A Xianxia Tale (4)

Yin and Yang, white against black. Bai Zhong furrowed his brow looking down at the board where white and black pebbles were arranged in a game of Go.

He worked his jaw for a moment, considering the options he had on hand and the current state of the game. It was a very even match, his son and him. Bai Zhong might not have been a genius player at Go, but he considered himself aptly capable at playing the game, even being able of scoring wins against some better skilled players when having a bit of luck on his side. Bai Hu posed himself as a reasonable challenge as such. By no means was the boy a Go player, but he knew the rules and had a good head on his shoulders - better than most really.

It was an exciting evening of family bonding.

"Lady Dai told me she would be attending the next Grand Regional Tournament, did you know?" He said, finally placing down a white stone north to a black one. "It's going to be held at the Azure Phoenix Empire, I was told."

The boy bobbed his head in acknowledgement. "Teacher informed, yes," he said, looking down at the board and contemplating his next move. "She expects me to follow her, I suppose."

"Aie," Bai Zhong sighed. "I imagined as much."

Damned that Dai woman!

Bai Zhong might have been indebted to her, and she might have been one of his late wife's few friends but he couldn't help but dislike the woman. She was just too shrew! Though, in a sense, so was he as a merchant, and cultivators were rarely ever known to be a kind people.

"The Thousand Method School must be preparing for the tournament, if that's the case." He commented.

Bai Hu made his move and placed a black stone on the board, scoring another point and protecting one of his pieces. Smart, the older blonde nodded, already expecting such a move and easily going to make a point of his own.

Bai Hu moved a moment later without even blinking and scored another point.

What?

"They are," his son smirked cheekily. "I sometimes see their inner and core disciples training when I'm doing errands. They're taking this very seriously."

Bai Zhong sighed, analyzing where he went wrong.

"As they should," he grumbled, placing a white stone on one of the few empty spots on the board. "The Grand Regional Tournament happens only once every four years so the new generation can show off, and they gather all sorts of cultivators from every one of the four regions. It is a time for the schools and sects to demonstrate who's the top dog, of course they'll take it very seriously."

"I didn't know that." The boy frowned and Bai Zhong chuckled.

"Of course you wouldn't, son," he smiled. "You were… seven when the last one happened at the Great Dragon Kingdom, and to most everyone, rarely anything changes in tournament years. Unless your region is the one hosting it, that is."

Ah, those were good times… very profitable. But also very dangerous. Tens of thousands of cultivators, all at one place… Bai Zhong shuddered just at the imagery of what an all out brawl between experts would look like.

"Regardless," he shook his head a moment later before continuing, both with the game and the conversation. "Since you are set on becoming an expert like Lady Dai, then I suppose it is a good idea for you to go and see the tournament, if anything, to learn a bit more about the other sects and schools and mingle with the ones that are going to be your peers. You'll be fifteen when the next one happens, and by then you'll already be a student of the Thousand Method School."

"It doesn't look like you like that, however." The boy pointed out.

"Aie, I don't," Bai Zhong nodded. "Cultivators are very troublesome for my tastes. But alas, you are my son, and it would be poor parenting if I denied you this opportunity."

"... Thank you, father." Bai Hu bowed deeply, and Bai Zhong waved it away.

"Any good father would have their child's best interest in mind," he instead replied. "Think nothing of it."

"Still…"

"Bah, don't think too much about it. Rather," he opened a crooked smile. "Try to make some powerful friends there. They might bring some business to us, you know?"

They both chuckled before returning to the game at hand, ending the game maybe half an hour later with a very close victory going to Bai Zhong.

But, as Bai Hu laid on his bed, waiting for sleep to slowly come, it was not dreams of epic heroes and legendary journeys that he dreamt. Not tales of demons and gods. Bai Hu dreamt of a boy.

He dreamt of himself.

"This… Grand Regional Tournament…" his dream-self started without really acknowledging his presence. "There will probably be another minor tournament happening at the school." He said.

Bai Hu nodded.

It made sense to test their disciples to see who was best prepared to attend the event. That way they would weed out the weaker disciples so only the strong would remain. Though, Bai Hu was sure the elders already had some disciples - likely the core ones - that had a guaranteed place on the entourage going to the Azure Phoenix Empire.

"Do you think we will be able to learn something from watching it?" He asked.

"There's always something to be learned," the dream tiger said and the real tiger nodded in tandem. "In any case, be careful with the cultivators. Your father is right to not like them."

Didn't he know it?

Still, it was good to know that someone agreed with his and his father's assessment. Even if said person existed only in his head.

"I think I know why Teacher wants to go this year," he said, and that got him a curious eyebrow that asked for an explanation. Bai Hu obliged. "It's going to happen at the Azure Phoenix Empire, house of the Divine Origin Palace, and from what I heard, one of their Elders is a master physician."

"Ah," the other Bai Hu blinked. "I see. She's trying to cure our meridians."

"Essentially," Bai Hu nodded. And he was very grateful for his teacher to help him with his condition.

When Bai Hu 'discovered' or rather, first met would be a better expression, his other self in his dreams, things had been very awkward between them. Apparently, they were the same person, just from different ones, but nothing like those old stories of powerful gods and immortals that died in battle or were betrayed by someone, ending up taking over the body of a simple mortal. No, the other Bai Hu was, like he once had been, just a simple boy, a young man really, in a world technologically much more advanced and without any of the mysticism his world had.

It was… interesting, peculiar, and it led to various debates between the two as they revisited memories and taught each other things.

But something that was true and seemed to come straight from fairy tales was the fact that his other self somehow came to inhabit his body with the knowledge of several godly techniques that, while extremely hard to cultivate, would in time turn him into an unique powerhouse like no other.

"I think those were supposed to be my cheats," the dream tiger said. "You know, I read stories like this before. A person dies and a soul from beyond comes to inhabit this body, and to compensate for all the troubles, they get ridiculous powers they can develop to eventually lead to an easy life."

"What was the name of this tale?" Bai Hu asked with a frown, and his counterpart merely shrugged.

"It wasn't a single story per se," he said, "But rather an entire genre of the kind. Isekai was the name."

Isekai.

It was a different word, foreign, but one that felt not so distant from his own language.

"Isekai…" Bai Hu mumbled. "Are we in a Isekai?"

"In a manner of speaking," the other shrugged. Then he chuckled a mirthless laugh after a moment. "Though I guess this really is an 'Isekai gone wrong' instead of the normal scenario."

He seemed really bitter when saying that. Though perhaps Bai Hu would also be feeling bitter if their positions were reversed.

"Aren't you excited to see a new place?" He asked instead, and the dream tiger shrugged.

"Are you?" He returned.

"A bit," Bai Hu admitted a bit sheepishly. "To tell you the truth, I've never been outside of the city or the school grounds." He said.

"Eh, I've traveled a bit. Not much though, but I've been to the countryside a couple of times before," dream Bai Hu told the real one. "And besides, I bet most of the cities here look very similar to each other. The novelty will wear off pretty fast, I'm sure."

"I hope it doesn't."