-2 years later-

“Big bro, I won’t be far behind! Wait for me!”

Earlier in the day, a hundred-man commander had stopped by Fire Hill Village, and had formally recruited Dou Di into the Fire Kingdom Army. As a bonus, he’d given their father a thousand small fire shards - despite not being able to enter the first level of Absorption due to his lack of a Song to train with, Dou Di had long reached the threshold required to absorb a Song.

All he required now was the Song itself, and the Kingdom would be more than happy to provide him with one. It was a great deal for them! For the simple price of a low-level Song and afew fire shards, they’d found themselves a candidate for the Burning Legion.

For a lowly peasant like Dou Di, this chance was something that he had dreamed about for many years. Despite that, now that he was exchanging goodbyes with Jia Yuan… he couldn’t help but feel that his departure felt bittersweet.

“Tch. Who would wait for you? You better keep training hard, or you’ll have to become my subordinate in the Legion!” Despite his harsh words, in his heart, Dou Di was truly sad that he would have to leave this brother of his.

After the goodbyes had been said, and Dou Di had left, Jia Yuan headed back to the fields where he and his brother had frequently sparred. Instead of sparring though, he simply sat in the middle of the field, looking out into the distance.

I’ll see you in two years, brother.

After reminiscing for a bit, he headed west, opposite the way of the village. After a few minutes of running, he’d entered the nearby forest. 

He had Dou Di had both reached the peak of martial training without Songs. In other words, they were eligible to receive a Song from the army, and would receive a large signing bonus of five hundred small fire shards. Upon hearing of this, their father had become ecstatic, and allowed the two kids to explore the areas surrounding the village in their spare time, instead of doing extra chores or jobs.

The place where Jia Yuan liked to explore the most was the neighboring forest. The forest floor was well protected against the glaring rays of the sun, and the constant sounds of vibrant life surrounded him as he explored.

Just the day before, as the sun had begun to dip under the horizon, he had discovered a cave. He had wanted to explore it, but given the time, he had decided to err on the side of caution leave the forest while it was still light out, and explore the cave the day after.

That is to say, today.

I should be close to the cave by now…

After another few minutes, Jia Yuan found the cave he’d seen yesterday. After checking the surroundings for signs of danger, he cautiously made his way in. Very little light made it past the mouth of the cave, so Jia Yuan quickly used a fire ember, a cheap item used for starting fires, on a stick to create a makeshift torch.

Holding his torch up high, he continued on into the cave.

It seemed to be a rather deep cave. Jia Yuan walked deeper into the cave for about a full minute before stopping. In front of him was a rather large bear, standing far taller than Jia Yuan himself. Its muscles rippled beneath its fur as stared at Jia Yuan, preparing to strike.

Despite the difference in size, Jia Yuan smiled to himself. The bear would be good practice.

He quickly drew his wooden sword, carefully laid his torch on the ground, then took a stance and waited.

After a brief moment of hesitation, the bear lumbered on all fours towards Jia Yuan, and lunged towards its target, trying to tackle Jia Yuan to the floor.

Seeing this, Jia Yuan dodged by jumping to the right. At the same time, he switched his sword from his right to his left hand, and swung it at the bear’s eyes as the animal flew past him.

After sparring for so many years with Dou Di, Jia Yuan had long grown accustomed to the quick pace of a duel. As such, the speed of the bear, while frightening to a commoner, was far below his own. As such, his sword’s aim was true, and easily slashed through the eyes of the bear, effectively blinding it.

At this point, the bear had already lost. Blinded, it thrashed about in rage - but these were uncalculated, wild movements. 

Jia Yuan continuously dashed about his opponent, slashing again and again with his sword as the dodged the enraged bear’s attacks. Despite never learning a Song, he was still fairly at performing a “Dance” with his sword. After about ten dashes and twenty strikes over the course of four seconds, he stopped.

The bear’s body was crisscrossed with bloody scars, a testament to Jia Yuan’s skill. Although others may have had trouble against the bear even with a metal sword and a full suit of armor, he had been able to swiftly take down the bear with just a wooden sword.

Hm, perhaps I need stronger creatures to practice against now.

Jia Yuan picked up his torch and continued further down the cave, curious as to why a bear would be inside such a deep cave. After proceeding for another minute, he saw a hole in the floor of the cave, leading deeper into the earth. Unfortunately, the hole was long and curved, so he couldn’t see where it led.

I wonder what’s in here… guess it wouldn’t hurt to take a look, right?

After waving his torch back and forth down the hole in order to try and gauge the potential depth of the hole, he gave up and steeled his mind. Using his arms and feet to brace himself against the sides of the hole, he quickly slid down, wondering all the while just how strange of a cave he was in.

After a swift descent, he arrived in a room. Yes, a room. Unlike the rest of the cave, which looked to be carved from nature, this room looked to be perfectly round, and was clearly manmade.

Walking around the room, Wesley noticed a pillar in the middle of the room. Strangely, even, the pillar and the area around it was illuminated, even though there was no light entering the room. Jia Yuan felt drawn towards the pillar, and walked toward it with large strides. 

On top of the pillar, he saw a scroll covered in symbols - it was precisely this item that was calling out to him.

Or rather, singing to him. 

Jia Yuan could hardly believe it.

He’d found a Song.

Jia Yuan could hardly believe his luck. To actually find a Song in a random cave, it was as unlikely as meat pies falling from heaven. Ecstatic with joy, he started dancing around the cave, cheering.

To bring his ecstasy into perspective, all martial cultivation, apart from the most fundamental of levels, relied on developing one’s Song, and one’s proficiency in said Song. While combat strength for normal humans was determined by their physical fitness and prowess with weapons, this was not the case for cultivators. The power of the Song one trained in, as well as one’s depth of understanding of the Song, defined a true martial cultivator’s strength. 

For one of such low birth as Jia Yuan, the most he could have reasonably hoped for was to receive a low-level Song from the Army after being recruited. As a valuable prospect for the Army or even the Burning Legion, it was unlikely, but certainly possible. But even for such a candidate, the Army was hardly rich enough to provide them with a medium or high-level Song. 

After all, the number of Writers capable of composing Songs on a regular basis was extremely low. The number of Writers capable of composing medium or high-level Songs was even less, and their works were closely guarded by the various Kingdoms.

As such, most Burning Legion candidates would receive low-level Songs, while only a select few army recruits who looked particularly promising or had special talents, would receive those rare medium or high-level Songs.

As one of the premier powers on the Continent of the Five Elements, the Fire Kingdom was in possession of a large number of Songs of Fire. These Songs typically possessed explosive, powerful melodies and rhythms, which brought out strong bursts of power from the practitioner, like the raging flames of a fire. 

Likewise, other Songs provided attributes similar to their elements. Of course, no two Songs are the same. Only, these other, smaller properties of a Song were hard to predict before it was absorbed. As such, the usual differentiators when it came to choosing a Song were the element and the level.

Hence, Jia Yuan’s excitement. Although he did not know what level of Song he had just found, right now, anything was possible - at the very least it would be a low-level Song. If he dared to dream a little bigger, perhaps it could even be a medium or high-level Song, or even a Heavenly Song.

As for the attribute… a Song found in the Fire Kingdom should have the Fire attribute, yes? After all, Fire Hill Village was just a bit east of the center of the Fire Kingdom, and had been part of the Fire Kingdom for centuries, if not millenia.

After celebrating, Jia Yuan walked back to the center of the room, and prepared to absorb the Song. He tried to grab the scroll, but couldn’t touch it. This was when he realized… he didn’t quite know how to acquire a Song, even if it was right in front of him.

Uh, how in the world do I receive a Song? I’ve only heard about them in stories, and nobody ever actually said how to absorb one…

Fortunately, at this point, the scroll cracked open a small bit, and a voice sounded in Jia Yuan’s head.

“To receive the Song, you need to only learn the first stage of the Song. As long as you are able to understand even a smidgen of it, I will allow you to receive the Song. If you are able to learn the Song to my satisfaction, I will also provide you with some things to aid you in your cultivation.

“Of course, with reward comes risk. If you fail, you will be shut in this room until your death.”

Hearing these words, Jia Yuan was even happier than he’d originally been. Now, he had a chance to win some cultivation materials! Since birth, he’d heard about how all of the rich nobles and royalty could buy barrels of pills and numerous other such items to enhance their training. Now, he had a chance to acquire his own!

Even though he hadn’t won anything yet, he still felt as if he’d won the lottery. As for that last part about being shut in the room until his death… a single drop of sweat slid down his temple as he shoved that small detail to the back of his mind.

It was better to not worry about that, for now.

He carefully pored over the opened section of the scroll. On it, he could see four stances along with some symbols overhead. If Jia Yuan had had a better upbringing, he would have recognized the symbols as musical notes.

However, these were not normal musical notes - they were inscribed into the scroll with magic. It was generally accepted knowledge that when someone absorbed a Song for the first time, these notes would be imprinted into the recipient's mind, allowing them to embark on the path of martial cultivation.

Using the Song’s energy and the stances that came with it to perform a Dance, would be the main way for martial cultivators to fight, and raise their skill and cultivation.

What many people didn’t know, however, is that when a Writer composes a Song, they are actually creating a sentient soul. It is this soul, not the musical notes themselves, that allows for martial cultivation.

Jia Yuan gazed at the symbols on the scroll for a long while, but he was still unable to make heads or tails of them.

I guess I’ll just ignore them for now and follow the stances…

He carefully settled into the first stance, with his legs shoulder-width apart, sword at his side. After settling into the stance, he glanced at the scroll to make sure that he was in the correct position.

Alright, I think I’ve got this one. Let’s move to the next.

Jia Yuan practiced the four stances in this manner, until he was able to mimic each stance perfectly.

Now, I guess I have to connect the stances, huh. Perhaps that’s where the symbols come in.

Despite his educational background, Jia Yuan had fairly decent powers of deduction, all things considered. Thankfully so, as he would need this in order to acquire the Song.

Over the course of the next two hours, Jia Yuan trained his hardest, to flow from one stance to the next flawlessly, in order the receive the Song.

But, for all of his efforts, he was still missing the essence, the soul of the Song. He had learned the Dance to a degree, but he hadn’t learned anything about the Song, yet.

Unnoticed by Jia Yuan, a ghostly figure sat in the corner of the room, gazing at Wesley. In the form of an elder with a long beard, this person seemed to be muttering to himself.

“He seems to be a worthy candidate… yet while understands the Dance, he does not understand the Song.

“But, it has been far too long. Can I truly wait for another chance? Perhaps… I could give him a nudge.”

Jia Yuan was still practicing the stances when suddenly, in front of him, several elderly figures appeared, frightening him.

Ah! Where did these people come from??

“Who are you??” Jia Yuan asked the people before him. Strangely, although he could see them, they seemed almost ethereal, translucent.

An elderly voice sounded in Jia Yuan’s head. “I am here to give you a chance. Watch, and see what you can learn - I will show you the essence of this Song.

At this moment, the figures in front of Jia Yuan changed - they each morphed into an exact replica of Jia Yuan himself. The first brandished a dark steel axe, surrounded by a raging inferno. 

Each time this figure moved, it brandished the axe in a violent, domineering manner, and each movement seemed to possess the power to destroy the world itself. For all intents, the figure might as well have been the embodiment of a raging volcano.

The second figure held an azure sword and flowed from one stance to the next, its movements giving a feel of endless fluidity. Despite this, each slash of the sword was accompanied with violent outbursts of water and ice. Although Jia Yuan did not know it yet, this was the embodiment of ‘a raging river may conquer even the largest boulder’.

The third figure held a long bamboo staff and moved not as fluidly as the previous image, but in such a way that Jia Yuan felt that this figure was almost carried by the air itself. This feeling was only enhanced by the rhythmic movements of the bamboo staff, which were accentuated by bursts of wind. Each swing of the staff seemed to hold the power to fell a forest of trees, but still held the elegance of a royal performer.

The fourth, and final figure, held a two-handed hammer. For a few moments, it did not move. Then, the figure seemed to come alive, and delivered a hammer strike with a wide swing. Then, it controlled the backswing of the hammer, and used the force to deliver a stronger forward hammer strike, then again, and again. 

Soon enough, each swing of the hammer was accompanied by a landslide of rocks, which flew through Jia Yuan without hurting him. After a minute of swinging, each swing of the hammer carried with it enough force to level a city.

At this point, the elderly voice sounded again in Jia Yuan’s head. “I have shown you the Truth of the Song, but I can only show you the tip of the iceberg. The rest, you will have to understand on your own.

“Do not fail me.”

As the figures faded away, Jia Yuan was caught in a daze. It was only now that he truly realized how weak he and Dou Di had been - Dou Di may have been able to become a candidate for the Burning Legion, but at the end of the day, he was simply a potential candidate to be a specialized foot soldier.

No.

Jia Yuan could not suppress a yearning sensation that grew stronger and stronger by the second. In the past, his goal had only been to surpass Dou Di, his older brother. After all, his older brother was who he’d known to be strong, the ruler against which he measured himself.

But now, he’d seen the level of power that was possible in this world.

I will understand the way of the Song! I will become the strongest in the Continent of the Five Elements.

…

Coming back to his senses, Jia Yuan looked back toward the scroll at the center of the room, which had unfurled itself. This time, when he reached for it, no invisible force blocked his hand. He picked it up, and concentrated. After a tense moment of concentration, felt a part of his soul enter the scroll.

A flurry of information assaulted Jia Yuan’s brain. Images, words, and most distinctly, a solemn melody flowed in his mind.

Jia Yuan had acquired his Song. In a person’s entire life, they could only acquire a single Song. Even if one grew up in the most extravagant household, they would only be able to acquire a single Song, no different from anyone else. 

Jia Yuan, a mere peasant who had worked his entire life with only the goal of becoming a foot soldier in the Burning Legion, had acquired the Song of Swords.

After about two hours, Jia Yuan finally moved again. The information that had been coursing through his mind had stopped long ago, but he had spent the last while entranced, absorbing by the information he had just received.

While he didn’t understand the vast majority of this newfound information, he was sure of one thing. He had definitely struck gold. A low level scroll would not have such an abudance of information…

However, he was confused by one thing - he had assumed that the Song he’d acquired was a Song of Fire, but this didn’t seem to be the case. However, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

He could only keep training, and hope things worked out for the best. Despite his puzzlement, though, his happiness could not be dampened. After gathering himself, he finally looked up and surveyed his surroundings. 

“Huh? Where did the pillar go?”

The pillar at the center of the room had disappeared, and in its place was an ordinary-looking black box. 

Reaching down, Jia Yuan opened the box. Inside, were hundreds of little circular orbs. In total, there seemed to be eight types of these little orbs, and there seemed to be over two hundred orbs of each type.