The Rejected Disciple, Successor to The Demonic Path

The Black Robe and the Boots

Rong Tian’s expression changed at once. The gloom and despair on his face faded, replaced by a faint brightness that had not been there before.

It was as though the fog surrounding him had finally begun to disperse, taking away the emptiness that had weighed upon every step he took. A new thread of hope slowly rose within his heart, replacing the despair that had ruled him until now.

Rong Tian looked left and right, his eyes sharp as he surveyed the surroundings. He needed a safe place where he could take shelter and examine the contents of the chest without being disturbed.

His intention was simple. He wanted to open the chest somewhere protected, far from the threat of savage creatures that would return once night fell.

Yet as far as his eyes could see, there were only neglected graves and human skeletons lying beneath layers of dust. Some of those bones might have rested there for years, perhaps even centuries.

They belonged to people who had fallen into this place before him and never found a way back to the world above.

Rong Tian frowned. The place felt abandoned by time itself, yet it was still filled with a terrifying aura that made the hair on his arms stand on end.

“So I spent the entire night in a graveyard, inside the Abyss of Suffering,” he thought, his heart beating faster. “No wonder I kept feeling as though something was watching me from the darkness.”

He stared at the nearest skeleton. Its bones still leaned against a rock, as though its owner had decided to rest there and had never risen again.

The night before, he had been too busy digging to pay much attention to his surroundings. The dark sky had been lit only by weak moonlight, and all his focus had been fixed on the sand beneath his hands and the chest hidden below it.

Feeling increasingly uncomfortable, Rong Tian quickly scanned the area again. Everything looked dry and barren. There was not a single tree, no water, no shade, and no visible path that could lead him out of this cursed abyss.

Then his gaze stopped on a cave nearly hidden behind jagged rocks and dried earth. It would have been impossible to notice if not for the shadow that looked different from the surrounding stone.

Relief appeared on Rong Tian’s face. “I will take shelter in that cave,” he muttered, hurrying toward it.

The cave seemed to be his only hope of surviving the night and avoiding the beasts that roamed the abyss.

However, when he reached the base of the steep cliff, his heart sank. The cave was far too high to reach.

Its entrance was nearly ten meters above the ground.

Rong Tian was not a cultivator pursuing immortality, nor did he possess extraordinary strength. His body was still weak, and even standing beneath the cave made him doubt whether he could reach it.

Despair began to seize him again.

Then an idea suddenly flashed through his mind, like sparks thrown from two stones striking together.

“If the bat-patterned jade pendant can drive away wolves, then perhaps this chest contains other treasures with similar power,” Rong Tian thought.

Hope returned, and he hurried back to the chest beneath the towering cliff.

Without wasting time, Rong Tian opened the chest again. This time, he found something more intriguing.

After placing the black robe he had previously worn back inside, he saw a pair of boots lying beneath it. They were pitch-black, calf-high, and stitched in a style that matched the robe above them.

They looked like a complete set, designed to be worn together.

“Boots?” Rong Tian muttered as he stared at them.

At first glance, the boots appeared ordinary. Yet Rong Tian could not ignore the strange feeling that arose when his fingers touched their smooth leather surface.

“They are black like the robe and clothes I just wore,” he thought. “Could these boots also possess some kind of power, just like the bat-patterned pendant?”

Everything in the chest was black. Everything was perfectly preserved despite being buried for an unknown number of years.

Driven by curiosity, Rong Tian put the boots on.

The moment they touched his feet, he felt the same strange sensation as before. They fit perfectly, as though they had been made specifically for his long and sturdy legs.

Once again, an indescribable feeling filled his mind. It felt as though these items had known him longer than he had known himself.

“The pendant, the robe, and the boots,” Rong Tian thought in amazement. “Three different objects, yet they carry the same aura. Who was their original owner, and why were they hidden in a place like this?”

The question remained unanswered, but it did not stop him from testing the boots.

Rong Tian bent his knees and jumped.

Whoosh!

His body shot into the air.

“This... this...” Rong Tian stammered, unable to believe what had happened.

He had leaped nearly five meters into the air, higher than he had ever jumped in his entire life.

When his feet landed on the dry sand, he stared down at the black boots.

“I need to try again,” he thought. “Was that because of these boots, or was it just luck?”

Whoosh!

He jumped again.

This time, his body rose even higher. He nearly reached six meters before descending.

A genuine smile appeared on Rong Tian’s face.

“So it was not a coincidence. Every object in this chest has its own function.”

He looked toward the half-open chest. “What else is hidden inside?”

His excitement surged, and he immediately began attempting to reach the cave above. Yet even after ten attempts, Rong Tian still failed to reach the entrance.

“The cave is too high. It must be around ten meters above the ground, while my best jump is only six meters,” Rong Tian muttered, his face darkening again. “It seems I will have to forget about finding shelter there.”

Disappointment struck him once more.

He looked at the chest near him, and then at the long black robe fluttering in the wind as though it were waiting for something.

A thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

“If these boots can help me jump higher, what will happen if I combine them with that black robe? Perhaps there is a hidden power that can increase my leap.”

New determination rose in him.

Rong Tian quickly picked up the black clothes and robe again. The moment he put them on, his confidence returned.

An invisible aura flowed around his body like a thin layer of protection. It was neither hot nor cold, but it created a strange sensation, making him feel heavier against the ground and lighter in the air at the same time.

Rong Tian raised his eyes toward the cave.

In his heart, he silently prayed that the two treasures would work together as he hoped.

To be continued.