by A P Gore
She knocked on the door. "Father, please wake up."
A guard jumped out of the shadows not far from her, but when he saw it was Xi he quickly resumed his post.
Chu Tian opened door and let Xi step in. "Xi'er. What are you doing up at this hour?" Tian was a huge man, almost two and half meters tall and broad like a mountain. But for his daughter he was softer than water. Except when it came to her training.
"Father, I have something to show you. Please close the door and activate a sound barrier.”
Tian's black eyes instantly turned serious, and he pulled a talisman from his spatial ring and squished it. It was a sound barrier talisman, useful for creating a small sound barrier for an hour. "Xi'er, what's there to discuss in the sound barrier?" His intense gaze fixed on Xi's face.
Without saying a word, Xi pulled the painting out of her spatial belt and handed it to her father.
Surprised, Chu Tian opened the white paper covering the painting and then froze in place, his gaze locked on the painting. He had gone into the same insight trance Xi and Sua had experienced.
Seeing him like that, a smile bloomed across Xi's pale face. She pulled the painting away and re-covered it with a white paper. She had wondered how to tell her father about the painting, but concluded that showing it to him without setting any expectations was the best thing to do.
Half an hour later, Tian regained his composure. "Wind Step level four barrier. Why didn’t I think of that myself?" Before turning his gaze toward Xi, he shouted in joy. "Xi, where did you get this soul imprinted painting? Don't tell me you drew it yourself." His greedy eyes stared at her.
Xi tapped the corner of the bed lightly. "A fortuitous encounter. I was training near the hunting ground. After I killed a level one beast, I started painting a tiger. Suddenly, a master appeared and scolded me for my bad painting. He then drew this painting to give me a couple of pointers. Would you believe it if I said this painting is not complete?"
"A Soul Searching Realm master gave you pointers? Ha ha!" Tian's face lit like a bright candle. "Fortune favors you, little Xi'er. What luck! Did he tell you anything else? Is he staying in Cloud Dragon town? Did you invite him to live in our manor?" A shiny light lurked in his eyes.
Xi sighed. "No, Father. He left, just like that." It was beyond unfortunate that she hadn’t gotten a chance to find out his name or whereabouts.
"Oh." Tian snorted regretfully. "As an aspiring painter, you must understand the value of this painting..."
Xi nodded.
"Why didn't I let you paint more often? If only we had made a good impression on this master." Tian punched the wall, putting a small dent on it. "Anyway, this painting is a treasure in itself."
Seeing his father behaving like a child over candy, Xi couldn't control her giggle. "Father, I should hand this painting over to you. But can you give it back to me once its soul imprint is used up? I'll study it further, if you don't mind."
"Ha ha. Little Xi'er. Why don't you go and buy the best quality paints from the market tomorrow? And if you promise me you’ll train for two hours daily, I'll allow you to continue studying painting. And if you ever see that master again, ask him to take you as a disciple. Would you?" Tian looked at her with hopeful gaze.
"Father, I will fulfill your wish then." Xi let a small smile loose, but inside she was cheering and shouting like a small child.
"Xi'er, you've done a great service for the clan, so I must gift you this." Chu Tian pulled a small amulet out of his pocket.
"Now go, and rest. I'll give you this painting back in a few days."
Xi left father's chamber with a wide smile, her fingers brushing against the amulet in her hand. It was her mother's amulet of teleportation. She had given it to Xi before she passed away, but Xi’s father had kept it away from her, saying he would return when she advanced to level 3 of Qi Cultivation.
CHU TIAN
After his daughter left, Chu Tian called his guard.
"Ki Ti, go and take care of Wei Sua. Make sure it looks like an accident." He smoothed his mustache. Wei Sua had accompanied Xi today, so she must be silenced. A soul imprinted painting was too rare for anyone to know about. If anyone caught a so much as a whiff of it, it would bring calamity on the Chu clan.
He clapped his hands again, and another guard came forward. "Ki Nian, go and call Chu Son. Tell him it's urgent." He had to set up a plan with his brother to rotate this painting in between close relatives. He didn't know how many more times the soul imprint would work. First, he would let his son, Chu Son, observe the painting and then he would let his brother and his son use it.
Chapter 44
Warm rays of sunlight invaded Jei's small house and disturbed his dreamy state. Pulling his sheet over his head, he tried to ignore the irritating light, but a small hand helped the rays to invade his sleep by pulling the sheet away from his face.
"Xue'er, please let me sleep," Jei complained as he tried to push her hand away. It had been an exhausting two days, and he wanted to enjoy his own house's comfort.
"Big brother, why do I think you found some treasure a few days back?" Her cheerful voice fell on his ears like morning dew.
He unwillingly opened his eyes when Xue refused to relent and completely pulled his sheet away. Giving her a sheepish smile, he rubbed her small head. "What is that Xue'er wants to know?"
"Did you really find a treasure?" Joy lurked in her eyes; she was unable to hide her emotions.
"You don't have to worry about money anymore. We've got plenty." Jei pulled some money out of the spatial bag and handed it to her. "Keep this with you. In case you need it when I'm away."
Her small mouth curled downwards. "Brother, are you planning to go away again?"
"Maybe." Reflecting upon the way he’d spent the last day with the peerless beauty of the Chu clan, he sensed a shadow of incoming tribulations lurking ahead. He might have stepped in a snake pit. Regardless, he would have to go out and find ways to earn gold for Xue. Having a thousand gold was a good thing, but if he intended to live a happy life, he would need to earn more than that.
He had to train diligently as well. If Master Hei hadn't assisted him, Ki Pang would have killed Xue and him easily.
No, I can't let that happen. I have to train harder.
"Huh, the kid is back.” Aunt Bei's harsh voice boomed inside the house as she stepped in with a bowl of soup. “What troubles did you bring this time? Leaving your sister for two days, is that a way to do things?"
"Aunt Bei." Jei rose and clasped his hands. "I must thank you for taking care of my sister when I wasn't here. Trust me, I didn't go find any trouble this time." He hoped not, anyway. "I went for a job."
"Hmm." Her intense gaze softened a little. "You should tell Xue about it. Don't keep making her worried."
"I must not be shameless, but I have to ask Aunt Bei for a favor," Jei said.
Aunt Bei sat next to Xue and handed her the bowl of soup.
"If it's something I can help with, I'll surely help you." Aunt Bei had been always helpful toward him and Xue. Though he paid her, she had never asked for it. It was only after so much insistence that she agreed to take money to preserve his dignity.
" I might not be home for a few days. If it's not too much trouble, I'd ask Aunt Bei to look after Xue'er."
"Hmm." Aunt Bei whispered and stared at the fragile girl who looked frantically at Jei. "Xue'er is like a daughter to me. I will take care of her."
"I'm in your debt, Aunt Bei." Jei lowered his head as a mountain of pressure lifted from his shoulders. Xue was the most important person in his life, and having someone to take care of her eased his mind. He pulled some more money out of his spatial bag and handed it to Aunt Bei. "Let me know if this isn’t enough."
Aunt Bei put away the gold and nodded.
"Kid, come to the soul palace once you’re free," the senior said.
An hour later, Jei sat cross-legged and entered his soul palace. It had changed once again. A few large trees now grew
along the river in a decorative pattern. The senior sat cross-legged below one of the trees, wearing a blue robe. Natural essence swirled around him and entered his body in a slow pattern.
Jei strolled around the tree. "How are you? Thanks for cultivating Poison Body while I was unconscious." Jei recognized his body was in peak condition as soon as he woke from his unconscious state in the ghost house. Poison Body was a meticulous art, and like a qi cultivator he needed to constantly cultivate the essence through his meridians to replenish his flesh. Breaking the Gate of Healing put an immense strain on his body. Theoretically, even upon awakening he should have been in immense pain, but thanks to his poison essence he could recover from the pain quickly.
There was another disadvantage of breaking a gate: whoever broke their gate was unable able to cultivate with the Fiendgod Body Cultivation art for the next few days, as the meridian path would be completely swollen. Fortunately, Jei had another Body Cultivation art which used totally different meridian paths, and he also had the senior to cultivate for him. That way, when he was unconscious, the senior cultivated Poison Body and replenished his flesh with poison essence. When he woke, he found the opening of his second gate—Gate of Limit—had advanced to around 20%.
Cultivating two different Body Cultivation arts simultaneously was difficult and taxing, and he wouldn't have dared it if he didn't have the senior helping him. Finding two matching arts also made a huge difference. Body Cultivation was somewhat like Qi Cultivation. A qi cultivator would refine natural essence into qi and store it in his dantian. He would then use the qi and refill it again and again. By going through this cycle, the qi storage capacity of his dantian would increase, and when it reached a certain concentration the person would advance to the next level.
A body cultivator would absorb the natural essence and store it in his flesh and bones. He too would go through the cycle of spending and refilling the natural essence. Of course, compared to a dantian, the body could store a huge amount of natural essence, and it would also take much more time to advance through levels when compared to a qi cultivator. Then there was another requirement, too. For Poison Body, Jei needed to find 500 poisons to advance to the next level, along with reaching the poison essence capacity in his flesh and bones. That's why not many people cultivated Body Cultivation arts.
"Good. How long have you been painting?" the senior asked.
"Painting?" Jei stared at the senior, surprised. "For the last few years. After my accident, I was bed ridden for a few months. My grandma bought me a small painting kit and got me started."
"You’ve got talent, kid. I never thought this would be the method you’d use to nourish your soul palace. That's interesting." The senior scratched a few days’ beard.
"Nourish the soul palace?"
"Yes. Didn't you notice it? The new trees and all, the increased landscape. I was at my limit when I created the previous landscape, but when you drew that tiger, you were simultaneously cultivating your soul energy like a madman. You increased it by twenty percent in one sitting. That’s fucking awesome, man. You should do it more often."
"Did I?" Jei rubbed his forehead. "That must be it then."
The senior furrowed his brows. “What?”
"When I painted that tiger, I felt strange afterwards. It was like my soul energy left an imprint when I finished the third layer of the painting. That feeling, I've never felt it before. Also, when I observed my painting afterwards, I was surprised by the improvements in my art. I've been drawing for years now, and all my drawings turn out good. You could say they match the source image or the scenery I'm painting, but they always have one or another flaw. Some small mistake in color or proportion, for example. This time, I couldn't find a flaw, even though I didn't apply the texture. The image looked so lively. I thought it was because of the high-quality color palates and brushes I was using, but that wasn't the case. I must have improved."
"Why don't you try it again?"
"Sure, I'll get the supplies the next time we go to the market. I must buy better quality paints this time." Now Jei wanted to try painting again. Painting always brought him different feelings. After immersing himself in colors for hours, he always felt refreshed and energized.
"Good. Now try perfecting your movement skill in three days. This Saturday, we're going hunting. It's time to hunt the bees." A sly smile spread across the senior's face.
Chapter 45
Jei stood in his backyard under the bright morning sun, his hair tied up. A breeze moved past him, easing his sweat drenched body with a little chill. He had halted his practice a moment before due to exhaustion.
When air settled around him again, Jei's pale white face turned focused.
"One hundred thirteen." Whispering softly in his heart, he dashed forward. Ten meters ahead, a black stone on the ground served as a target.
He moved forward in a weird way. At first he seemed to walk straight, the next moment he deviated and turned right. The next moment, he would move left. However, wherever he moved, he would end up missing the black stone by a couple of meters.
Why do I keep missing the mark? He gazed back at the white stone, which marked his starting point. Using his speed alone, he could cross the distance in a couple of breaths, but with the movement skill of the Drunken Master Tiger divine art, he should be able to cover it in a half breath's time.
"Josh, do we really need this much speed to capture two-colored bees?"
"Even if you achieve the Angle of Skill in this skill, you won't be able to match the two-colored bee for speed. Only when you master your skill, and use grape heart honey, can you capture those nasty bees," the senior replied.
Jei's nose twitched. "This Angle of Skill is too hard." He wiped his moist forehead. Angle of Skill was the first stage. Only after reaching it would he have great control over his speed.
"Kid, you haven't even half succeeded at it.” The senior’s cold voice echoed through his mind. “Now, consider this: What would happen if you miss your target by a half meter in a battle of life and death?"
Jei's cheeks heated. The senior's words echoed in his heart. He was right. It would be okay for running, but if it was a life and death matter, it might kill him on the spot. He would miss the target, and then get stabbed by his opponent. It would be like handing yourself to the enemy.
No, he couldn't let that happen.
"Compared to this, your punching skill is much better. It has already reached State of the Skill level. I don't get why you are having so much trouble finding the pressure angle for occupant in your legs," the senior said with a lost voice. “It should be similar to the Angle of Fist.”
Jei was at a loss. Finding an Angle of Fist was easy. After trying a bunch of different angles, he succeeded. But how could he try different angles in the movement skill when his target was stationary? All the weird looking movements were because of the wind force manipulated by the divine art. Each time he deviated a little, it provided him a boost for the next moment. The divine art was nothing but building upon those small boosts to cover a large distance in a fraction of the time. According to the information in the jade slip, if he managed to reach the peak of level 1, Purpose of the Skill, he would be able to cover hundreds of meters in a few seconds. He would be like a gust of wind and could use the skill an unknown number of times. To an onlooker, it would look like he disappeared and appeared far away.
"If only finding the angle was an iterative process," the senior whispered.
An iterative process.
Whatever angles he chooses intermediate after taking off doesn’t need precision, but the initial angle had to be straight. Right?
Or was it not?
What if I keep the black stone as the target, but try changing my angles at the start?
I should try that.
Taking a deep breath, Jei focused his attention on the black stone. On the next attempt, he changed his initial angle slightly to the right and dashed forward. Dust scattered below his feet as his
body shot forward. He slightly changed his direction once and then again, but he didn't expect to end in a totally different spot.
With a red nose and a red mound on his forehead, Jei crawled away from a tree. The slight change in direction had left him crashing into a tree far away from the black stone.
The senior's laughter boomed in his mind.
Gritting his teeth, Jei ignored him. Gate of Healing had sprung into action already, and a thread of relief swept across his body.
This is not the correct angle. Let me go back a little and try from the left.
The next try, he chose the other side with the same angle and ended up extremely far away from the black stone. At least his face had no bump.
No, this isn't even the correct angle.
Jei continued changing his angles. After the fifteenth try, the natural essence in his body was completely depleted, even though the senior was constantly cultivating Poison Body and recovered his essence while he practiced, he was spending it faster than the senior could cultivate it.
"Josh, why did I lose more essence in those tries?" Jei asked. Before, he could sustain his essence for thirty tries when he moved in a straight line, but now he lost it all in just fifteen tries.
"Hmm. Maybe because they are the wrong angles. They might be using more essence from you."
It made sense.
"Let me cultivate Fiendgod Body, and you can go back to your soul cultivation," Jei said. Having the senior with him was like having an automatic machine for cultivation. They had long since agreed that when Jei wasn't cultivating Fiendgod Body art, the senior would cultivate Poison Body art. At other times, the senior might cultivate the Soul Cultivation art he had obtained from the soul crystal. His choice.
Jei sat cross-legged and took a deep breath. His body was drenched in sweat, but as the natural essence started moving inside his body, all the fatigue and exhaustion was washed away. A calm feeling encapsulated him and refilled his body. For the last couple of days, he had the feeling that he had enough heaven and earth essence to advance one step and open his second gate. However, he hadn't finished clearing black marrow from his second gate—Gate of Limit–yet. If he was a qi cultivator, if he had sufficient qi accumulated, he could have easily advanced to the next stage.