The Immortal Diaries: Part Six

I sit here in the pagoda of our gardens, preparing for another story of an Immortal that has been with us since the beginning. Although he did not start off as an Immortal outright, one may consider that he has foreseen the instance of his Immortality.

Readers, I commend to your attention today, the Immortal Keeper QiXunJue.

QiXunJue, the Immortal of the Immeasurable Time

Born without sight, QiXunJue was born in the lowest class of Nanke Village. Even though his parents had enough Yuan to send him to school, they did not; they were afraid that people might make fun of him and lead him into dangerous circumstances. His hearing and his touch compensated for his lack of sight, though—in later years legends would tell about his ability to hear the clashing of swords in towns miles away. And his disability did not stop him from learning. One day, as he was walking home and with only his touch and hearing as his guide, he heard a class conducted in the one-room schoolhouse nearby and began listening to it. Soon it became a daily ritual—sitting at the doorstep for at least a part of the class on the way home from whatever errand it may be. Quickly he learned all the lessons of the teacher and memorized them easily.

This didn’t go unnoticed by the teacher, who noticed the young boy sitting at the doorstep every session. Seeing the young boy’s enthusiasm for knowledge, he gave extra lessons to QiXunJue for free. However, on his 18^th summer, tragedy struck. Both his parents died when the Village was ambushed by the Soulless. His teacher then adopted him, raised him and included him in his class lectures. QiXunJue would then always come out as top of his class. At 21, he finally earned the right to be called a Yu Ling.

One night, he began to have dreams. Being ignorant and not really knowing whether these dreams meant anything, he pushed them deep into his subconscious. He never really gave them much attention because after all, he was blind and cannot see. These dreams, he thought, weren’t visions because visions of the future were only for those who have eyes.

Great news arrived one day when his teacher came home, bringing a bottle to the hands of QiXunJue. In this hand, he said, was the potion that restores eyesight. This struck the young Yu Ling for these words had been part of his dream, a part of his vision. As he took the potion, events he never saw unraveled in front of his blurry vision.

He then knew what he will see next.

It was his teacher, lying down beside him. Though heavily wounded, the old man carried a huge smile on his face. He chuckled a bit and said to his student, “Finally you can see,”. In vain, the young Yu Ling tried to heal him and resurrect him, but failed for the teacher was fatally wounded by the Soulless who, again, attacked the town.

QiXunJue then devoted the rest of his time enhancing his gift of prophecy. His gift was a rare kind for not too many can possess it and not one, save QiXunJue, succeeded in maintaining it. He was the first to see visions more clearly and can warn villages of the impending Soulless invasions. There were many attempts on his life but his gift of vision has helped him thwart it all.

At the age of 101, QiXunJue was still a well-known prophet. However, he knew that soon his time to leave the mortal body will come, and with this the last vision was revealed. This was his last vision: the Path to Immortality.

~~~

That closes the book on the first six Immortals to grace the Perfect Land. Starting tomorrow, we shall try to attempt to share the origins of the new Immortals that have attained the same path we are traversing now :)