“After he miraculously recovered from his wounds, Hua Tuo began practicing body cultivation. But he didn’t use normal means. No, in the war, angelic and devilish organizations were fighting fiercely. He joined the battlefield and began pillaging life force from sinful individuals and using it to strengthen his own body. Then he turned around and healed his brothers in arms with that same life force he stole. Hua Tuo was essentially the first blood artist, and he used these arts for the forces of good.”
Yue Bing hissed through her teeth. “How awfully inconvenient for the Church of Justice,” she said. “No wonder we were forced to cover it up.”
“Though those brutes can tell the difference between merit and sin arts, those at the time were rather intolerant,” Grandmaster Gu said. “His body-cultivation art, the Sacred Blood Undying Art, made it so he couldn’t be killed. He lingered around until transcending and eventually moved on to a higher plane. But that was a long time ago, and his heritage was lost. Without him staying to defend it, the Spirit Doctor Association was afraid. Therefore, they truncated his history and hid it away from prying eyes. Every Spirit Doctor Association’s forbidden library has a copy of this tome.”
“Will you keep my secret?” Yue Bing asked worriedly.
“No,” Grandmaster Gu said. “We’ve done enough hiding. I plan on reporting this great contribution to the president of the Spirit Doctor Association. Your reputation as a blood artist precedes you, so it’s vitally important that we move to disseminate this hidden history. If you’re willing, we can revitalize this branch of spirit doctor art, with you as the progenitor. This will be a great boon in our war against the south.”
Yue Bing thought about her brothers and sisters, as well as the many members of the Alabaster Group. There were many people dying every day, and if even more people knew the same healing arts she did, wouldn’t thousands of good people be saved?
“All right,” she said. “I’ll do it. But first, I need to save my brother Zi Long.”
“Sword Master Jin will be here shortly,” Grandmaster Gu said. “I’ve already summoned him. Once you heal him, meeting the second elder will be a piece of cake.”
“Greetings, Sword Master Jin,” Yue Bing said, bowing to the man who’d just walked in. He stood straight as a sword, and despite his old age, he exuded a vigorous aura that allowed no dissent.
“Greetings, young one,” the man said gently. “I heard from Grandmaster Gu that you can treat my injuries?”
Yue Bing examined him from head to toe. While he didn’t seem injured, he was clearly not in good health. Which, given the man’s age, wasn’t surprising.
No, that’s not right, she thought. His body seems old. One hundred and ninety years old, in fact. But his eyes… his eyes don’t seem like they’ve seen more than a century.
“Pardon me for asking, but what treatment do you require?” Yue Bing asked. “I can’t sense any injuries. But judging from your youthful spirit, this aged body doesn’t suit you.”
“My case is unique,” the man said. “Due to a malicious poison, I’m dying. I’m only a hundred years old, yet my body… Well, let’s just say I only shoulder a small hope that you can cure my condition. I normally wouldn’t bother, but since Grandmaster Gu has vouched for you, I’ll give it a shot.”
Yue Bing felt the pressure mounting. This was unlike any condition she’d ever seen. “Traditionally, a poison such as this would be negated by taking life-extending medicines.” She then turned to Grandmaster Gu. “Would you happen to have any?”
“Those medicines are no longer effective,” Grandmaster Gu said. “We previously used all readily available ones to stall the poison. It was only by guiding such a medicine through his meridians that I was able to extend his lifespan till now. Unfortunately, he only has a few years left.”
Yue Bing frowned as she wracked her brain to discover a solution. Could I reinvigorate his cells somehow? She thought. But if that were the case, then I’d be able to indefinitely extend the life of any cultivator. That’s just not possible.
“Let me give it a try,” Yue Bing said, extending her hand.
Sword Master Jin walked over to Yue Bing, who grabbed his wrist and sent her incandescent force deep within his body. She inspected his organs and flesh, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
“How did it happen?” Yue Bing asked as she continued her screening. Not only did she monitor Sword Master Jin with her incandescent force, she also monitored his pulse and breath. His qi circulation was heavily scrutinized as well, lest she miss anything in this unusual case.
“Three decades ago, the rogue alchemist Mo De attacked the Violet Heart Sect,” Sword Master Jin said. “I was a guest in the Violet Heart Sect at the time. Seeing that they were in trouble, I stepped up and assisted my friend, the second elder, to buy time for their sect master. He summoned their guardian spirit, who chased away Mo De, but by then, we were already infected with a dreadful poison.”
If it’s a poison, why can’t I find any trace of it? Yue Bing thought, intensifying her search. The body doesn’t just age in a vacuum. There should either be organ damage or some remnant poison hidden somewhere that’s continually draining his energy. Time trickled by slowly. She scanned his body, starting from his internal organs, then proceeded to the flesh in his limbs. Finding nothing, she inspected his bones.
“I’m afraid I can’t find anything,” Yue Bing said. “Your body’s vitality is unreasonably low, however. Perhaps by replenishing it, I can alleviate some of your symptoms.”
“Don’t waste your energy,” Sword Master Jin said. “I take vitality supplements daily. In fact, it’s the main reason I’ve managed to last for so long.”
“Surely you jest,” Yue Bing said, laughing lightly. “Your body barely contains enough vital energy to support itself. Even the lowest-quality vitality supplement would have your body brimming with energy. Your heart would beat faster, and your blood would thicken. Your nerves would also be far more responsive, which isn’t the case.”
“I’ve taken a clear moon elixir every day for the past twenty years,” Sword Master Jin said. “Grandmaster Gu prepares them for me every month.”
Yue Bing looked to Grandmaster Gu for confirmation. “Then something must be continuously draining your vitality. Something that escapes my notice.”
She thought for a moment and placed her hand on his chest. A bloody mist enveloped them both. She felt her body weaken as the thick vital essence hidden deep within her bones siphoned off into Sword Master Jin. By the time a quarter of her vitality had been transferred, she noticed changes in the man’s body. He wasn’t old; rather, his body didn’t contain enough vital energy. As such, his cells were shriveled, his flesh weakened.
Seeing that her treatment was effective, Yue Bing continued pouring her energy into the man. After transferring fifty percent of her vitality, his organs regained normal function. After transferring seventy percent, his muscles, and even his skin, turned youthful and vigorous. At eighty percent, his gray hair regained its black pigment. At this point, she stopped and caught her breath. The last twenty percent of her vitality was her bottom line. Any further than this, and she would harm her body irreparably.
“I haven’t felt this good in a decade,” Sword Master Jin said with a smile. “Even if I only feel this way for a few moments, this visit will have been worth it.”
“Quiet,” Yue Bing said, motioning for him to sit down. “I need everyone to be as quiet as possible. Grandmaster Gu, could you isolate the area?”
At her direction, the older man took out a silver formation plate. He placed it on the ground beside her, and a barrier leapt up around them. Any sounds, qi, or soul force couldn’t penetrate it.
Yue Bing calmed her mind and focused on the sword master’s body. Instead of performing a detailed scan like before, she simply covered it in a broad blanket of soul force. As her body’s vitality recovered, she noticed his body weakening. At first it was a general weakening, but soon, a gradient fo
rmed.
There it is, she thought, sending her incandescent force into his heart, where his vital energy was weakest. Once it arrived, however, she found nothing. Then, withdrawing her senses, she spotted another part of his body with an anomaly. She quickly sent her incandescent force into his lungs, which were rapidly shriveling. There, she saw traces of a thin black substance leaving the organ and moving into a blood vessel.
What the hell is that? She thought. Her incandescent force chased down the creeping black liquid, which was flowing down various veins and arteries. It ran both with and against blood flow. After many tricky pathways, her incandescent force finally caught up. What she saw was a wispy creature made of black fluid. It looked like a poison, but she’d never seen a poison like it. This poison seemed living, almost sentient.
As the poison continued to flee, Yue Bing continued to chase. As it turned, she turned, and as it slowed, she slowed. Before long, she’d determined its behavior patterns.
It doesn’t like to go down more than a hundred blood vessels before returning to an internal organ, she thought. The most likely organ is the heart, followed by the lungs. Finally, the liver is favored, followed by the kidney.
Having determined this, she summoned seventy-two crystal needles from her bag of holding and infused them with isolation runes. She chased the poison down, waiting for the exact moment before it entered an organ.
Now! She thought. She threw the needles into the blood vessels and qi pathways surrounding Sword Master Jin’s heart. His body spasmed as they plunged into his flesh. Unfortunately, her guess was incorrect. The poison had entered his lungs. Seeing that she’d guessed wrong, she withdrew the needles and continued the chase. She threw the needles out at his heart once again. Sword Master Jin spasmed once more, and this time, he coughed up blood.
“Dr. Yue, perhaps you should let him recover,” Grandmaster Gu said carefully. “Though I’m not sure what you’re doing, it’s clearly harming him.”
Yue Bing felt Sword Master Jin’s pulse and realized that Grandmaster Gu was correct. “All right. His body can handle one more attempt. We’ll take a break after that.”
She started tracking the poison once more and focused on its whereabouts. As it was about to switch to an organ, she hesitated. Not this time, she thought, holding off from her attack. Her prediction proved accurate. It had jumped to his liver, where it absorbed a large chunk of vitality. She then waited for it to make a switch once more. As it did, she threw the needles.
Blood sprayed out of the man’s mouth as his blood flow stalled. Yue Bing didn’t hesitate for a second before summoning a clear scalpel made of soul alloy. She used the sharp but clear blade to cut open his chest, then made a further incision on his heart. Blood spurted out, and she used her incandescent force to scoop up a blob of black fluid and send it to Grandmaster Gu.
“Catch!” she yelled, and she turned her attention back to Sword Master Jin. She rapidly sent a stream of vitality to the heart she’d cut open and urged it to heal as soon as possible. Once it was sealed, she removed the needles and resumed blood flow. Then she used any remnant vitality to urge the man’s marrow to replenish his blood.
Yue Bing collapsed from all the effort. Sword Master Jin sat up, and despite having just received open heart surgery, his complexion was slightly rosy.
“I’m healed,” he said softly. “After all this time, I’m healed!” He ran up to Yue Bing, who could barely stand, and helped her up. “I may not be rich, but if you ever need my help, I’ll be happy to repay you.”
“No need,” Yue Bing replied. She looked to Grandmaster Gu, who was busy inspecting the black substance that had been ejected from the man’s heart. “Do you know what it is?” she asked.
“It’s something I didn’t think still existed,” Grandmaster Gu said gravely. “It’s called a living poison, a relic of the past in the north when poison masters once practiced their craft openly. Even in the south, such a poison would be rare. It’s no wonder it could escape our detection.”
“I only found it when I realized that Sword Master Jin’s vitality was declining nonuniformly,” Yue Bing said. “It seems that this poison was constantly swallowing his vitality, never giving it a chance to rest. That’s why he aged so quickly and was never able to properly recover.”
“I hate to interrupt, but this humble patient has a request to make,” Sword Master Jin said. Now that he’d been healed, his aura was even more vigorous and domineering. Yet in front of his savior, he displayed a certain meekness.
“Please, go ahead,” Yue Bing said. “If it’s within my abilities, I’ll do everything I can.”
“I no longer require anything, it’s just that my heart aches for my friend Elder Yan in the Violet Heart Sect,” Sword Master Jin said. “He and I fought side by side against Mo De, and while he didn’t suffer as much as I did, in the end, we were afflicted with the same poison.”
Yue Bing’s heartbeat quickened. This was the opportunity she’d been waiting for. “It’s not that I don’t want to help, but we can’t,” she said, swallowing. “Luo Xuehua and I are members of the Alabaster Group, and we had originally intended to visit my senior brother on the mountain. We were turned away at the steps.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Sword Master Jin said. “With me leading the way, no one will dare stop us.”
“Then I’ll be glad to help,” Yue Bing said. “It’s only… I’m currently very weak. I need to rest for a full day before heading up. I’d also like to call General Zhang to assist us in making the climb tomorrow. Is that all right?”
“An unusual request but not impossible,” Sword Master Jin said. “I’ll be waiting at the base of the mountain at dawn. Please come when you’re ready. My dear friend’s life is in your hands.”
Chapter 33
Ling Dong sat in front of a small fire while whittling away at a large item. It was a demon bone, one of the many he’d obtained by hunting in the mountains for three whole weeks. Far longer than he’d expected.
He had no regrets, of course. He’d lost some time, but he’d gained so much more. His original goal of making it to Blacksteel City to fix his sword had been a means to an end; it was all for the sake of power. For the sake of revenge.
Darkwing was curled up in a ball and enjoying the heat of their small fire. According to the growing drake, it reminded him of where he came from. The plateau, with Lan Yin and Huoying. The best days of his life. But as vivid as they were to the young demon, they were nothing more than a distant memory to Ling Dong.
The bone transformed as he worked with his soul-alloy knife. Occasionally, he softened it by holding it over the fire. Slowly but surely, it took the shape of a bone knife. Then he carved demonic runes into the blade, imbuing it with power from the mountain. After wrapping the crude bone handle with strips of wolf-hide leather that matched his armor, he added another potent weapon to his arsenal.
Slash. Slash. Hack. Three strikes were all he needed to get a feel for the light item. Though it wasn’t as powerful as his blade, it was far more durable. Furthermore, it felt like part of him. The large chunk of steel he now kept in his storage ring felt alien and unusable. He’d given up much to stay on the mountain.
Drakey, Ling Dong called softly.
The small black creature didn’t budge, but Ling Dong knew he was awake. His recent increase to early purification had come with a certain degree of arrogance, but the drake was still very submissive to the man he saw as his father.
Drakey, he said again.
What do you want, boss? Darkwing said. The black drake had started calling him that ever since he’d won the duel. It was an acknowledgment of sorts, one that bound them with a mystical and unspoken agreement. He was the boss and Drakey his subordinate. It was a give and take but mutually beneficial relationship.
I’ll be leaving the mountain soon, Ling Dong said, twirling the dagger in his hands. It could be in a few days or as much as a month. I’m not sure when it’ll happen. But before I de
cide, I’d like to know what you want to do. Will you stay, or will you go?
The drake shifted uncomfortably. The mountain is nice, Ling Dong. Why do you want to leave?
Yes, it’s nice here, Ling Dong said. He was far more comfortable here than he’d ever been. But the mountain didn’t have everything. It didn’t have his master, his brothers and sisters. It didn’t have a forge or the weapons he loved to create. It didn’t have earthly comforts, though it didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would. Still, he didn’t belong. There are people I need to see, bonds I can’t escape. There are innocents I need to save and vengeance I need to take. I can’t do all that if I stay on the mountain.
Darkwing was silent for a moment before replying. I’ll leave with you, he said. I miss Brother Huoying. I miss Mother. Besides, while the mountain is nice, it takes as much as it gives. Speaking of which, it won’t be easy to leave.
By now, Ling Dong had a vague understanding of what this meant. It was like a new set of rules had been imprinted on his soul, though he could only sense a hazy outline.
What will it cost us? Ling Dong asked. Demons operated on a hierarchy, but they also recognized equivalent exchange.
There are only two things that could tempt the Sovereign, Darkwing said, stretching out on the damp earth. His wing joints cracked as he stretched out his metallic wings while scratching the soil like a lazy cat. Natural resources of sufficient value, and new territory.
How can we obtain new territory? Ling Dong asked. Any resources they took from the mountain wouldn’t count, as they belonged to the Sovereign in the first place.
By fighting for it, of course, Darkwing said. But to do that, you’ll need to convince the Razorback Sovereign to declare war. You’ll need to prove yourself to both the Sovereign and the kings.
Ling Dong understood his meaning. He’d need to defeat all the other kings in an honorable battle. Either that, or he’d need to force weaker kings than him to submit without a fight. Both feats were rather difficult given the tier of demons involved. Specifically, there were three tier-four demons who were all in the late purification realm. Unlike before, their battle wouldn’t be a friendly spar. They would fight with their pride on the line using everything they had.
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