Chapter 29: Chapter 29

I underestimated Lan Xiaohui. The way she spoke of her history made me think of someone who planned on having an easy life. However, the way she wields me and uses techniques she had just learned depicts her background in a different light. I am sure, once upon a time, she took great pride in the attainment of her martial arts.

Cultivators and demonic beasts are not equal, at the same Qi cultivation level. Demonic beasts prioritized cultivating their bodies, but cultivators had an advantage that demonic beasts could never possess: martial arts.

It is natural that the most intelligent creature that can leverage Qi in a proper manner would become the apex predator. Though it is still unlikely that a cultivator, even with martial arts, can overcome the realm boundary.

For a normal cultivator, at least.

Lan Xiaohui still has the attainment of someone who was once in the Foundation Establishment realm. That experience and knowledge does not simply disappear. And it is clear to me now that she had spent her years practicing martial arts. She wasn’t a useless wall ornament, even with the prospect of marrying the heir of a sect.

Would it be enough to defeat a demonic beast in the Foundation Establishment realm? Unlikely. But at the very least, I no longer have to worry that my legs will roll over and die if they run into such a demonic beast.

With one motion, she killed a demonic beast that surely had a profound body cultivation, and was in the later stages of her own Qi realm. Whether it was because of profound martial arts training, or great battle talent — or both — it still took only one strike. More than that, the energy she produced by injecting her Qi through me was pure and powerful, and it even contained traces of sword Qi.

As a weapon, I am certain that what designates me as a Divine grade Heavenly Treasure has to do with my conductivity. In order for cultivators to practice higher level martial arts, they need to input their own Qi into a medium — a sword, in my case — and how much of this energy the medium can store and release is limited by its conductivity.

At least that is my working theory so far. Perhaps if I learned some Forging, I would be able to deduce more.

The trek along the river is mostly uneventful. We do not come across any demonic beasts, nor any more resources. It makes sense in some ways. Demonic beasts also need to eat and drink, and a river is a popular hotspot. It makes sense that the resources here have been depleted, and it makes sense that we do not come across any, because if demonic beasts cultivate, then they need to eat and drink only once a week.

Eventually, Lan Xiaohui turns away from the river, and heads deeper into the forest. The ground becomes more uneven, it is strewn with large rocks and then, later, boulders. By the time the sun begins to set, she is walking through a hilly region that terminates in a sheer, tall cliff.

This place is both distant from the river and the forest. There are no resources here, except for the occasional berry bush or plant.

It doesn’t take long for us to find one of these caves she had mentioned. Its entrance is wide, but narrows into a shaft that is wide enough for two or three people to pass through side by side. It takes me but one glance to realize that this cave was not formed by natural processes but has likely been created by a cultivator in the past.

The shaft terminates in a large, oval chamber.

Lan Xiaohui chuckles. “One would think that with all the stories, every cave would contain hidden treasure of inconceivable origin, or abundant Qi,” she says, sitting down in the center of the chamber. “But this one has neither.”

Here, her voice echoes slightly and sounds a bit deeper.

She deposits me across her lap and stares at me, her thumb idly follows the contours of the four words inscribed on my black jade.

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“I had hoped that the formation that focuses the Qi in this place would not be able to affect the dragon veins, but it seems I was wrong.”

I release my sea of consciousness and allow it to penetrate through the walls. I am curious if this place even has such a thing as dragon veins.

All I sense is rocks, at first, but deeper inside the walls, I do sense ores with abundant spiritual energy of various types. It is unlikely that I can extract them with my internal storage, but it might be worth trying.

“I will rest here tonight, and then continue onwards tomorrow,” she says, and lies down on her side. “I feel like I am at the brink of understanding something important. When I killed that wolf today, I felt it.”

The way she speaks is different from before. She is always refined and elegant, and there is never a doubt in her convictions. But this time, I can tell that there is a lot of doubt.

“When I kill the Black Tiger,” — when, not if, — “I truly won’t be able to walk the same path as the others. All my friends and family will join sects, but as a demonic cultivator, all I will have is myself and you to rely on.”

I am not aware of the world beyond this forest, or even beyond my perception radius. I do not understand the politics or the hierarchies of the civilized world — if there even is one. But it seems obvious to me that sects did not always exist, and that someone created them. Did that someone not initially walk this demonic path, too?

Also what benefit can a sect offer that the path of a lonely sword cannot? Camaraderie? There is no need for such. Manuals? I have those.

“That is all you need,” I tell her. It is also the truth. One who seeks the path of immortality ultimately does so for themselves. Unless it is to use them and discard them when they are no longer useful, one does not need others.

Perhaps this comes from her mammal nature, and her need for community and socializing. I do not have such concerns.

Lan Xiaohui looks thoughtful, as if she has more to say, but I can all but read her surface thoughts with my improved consciousness. Regrets will be plentiful, that is a given. But they cannot erode the Dao Heart.

I allow my Essence to exert its force through my body, and to diffuse through my Heavenly Jade Core. Within the principles of the [Heartless Blood Lily], I channel this energy through my vessel and produce a faint sword energy that contains my sword Qi. These sparkles of black and red, glimmering white and gold, infuse the air and hover towards the ceiling where it glimmers like a blood red night sky.

Lan Xiaohui stares at this sword energy, her eyes wide and attentive. She understands my meaning and what I desire from her. Before she falls asleep, she attempts to produce the same kind of sword energy, with the same kind of sword Qi, and though she falls short, she makes good progress.

This expenditure of energy is not just to reassure Lan Xiaohui, but also part of an experiment that I have been meaning to perform for a long time.

If I can gain physical access to my arrays, via my sword Qi, then there is no telling how much I could optimize my existence.

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