Immortal

1. The Road to the Mountain [I]

Alone, Lachlan made his way up the dragon mountain which was covered up with heavy snow, neither slowing down nor increasing his pace. 

Although the weather was extremely cold, he wasn't bothered despite only wearing a thin piece of clothing, and a pair of coarse leather shoes that revealed a few of his toes.

Along the way, many martial arts masters from all over the world rushed pass him in great speed, eager to be the first to reach the summit of the mountain. Some of them were as agile as the cheetahs, raising up piles of snow behind them, while others moved silently like shadows without leaving any traces behind, as if walking on a solid ground.

Most of these great warriors either had long swords hanging from their waists or on their backs, or carried various strange weapons, but Lachlan only had a hatchet with several cracks on it, strapped to his back.

To an observing eye, he really looked like a village boy who was going up the mountain to collect firewood. 

The martial arts masters who passed by him all cast doubtful and disdainful eyes at him, and some even turned back to point fingers at him after passing him by, but he ignored them all and continued walking on his own way. He had not stopped to rest since he started walking up the mountain, but the distance of each of his step was exactly the same.

"By the gods..." A somewhat shrill voice came from behind Lachlan, ​​and the next moment, a young man in blue brocade clothes arrived with a gust of wind, staring at Lachlan with wide eyes, not hiding the surprise and confusion in his eyes, "...boy, are you here to participate in the trial as well?"

"You'll see." Lachlan replied calmly, turning his head to glance at the man.

"Hm?" The man exclaimed as he shuddered momentarily. The gaze of the young boy was as sharp and deep as a fine blade, as if it could see through the secrets in people's hearts; and at the same time, it seemed simple and profound, as if it had witnessed all the throes of people's life, revealing extraordinary wisdom in its plainness. 

Was this really a mountain boy? Liutrad was terrified, and deeply confused. He rubbed his eyes and found that the silver light in Lachlan's eyes had disappeared. The terrifying look in his eyes just now seemed to be just an illusion.  He could not even sense any power fluctuations in the boy's body. Impossible, he must have seen it wrong.

Liutrad felt a little angry as he thought about all these. He himself was the second son of the great Moonspirit family, which had been existing for thousands of years. He had reached the innate realm as a martial artist, but was shocked by the eyes of a mountain boy? If this got out, how could he show his face among the masters again?

"Boy, did you just walked out of a mountain village?" The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and the more he disliked Lachlan. The more he thought about it, the sadder he became. He looked at Lachlan up and down, saw his exposed toes through the worn out shoes, and then glanced at the hatchet on his back before sneering in disdain. "Look at you. Do you even know where you're going? "

"Yes, I did, and yes, I do." Lachlan nodded, his face still calm, not caring about Liutrad's rudeness. He had indeed walked out of a mountain village, but he had walked more than eight hundred miles without stopping. He was still energetic, but the soles of his shoes were almost worn out.

"Boy, do you think you're going to the forest to cut woods? You're going to the holy mountain! Even if you're a disappointment in life, this is still a great opportunity for you to watch us participate in the trials.  If you continue walking the way you're doing, how can you even reach there on time?" Liutrad asked again, his eyes full of disdain and disbelief, looking up and down at Lachlan, ​​thinking about how to vent his anger on this embarrassment of a human.

"You'll see." Lachlan replied calmly, no longer paying attention to the arrogant dandy, and continued to walk towards the top of the mountain at a steady pace.

"Hey, what's with all this arrogance?" Liutrad was furious, and his anger had not yet dissipated. Seeing that Lachlan dared to ignore him, he became even angrier. The long sword hanging on his waist suddenly vibrated, emitting a sharp murderous aura. 

"Master Liutrad..." Just as he was about to attack, he was pulled away by the long-haired young man beside him, "... please let it pass. It will be difficult for us to get there on time if we don't leave now. He is just a village boy who doesn't know any etiquette, why bother with him? Besides, he might not be going there to participate which won't be surprising."

"Tamar, if it weren't for you today, I would have taught this country boy a good lesson, and let him understand the difference between a martial artist and a woodcutter." Liutrad was furious, and responded.

A few seconds later, he and his companion Tamar flashed pass Lachlan. He smiled and deliberately exerted force on his feet to raise large flakes of snow that fell mildly on Lachlan.

Even after they had walked a long way, they turned back and glared at him with an indescribably vicious look.

Lachlan continued to walk forward, ignoring Liutrad's provocation, welcoming the freezing snowflakes that fell on his body. His facial expression remained the same and his steps steady and calm, but the snowflakes vaporized instantly as soon as they landed on his skin.

Watching Liutrad's back going away, Lachlan narrowed his eyes slightly and a dim silver light flashed in them. In an instant, a powerful and violent energy surged in his body, and then disappeared. Even the dirt-covered hatchet on his back vaguely sparkled with a blade light. 

Liutrad, who was used to being arrogant and domineering, continued to fly forward without sensing any changes in the air. Although he had reached the Innate realm at such a young age, he was just a playboy who was using various elixirs to speed up his growth without a solid foundation. 

"By the looks of it, it seemed the Moonspirit family had spent a lot of money for a direct descendant to participate in the selection by the four immortal sects. If only he could find a strict master to teach him how to develop his character and lay a solid foundation for himself, he could easily become an innate master in the future. What a pity..." Lachlan muttered under his breath.

On the contrary, Tamar, the long-haired young man who was walking side by side with Liutrad, seemed to feel something and looked back at Lachlan from a distance, his eyes were a little surprised and puzzled, seemingly thinking about something.

Lachlan's face was as calm as an ancient well, and he ignored Tamar's gaze, continuing on his way.

From beginning to end, he was neither arrogant nor humble to Liutrad, but he recognized his origins at a glance.

To him, ​​the provocation just now seemed like just a short farce and was not worth paying too much attention to. However, even though it was insignificant, it made him recall many old memories and his mind became active.

Lachlan never thought that the world would change so much. Back then, the Moonspirit family in Lyrendor City was not bad, but he never expected them to become a big family now. A hundred years had passed in the blink of an eye. He wondered how many people in the world still remembered him.

Lachlan walked forward silently, and for a moment, his eyes were as sharp as knives, and then they returned to their calmness. The cold wind was as sharp as a knife, but he continued walking alone on the vast snowy mountains, step by step, and more memories slowly emerged in his mind.