely on; when they find the Reliance Sect, then they will be rich, powerful and free from worry.” It made more and more sense. He realized that if he’d had an official to rely on, he would never have failed the examinations three times in a row. He sighed, his respect growing for Patriarch Reliance, whom he had never actually met. With that one sentence, it seemed as if a door in his life had suddenly opened.

“In other words, I have to find someone to rely on while I’m here. If I do, I won’t have to worry about anything.” His eyes grew brighter as he continued to scan the manual. Soon, he lost track of time, and didn’t even notice the fat teenager crying next to him.

The fat teenager finally cried himself to sleep around midnight, whereupon his snores began to reverberate around the room like thunder. Meng Hao reluctantly closed the manual. Even though he felt very tired, his eyes were filled with vim and vigor.

“This book isn’t worth 100 gold, it’s worth 1,000!” he said to himself. For someone who had always dreamed of becoming a rich official, something worth 1,000 gold was worth more than anything except his life.

In his excitement, he noticed that the fat teenager’s snoring had ceased. He looked over, and saw that the young man had sat up in bed and was waving his arms around and muttering. This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.

“I’m gonna beat you to death! How dare you steal my mantou! I’m gonna bite you to death! How dare you steal away my wife!” As he talked, he got off the bed, his eyes still closed, waving his fists angrily. Then, amazingly, he grabbed the table and bit the corner hard with his mouth, leaving a deep mark. Then he went back to sleep and began to snore.

Meng Hao watched him for a bit, just to confirm that he had been sleepwalking just now. Then he looked back to the bite mark, realizing that he should never provoke the fat teenager when he was asleep. He inched away from him, then looked down at the manual again, feeling excited.

“The ninth level of Qi Condensation is the path to being an Immortal. Working for them, I have a chance to become an Immortal myself. That is the biggest payment possible. If I become an Immortal, I must have a chance to become rich.” Meng Hao gripped the manual, his eyes shining brightly. He had finally found another path besides studying for the exams.

At that moment, the door was kicked open with a bang, and a loud “harumph” sounded out.

Chapter 3: Promotion to the Outer Sect