The Legend of Min Hong

Min Hong walked over to his futon and sat cross-legged atop it and shut his eyes, then he woke up in the physical world.

He looked around and noticed he was surrounded by bluish, feather-like flowers. He was also out in the open for some reason and the sky was so dark it looked like the world had been blanketed by a black sheet.

He stood up and saw two massive bluish wings enter and exit the dense plumes of cloud all around him. It was only now that his memories flooded back like a broken dam, then a splitting headache hit him hard, but luckily for him, it was only momentary.

It was only now he remembered that he was currently on the Void Soul Owl and then he hurriedly turned around to see a bewitching, frail and lithe figure. The figure radiated an aura of loss, grief and desolation.

He remembered everything that had happened and then approached the figure and gave the figure a tight hug from behind.

"Hong-ge, you're awake!" the figure was Min Qing. The moment she felt Min Hong's hug, she turned around and buried her face in his embrace as she bawled her eyes out once more, just as she had been doing through the journey.

"It must have been harder for you… I'm sorry for being a burden through it all…" Min Hong mumbled to her as held her tight and allowed her to pour out her grievances.

After a few minutes, Min Qing rose her head to gaze at Min Hong. "I am sorry for knocki…" she wanted to apologize for knocking Min Hong out but was interrupted midway through.

"It's fine…it's fine…everything would be fine…you will just have to take care of me for a while until I'm back on my feet." He rubbed Min Qing's hair and wiped her face as he spoke softly to her.

Min Qing looked into his eyes and could sense the enormous level of determination within them. Moreover, Min Hong had this aura of confidence and resolution about him that caused Min Qing's heart to flutter a bit.

Clearly, his words and confidence were in no way being feigned.

"Hong-ge, what do you mean?" Min Qing was still a little unapprehensive of Min Hong's words.

"I only had a Qi deviation and lost my cultivation in a bid to purge my body off its effects. This doesn't mean I am crippled. Moreover, though I was unconscious, that didn't mean I couldn't feel or sense everything happening around me…" Min Hong explained vaguely.

"Little child, it is good that you have this kind of mental resilience. This will really help you on your road to full recovery." The Void Soul Owl's voice sounded within the duo's mind.

"Thanks a lot, Elder Yun. We have truly burdened you. I am sorry we didn't allow you to say goodbye." Min Hong spoke, since the Owl could hear him clearly.

"What are you saying? Min Tian and the entire Min Family lives on within us. The sacrifices they have made to ensure our survival shall be the motivation for our success and future accomplishments." The Owl consoled the duo as well as itself.

"Little Qing, I know everything that happened up until mother's departure. Furthermore, I trust you with whatever it is that transpired afterwards. Don't think too much about everything that happened today."

"Where there is life, there is also death. It is the same with good and bad. So, just think of it as a new chapter in our lives. One that the sacrifices of our family has granted us the right to write whatever we wish within." Min Hong tried to ease Min Qing's hurt.

"It's just us three now against the world. But we've got each other's backs. Right?" Min Hong's words seemed to have achieved its intended effects as Min Qing's mood became significantly better.

"Right!"

"Till the end!" Min Hong and Elder Yun responded to Min Qing as Min Hong smiled and caressed her flowing silky hair.

"So, what should we do now?" Elder Yun asked the most significant question.

Min Qing looked over to Min Hong. Unknowingly, Min Hong, who was the weakest amongst them had automatically become their leader and somewhat their pillar of hope.

Min Hong became silent for a long time before he finally spoke. "Firstly, we leave the entire East Wind Empire and go to our neighbouring Dogon Empire." Min Hong began to give a rough idea of their future.

"When we get there, we will find a kingdom or sect or school where we can settle down. Then we will lay low and cultivate diligently and aggressively until we can start making names for ourselves."

"After making names for ourselves and planting our feet firmly in the entire empire, we would have already entered the Nirvana stage at that time. Then, we can return and avenge our Min Family."

"That's the big picture. But before that, Elder Yun, kindly take us to the Mist Marshlands, I have some unfinished business there." Elder Yun squawked in response as she changed direction and headed towards the Mist Marshland.

"Hong-ge, mother left this storage ring behind, before…" Min Qing couldn't complete her sentence, but Min Hong already knew all she wanted to say.

Min Hong took the ring which was now ownerless and simply sent his mind into it. He was somewhat shocked by what he found inside.

Inside the storage ring was virtually all the top resources of the Min Family. There were seven Royal rank techniques, three Royal ranked weapons, about fifty thousand Mid-grade spirit stones, a hundred thousand Low grade spirit stones, several martial arts, medicinal pills, plants, golds and so on. It was a true fortune for only three people.

Min Hong withdrew his mental sense and returned the ring to Min Qing. "You should keep this with you, you would be in charge of our resources."

"Furthermore, kindly make sure I am not disturbed, there's something I need to do." Min Hong delegated a role to Min Qing before sitting cross-legged and entering his Sea of Consciousness.

He had temporarily taken care of everything here. it was time to get back to pressing matters. He had never created a Mind Palace before, and though it seemed simple from its introduction, it was definitely difficult and time consuming.

He once again appeared on his futon within the energy barrier and instantly got to work.

According to the 'Mind Palace' section of the [Heavenly Void Constructs] technique. All he needed to do was to think of a place he was very familiar with and use it as a blueprint for his Mind Palace.

The Mind Palace would be replicated within his Sea of Consciousness the way he could remember it. This would be replicated to its slightest detail.

Furthermore, it was also stated that the more detailed it was, the stronger the Mind Palace.

For instance, an expert who created a single room that was extremely detailed would have a stronger and larger mental power than another expert that created an entire castle with vague details.

Settling his mind, Min Hong got to work.

The first thing he needed to do was to form the outline of the Mind Palace.

After about three hours Min Hong had not achieved anything significant. In fact, the only thing he had created was the vague outline of a large cube, other than that, nothing else could be seen or sensed.

"This is harder than I thought it would be, and with the pace at which things are going I might even take longer than a week to finish… it seems I need to seek guidance from that monkey." Arriving at this conclusion, Min Hong walked into the ancient door once more.

About a few hours later, Min Hong exited the ancient door with an expression that was alternating between awe, profoundness, apprehension and confirmation.

He returned to his futon before mumbling to himself. "So that's how it works…"

Min Hong suddenly smiled before focusing on the vague cube that was forming over his Sea of Consciousness and then, he continued his mental construction.

Earlier, the monkey had explained to Min Hong that to create an excellent Mind Palace that one needs to know everything about the place.

It had to be a place one was extremely familiar with rather than something less familiar that one aspires their Mind Palace to be.

Furthermore, the key to achieving an excellent result in a little time was to depict a place that one had a deep sense of attachment to. Like a sense of belonging or a place where one had made many memories.

This would ensure one created a very detailed Mind Palace and because of the level of familiarity, it wouldn't take too long for someone to create a mental picture of such place.

Furthermore, since one was working within their Sea of Consciousness which was the residence of one's soul and mind, the geometry of everything within one's Sea of Consciousness can only be limited by the expert's imagination.

It was this reason that caused Min Hong's cheeky smile.

Just like that, two days passed…

It was now only a few hours till Min Hong's 3-days deadline elapsed.

Within Min Hong's Sea of Consciousness, a very massive and glaring change had been made to it. The entire place was a stark difference from what it used to be.

In fact, if the scarlet seed were to wake up, it would feel utterly lost, like it was now within another person's mind.

Within Min Hong's new Sea of Consciousness, there was only one thing visible. It was a very massive castle. And yes, it was the Min Family castle, but on a very much larger scale.

At least, the one within Min Hong's Sea of Consciousness was about a hundred times larger than the real one.

It was grand and extremely detailed, even to the arrangements of the stone pathway.

Its outer appearance was a coinage of the Min Family Castle, the Min Family Resort and a modern earth mega city.

The castle was the only thing that stood within this dimension, the altar was not anywhere to be seen and neither were the ancient door or every other thing.

The Sea of Consciousness which was the mental power of Min Hong now had a huge patch of land right in the centre. Making the edges of this land look like a sea shore. Then, when one steps ashore, what one would see was a Soaring Cloud Forest type of forest.

Then, at the centre of the forest was a massive farmland with several flowers, plants and fruit trees packed together with a small river of consciousness running through its centre directly from the sea.

At the centre of this massive garden was a castle gate with a plaque etched with ancient characters that read 'Min Family'.

If one were to look closely at this gate, they will find out that it was like the carbon-copy of the 'Yuan Wonder Gate' to its smallest details.

The Dragon, Phoenix, Turtle and Tiger statues were etched at their right positions on this gate.

They were also as lifelike as those on the 'Yuan Wonder Gate'.

Then within the gate laid three buildings, that were more like residences.

The one in the middle resembled the Min Family main hall, the one on the left was the exact copy of Min Tian's residence while the one on the right was the ancient door that housed the Ancient Heavenly Monkey.

These three residences were with their own courtyards and training area. Furthermore, they were also demarcated by the river of consciousness, making it look surreal and mind blowing.

Within the main hall, there was a massive altar right at its centre. It was the same altar that Min Hong's futon hovered atop.

But now, it was an extremely lifelike and carbon-copy statue of Min Hong that was there, sitting atop a futon, meditating with a third eye on its forehead.

The main hall had two entrance like that of a palace, one where people would use to enter or exit the hall and another a few metres behind the altar which the emperor would use to access the main hall directly from his chambers.

If one should use this door, they would step into a courtyard with a residence that is very familiar to all of us [Author and Venerable Readers]. It was his home; Min Rou's residence.

This one was a perfect copy of the original residence. There was neither any addition or subtraction from this residence other than the gold embroidered white futon which now hovered within Min Hong's room.

Everything within this house was still the same. It brought a strong sense of nostalgia to Min Hong who was currently within Min Rou's room completing its last details.

Since it was built from the outside-in, everything within the Sea of Consciousness was very intricate, unique, sophisticated and very intentional.

On the third day within Min Hong's Sea of Consciousness, which was barely up to an hour in the outside world, Min Hong finally completed his Castle [Mind Palace].

Then the moment this happened, a commotion started in the outside world.

A massive vortex appeared in the sky above the currently soaring Elder Yun and the moment she sensed this vortex, being a beast, which was more attuned with the mental and soul aspect of cultivation, she understood the situation and descended straight towards the Mist mountain.

"Elder Yun, what's going on?" Min Qing who was quietly meditating opened her eyes and inquired when she saw the Void Soul Owl descend the moment the vortex appeared.

"Whatever that vortex has in store, is meant for Min Hong. So we have to find a place for him to peacefully absorb it."#

"Furthermore, since several beasts would also sense it, we need to stand guard and be very vigilant." Elder Yun explained.

Elder Yun then descended onto the Mist Mountain and with a flap of her wings several massive wind blades struck out as a cave was quickly bored into the mountain peak.