Shoutout to Bruh_Vista for beta-reading and providing extensive feedback for this chapter!
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Jean began her journey aimlessly. From Twilight Village, she travelled towards Wayward Town and hitchhiked with a caravan heading southwards. Merchants were more than willing to take her along after she proved her worth by treating a few members for minor illnesses and injuries, such as the caravan leader with his pollen allergy, and all the drivers with their lower back injuries, including one with a slipped disc.
Even a few of the hired escorts, who were from another sect, received treatment from Jean, which led to her being treated like a queen throughout the entire journey. After all, who doesn't want a healer on their side? In fact, her presence significantly improved the speed of the journey, as the escorts didn't have to worry about navigating and planning around confrontations and could approach fights with less caution (even though Jean emphasized that they should not do that).
"Please take this as a token of our gratitude," the caravan leader said as he handed Jean a pouch of coins.
"I can't do that. I told you that all I need is a ride. My assistance and contribution were payment for the service you have offered me," Jean responded, nudging the pouch back towards the leader.
"You don't understand. Your work while the caravan was moving has more than paid for your ride. This is from our side. You didn't have to help cure Myran of his lower back injury - the slipped disc, as you call it. Nor did you have to excise the cyst in Belize's wife's uterus while we were stopped at his village. This is a token of our gratitude. It may not be much, but it is what everyone here has collected. Please accept it," the leader insisted, pushing the pouch back into Jean's hand.
"I have decided, I will take you on as my woman!" one of the mages in the escort declared, taking a decisive step towards Jean. He was a lean young man with sharp features, his nose pointing towards the sky as he spoke.
At that moment, a resounding slap struck the mage from behind. "Is this how you thank the person who reattached your sword arm?"
It was a gruff voice, belonging to a middle-aged man who also wore the same faint-crimson coat as the lean youth, with the insignia of their sect - a flaming sword splitting a mountain in half - emblazoned on their chests. His long, greying hair was tied into a thick ponytail that reached his lower back.
"Don't you see, I am doing this for her!" the youth said with an accusatory hiss, nursing his aching head. "If she marries me, she will get a fast track into the Infernal Sword Sect! Then she can enjoy the same benefits as me, a true Inner Disciple! She can spend her time in safety and research all that she desires, instead of going on such a dangerous journey just to gain some insight!"
The boy's eyes sparkled as he narrated his idea, but suddenly, Jean's body shivered.
"E-Elder Soam," the youth stuttered, feeling the weight of the Elder's accusatory gaze. "I just wanted to help Mage Rasmus. Can't you see how destitute her sect is? The only weapon or armour the sect can afford to give its touring members is a wooden stick with an enchantment gem stuck on it!"
As the boy said that, the Elder's gaze lowered and caught sight of the exquisite enchanted sword strapped to the boy's waist. His eyes then shot over to the girl's side and noticed the wooden stick with the mana gem on it.
"*cough* That stick has its own uses. It doesn't fall short against our sword in any way," Elder Soam said, though his uncertain voice gave away that those were merely conciliatory words.
Jean simply smiled and said, "I know that Mage Rig had no ill intentions when he... proposed to me just now."
The youth's face turned a vibrant crimson shade, though he maintained a facade of haughty aloofness.
"But I'm content where I am," Jean explained.
"You can have so much more!" Mage Rig beckoned. "You will have many more resources at your disposal in the Infernal Sword Sect. We may not be as old as the Four Greats, but our history isn't any less storied."
"It isn't a matter of resources," Jean responded with an understanding nod. "It's about everything else. I can have all the resources I need in the world, yet still struggle in my cultivation. I don't think the Infernal Sword Sect can offer what I require to advance my cultivation."
The youth wanted to counter Jean's argument, but a firm hand on her shoulder held him back. Turning around, he noticed that it was Elder Soam.
"Regardless, we are truly in your debt, Mage Rasmus. We of the Infernal Sword Sect adhere to a strict code of chivalry. And as an Elder of the Sect, I must set an example. For your contributions to our campaign, for going beyond what is required of you, please accept this token of our gratitude."
With that said, the Elder extended a pouch and placed it in Jean's hand. Jean peeked inside and was shocked to find it filled with Mana Crystals.
"This is too much!"
The Infernal Sword Sect members paid no attention to her protests and simply departed, leaving Jean alone with Kili. After a moment of silence, Jean released a hearty chuckle and stored her bounty inside her bag.
"Do not get used to this," Jean explained. "The world isn't always this kind. Doing good for others doesn't guarantee that you will receive the same in return. Newton's third law doesn't apply to humans, unfortunately."
"So why do we still do good?" Kili asked, scratching her head.
"We do it for ourselves," Jean answered. She tightened her bag and started walking ahead, continuing, "No one is truly selfless, and those who are selfless are as rare as myths. Even I cannot claim that I am completely selfless. I help others because it brings me closer to my goal."
"What goal?" Kili asked, skipping to match Jean's pace.
"I want to end the Plague Emperor's reign," Jean declared with determination. "I don't want to kill him, but put an end to everything his cultivation stands for."
"But why?"
"It's hard to classify things as black or white in this world - that is to say, nothing is wholly good or bad," Jean began. "Something good can be hurtful to another, and the same can be said for the opposite. But I can say with certainty that the Plague Emperor is a bad man. It's not all his fault - he's broken. A broken child, with no one to help them, grows up to be a broken man. And a broken man sees the world around him as broken and beyond repair. That would have been my future if not for all those who care for me."
Noticing that Kili understood her words, Jean added, "But that doesn't mean we can forgive him for all he's done to hurt others. Actions have consequences, and his destructive actions have harmed many people. If left alone, he will continue to harm others. That's why I must put an end to it."
Kili's movements slowed down as a thoughtful frown appeared on her face. "Did the Plague Emperor hurt you too, Big Sis?"
"He did. He... killed my mother," Jean answered.
"So it's revenge," Kili growled in anger.
"Not really," Jean said with a shrug. "I haven't forgiven him, but that doesn't mean I'm going to reshape my entire life just to end him."
"Isn't that what you just said before?" Kili voiced her confusion.
"Not entirely. If all I cared about was ending the Plague Emperor, I wouldn't be teaching you all these things," Jean reasoned. "Besides, it's not just him that I am fighting against; it's everything his cultivation stands for."
Kili hummed in agreement as she followed Jean. The journey was silent until they eventually spotted the guard tower of the town they were heading to. After passing the initial security inspection, they walked towards the town gates.
"How do you know if you're getting closer to your goal?" Kili asked as Jean lifted her bags after having them searched by the gate guards.
"What do you mean?"
"How can you tell if you're ready to face the Plague Emperor?" Kili reiterated after taking a moment to think over her question. "Sect Leader Larks always says that 'for every goal, there need to be measurable goals'. How will you measure if you're getting closer to your goal?"
That surprisingly insightful question stunned Jean, not only because of who had asked it but also because she didn't have an answer ready.
"That's... a good question..." Jean commended and received a rare beaming smile from Kili, who bounced ahead and visited a stand selling fried potatoes cut into swirls.
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The question didn't leave Jean's mind from that point onwards. Her work didn't falter, nor did her pursuit of gaining insights. But she noticed that her progress was incremental at best - comparable to a fraction of a fraction.
One day, about a month after the start of her journey, Jean realized something while she was helping treat a necrotized limb for a farmer in a rural village. She realized that, knowingly or unknowingly, her cultivation had become the antithesis of the Plague Emperor's cultivation. His pursuit to cover the world in a plague so vile that none could survive was something Jean sought to remedy.
If that assumption were true, then the only way to gauge her progress towards her goal would be to directly confront something the Plague Emperor had unleashed into this world while he was still ascending to power.
Once this thought took root in Jean's mind, her feet moved subconsciously. Every decision she made from that point onwards, knowingly or unknowingly, drew her in a particular direction.
Unfortunately, Jean's journey would now take her to a place where she would have to relive her childhood trauma.
And now, as she stood on a land where no one could survive, which lay barren as far as the eye could see, she released a heavy breath through quivering lips as she looked ahead at a conspicuous and unnatural pit.
"I'm back, Mother," she whispered, her voice echoing ominously over the tainted lands bathed in one of the vilest plagues the Plague Emperor had ever unleashed - the Plague of Dark Cleansing.
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