Five days later.
Inside the sealed quiet room, countless streams of spiritual energy pressed together, filling the entire chamber without leaving the slightest gap. Yet a vortex had formed at the center, twisting the surrounding spiritual energy into long ropes that revolved around it in ring after ring before finally converging and pouring straight into its core.
At the center of the vortex, a handsome young cultivator sat upon a meditation cushion.
His legs were crossed, his hands rested on his knees, and his fingers formed an unusual hand seal.
Above the aperture at the crown of the youth’s head, the descending spiritual energy resembled a long dragon, surging downward in a furious rush until it was almost tangible.
Faint green light glimmered between his brows, while his dantian gave off a subtle warmth. If someone looked closely, they would even see his entire body enveloped in a hazy glow, as though wrapped in white mist, giving him the ethereal and transcendent air of an immortal.
After a long while, the spiritual energy suddenly began moving faster, and the young man’s brows drew together slightly.
All at once, there was an explosive sound!
The youth’s limbs trembled faintly, and his eyes snapped open.
Huff! He breathed out a cloud of green qi, then drew it back into his body.
Green radiance gathered within the youth’s eyes, his expression solemn. Only after his ten fingers formed several hand seals did he give a soft shout and completely draw in the aura around his body.
At that moment, the youth’s entire bearing became gentle and peaceful, as though he had descended from the immortal realm into the mortal world in an instant, leaving others instinctively at ease around him.
The strange green radiance in his eyes, around his body, and at his dantian slowly faded away as well.
“At last, I’ve made some modest progress.” Xu Ziqing smiled softly.
During these days of meditation, he had immersed himself completely in the battle he and Su Xin had fought against the Blood Demon. Whether it was Su Xin or the Blood Demon, Xu Ziqing had broken down every one of their movements countless times and reenacted them in his mind just as many times.
Through this tireless repetition, Xu Ziqing not only memorized the path of Su Xin’s sword strikes but also finally began to see clearly how the Blood Demon had laid down his formation.
Naturally, Xu Ziqing had no intention of learning a cruel and vicious wicked-demonic formation such as the Corpse-Demon Bone-Eroding Formation. Instead, he wanted to infer something of the cultivation methods used by higher-level cultivators from the Blood Demon’s formation techniques.
At the time, the Blood Demon had been borrowing Jiao Tu’s body, so the cultivation he could exert was quite weak, but his realm and comprehension remained. Those profound techniques were mesmerizing once one began to study them closely.
Besides that, Xu Ziqing had also resolved a hidden danger.
Because the Corpse-Demon Bone-Eroding Formation had been so troublesome, Xu Ziqing had released the Bloodthirsty Demon Vine to break it. The vine had devoured all the blood mist within the formation, causing the formation to collapse.
Yet although the demon vine had been successfully subdued through the Essence of Yi Wood and had become the foundation through which Xu Ziqing commanded myriad woods, its nature remained unruly and bloodthirsty. Even if it submitted to him in its heart, its vicious instincts were still too strong, and a moment of carelessness could cause an instinctive backlash.
Xu Ziqing’s current cultivation was not yet enough to completely suppress the demon vine, so in the past he had never allowed it to freely devour flesh and blood. That time, however, necessity had forced his hand. He lifted the restriction, and the demon vine seized the chance to gorge itself.
The blood mist within the formation had all been formed from human blood. Those Southerners had died unjustly, so their blood carried extraordinarily powerful resentment, rage, grievance, and hatred.
Those negative emotions were excellent nourishment for increasing the Blood Demon’s formation power and were equally delicious to the demon vine. Yet after Xu Ziqing entered meditation and first touched the vine’s consciousness to communicate with it, those emotions surged back at him and nearly eroded his mind.
Fortunately, Xu Ziqing had few worldly attachments or cravings, and his temperament was gentle and benevolent, so his Dao heart was fairly firm. The sudden impact of those negative emotions did shake him, but he quickly stabilized himself. He immediately absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and circulated The Great Art of Myriad Woods Heart-Planting to soothe the demon vine, awakening it from its instincts until it became obedient once more.
Only then did Xu Ziqing and the demon vine work together to slowly dissolve the resentment and fury of those dead Southerners. In the process, Xu Ziqing’s own state of mind became clearer as well.
Xu Ziqing felt somewhat fortunate. He had deliberately intended to stabilize his newly reached eighth layer of Qi Refinement, which was why he circulated the cultivation art and took the initiative to make contact with the demon vine. Otherwise, if the demon vine’s consciousness had suddenly reached its limit and erupted during some future breakthrough or deep meditation, even if it did not drive him into qi deviation, he would surely have suffered greatly.
Xu Ziqing ended his cultivation and rose to his feet.
As he stood, the spiritual energy throughout the room seemed to lose its pull and abruptly dispersed.
Leaving the quiet room, Xu Ziqing waved away the restriction and saw that a small courtyard had been arranged outside.
Qingfeng was sweeping the courtyard, while Miaoyue, living up to the cleverness suggested by her name, had shown some ingenuity of her own. She had fenced off several small flowerbeds and planted a few fragrant flowering shrubs within them, making the courtyard look pleasantly full of spiritual vitality.
The moment Xu Ziqing appeared, the two sensed him, stopped what they were doing, and came forward to pay their respects.
Miaoyue was quick-witted and attentive. “Immortal Master Xu, would you like your meal now?”
Xu Ziqing paused slightly. He was indeed hungry and had originally intended to give Qingfeng some gold or jade so he could purchase ingredients. He had not expected Miaoyue to ask this instead.
Seeing his reaction, Qingfeng hurriedly explained, “Immortal Master holds a first-class token and is an honored guest. The Alliance is pleased to provide hospitality, so you need not personally concern yourself with matters such as food and lodging.”
As it turned out, among the Outer Alliance, rogue cultivators who received third-class tokens were given guest lodging, those with second-class tokens were also provided servants, and those with first-class tokens received both of those benefits as well as their daily meals from the Rogue Cultivator Alliance.
Xu Ziqing was still far from the stage where he could go without food, so meals naturally remained a regular expense. Now that Su Xin had secured a first-class token for him, it saved him a great deal of trouble. Thinking of this, Xu Ziqing gained a slightly different impression of that seemingly willful youth. Su Xin might be reckless, but he was not lacking in thoughtfulness or care.
Xu Ziqing nodded and smiled. “I am hungry. Please serve the meal.”
Miaoyue and Qingfeng exchanged smiles. Qingfeng immediately carried over a stone table, the muscles in his arms standing out prominently, showing that he possessed considerable strength. Miaoyue hurried around to the side room, where a small kitchen had been set up. Since neither knew when their new master would emerge from seclusion, they had prepared food in advance and kept it warm at all times, not daring to be negligent.
Before long, the meal was served.
Cultivators ate from jade vessels, and their food likewise needed to contain spiritual energy. Xu Ziqing glanced over the table and saw three white-jade plates, two vegetarian dishes and one meat dish.
One plate held spiritual melon and another spiritual vegetables. The meat dish was a beast leg, and judging from the spiritual energy within it, it had actually come from a first-rank demon beast. The staple was a bowl of spiritual grain, its spirit rice fine, white, crystalline, and distinct grain by grain, with spiritual energy contained within. Even a brief scent carried a fresh fragrance.
Xu Ziqing could not help thinking that the Rogue Cultivator Alliance had truly put thought into its hospitality.
Miaoyue secretly watched her new master’s expression, afraid that inadequate service might cause her to be driven down the mountain. When she had first been chosen as a maid for Spirit Aperture Mountain, many of her companions had envied her. If she were now expelled after being reprimanded, she had no idea what kind of laughingstock she would become.
Xu Ziqing knew nothing of the maid’s worries. He simply picked up his bowl and began eating at an unhurried pace.
In both his previous life and this one, he had been born into a wealthy household. There was order to the way he sat, stood, moved, and rested, and every gesture was naturally graceful without losing the slightest composure.
Watching from the side, Miaoyue and Qingfeng privately admired him and grew even more respectful.
The atmosphere remained quiet. Xu Ziqing ate without speaking. Before long, he finished, set down his bowl and chopsticks, and let Miaoyue clear away the dishes.
Xu Ziqing then asked, “Has anything happened during the past few days?”
Qingfeng hurriedly replied, “Reporting to Immortal Master Xu, someone did come looking for you.”
Xu Ziqing paused. “Who?”
Qingfeng answered respectfully, “The Young Alliance Master.”
Perhaps because of this, Qingfeng and Miaoyue had become even more careful while serving Xu Ziqing. They had been in the Rogue Cultivator Alliance for a long time, so naturally they knew Su Xin and knew that he was famously difficult to handle, with an exceptionally proud and headstrong nature. Yet such a person had not only come personally to visit Xu Ziqing, but upon hearing that he was in seclusion, had immediately left and merely instructed the two servants to take meticulous care of him. How could they not redouble their attentiveness after seeing that?
Xu Ziqing thought for a moment. “When did Fellow Daoist Su come?”
Qingfeng said, “Yesterday.”
Hearing this, Xu Ziqing understood.
He had been in seclusion for several days. Su Xin’s cultivation was slightly lower than his, so it made sense that Su Xin had emerged a little earlier. Still, he had indeed kept his word and had not forgotten their agreement.
Xu Ziqing took out the red message jade sword and activated it with a tap. The jade sword transformed into a streak of crimson light and shot through the air, disappearing from sight in an instant.
After doing this, he sat on a stone stool and calmly waited for Su Xin to arrive.
Sure enough, less than half a ke later, a fiery-red glow appeared in the distance like a shooting star and rushed straight toward them. In the blink of an eye, it landed nearby and transformed into a beautiful young man in wide robes and broad sleeves, his eyes bright and his bearing spirited.
The youth put away his flying sword, looking exuberant. “Fellow Daoist Xu, you came out of seclusion one day later than I did. What did you gain?”
Xu Ziqing smiled faintly. “I broke through a minor barrier or two. From what I can see, Fellow Daoist has gained a great deal as well.”
Su Xin was characteristically direct and sat down across from Xu Ziqing at once.
Xu Ziqing lightly flicked his sleeve. Miaoyue and Qingfeng understood immediately and quickly brought fragrant tea.
Su Xin took a sip and smiled. “Like you, I advanced by one layer. I’m now at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement. I also opened several more acupoints afterward, so I probably won’t be far from another step forward.”
He was extremely happy, his face flushed and his already striking features appearing even more beautiful.
Xu Ziqing found the sight pleasing and smiled as well. “Then congratulations, Fellow Daoist.”
Su Xin continued, “Besides that, I also sensed a few things that were profound and difficult to explain. I don’t know how to put them into words.”
Xu Ziqing thought for a moment. “Insights born from seeing the Blood Demon’s methods?”
Su Xin clapped his hands. “Exactly! Could it be that Fellow Daoist Xu had them too?”
Xu Ziqing nodded slightly. “The Blood Demon’s realm was several major stages above ours. It is only natural that we cannot understand everything yet. We should record those impressions first and contemplate them again once our realms are higher.”
Su Xin agreed.
The two went back and forth, comparing what each had understood from the battle with the Blood Demon and filling in one another’s gaps.
Roughly four hours passed. No one knew how many times the tea had been replaced before they finally exhausted everything they had to say. After comparing their insights, both felt their spiritual power had become more consolidated, and they had also discovered many mistakes and omissions in their own understanding. Compared with the somewhat ungrounded feeling of contemplating alone, their insights now felt much more solid.
The two looked at one another, smiled, and stopped at the same time.
Su Xin closed his eyes and contemplated for a while. When he opened them again, his expression had become slightly strange. “Fellow Daoist Xu, I came to see you this time not only to compare what we gained in seclusion. There is actually one other matter.”
Xu Ziqing looked surprised. “What matter?” He smiled. “Fellow Daoist Su, please speak freely.”
Su Xin coughed softly. “It concerns the Blood Demon’s physical body.”
Xu Ziqing froze.
Su Xin continued, “In the Kingdom of Chenghuang, you and I used a diversion to obtain the Blood Demon’s physical body.” At this point he looked a little embarrassed. “After everything was over, I was so focused on inviting Fellow Daoist to the Rogue Cultivator Alliance that I completely forgot about it.”
“After I left seclusion yesterday, Master summoned me and asked about the demon-slaying affair. I told him everything truthfully, and only after he reminded me did I remember.”
It was indeed so. Su Xin was not the only one who had forgotten. Xu Ziqing had forgotten as well.
At the time, after locating the Blood Demon’s body, Xu Ziqing had placed it inside his storage ring and severed its connection to the Blood Demon, preventing the demon from easily summoning it back unless he first got rid of Xu Ziqing.
Afterward came the fierce battle with the Blood Demon. Once the Blood Demon’s primordial spirit had been destroyed, Xu Ziqing relaxed enormously, and his state of mind loosened with it. Then Su Xin invited him into the Rogue Cultivator Alliance. With one thing after another, he had somehow forgotten all about the body.
Thinking of this, Xu Ziqing’s expression became slightly peculiar.
After they found the Blood Demon’s body, his friend Yun Lie had found it so filthy that he preferred staying outside rather than entering the storage ring. Yet after the battle, Yun Lie erased part of Su Xin’s memory and then returned to the storage ring himself… Looking back now, could Brother Yun also have forgotten that the Blood Demon’s body was still inside?
If that truly was the case…
Amusement rose in Xu Ziqing’s heart, but he restrained it and secretly resolved that he would absolutely never mention the matter to Yun Lie.
He composed himself and said, “The Blood Demon’s body is still with me. If Fellow Daoist Su wishes to see it, I can take it out.”
Su Xin had been worried that Xu Ziqing might somehow have lost the body, so hearing that it was still there eased his mind. “It’s not that I want to see it. Master is afraid I may have lied and wants to inspect it with his own eyes before he’ll believe me.”
Xu Ziqing understood. “The Alliance Master is worried about you. That is only natural. I will give you the body, then. Consider it my entry gift to the Alliance.”
Su Xin was delighted. “Excellent! Master will definitely be pleased!”
Xu Ziqing said no more. With a light sweep of his sleeve, he placed the physical body on an open patch of ground nearby.
The instant the Blood Demon’s body appeared, a powerful stench of blood swept outward.
At the same time, a suffocating pressure spread across the rocky platform, alarming enough to make breathing difficult.
The body was still withered like a skeleton, its sinews starkly visible. A thin layer of flesh clung to the bones, making it look like a flayed corpse.
Its seven facial openings were present, but the features had lost all proper shape, and there was not a single hair on its body. The sight was enough to make one’s heart seize.
This was Su Xin’s first time seeing the Blood Demon’s physical body. Caught completely unprepared, his eyes widened. He immediately covered his mouth and nose, nearly retching. The grotesque thing was simply too disgusting.
Unwilling to look any longer, he raised a hand and produced a storage pouch, directly taking the Blood Demon’s body inside. The oppressive atmosphere immediately cleared. Su Xin pinched the silk cord of the storage pouch between two fingers with obvious disgust, then tossed it far away onto the table.
Seeing this, Xu Ziqing could not help laughing softly.
Su Xin came back to himself. Seeing Xu Ziqing trying not to laugh, he looked slightly embarrassed. “Fellow Daoist Xu, forgive the spectacle.”
Xu Ziqing shook his head with a smile. “Fellow Daoist Su has a straightforward heart. The Blood Demon’s physical body truly is… difficult to stomach. When I first saw it, I found it hard to bear as well.”
Hearing this made Su Xin feel considerably better. He had never cared much for socializing, yet speaking with Xu Ziqing felt like being refreshed by a spring breeze, and he could not help growing fonder of him. He therefore spoke directly. “Fellow Daoist Xu, we have known each other for only a few days, but I feel we get along exceptionally well. May I call you ‘Brother Ziqing’?”
Xu Ziqing also appreciated Su Xin’s clear distinction between love and hate and naturally did not refuse. “It would be my honor. Fellow Daoist Su, please do as you like.”
Su Xin waved a hand. “Brother Ziqing, everything about you is good except that you’re far too modest and formal. That may be necessary with outsiders, but there’s no need with me. If I call you Brother Ziqing, and you’re two years older than I am anyway, then just call me ‘A-Xin’ or your ‘younger brother.’”
Xu Ziqing smiled. “A-Xin, my younger brother.”
The two smiled at each other again, both in a good mood.
Su Xin sat with Xu Ziqing for a while longer, then pushed back his seat and rose. “Brother Ziqing, Master is still waiting for me to bring him the Blood Demon’s body, so I’ll go first.”
Xu Ziqing also stood to see him off. “Go ahead, A-Xin. Your elder brother won’t escort you farther.”
The two said their farewells. A flying sword shot out behind Su Xin, and he leapt lightly onto it with both feet. He cupped his hands toward Xu Ziqing once more, shifted his weight, and vanished from sight on the flying sword.
Xu Ziqing turned around with a smile still at the corners of his lips.
Qingfeng and Miaoyue stood respectfully nearby.
Xu Ziqing instructed them, “I’m going down the mountain. I don’t know when I’ll return. You two need only look after the residence.”
The two immediately answered, “Understood.”
With a thought, Xu Ziqing formed two emerald leaves beneath his feet and floated gracefully down the mountain.
* * *
Now that he had joined the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, he naturally needed to follow its rules.
Xu Ziqing had heard Su Xin explain that members of the Outer Alliance could exchange resources they did not need for contribution points, then use those points to obtain resources they did need. It was extremely convenient.
Thinking back over everything that had happened since he left the secret realm, Xu Ziqing increasingly felt that his cultivation was still shallow and that he had many shortcomings. The Great Art of Myriad Woods Heart-Planting was extraordinarily profound, but its requirements were equally demanding.
Xu Ziqing made a rough calculation. In the secret realm, he had taken the demon vine as his life-bound wood and acquired more than ten kinds of subordinate woods, but that was still too few. The demon vine was powerful, yet because its instincts were difficult to control, he could not use it casually, which left him with too few methods in battle. Secondary woods were far too important for him to choose rashly while still in Qi Refinement, so for now he needed to select several more subordinate woods and cultivate them carefully.
He then considered his present wealth.
Because he had spent five full years in the secret realm, and because the fine spiritual herbs in the grotto-heaven beneath the lake were far more numerous than those outside it, his storage ring now held no fewer than several thousand spiritual herbs. Nearly a thousand were of excellent quality, while another two or three thousand were only slightly inferior.
The Bloodthirsty Demon Vine had also required flesh and blood ever since it sprouted. Xu Ziqing had taken it hunting demon beasts and wild beasts every day, leaving him with seven or eight hundred demon-beast inner cores and around fifteen or sixteen hundred beast hides of various kinds.
By that reckoning, he was fairly wealthy. He could not take everything out at once, however. After some thought, Xu Ziqing decided to make a trip to the Trading Hall first.