"After a few days of your birth, a strange thing happened. It was a regular day; after I finished my work, I entered our room, but she was not present there. I also searched entire palace. We dispatched many soldiers, a secret army, only to find a clue of her whereabouts. But all of those were meaningless. She had simply vanished into thin air."
"Did she leave on her own?" All those information made her head dizzy, not knowing whether he should feel anger—for those monsters of Burial Shadow Land—or sorrow for his father who was parted from his mother.
"I also considered this idea. But it was impossible because at that time her health had become worse; she could not even stand on her own."
He faced toward Ling Xiao. "I have not told you any lie. Because it has been over a year since we lost her, so we all considered her death, a stone on my heart."
"After a decade passed, similar symptoms appeared in your body. At that time, I became very worried to lose you. But my teacher discovered a pill to suppress your disease." After that, Ling Sha sank deep in his thoughts.
Ling Xiao felt the silence as he absorbed all the information. Then some questions suddenly appeared in his mind. "What is the Burial Shadow Land? Are they not humans ? And why does our Imperial Library not have any books regarding that continent ?"
Ling Sha did not answer his question, instead, he asked another: "Do you know why I did not wanted to answer all those questions?"
Ling Xiao did not answer, only staring back at Ling Sha's face.
"Because I expected, after hearing all these answers, you would ask about those continents. But I want you to not be involved in all these matters." Ling Sha spoke in a very serious tone.
"Then ok! I will not ask you, but you promised me that when I reached the Qi Refinement stage, you would give me the permission to get outside the palace. Are you going to keep your word or not?" He normally told this to his father, but behind this, there was a deeper meaning.
Sensing that, he felt helpless because it was possible to control Ling Xiao's information path in the palace, but outside of the palace, how was that possible? Countless information was available regarding this topic; to find it, a person would have to make some minute efforts.
"Ok, ok, you won! But you have to give me a promise not to involve yourself in this continental conflict." He had a helpless expression. But still, seeing Ling Xiao's indifference, Ling Sha further said, "Otherwise, it is possible for me to not stay still in my own words. After all, your life is of greater importance."
Now, it was Ling Xiao's time to feel helpless. "Alright, I promise that I will not interfere in the conflict between the continents until you ask me for that."
Now Ling Sha got some relief. "Yes, you said it right. Thery are not humans but cruel creatures: Hounds, Spirits, Whits, and the main, above all, mastermind Demons, also some dark bloodline beasts."
"Hounds: they are half-wolf and half-demon. Their entire body is covered with hair, and their ears, fingers, and legs are those of a wolf. Their eye color is fiery red. All other body parts look like a human's, but it is a demon's body."
"Spirits: they are like formless beings, not having any definite shape. They often hide in shadows, and they are good at sneak attacks."
"Whits: they are like half-dead zombies, with pale white skin and the eyes of a dead man. They look fully human."
"And the last, Demons." At this stage, Ling Sha made a pause but continued after a few seconds. "They are almost like humans but have more fair skin than a human and more beautiful faces. But their eyes are pure black, and they have fangs, but those who have higher cultivation can hide those characteristics."
"All those creatures have a similar trait: they have a black aura, unlike us. For humans, when we attack, the energy that leaves our body towards the target is in many colors, according to their cultivation technique and their temperament."
"But for those creatures, it is black because of their destructive nature."
After that, Ling Sha took a few minutes to tell Ling Xiao some other beasts' descriptions.
"That's all the answers you wanted to know. I will not stop you from leaving the palace, but the outside world is more cruel than you think it is. Until you become a true cultivator, I only give you permission to roam within the Capital of the Central Continent." Ling Sha looked outside the window. "It is becoming dark outside. I will not disturb you further."
But the only thing revolving in Ling Xiao's mind was that he finally had permission to get outside the palace. He dismissed all other things.
Ling Sha turned to leave the room but stopped his movement and turned back to Ling Xiao and said, "Come to my room the next day. Before you leave the palace, you need to meet your Grand teacher. He will guide you about your current situation and how you should get experience of the outer world." Then he finally left the room.
Ling Xiao still sat for an hour, deep in his thoughts. He had not met his Grand-teacher. He only heard a few things about that man from his father.
It was during his grandfather's rule of the central continent. Ling Sha was a little kid at that time. One day, when Ling Sha went to the Jungle of Chaos to train his martial skill, he unfortunately encountered some bandits. He did not have enough cultivation level to oppose them. At that time, a man, probably 25 years old, came forward to help without expecting any benefit. After that, Ling Sha invited the man, but he politely rejected his offer, saying that he was a solitary cultivator who did not want any fame nor money, only freedom.
A few years passed, and one day an unknown disease happened to Ling Sha's father. Many alchemists and physicians came to check on the emperor but to no avail. In the time of crisis, many small kingdoms retaliated against their dynasty. At that time, a man came forward; it was none other than the man who saved Ling Sha at that jungle.
With his physician skills, he saved the emperor. The Emperor was so happy that he gave the position of a general, above all other positions but slightly down from the emperor, but the man still refused. So the emperor was helpless, only able to propose to be Ling Sha's teacher with utmost freedom to go wherever he wanted to without asking anyone and do whatever he wanted, not bound by the emperor's politics. Finally, the man accepted to take Ling Sha as a disciple.
Finally, Ling Xiao put all thoughts to the back of his head and stood from his seat to go to bed and fall asleep.