Chapter Eight: The Spiritual Jade

In the dim mountain valley, Qi Fei silently walked to the wooden hut and took some spring water to wipe the blood from his face. The tragic fate of the Blood Shadow Lord in years past stirred deep emotions within him. The young man felt a sense of confusion in his heart, uncertain whether embarking on the path of cultivation would prove a blessing or a curse.

The Blood Shadow Lord, having calmed his turbulent spirit, turned and asked, “Qi Fei, now that you know the hidden past of your master, can you guess why I changed my mind, spared your life, and even took you as my disciple?”

Qi Fei was intelligent and thoughtful. He wondered if the Blood Shadow Lord had spared him and accepted him as a disciple to use him for vengeance. Yet the master himself had admitted that the Xuanxin Sword Sect was one of the most powerful martial sects in the world, and Qi Fei had only just managed to cultivate genuine martial energy. To oppose such a force would be nothing short of courting death. Besides, though the Blood Shadow Lord had taught him the ways of martial cultivation, it was only after plotting against him with poison and malice. Sympathy aside, why should he risk his life for this cunning demon against a mighty sect like Xuanxin Sword Sect?

After weighing his options, Qi Fei made up his mind. For now, he would go along with the Blood Shadow Lord’s wishes; to provoke this vengeful master would likely cost him his life. Later, when the chance presented itself, he would flee far away, putting as much distance as possible between himself and this dangerous figure.

“Master, do you wish for your disciple to avenge you in the future?”

The Blood Shadow Lord slowly nodded. “Indeed, that is my intention.”

Qi Fei inwardly cursed him for his foolishness. With his mediocre talent, barely able to cultivate genuine martial energy, how could he ever hope to defeat the Grandmaster of Xuanxin Sword Sect? Who knew how many years, or lifetimes, that would take?

“Though your disciple wishes to avenge your wrongs, I have only just begun to cultivate martial energy. I fear I am far from being a match for the sect master of Xuanxin Sword Sect...”

The Blood Shadow Lord replied gravely, “That is not for you to worry about. I have my own plans. But you, little one—after all that I have done to you, you show not a trace of resentment, and still offer me the utmost respect. Clearly, you mean to fool me, to slip past my guard.”

Qi Fei’s heart trembled, but he put on an innocent face.

The Blood Shadow Lord let out a long sigh and shook his head. “Ah, cunning as a fox, pretending to be an obedient fool. Do you really take me for a doddering old man? Very well. I admit that I once planned to use you against the Hundred Ghost Daoist, but in the end, I suffered for my own scheming. My time is nearly up, and I have no other choice. Qi Fei, I am willing to impart all my knowledge to you without reservation, in the hope that you will not break your promise when the time comes.”

Qi Fei silently acknowledged that his own tricks were useless before such an old fox. Remembering the terrifying sight of the Blood Shadow Lord’s corpse-poison outbreak, he shuddered, realizing that the master’s claim of impending death was no mere idle talk.

Since the Blood Shadow Lord had openly declared he would do him no further harm and wished to pass on all his skills, Qi Fei thought that, should he one day attain great power, it would not be unreasonable to deal with the sinister master of Xuanxin Sword Sect on his behalf.

Seeing no trace of falsehood in the Blood Shadow Lord’s expression, Qi Fei solemnly declared, “I, Qi Fei, swear before the heavens: if Master means me no harm and sincerely teaches me the ways of cultivation, then when I have achieved mastery, even at the cost of my life, I shall strike down that villain Luo Yunxiang for you.”

A faint look of comfort crossed the Blood Shadow Lord’s face as he continued, “Your talent is mediocre, and you have only just set foot on the path of cultivation. By ordinary means, even a hundred years of bitter effort would not make you a match for Luo Yunxiang. The reason I entrust this vengeance to you is that I possess a spiritual treasure of great power, which can transform you utterly and turn fate itself.”

Qi Fei wondered, could such fortune truly exist in this world? If this treasure was so miraculous, why had the Blood Shadow Lord not used it on himself?

Sensing his doubt, the Blood Shadow Lord explained, “Years ago, my dantian was destroyed and my cultivation lost. Without a stroke of luck, how could I have escaped the Xuanxin Sword Sect and gained the skills I have today?”

Qi Fei asked hesitantly, “If this spiritual treasure is so powerful, why do you still say your end is near? Can it not save you from this calamity?”

The Blood Shadow Lord gave a mournful smile. “It’s too late. Over these years, the treasure’s power healed my meridians, but when my dantian was destroyed, hidden injuries were left throughout my body. I once tried to use you against the Hundred Ghost Daoist, lending you my remaining true energy to help you cultivate. In the end, my scheming rebounded on me; forcing my qi caused the corpse poison to erupt. Now, the chill of the poison has invaded all my meridians. Not even the spiritual jade, nor the greatest of immortals, could save me.”

Qi Fei was about to offer some words of comfort when he saw the Blood Shadow Lord stretch out his withered hand. A faint gleam of light flashed, and in the next instant, a crystal-clear jade appeared in the master’s palm.

Was this the spiritual jade of which he spoke? Curiosity flared within Qi Fei. When the master held out his hand, he couldn’t help reaching out to touch the stone. Suddenly, the jade transformed into a stream of light, darting along Qi Fei’s finger and vanishing into his body.

A piercing cold shot through his fingertip, and the next moment, the jade had dissolved into a flow of icy energy, surging through his meridians.

With the loss of the jade, the Blood Shadow Lord’s face turned ashen. “As there are gentle breezes and raging storms, so too are there differences in talent among cultivators, and countless cultivation methods. The souls and spirits one cultivates also vary in grade. Even the most gifted must temper their souls through the use of spiritual treasures or the inner cores of ancient beasts to achieve true mastery.”

Qi Fei was both delighted and alarmed. Though he now possessed a treasure capable of refining his soul and spirit, he could not control the surging cold within him.

The Blood Shadow Lord continued, “After my clan was destroyed, I lost my mind and rashly attacked the Xuanxin Sword Sect. My master gave his life to save me. Before he died, he taught me the sect’s supreme art, reserved for the sect master alone. To seize this art, Luo Yunxiang crippled my cultivation and imprisoned me in the sect’s icy dungeon. I was in utter despair, when fate granted me this spiritual jade.”

“This jade was nourished by the energies of heaven and earth. In the future, once you have cultivated your soul and spirit, you need only draw it into your dantian or spiritual platform, and it will refine them for you, transforming your very being. It once healed my ruined meridians and allowed me to escape Xuanxin Sword Sect after attaining a spiritual soul. Afterward, to avenge my blood feud, I joined the sect’s mortal enemy, the Heart Demon Sect.”

The spiritual jade was truly marvelous. The cold within Qi Fei’s meridians moved of its own accord, and he could feel the wounds once inflicted by the Blood Shadow Lord’s overbearing qi slowly healing. Unlike the elixirs before, the jade not only mended his injuries but seemed to widen his meridians under the icy impact.

When the Blood Shadow Lord had fully drawn out the jade’s cold from his body, his once immortal visage became instantly haggard. The corpse poison had long invaded his body, and knowing his end was near, he acted with a certain abandon. He placed his withered hand on Qi Fei’s palm, disregarding the risk of another outbreak, and slowly injected a stream of true essence into Qi Fei.

“After joining the Heart Demon Sect, I learned many of their secret arts and discovered another magic of the spiritual jade. There is a technique in the sect called the Lingxi Art. It conceals one’s cultivation so well that even peers cannot detect it. If you circulate the Lingxi Art with the cold from the spiritual jade, not even the sect master, a grandmaster of the Void realm, can see through the disguise. Once I mastered this, I used the jade and the Lingxi Art to lay ambushes; stronger cultivators than I fell into my traps. In my haste for revenge, I pressed the jade too far, attracting the suspicion of the sect master and was forced to flee. Unexpectedly, during a confrontation with Heart Demon Sect experts, my old foe, the Hundred Ghost Daoist, struck and infected my heart with corpse poison.”

A look of resolute determination came over the Blood Shadow Lord. “The world is treacherous. Many perils await you. I will now teach you the Lingxi Art. Though you have yet to cultivate a spiritual soul, you can use the jade’s power to master this technique. Until you have become truly formidable, keep your abilities and the secret of the spiritual jade well hidden. Act with caution, lest you follow in my footsteps. In this world, only the strong are honored. If you do not wish to be trampled underfoot, you must rise above all others.”

“Thank you for your guidance, Master. For this day’s gift of treasure and teaching, your disciple will repay you in the future.”

The Blood Shadow Lord had given him the spiritual jade and imparted his secret arts; Qi Fei could not help but feel his resentment lessen.

He gathered his thoughts, memorizing the method for circulating the cold energy within him as guided by the master’s true essence. In moments, his martial energy, suffused with the spiritual jade’s cold and the Lingxi Art, faded into his meridians and acupoints.