“These stones contain two precious things. The first, as you’ve likely guessed, is pure crystalized elemental essence. It’s a very good cultivation material, but it’s difficult to absorb without a formation to channel it into a useable form. That’s not a problem, however; I can easily sell you two such formations for a couple of the stones. The second treasure contained within is a high-quality soul-alloy ore. This is a very valuable material, and a small amount of refinement and reprocessing will produce slightly more than eighty percent of the original volume as pure soul alloy. In other words, you’re rich now!
“I suggest selling me the crystalized elemental essence for a more convenient, processed form. I can give you 90% of the volume in exchange, since the impurity content of this crystalized elemental essence is very low. Meanwhile, I can also arrange for the remaining soul-alloy ore to be reprocessed into useable soul alloy. This is a premium material for weapons and defensive treasures for those who use soul power. Not only are you able to control them like your own hands, but you can inscribe runes on it that suit you best. These runes can be removed at any time. In addition, the weapons forged from soul alloy will change properties when imbued with soul power. They can be made heavier or lighter, larger or smaller. They can also change shapes, though without spirit power they will be restored to their original forged shape.”
In the end, Cha Ming took up Wang Jun on his offer, and he trusted that Wang Jun had offered him a fair deal. He only accepted one formation plate, however. When Wang Jun learned that Huxian could actually eat the ore, he became very excited.
“Can Huxian eat other things? Like beast cores, spirit stones, spirit beasts, etc.?” Wang Jun asked curiously.
“Yes,” said Cha Ming while slapping his forehead. “He is basically gluttony incarnate. He can eat nigh unlimited amounts of spirit beasts and beast cores.”
Wang Jun laughed heartily. “You’re quite fortunate to have such a companion. This type of devouring ability stems from an affinity to darkness, and its very rare among spirit beasts. My guess is that he is using the crystalized elemental essence to increase his demonic cultivation while using the soul-alloy ore to reinforce his body.” After pondering for a bit, he took out fifty stones from the original few hundred.
“You should keep these for Huxian. I doubt that you can find a more efficient means for him to train.”
Soon after, Cha Ming left the Jade Bamboo Auction House and made his way to Elder Ling’s residence.
Cha Ming walked down the narrow alley from the marketplace to his teacher’s residence, the talisman shop. As usual, the small cabin was plastered with a variety of talismans, and Mr. Mao Mao was relaxing in the shade. Mr. Mao Mao stood up to greet Cha Ming this time, looking at him expectantly. Cha Ming didn’t disappoint him and pulled out several bundles of dried flowers, which the cat dutifully brought into the house while leading the way.
Their furry friend led them into an empty living room, indicating that Elder Ling was still out for the day. A short while later, the cat came back with a placid and pleased expression. Just as he was about to move toward his usual perch, he noticed it was already occupied by a strange creature. The black-and-white Huxian was already curled up in a ball and napping.
Huxian, get down from there. That’s Mr. Mao Mao’s spot, and you don’t want to get him angry! Cha Ming hurriedly sent a mental message, but it was too late. Mr. Mao Mao’s hair was erect and his claws protruding. He let out a loud hiss and started advancing aggressively. Huxian’s face wore a complacent smile. It was a true case of the young not fearing the strong.
A short while later, Cha Ming returned from the kitchen with a kettle of tea and three cups. The hissing, howling, and whining had faded, and Huxian stood whimpering in a corner with a bright scratch mark on his face. Cha Ming first served tea to Mr. Mao Mao, who accepted the tribute. He then proceeded to pour the teary-eyed Huxian a cup.
Elder brother, Mr. Mao Mao is so powerful! I was wrong, I’ll behave in the future. But… Mr. Mao Mao told me I had to kowtow every time I see him. Isn’t that going too far? Huxian looked very aggrieved, and all Cha Ming could do was pet and reassure him. The rules were made by the strong, after all.
An hour passed by in silence while Cha Ming focused on recuperating while sitting on his chair in front of the Angels and Devils board. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see that Elder Ling had silently entered and sat himself down on the opposite side of the table. Knowing Cha Ming’s habits, he had placed a central black stone on the board and responded with his one move using white stones. Cha Ming smiled as he continued the game.
“Teacher, did you just come back?” Cha Ming inquired.
“Only a half hour ago. I didn’t want to interrupt your recovery. You got a pretty nasty injury, so it’s a good thing luck was on your side. It seems you’ve used up quite a bit of your luck on this trip. Your rewards must have been staggering.” Elder Ling pondered for a moment and finally decided to place a white stone offensively.
“Teacher, what do you mean by using up most of my luck?”
The elder gave him a surprised look. “Oh, you didn’t know? Quick, take off your shirt!”
Cha Ming frowned but still complied with the request. While Elder Ling was very eccentric, everything he did had a purpose. Elder Ling guided him to a mirror, where Cha Ming noticed a tattoo between his shoulder blades. There was a character for “luck,” accompanied by the character “one.”
“This is a luck talisman from the late Good Fortune Sect. Back when they were still around, they used to make a few of them every year. To make them, however, they needed to infuse the talisman with a bit of their own good fortune, thereby decreasing it. Quite frankly, I have no idea how you lucked out so well and got one. They are basically extinct!
“Anyhow, the talisman usually has four uses. You had three when you left, so you must have used two instances of good luck on your little excursion.”
Cha Ming now realized that he’d obtained the talisman in the same shop where he got his rosary. “How did a sect that focused on good luck disappear?” he inquired.
“Well,” said Elder Ling, “that’s a bit of an unfortunate story. The sect existed for many thousands of years, and the main qualification of being a core disciple of the sect was to cultivate the sect’s Good Fortune cultivation technique. Anyone else in the sect could at most become an outer- or inner-sect disciple or an outer- or inner-sect elder.
“Now, in this sect, there was a golden rule: Everything that one did had to increase karmic merit. Their cultivation method relied on accumulating karmic merit, and as a result, their disciples were famous for traveling the continent, performing good deeds, and punishing sinful acts. A sect like this should have flourished for tens of thousands of years.
“Regrettably, their Grand Elder, who had established the sect, had been using the sect to increase his own karmic virtue in preparation for achieving immortality. When the time came to overcome his tribulation, he discovered that his accumulated luck was insufficient. Therefore, he overdrew the sect’s karmic merit reserve into a deficit to tackle his tribulation.
“Ultimately, he still failed. After he passed away, their sect patriarch attempted to recover their sect’s karmic merit reserve and erase the deficit. One day, however, an outer sect disciple caught a simple cold, which, by a freakish series of unfortunate events, mutated into an epidemic that wiped out their sect, not to mention half the population of the continent.”
Cha Ming shivered as he realized just how great of an effect karmic merit had. Those who went against the will of the heavens were punished, while those who supported the will of the heavens were rewarded.
They finished their game over the next two hours, while their two animal companions continued napping. Finally, Cha Ming got down to business and inquired about his recent discoveries in making talismans. He mentioned painting the heavens, as well as three-dimensional characters. Much to his surprise, Elder Ling became excited and started
an impromptu lesson.
“My boy, I was going to wait longer before teaching you this, but it looks like you’re already ready. And you haven’t yet broken through to the fifth level of qi condensation! Your progress leaves me envious.” He scratched his scraggly beard while thinking of how to proceed. Suddenly, his eyes brightened as he took out his own personal brush. It was a black brush, covered in runic engravings. He waved it around, and a two-dimensional image was projected.
“First things first, the brush. Mortal-grade talisman brushes are very dismal, and their only feature is improving the success rate of talisman crafting.”
A picture of a man appeared, holding a mundane brush. The man, surprisingly, was Cha Ming! He was sitting at his dormitory desk.
Has Elder Ling been spying on me? Cha Ming thought, aghast at the implications.
As if reading his thoughts, Elder Ling coughed lightly and waved his hand. Suddenly, the brush changed. This one was made with finer materials and had simple runic engravings.
“Magic-grade brushes can have some additional effects. They can be designed to accommodate several elements, and sometimes they can directly enhance the success rate of the craftsman by a whole level.” Elder Ling waved his hand once more, and this time the brush started shimmering.
“This is a core-grade brush. Brushes at this level no longer consume ink to craft talismans but directly use liquified elemental essence. Furthermore, any ink used on a failed talisman will not dissipate but will be recycled by the brush. Further, talismans can now be produced by painting the air. Some more complex talismans are actually three-dimensional and can be imbued into talisman paper after they are fully formed. Likewise, they can also be imbued into other objects.
“This rendition of you painting in your study is generated using the Dao of karma, time, and illusion. This stuff is way above your head, so I won’t even bother explaining it. Oh, and about that brush. You shouldn’t tell anyone else about its abilities. Something that’s at least a core-grade treasure but useable by a young man in the qi condensation stage would make people very jealous.”
Cha Ming bowed and thanked Elder Ling for the advice. He had once again dodged a bullet.
Before he left, Elder Ling gifted him a book containing instructions on crafting various mid-grade and high-grade talismans. He also gave Huxian a present, a silver collar. Huxian was originally going to refuse it because he disdained wearing something like a collar. He was finally convinced by the glaring Mr. Mao Mao, who was wearing a similar collar.
The collar instantly became a status symbol in Huxian’s eyes, and he quickly donned the collar. As soon as he equipped it, his fur turned red and white until he appeared no different than a normal fox. Cha Ming and Huxian left the little shack together, cheerfully discussing how impressive Mr. Mao Mao’s true form might be.
As they walked back to their dormitory, Cha Ming hummed in satisfaction as he walked down the gray stone street. Passing through the campus, he soaked in the wonderful architecture, the red, gold, and green leaves covered in white frost, and more importantly, the laughing voices of students in the academy.
That night, Cha Ming had a dream. The sounds of shattering ice resounded one last time as Cha Ming walked over a frozen puddle. Many more crackles livened up the cold, dark night as Huxian walked by his side. He knew it was a dream, yet he made sure to break every puddle as he wandered down the frozen clay road one last time. He would not be able to in the future. In the distance, the small house was burning as usual.
Knowing what to expect, Cha Ming and Huxian darted toward the house without any hesitation. Once again, he noticed that the fire was different than last time. The flames burned less intensely than before, likely due to the speed at which he and the baby fox arrived. Despite his knowledge of the situation, he quickly touched the doorknob with the back of his hand. To his surprise, it was hot, meaning that he could not get inside the house the way he normally did. This wasn’t a problem. On his signal, he and Huxian leapt up directly to the second floor, breaking a large window in the process.
In this room, he saw the family’s dog, which had passed out. He quickly instructed Huxian to grab the dog by the neck and drag him out as he ran down the hallway into the opposite room. This time, he didn’t have to rely on his sense of hearing. Using his strong eyesight, he quickly located the screaming child. The heat and smoke didn’t affect him; he quickly broke apart the bed trapping the child’s arm.
Just like last time, he was able to travel down the stairs and exit out the front door. He met up with Huxian and the collapsed dog. Both it and the child were breathing. The child’s mother quickly joined them and thanked them while crying. Her two other young children were also crying.
There was no need to enter the house a second time. He would never enter this house or this dream again.
Cha Ming woke up at dawn to the feeling of a wet tongue licking his cheek. Huxian was relaxing on his chest. Cha Ming smiled and pet his newfound friend for a good half hour while staring at the beautiful morning sky.
The dream was largely symbolic, but the perfect ending finally reminded Cha Ming of an undeniable truth: People were responsible proportionate to their means. He had not made the wrong choice the first or second time he had the dream since arriving at Green Leaf Academy. The first time, he was not strong enough in the dream, so he made the decision to save the child. The second time, he had enough power to try and save the dog, and that was enough. This last time, his strength and Huxian’s had finally reached a level where he could do both.
Having resolved the dream, he now knew that it was very important to raise his capacity to act. Without strength, he would never have the ability to choose. And he now had a good brother whom he could rely on. This was also part of his capacity, part of his strength.
Fate was a funny thing. Despite all the misfortunes that he had suffered during the school year, Cha Ming was laughing inside. The good fortune that he had received in return was incalculable. He was alive, he had Huxian, and his friends were healthy. He also had a bright future to look forward to, a limitless future full of choice and fulfillment.
His future was like a blank canvas. A pure, clear sky.
— End of Book 1 —
Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge some important individuals who helped me along the way. First off, I would like to acknowledge my wife and my parents—they made me who I am and let me know that I could do whatever I wanted in life, as long as I set my mind to it. My wife continues encourage me as I write, and pushes me when I find it difficult.
I'd also like to thank my two brothers and my sister, who were my closest friends growing up. We fought a lot, certainly, but it’s only when you move out that you realize how much they meant to you.
I couldn’t have done anything without the support of my friends. Not even one of my friends said I was wasting my time, and every one of them encouraged me. Dave and Usama deserve a special mention here. Dave is an avid reader in the genre, and his constant feedback on my manuscript caused me to rewrite many large pieces in my novel. It’s better that way. While Usama didn’t read my book or anything, his departure from the company we worked at to start his own business inspired me to begin writing.
Many thanks to Crystal Watanabe for her excellent support while editing my novel. As a fledgling author, I know her expertise and feedback has made me a better author. Thank you, Petros Stefanidis, for the excellent cover artwork. Finally, thank you, Tinalyngue, author of Blue Phoenix, for providing ongoing coaching and answering my many questions. Your help was priceless and encouraged me to move forward in the early stages of writing this book.
Note to Readers
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If you enjoy litRPG and xianxia, make sure to check out Endless Online, as well as Silver Fox & the Western Hero. Both are written by M. H. Johnson. The first is a fantastic blend of sword, sorcery, and science fiction. The second is a xianxia novel with a litRPG twist.
If you’re interested in joining a community of likeminded readers, I suggest the following Facebook groups:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/WesternWuxia/
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About Me
Nothing is more satisfying than that moment when a novel takes your heart and heals it. You walked into the book wanting an escape from reality. You found something that broke and remade you.
That's what I look for when I read. It's also what I strive for when I write. Every piece of my life is something I weave into my stories, trying to take you and my characters beyond just another cultivation or fantasy novel and into something that touches your heart and soul.
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