Molting the Mortal Coil

Somehow this place was very different from the world he remembered and he spent much of his time poring over history and geography books. Unfortunately, the history books only had a detailed account of events for the last few hundred years and only a vague impression of the prior thousand.

Upon reaching the age of 16, Dou Bao began to make a name for himself as a new young genius, defeating all the other youths of the city with his immense prowess. The golden egg in his Dantian was already the foundation for an Inner Core, and his progress to the fifth rank would naturally be without bottlenecks. The new head of the Dou Clan was extremely proud of his genius son. The youth had accomplished feats that not even he had been able to do when he was young. His wife warned him of their son’s arrogance and overconfidence, but time and again, the boy proved himself. He won every challenge and was first in every competition, it was like there was nothing he couldn’t do.

Dou Bao became the most famous person in their small city and was recruited to join the most powerful Sect in the area. The Yeying Shen Sect, or the Immortal Nightingale, was an overlord of the area, ruler of the surrounding ten thousand miles. They were equivalent to a first rate power with a province under their command, and he was eager to find out how strong they were. As the greatest power in a huge area, they were the only worthy place for him to head to and he happily left home at the Dou Clan to join the Yeying Shen Sect.

His undefeatable records continued. How could these teenagers have a chance against his thousands of years of experience? His power in a direct confrontation was in the top ten of these youngsters, so it took only a little portion of his experience at scheming and in combat tactics to easily make himself the top student. He was a little disappointed when he wasn’t chosen as the Direct Disciple of the Sect Master, but there was nepotism at play. The Sect Master already had descendants of the same age to make into disciples. Instead, Dou Bao was chosen by the number two figure in the Sect, the master weapon refiner, Hao Ai.

With this new teacher, Dou Bao started to show off one of the skillsets he’d attained long ago. He became a refiner like his master. Hao Ai was very pleased with his progress, showing him off to all her friends. She especially liked to flaunt his progress in front of the Sect Leader, since the man had given Dou Bao up in favor of his great niece. Dou Bao used his own creations to become an archer of great renown. His arrows could pierce through anything and were said to have eyes of their own.

After a few decades his prowess surpassed that of his master and the Yeying Shen Sect was rumored to be experiencing a time of political upheaval. The Sect Leader’s disciples were numerous, but none of them were as resplendent or well known as Dou Bao. The ‘Golden Archer’ as he was known, was already an undefeatable figure in the neighboring regions. Other Sects began to fear the Yeying Shan Sect because of his ability and willingness to show it off. As he grew stronger, he was quite willing to solve every disagreement with a flying arrow, and before long there were few who had the guts to talk back against him. For others, at least they had time to see them coming and prepare a defense, but when facing Dou Bao there was no telling when an arrow would come flying towards their heart. There were many who would only agree to meet him within a heavily fortified room at the center of a fortress.

The level of strength in the world has really dropped a whole notch while I was gone. The great Sects are only led by Core Formation Elders. Where are all the Nascent Souls?

After showing off for a time and gathering support in the Yeying Shan Sect, Dou Bao finally made his move. He forced a meeting with the Sect Leader and Elders, asking for the order of succession to be declared. He made the claim of ensuring the continued prosperity of the Sect, ensuring morale if anything happened to the Sect Leader, but his opponents knew this was only an excuse to try to seize power.

“Everyone is aware of your power and prestige, Dou Bao, but you cannot force this! The Sect Leader is still young and powerful, there is no need for him to make a decision at this time about a successor. We don’t have anything to worry about.”

“Lin is right. Even if the Sect Leader passed, then I’m quite sure the Sect Leader would still have plenty of time to declare a successor then, or leave it in a will. There’s no need to force anything.”

Dou Bao was not intimidated by these two Elders. He shook his head and looked disappointed as he spoke, “You two are too naive. There are far too many ways that the Sect Leader could die without time to make a declaration. There are also many enemies out there that could confiscate his will on their own in order to alter the contents. Would any of you really trust the Sect Leader’s will when delivered by those that killed him? If you heard the Sect Leader’s voice proclaim someone as his successor moments before he was killed, would you still believe it? What if someone coerces the Sect Leader at his moment of death? Should we let those enemies have their way?”

Dou Bao words sparked an argument and a shouting match that continued until fists started to fly. The Sect Leader, Hao Ai, Dao Bao, and the other youngsters that were there stayed out of the fight, but there were Elders supporting either side of the argument that weren’t shy to settle the dispute with their fists. Both parties wished to maintain their dignity while they let their supporters fight instead. In this fight, Hao Ai, normally the second highest voice in the Sect, kept her mouth shut. She could not speak out against her own favorite disciple, but she also didn’t agree with what he was doing. Hai Ai’s supporters also stayed neutral, which put the Sect Leader’s loyalists against Dou Bao’s cronies.

Eventually, Dou Bao forced a confrontation and after thoroughly defeating the most powerful fighters in the Sect save for the Sect Leader and the top Elders, they were forced to admit his ability. Even so, they were still unflinching in their desire to stop him from becoming the next leader of the Sect after this outburst. They were worried about the Sect’s future. There was a glimmer in Dou Bao’s eye and then the Sect Leader finally rose to his feet.

“Dou Bao is just concerned for the Sect’s future should there be a disaster. It is this unyielding character that I admire the most, and also the reason that I have no reservations about naming Dou Bao as the next in line for Sect Leader should anything happen to me. This is a joyous occasion for us all, so no more bickering!”

The conflict was resolved in a flash and the many Elders found themselves celebrating with their opponents over bowls of wine. They were still worried over the character of their future Sect Leader, but the current Sect Leader seemed to be so assured of his decision that they could only hold their tongue and continue to celebrate.

Only Dou Bao’s master, Hao Ai, knew the real truth. The Sect Leader had sent her a secret voice transmission before making his decision, “You are the only one that has any influence upon him. If I deny him, then the Yeying Shan Sect will be no more. Please help him to choose for the good of the Sect in the future.”

Less than ten years later, the Sect Leader fell. He was surrounded and killed by the leaders of three other Sects. Sects that were jealous of the Yeying Shan Sect’s growing power, and Dou Bao stepped up to assume the position.