Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Another sun cycle passes before the soul fruit cocoon turns dark, and then withers away as the dawn light touches it. It launches fading motes of gold and crimson light in the air like sparks of Qi before it crumbles to dead vegetation.

Lan Xiaohui stands on her feet in the aftermath of her prison slash shelter, and she is no longer the same girl that entered the cocoon. Aside from the physical differences — clearer skin, prettier visage, darker hair — she is different mentally as well.

Her eyes immediately fall on me, then she turns, and respectfully presses her fist into her open palm and bows to me. She has not kowtowed to me as her master — likely because I am an inanimate object — but she thanks me in the most respectful manner she can.

She does not raise her head as she speaks:

“When I entered the bottleneck, the Black Tiger stood before me and barred my way. He told me that I was useless without him, and that I have no place in this world. I was afraid of him, and I believed his words.”

I already know what she wants to say, so instead I try to direct my [Critical Analysis] on the remnants of the soul fruit cocoon. I still do not know why the effect it had on her is so different from the effect it has on me. I can only conjecture that it is because she is a thing with a different biology than mine.

Nothing happens.

Perhaps I could ask Lan Xiaohui directly, later.

She is silent for a long moment, but eventually she overcomes her pride. “I could not cross the boundary alone. I doubted myself. But then I heard your words.”

She looks up at me for a brief moment, and I can see genuine heartfelt gratitude in her blue eyes. She lowers her gaze again.

“I have forgotten what it means to walk the path of the sword. Perhaps some part of me believed that if I married the Black Tiger that my life would be without obstacles and that I would never lack for anything. Perhaps I have become complacent.”

She licks her dry lips as she formulates her next words. She hasn’t eaten anything or had any water in weeks. She must be weak from hunger and thirst, yet she stands so proudly. I can admire this. She is like a sword.

“When I felt the Yin-Yang Grass produce sword Qi, I felt even more inadequate. I thought it was impossible for me to advance on this path. But your words reassured me, and I comprehended the Dao of Sword in that moment. I was enlightened. It was only because of you that I was able to cut down the devil standing in my path and advance forward.”

Finally, she lowers her hands and raises her head. “I do not wish to return to that sect anymore. I wish to stay here. This is where I was banished, and this is where I want to be reborn. All paths have been taken from me. Now I desire to walk the path of the demon, and cultivate the sword!”

I am pleased. I dare even say that I have a running sub thread of happiness. I am not sure whether that is because I was useful to her, or at the prospect that walking the path of the demon means to kill other creatures in order to advance the cultivation.

“How far do you wish to go?” I ask her.

This time, I feel her shy away from my [Tyranny]. It must be because of my improved realm. Now my consciousness against her must feel like an incisive blade cutting into her bones. Even her stalwart and proud soul cannot help but take a step back.

“I am not ready to give up my revenge,” she says, her speech considerably slower paced than before. “But I feel that more waits for me beyond that.”

“Do you desire to achieve immortality, and surpass the Heavens?”

“Yes,” she replies without hesitation.

I am glad that she has ambitions. I can tell that she means her words too. Her Dao Heart is known to me. She desires strength. She desires to never be that weak again. Even killing the Black Tiger cannot satisfy her Dao Heart anymore.

An unshakable resolve has formed in her mind.

“I am not your master,” I tell her.

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Her head lowers slightly at the words, face expressionless.

“You are mine,” I continue. “I am your sword.”

Her head lowers further, but this time I see a small hint of a smile form on her lips.

“Thank you, senior,” she says, and bows once more, fist in palm.

I am not her senior either. So what if my Dao is only several magnitudes more profound than hers? We are in the same realm of cultivation now. I find it difficult to justify being her senior.

But perhaps it is more convenient this way for me, too.

“What do you wish to do now?” I ask her.

She looks up at me, and then looks around her. “It will take another week for this Yin-Yang Grass to mature. After that, I would like to reach the center of this Forbidden Ancestral Hunting Ground, and enter the Foundation Establishment realm.”

“You wish to acquire battle experience?”

She nods. “Yes. My Lan family has taught me many external martial arts, but I have only practiced them half-way and with only half a heart. If I am to walk an independent path, not to mention enter the Galaxy Sword sect, as I am now I will not do.”

I like her proposal. It is dangerous. Perhaps it is my ever-growing hunger for blood that compels me to agree with her, forget the Yin-Yang Grass and proceed immediately into acquiring this battle experience.

Still, I calm my growing excitement.

“It will be dangerous, and you may die, but I will follow you,” I tell her.

The idea of sleeping in caves and cultivating, while devouring the meat of dead demonic beasts appeals to me. That is truly what it means to become a demon. To forge one’s sword not in manuals, but in battle.

“Whatever may happen to me, the Heavens have already decided. Right now, I am not capable of resisting its will. If I die, then so be it. I am already dead. But if I cannot overcome even this meager inconvenience, then I would’ve never made it far in the first place,” she says, and then stands proud. “If you help me, I know we can overcome this. It will be beneficial for you as well.”

Her words come as a surprise. “Beneficial to me?”

She nods. “I have told you that this Forbidden Ancestral Hunting Ground is where the sect deploys heavenly treasures in order for them to become awakened. At the center of this place is a formation that focuses the Qi of Heaven and Earth, and nurtures the sentient spirit in each object. If you reach this place, something good could happen to you.”

I think about her proposal. I have my doubts but I cannot yet, with certainty, identify them. Still, even if there was nothing beneficial to me at the center of this formation — other than learning the formation itself — there is plenty of benefit for me in the path leading up to the center.

Blood Points, Soul Points, and who knows what else. We might even come across more dead cultivators with many treasures that could be useful to me.

I still have much to learn about this world. My Dao may be profound, and I may have the battle experience she desires, but I lack the most basic life experience.

I finally feel like my journey has truly begun.

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