Dual Body Cultivation

by A P Gore

  100 silver for 200 grams. I'd have spent all my savings to get a decent piece. Not worth it.

  "Kid, ask him if the two-colored bee is one foot long and can attack with thunder." The senior sounded excited now.

  Jei asked Fatty Chang.

  Fatty Chang looked confused. "Yes, but how do you know that?"

  "Senior, how do you know it and why did you ask?" Jei sent mentally.

  "Because we're going to hunt for the two-colored bee next Saturday," senior said.

  Chapter 17

  Jei almost spewed water all over Fatty Chang. Fighting? Was the senior joking with him?

  He wanted to go inside his soul palace right away, but an unconscious body would have attracted many questions from Fatty Chang, and he didn't want to lie to his best friend.

  "Josh, what do you mean by going hunting? How can I hunt a two-colored bee? I don't even know what one looks like. And the hunting event’s entrance fee is 200 silvers. I only have 300 silver." Jei’s heart quickened. Spending 200 silver was out of the question.

  "Ask your friend where can we get two-grape honey," senior said.

  "Brother Fatty, do you know what two-grape honey is?" Jei asked reluctantly.

  "It's the common honey used in all restaurants. You can buy a small bottle for five silvers. But why do you want it? It's only used for scaling spirit beasts. Its medicinal effect loosens the skin, letting normal people cut through stage 1 or stage 2 beasts."

  Jei's eyes shone with enlightment. His brother had so much knowledge of food items, and yet he sold talisman papers. "Brother Fatty is a master chef. I must ask why he didn’t start a restaurant."

  Fatty Chang chuckled. "Brother Jei, don't be so formal. I worked in a restaurant for years, so if I don't know these things, who else would? If you want some honey, I can help you get it."

  "Then I must inconvenience Brother Fatty," Jei replied with a smile, but his mind was churning.

  "Let's go then, Brother Jei. The shop is in the next ally."

  Jei followed Fatty Chang and bought a teal of two-grape honey. Two-grape honey was much different than normal honey. It had a green color and a unique smell, a mix of normal honey and floral notes. The vendor packed it in a glass bottle and handed it to Jei. After chatting a bit more, Jei said goodbye to Fatty Chang and bought food for Xue and himself. Before heading home, he bought a gourd of wine for Uncle Hei. He hated doing it, but couldn't avoid it.

  "Josh, are you sure about this?" Jei asked as he zipped toward Poor White's district, fully utilizing his new speed.

  "Ha ha, yes of course. Who would’ve thought the soul crystal knew about beast taming too? Listen, kid, the two-colored bee is a stage 1 beast, and though it is very fast and has a thunder-based attack, it still lacks physical strength. It has another weakness: it can't produce any honey itself, so it seeks two-grape honey produced by the grape heart bee. As long as you have two-grape honey somewhere on your body, the beast will come at you."

  "But..." Jei considered senior Joshua’s words. If this was such a winning technique, why wasn’t everyone using it?

  "Don't worry. We're not going to the hunting ground this Saturday. Unless you perfect your fist technique, we can't go anywhere near the two-colored bee. That would be suicide, and I'm not ready to let you die for the next fifty years." Senior chuckled.

  The evil chuckle startled Jei, but then he remembered how much the senior had helped him, and his heart filled with gratitude. "Fist technique?"

  "Yes, Hidden Dragon Fist is a secret art. It's a low-level art, but for your body composition that's the only art this soul crystal has. Once you get home, come to the soul palace and I'll imprint the knowledge to you. Now, let me sleep for a couple hours. I've wasted too much energy recreating air and grass in here."

  Fifteen minutes later, Jei reached his alley. Before going to his house, he handed the wine gourd to Uncle Hei.

  "Jei'er..." Uncle Hei stared at him as he took the bottle. "Did you..." His green eyes scanned Jei's body and lit with a strange light. "Nothing. Thanks." He snatched the gourd with a crazy smile. The man was beyond shameless, but there was nothing Jei could do about it so he kept mum and headed toward his house.

  "Xue..." He stopped in his tracks and dropped the food bag on the ground. Xue lay on the bed, crying her heart out.

  Jei rushed to her. "Xue'er what happened? Did someone hurt you?" He scanned his house, but nothing seemed amiss. There were some bullies in his alley who sometimes came and trashed his house. Though they didn't touch Xue, whenever they came, she spent the whole night crying in fear. Until now, Jei had no way to deal with them, but going forward...

  Xue wept a river of tears. "Brother Green is dying. Please save him, big brother."

  Chapter 18

  Tears fell from Xue's eyes like a river flowing over a waterfall. Her breath was uneven, her body shaking. The very air around her seemed to be filled with grief. It took a moment for Jei to understand what his sister was saying.

  Brother Green, dying? How could that be possible? No, that can't be happening. There is some mistake here.

  "Xue'er, where is Brother Green?" He helped her to sit up with her back against the shallow wall.

  "He went behind our house. He was pale and huffing. Blood leaked from his skin. He gave me a look of horror before running away, the same look grandmother gave us before she died." Xue wept more.

  Jei felt an intense pressure squeezing his heart. He’d been fourteen when their grandmother passed away. She came to live with them after their parents passed away in a freak accident. With her help, the kids grew up and developed a carefree attitude. Even in her advanced years, she worked 10 hours a day to earn enough food for herself and the children.

  Everything changed after she passed away. Their life became hell.

  "Don't worry. I'll go check him out." Jei pushed aside the knot inside his chest and hurried to the back of their house.

  The moment he stepped out, he spotted a green colored skin lying on the open ground, littered with stones.

  The knot in his heart expanded twofold when he spotted blood along the length of that green skin, like someone had butchered his Brother Green and left his skin behind.

  Upcoming tribulation colluded his mind as he realized what he might see soon. He followed the blood trail a hundred meter into the forest behind their house. It became hard to see the trail as the forest grew thicker, the sun’s rays hardly reaching the ground.

  A white tree suddenly appeared in front of him and halted his progress. It was a boundary tree of the dark forest. White, a hundred meters tall, without a single leaf, the tree represented a line of defense for the human world living on the edges of the dark forest.

  It was a warning sign for everyone that the dark forest started there, and not to wander in carelessly. No one below qi condensation level 5 dared. It was written that thousands of years before, when the White Dragon country was formed around the Dark forest, the beast tides attacked people living there daily and soon a huge war broke out. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people died. That news travelled to the far north, and an expert from a powerful sect came to cast a spell that created these trees. Even after thousands of years, the spell held fast, and no spirit beast could pass this line.

  Jei glanced at the forest beyond the line of white trees, which expanded along the dark forest, the ancestors knew how far. Then he glanced at the Poor White's district where he and Xue lived.

  A few decades back, many refugees from another country set up Poor White’s district on the boundaries of the dark forest. They couldn't afford living in town due to the taxes, so they set up here and went to work in the town or at the Purple Cloud sect.

  The blood trail Jei followed continued into the dark forest, and Jei wasn't sure if he wanted to go in there. He had never tried that. No one from Poor White's district had tried that.

  Can I enter now?

  Jei extended his hand between two of the white trees, half expecting a rebound force to hit
him. Every kid living in Poor White district had experienced that rebound force multiple times in their life. It was a favorite game of bullies of the district, to throw weak kids against the spell boundary and make them suffer the rebound force. But today, the rebound didn't hit him back. Instead his hand slipped beyond the boundary area. The air beyond felt chilly, but otherwise normal.

  "Li Jei, if I were you, I wouldn't go there yet.” A familiar drunken voice echoed in the air.

  Jei yanked his hand back and glanced at the owner of the voice. It was Uncle Hei, sitting on a chair in his backyard, drinking calmly from the gourd.

  "Uncle Hei." He clasped his hands and bowed slightly, so slightly that it might not be considered a bow. "Brother Green went in there." Jei's throat choked with emotions. Brother Green had been with them since their birth. He had helped them numerous times, and now Jei was unable to help him. How could he show his face to his ancestors if he couldn't save his brother?

  Uncle Hei stood, wobbling and almost falling back into the chair a couple of times. Even though he managed to reach Jei, he struggled for it. "He’s not in danger." He sipped from the gourd, spreading the smell of cheap wine everywhere. "He’s evolving into a Myriad-Eyed Snake, so treat it as your fortune and let him evolve peacefully. Even a stage 3 beast wouldn't dare disturb him in his evolution."

  Uncle Hei spoke utter nonsense. How could Jei trust a drunk person? Hei exuded a careless aura that made Jei frown. Ever since the day Jei saw him fighting with Aunt Bei, he had never liked him. And now he was acting like some sort of authority on the subject of spirit beasts!

  "Kid, that drunk guy is telling the truth.” Senior’s familiar voice echoed in his mind. “I looked through some memories of the soul crystal, and the little snaky you petted is on the verge of evolving into a stage 2 spirit beast. It's a process that will take twenty to twenty-five days, and you shouldn't disturb him in the process."

  "A Myriad-Eyed Snake?" His drunken neighbor was telling the truth? The knot in Jei’s heart loosened up a bit.

  "Yes, indeed." Uncle Hei's eyes shone with a bright light. "If I can get my hands on him, I can sell him for some gold and wine."

  A tremor passed through Jei's body. How could a man be so shameless? He wanted to steal Jei’s brother. That wouldn’t happen!

  "Josh, we have to find a way to save Brother Green from this despicable fellow." Jei sent mentally. The last thing he would let anyone do was hurt his sister or Brother Green. They were his only family.

  "Uncle Hei, please don't think about selling Brother Green. He's family," Jei pleaded. Uncle Hei was strong. Though he was constantly drunk, he was at qi condensation level 5. How could Jei think to protect Brother Green from such a monster?

  Uncle Hei exhaled, his breath like a boozy cloud. “Don’t worry, Jei. I don't want your snake. But you should bind him with a beast contract as soon as he comes back. Even though I won't capture him, there might be other people willing to kill you for that snake."

  Jei stared at Uncle Hei's back as the old drunk turned and ran swiftly away. For a moment he thought Uncle Hei had used some martial art to move so swiftly. But there was no way Uncle Hei could execute a martial art movement in his current state.

  "Josh, is the Myriad-Eyed Snake that valuable?"

  "Hmm." Senior paused for a few breaths. "Yes. The Myriad-Eyed Snake is one of the beasts that can evolve to Heavenly Sea realm, so they are highly sought after and rare. Only one percent of stage 1 spirit snakes have a chance to evolve into a Myriad-Eyed Snake. This is indeed troublesome. Kid, this will bring calamity if anyone identifies that snake with you. Fucking calamity. But there is one more issue. When the snake comes back, he will be in Houtian form. After that, you can't control it through friendship. You'll have to put him under a beast contract to subdue him. To do that, you need to have a battle technique learned, otherwise there is no way you can subdue it."

  "Then what should we do?" Jei's whole body went listless. Yet another tribulation had been visited upon his family.

  Chapter 19

  A strong icy wind blew across the boundary trees, ruffling Jei's green robe and exposing a couple of holes Jei had missed when patching it.

  Jei ignored the wind and his shivering body. His mind was in turmoil. Brother Green was evolving somewhere in the dark forest, and he couldn't do anything to protect him. Even if Brother Green came back, he would be a rare stage 2 beast, sought after by many powerful qi cultivation experts. How would he save Brother Green?

  Why am I so weak? Why can't I protect the ones I love?

  No, this can't go on. I have to improve. Fast. I have to protect my family, no matter what.

  "Senior Joshua... Sorry, Josh, I'm coming to the soul palace. Please give me the best possible divine art to subdue Brother Green and protect my family."

  Jei hurried home to explain the situation to Xue who was still crying because of Brother Green's bloody departure. Once she was calmed down, he closed his eyes and went to his soul palace.

  The youth with golden hair—senior Joshua—was floating in the air. His body emitted a faint blue light, but not the same as the soul crystal's light.

  "Kid." Senior slowly opened his eyes and smiled. He seemed calm and composed, unlike the frenzied crazy man Jei had first met. "I've been searching for a technique suitable for you, but there's nothing more suitable than Hidden Dragon Fist."

  "Is that so? Then I must inconvenience you to teach me that." Jei clasped his hands. His heart rate quickened. For the first time, he would be learning a true martial art technique.

  "Those fucking mannerisms. If you ever use it against me, I won't tell you a thing." Senior fumed.

  Jei clasped his hands and bowed slightly, "Sorry. Josh, give me the fucking technique." Damn, saying the F word felt like a sin. No more. He wasn’t going to use that word again. Ever.

  Chuckling, the senior raised his finger and a soft blue light flew out of his hand. A moment later, the light entered Jei's forehead right between his brows.

  A stream of information entered Jei's subconscious, flooding his mind with knowledge.

  A man with a sharp nose, long white beard, and red robe appeared in front of his mind's eye. He looked at Jei, and then demonstrated stance after stance of the Hidden Dragon Fist technique. His fist travelled through the air, breaking it apart like a dragon. His fist hit the air like a white tiger. His fist rode over the air like a vermilion bird. His fist defended like a great turtle. One after another, the red-robed elder displayed the profound truths hidden in the divine art. When he displayed the last stance, the world stopped and then emerged out of his fist. After the final stance, the man stared at Jei and a word flashed across Jei's mind. Hidden Dragon Fist Divine Art - Earth Level.

  Jei opened his eyes. A tremor ran through his legs. In that last stance, why did he feel the presence of the great figures from history? The four animals were like ancestors to the martial art, and the last stance displayed a mirage of the four ancestors. What kind of technique was this?

  "Amazing right?” Senior said. “Fucking awesome. I can't try it myself, but based on the memories I have, even the first stance should increase your power and speed ten times. And if you use it to perfection, it can help you defend like a steel hand. Now, go back and consider the requirements to try the first stance.”

  "Requirements?" Jei sat on the grass and closed his eyes. Slowly, he went through the divine art inside his mind. He shouldn't miss anything.

  The art was divided into eight stances. The first two stances could be used by Body Cultivators of Houtian realm. The next two stances required Xiantian realm. The next two required Violet Palace realm, and the last two required Heavenly Sea realm. He had a long way to go to reach that level, but he wasn't planning to slack off.

  Each stance had its own set of requirements. The first stance required him to do ten fists in a breath’s time to kick off the circulation of heaven and earth essence through his body. The fist technique used heaven and earth essence from nature
and the body, and it didn't require qi at all. All the divine arts were like this, and they were stronger than the martial arts qi cultivators used.

  "So, I need to be hitting 10 straight punches in a breath's time. Sounds good. It should increase my fist power by ten times."

  "Come on, kid. Didn’t you read the fine print? That’s just the requirement to start pushing heaven and earth essence through your meridians." Joshua’s brows furrowed, and then he conjured the mirror of flesh out of thin air. "Listen up kid. I'm going to teach you the theory." A small brown stick appeared in his hands. He pointed it at the red lines flowing all over Jei's body. When he tapped the mirror, all the red lines disappeared, and 12 green and white and black lines appeared throughout his body.

  "These are the 12 meridians of your body." He pointed to a small space above Jei's naval. "This is where your dantian is supposed to be, but there’s nothing here. Not a single thing. It's like a black hole. Normally, we’d have to open these meridians for you. But the Asura Body Houtian breakthrough has already done that for us. That makes our lives a little easier." Senior tapped his stick on the mirror, then pointed it at Jei's skin. "Your skin is made up of thousands of pores, which constantly access the heaven and earth essence. Let's just call it natural essence for now." Thousands of small points lit up on Jei's body in the mirror, then disappeared. "This essence is then circulated through these 12 meridians, and then stored in your dantian. The dantian has two functions: to store the essence and to convert it into qi which can be used to fortify and enhance your body and attack. Unfortunately—or fortunately—your body doesn't have a dantian. I don't know why, but that's the case."

  Jei's heart became heavy. Not having a dantian had always been a sour topic for him.

  The mirror changed once again. White energy formed around Jei's body, then entered through his skin and then into the 12 lines. It circulated throughout his body and then vanished inside the black hole Joshua had mentioned.