“If I want you to submit, you’ll submit!” Ling Dong yelled. The crown over his head glowed brightly and pressed down on the Sunblaze King, who faltered mid-flap. A wave of paralysis overtook him, and Ling Dong and the Sunblaze King broke into a free dive while Darkwing flew alongside them uneasily. Should Ling Dong want to escape free fall, he could jump off the Sunblaze King and onto Darkwing’s back.
Their speed increased as they fell toward the ground.
You’re mad! The Sunblaze King yelled as he struggled for control over his own body.
“So what if I am?” Ling Dong said, maintaining his grip, keeping his Demon-Subduing Intent channeled. “There’s only one way out of this situation. Either we both fall to the ground, and I use your corpse as a cushion, or you submit!”
The eagle’s eyes widened in fear. His wings struggled to open as they both tumbled to the mountain’s peak. Yet despite their impending doom, Ling Dong did not show any signs of letting up. For the first time in several hundred years, the Sunblaze King felt helplessness and despair.
Fine, you win! The Sunblaze King said.
Not good enough, Ling Dong said. I didn’t say I wanted to win, I said I wanted you to submit.
Unwillingness flashed through the eagle’s eyes. But as the mountain grew closer and closer, the eagle’s instincts began to take over. This was his life. For his life, he would give up many things, forget this shred of honor.
A mere five hundred feet from the ground, Ling Dong suddenly sensed a qualitative change in their relationship. He felt subservience from the large avian demon. The moment he did, he loosened his grip on him, and the Sunblaze King spread his wings. Their flight instantly slowed to the point that Ling Dong’s head grew light. They landed on the mountaintop, and Ling Dong hopped off the king’s back.
“Let’s do as the Demon-Subduing King suggests,” the Sunblaze King said, bowing his head.
Ling Dong, whose Demon-Subduing Crown was growing brighter by the second, looked to the Razorback Sovereign with glowing purple eyes. The crowd was silent as they awaited her verdict.
The Demon-Subduing King has shown his prowess, the Razorback Sovereign said in approval. I confess myself impressed. Tomorrow, I will convene with the other sovereigns. Prepare for battle, demons. We go to war!
The crowd cheered and roared, and every demon was bubbling with energy and ambition. Too long had they suffered under the whims of the other mountains. Their time was now.
Chapter 40
A pair of leather boots sloshed through the murky water of Evergreen City’s sewers. They were Jin Huang’s boots, and like everything else he wore, they stunk like a hundred dead rats in a stagnant vat. The past few days had been difficult, though from what little he’d heard, he’d have a harder time up there.
They sure are persistent, he thought. A wave of revulsion swept through him as he circulated his qi. The revulsion wasn’t due to the poisonous water, nor was it due to the miasma that accompanied it. Rather, it was due to his new… guest. The guest he’d carefully summoned since his arrival.
How much longer until you’re done? Jin Huang asked the new inhabitant in his bloodstream. Sentience was relative, so the poison replied in simple terms. A half lifespan. Given that it had been born just two hours ago, that meant a single hour remained.
Sighing, Jin Huang found a slightly less filthy spot in the tunnel and bided his time. He cultivated using the corrupted qi in the tunnels, carefully filtering out impurities as he did so. As time passed, a strange feeling suddenly overcame him. A sixth sense told him that filtering out impurities was bad, so he stopped.
As he did, he noticed a growing stream of black liquid in his bloodstream, harmoniously coexisting with the rest of his bodily fluids. It was a disease-type poison, a subtype of death-aligned poisons that grew from filth and microbes. He hadn’t known how long he’d need to stay in these sewers, so he’d made raising one of these poisonous symbiotes a priority. And to Jin Huang’s surprise, not only did the poison protect him the inhospitable environment, it enabled him to thrive. His cultivation now advanced by leaps and bounds.
Next on the list: water, Jin Huang thought. He didn’t bother cleaning himself off as he trudged through the sewers again. He journeyed through dozens of hallways until he found what he was looking for—a sewage reservoir. The large pit was there to provide a buffer in case the sewers were flooded with rainwater. Here, all sorts of bacteria, mud, and algae grew. They thrived in the absence of oxygen, the absence of agitation.
Jin Huang formed hand seals and used his water qi to create three-dimensional runes that hovered in the air. He withdrew alchemical ingredients from his bag of holding along with rare herbs with stagnation properties. Fortunately, he’d stocked up on these basic items before being chased out of the city. All he was missing were key poison catalysts. As luck would have it, the sewers had plenty of replacements for such things if one was creative or patient enough.
The dark-blue runes formed an intricate framework as he summoned them. Dark lines connected them in a destructive matrix. Once the 108 runes were in place, the formation glowed and shot toward key acupoints in his body. A dark spot appeared on one of his kidneys, the water and yin-oriented organ. He felt excruciating pain as his blood flow slowed and his blood thickened. But he didn’t dare scream. This was only an appetizer to the true pain that would follow.
Shivering, Jin Huang struggled up to the reservoir and threw himself into its murky waters. The sludge, ooze, and mud wrapped around his body and restricted his movements. If he were a simple mortal, he’d be dead for sure. Fortunately, he was a cultivator. He began circulating his qi for sustenance and sat cross-legged in the reservoir’s filth.
Cultivation was slow and arduous. Not only had his blood flow slowed substantially, so had his qi flow.
How long? He asked the new inhabitant in his body. No answer. Perhaps he expected too much out of a newborn poison. Hours passed in silence, and by the fifth hour, he discovered that his qi had turned viscous and slow. And with this slowness came a great amount of pain.
I must endure, Jin Huang thought. Everything was going just as the book described. The poison would create stagnation in his body as it reached an equilibrium with his blood. He could only feed it with stagnant forces to accelerate the process, but there was no avoiding pain, which would grow until the integration was complete.
Jin Huang seemed to become one with the reservoir, one with the slime. His heartbeat slowed, and after three hours, it only beat once per minute. His qi circulation became a tenth of the original, barely enough to sustain his vital functions. He was beginning to grow dizzy and light-headed, but still he persisted. The moment he gave up was the moment the poison would rebel against him. Not a good start to a symbiotic relationship.
Another hour passed. Finally, when it seemed like Jin Huang’s heart would stop beating, it squeezed stronger than ever. His thick blood rushed through his veins, and as it did, so did his stagnant qi. The filth surrounding him slowly began to seep into his body, and the viscous slime, the mud, and everything around him surged into it and “purified” it. Or should he say soiled it? It was difficult to say.
Either way, he felt better than ever. He didn’t feel the slightest bit of restriction in his cultivation or his body. Moving through water seemed as easy as moving through air. He held out his hand and summoned two blobs—one dark green, the living disease poison, and one dark blue, the living stagnation poison.
Next on his list was corrosion. There were many options for rearing living poisons, but as a fugitive, he preferred to maximize his odds of survival. Once he mastered corrosion, it would be time to find Brother Hei. He would go into hiding and escape this wretched city. His revenge could wait.
Chapter 41
The sound of clinking coins alerted Zi Long to the presence of riches. His surroundings were filled with golden objects, spirit stones, and all sorts of precious treasures. Beside him, he noticed a pill that, should he eat it, would prope
l him all the way past core formation and into rune carving. Though his mind had doubts, his heart reassured him. The pill was real, and the results would be too.
Off to the right, he noticed a pedestal. A violet staff was waiting there just for him. Upon further inspection, this staff could split into nine copies, and these nine copies would be wielded by nine avatars of his own body. If he chose to wield it, no one would be able to harm him. He could fight for justice to his heart’s content.
“These could be yours, if you take them,” a voice said.
The purple mist he’d seen before the jade arches appeared in the treasure room. It seemed more corporeal than before, like it had gained an additional layer of reality.
“How many people fall for such pretty tricks?” Zi Long asked, looking around him. The sight was almost too dazzling to behold, and even the most austere monk would feel a hint of temptation.
“Over half,” the mist admitted. “But before you refuse these riches, let me tell you something. As the guardian of this palace, I am allowed to give you the equivalent of a half-step transcendent weapon if you give up. All you need to do is sign a contract, forever swearing not to enter this place again. Further, you’ll be forced to assist the sect in its times of need.”
A black contract appeared before the mist. It seemed authentic, but Zi Long couldn’t be sure. Not here.
He pondered for a moment. With a half-step transcendent treasure, there weren’t many cultivators below core formation who could stand against him. Not only could he safely advance his cultivation, he could also protect his brothers and sisters. The treasure would continue being useful to him in the mortal realms, making it possible to complete many noble missions against the terrible Southern forces. It was a tempting offer to say the least.
“I’m willing to give up in exchange for a piece of information,” Zi Long said after mulling over the offer. “I want to know what Brother Fan’s killer was after.”
The mist hovered for a moment, as though measuring the worth of this information. “I can’t grant you this request,” the mist said. “Its value is far greater than you know. I can only tell you if you obtain the violet heart, and I will do so for free.” It sighed deeply, and as it did, the illusory treasure surrounding Zi Long faded. Zi Long couldn’t help but feel a tinge of regret at the disappearance of the wealth. When the last spirit stone vanished, the violet mist also disappeared.
Just as Zi Long was about to head through the arch, a stray thought forced him to halt his advance.
It already knew that such mundane things wouldn’t tempt me, he thought. Is there some significance to his question that I didn’t see?
Having lived a rather plain life, he valued his friends, his brothers, his apprentice sister, and his master. He valued learning and strived to do good. But what of other things? What of things he wished he had?
When he’d suffered the joint attack of the Violet Heart Sect elders and their illusory formation, he’d experienced such temptations many times. Not once did he succumb to them. Despite this, he was still unable to grasp even the first layer of the Six Desires Fate-Converging Art.
Perhaps I need to reflect on my own desires instead of resisting, Zi Long thought. The violet mist’s question had forced him to stop and think about the worth of things. Normal wealth didn’t tempt him, but would he consider something that could help his friends?
He couldn’t help but ask himself what other things he would consider. He wasn’t tempted by other Dao partners, nor was he tempted by their possessions. Their titles meant little to him, with only their pragmatic uses causing him to hesitate. Everything boiled down to practicality and how much they would help him achieve his goals. If it was a pill that could propel him to the peak of core formation, he would consider it. If it was anything better than a peak-core treasure, he would consider it. The same applied to transcendent cultivation inheritances. Techniques, on the other hand, were less tempting. These could make him more powerful but only marginally so.
Zi Long thought long and hard. And to his surprise, he discovered that treasures for others were also worth considering. He would consider something that would help Ling Dong, Yue Bing, and Jin Huang. The same applied to Luo Xuehua, who he missed dearly.
What else would they want? He thought. And then it clicked. All this time, he’d been thinking about his own temptations, his own desires, but he’d never bothered to wonder about others.
What would others want? This simple question opened up a whole new world for Zi Long.
The story of an avaricious man came to mind. A moneylender who had caused his wife’s death because he wouldn’t buy coal for heating; he burned to death in his own home trying to save bags of hoarded gold.
He thought of the many wars that had occurred over centuries. Many of them had started because of a desire for another’s wife. These kings, infatuated with a woman, dragged their entire kingdom into war and eventual ruin.
Hundreds of different situations came to mind. Some were real, and some were fake. However, all of these contained a hint of truth: Greed was real, and so was jealousy. It was a very human instinct, a feeling that even toddlers were familiar with once they reached three or four years of age. Proper child-rearing involved teaching them to share. Involuntarily, they would get used to considering others’ point of view. Empathy would then drive them to consider how others felt, and what their wants and needs were. This was the basis of society, and the basis for implementing morality.
No wonder it’s the first desire, Zi Long thought. He laughed softly, and as he did, the purple tablet within his mind glowed. His violet heart force began revolving around key pathways, and the room full of gold, gems, and treasure appeared once again.
“It’s too bad this isn’t real.” He walked up to the purple staff he’d seen earlier and grabbed it. He swung it a few times, getting a good feel for its immense power. “At least, not yet.”
He replaced the staff, and a purple portal appeared. Now that he’d completed the first stage of the Six Desires Fate-Converging Art, it was time to move onto the next part of the trial. He walked through the portal and into another world.
Chapter 42
Deep within the Violet Heart Sect, a bloody cloud filled a small room. Three people stood guard outside it to ensure the doctor and patient within wouldn’t be disturbed. Yue Bing was drenched in sweat, and her entire body was shivering. Treating Elder Yan was more taxing than she’d originally thought. It had taken an entire hour just to bring his body back to peak vitality.
“I’m afraid your chances are worse than I originally expected,” Yue Bing admitted as she popped a vitality-replenishing pill in her mouth. It filled her empty body with warmth and resilience, and while it was only a drop in a bucket, every little bit mattered. “I think it’s best if we stopped.”
“We can’t stop,” the healthy-looking elder said. His vitality was withering at a much faster rate than Sword Master Jin’s had. It wouldn’t take more than a few hours for his newfound vigor to completely vanish. “You might not know this, but the sect is currently embroiled in a succession battle. This wouldn’t be cause for alarm, but unfortunately, a member of the Alabaster Group was caught in the crossfire.”
“So you’re concerned about your sect,” Yue Bing said. “You’re afraid of what the Alabaster Group might do to retaliate if he gets harmed.”
Elder Yan shook his head. “The sect is one thing, but we must not be vicious for the sake of our heritage. Most of the elders want to threaten an innocent man’s life on the off chance he might steal their inheritance. Even if their plans succeed, his soul will be crippled. By that logic, should an angry man be killed in case he commits murder? Should anyone who sees something valuable have their eyes gouged out, lest they be tempted?
“The truth of the matter is, if we’ve sunk this far, the sect deserves retribution. Zi Long was my master’s friend, and he’s an innocent man who’s been caught by my dog-hearted apprentice brothers and sisters. Ev
en the calmest and most indecisive of the bunch, Mu Qian, has decided to go along with them.” He sighed. “With Brother Jin healed, my only regret in life is dragging Master’s friend into this conflict. Even if I only have one chance at survival and nine chances at death, I must still try. Not for my sect’s sake, not for my sake, but for justice. To uphold the ideals that this sect used to stand for.”
No wonder he was in such a hurry, Yue Bing realized. Brother Zi Long’s life is in danger. But what can I do about this… poison?
The dark entity was currently plundering vitality from Elder Yan’s body like a vicious fiend. She’d originally assumed that it would behave in much the same way as Sword Master Jin’s poison, but she was gravely mistaken. The concentrated poison didn’t fear a direct assault from her, as anything fatal to it would also be fatal to Elder Yan. Therefore, it absorbed the vitality in his body in an unbridled fashion, using every ounce it consumed to strengthen its own toxicity before it left for its next victim.
I once faced a similar situation, a voice said. It was a voice she hadn’t heard in a long time, a voice that had vanished since she’d cultivated Hua Tuo’s inheritance. I had renounced my Soul Sacrifice Healing Art out of indignation, and for a time, I almost exclusively healed with blood vitality. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before I met a case that I couldn’t take care of. A friend, someone dear to me, needed my help.
Are you Hua Tuo? Yue Bing asked, staring at her ankh.
A remnant of his soul left behind in this ankh to pass on his legacy, the ankh said. I may only be a treasure spirit, but I share many of the same memories.
Then do you know how to save him? Yue Bing asked. I’m willing to do anything. My brother Zi Long’s life is at stake.
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