"Since you're seriously injured, I'll help you out with that."
The vortex of intense qi seeped into my body, lifting me up into the air and mending my injuries. Torn flesh knitted, bleeding stopped, and scorch skin returned to their normal color. This was a healing technique far more advanced than any Mu Zi Xing could currently perform. Even the most serious of my injuries were gone or at least reduced to a mild throbbing at worst.
Coughing, I crashed onto the ground and sucked in huge gulps of breath. I realized that my energy was slowly recovering.
"So, how about it, kid? Are you convinced yet?"
"You don't seem to understand." Placing a hand on the ground, I steadied myself and rose to my feet. "I believe you when you said you are the strongest. I believe you are the Absolute one, Tian Mo, and that you can teach me Heaven and Earth Formula. But forgive me if I am wary of a trap…of deception."
"Fair enough. But I was hoping healing you was proof of my sincerity."
"Yeah, but if you were after my physical body, you would need it in top shape, anyway."
There was a silence, and then Tian Mo burst out laughing.
"Hah! So that's it! You think that I will attempt to possess your body? That I will devour your soul and take over your physical body, to replace the one that I had lost?"
My silence was all the answer he needed. Tian Mo continued to chuckle, amused, and not at all offended. For some reason, that scared me even more. It was almost as if he was admitting that he had at least considered the idea.
"I have no intention of stealing your body," he finally said. "You can believe me or not, it's entirely up to you."
The scary thing was that I didn't know if he was lying or not. I still had a chilling premonition nagging at me. A part of me was sure he was deceiving me, yet at the same time I could tell that he was being truthful. However, as they said, the most convincing lies always had a kernel of truth within them. I didn't know if he was lying or telling the truth, but I knew for sure that he was deliberately misleading me.
That he was manipulating me. And I didn't like that feeling at all.
"…I will think about it. When I muster the resolve to learn the rest of Heaven and Earth Formula, I'll come back."
Like hell I would. And even if I did intend to return here, I was going to make all sorts of preparation. Defensive charms to prevent my soul from being devoured and my body from being controlled, or whatever it was that he had planned. I didn't believe he would kindly teach me solely just for me to help him take revenge on a couple of disciples who might long be dead (then again, with cultivators, you never know).
If I were him, after having been a primordial spirit for so many years, there was no way I wouldn't want to restore my physical body somehow, to regain my freedom and step into the world once more. And from what I read about Tian Mo, he was the one person I couldn't allow to freely walk around the world. He would conquer Earth and enslave everyone, ruling with an iron fist and tyrannically suppressing all those weaker than him. Which was everybody, considering that he was the Absolute One, the strongest existence in the Celestial Realm during his time.
Yeah, I had to tread very carefully when it came to this fella. I couldn't carelessly accept his proposal, not if I wanted to preserve my soul or wellbeing. There was just something suspicious about him, I could tell. Even if I hadn't known about the history behind his tyrannical reign when he ruled over the Heaven and Earth Sect (and the Celestial Realm), the oppressive, malevolent demonic aura that he exuded already sent all the alarm bells ringing in my head.
"Fine." Tian Mo sounded disappointed and amused at the same time. As if he was sure I would return sooner or later. "But before you go…here's a little something that you might want to take with you. It's not all of the Heaven and Earth Formula, but it's part of it."
I watched as a dense amount of qi swirled about before coalescing. Wood from the ominous-looking trees were torn out and transformed by the demonic qi, turning into an antique scroll. As the scroll hovered in the air, I watched in amazement as characters and words were etched across the surface, the text suffused with qi.
Then the scroll was tossed to me, as if by an invisible hand. I tried to catch it out of reflex but it bounced off my hands. I sighed, bent down and snatched it up, staring at the title that had been written across the cover.
"Yin Yang Swordsmanship."
"That's right." Tian Mo sounded smug. "Kid, I notice that you're carrying a sword around with you. In other words, you're aiming to be a swordsman."
"…" I didn't know how to respond to such a redundant statement. But he had a point. Even though I was carrying a sword around with me, I had yet to learn any proper and formal sword techniques.
"The Yin Yang Swordsmanship is one main aspect of Heaven and Earth Formula," Tian Mo explained. "Master it, and thanks to combining the dual nature of yin and yang, you will achieve the pinnacle of Man and Sword as One without much difficulty."
I gaped at the scroll before looking up. Of course, there was nobody to actually gawk at. Tian Mo remained a disembodied primordial spirit whose presence remained the deep, echoing voice all around me.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Of course. Consider it a gift, and additional expression of my sincerity." Tian Mo chuckled. "I won't ask you to trust me – the nature of demonic cultivators is such that we'll betray each other eventually. And you're too intelligent. You can already sense treachery afoot, so it's useless for me to hide it. I'll just admit that I want to make use of you for my own goals, but of course, you can make use of me in return."
Damn it, I knew it. This demon couldn't be trusted.
"But I'm telling the truth when I say I need you to become stronger. Stupid, incompetent subordinates are useless. I would rather have a follower who is intelligent and capable."
"And you think I'll just come back here and help you, despite knowing that you might stab me in the back at any time?"
"Of course." If Tian Mo was visible, he would probably be grinning. "Like I said, you are an ambitious man. You know you won't be able to gain anything if you don't take the risk. And once you've learned Yin Yang Swordsmanship, you'll definitely want to come back here to learn the rest of the Heaven and Earth Formula."
I licked my lips, but found that I couldn't deny it. Even so, I knew I had to be very careful. This was a demon I was dealing with, not some kindly old man who randomly decided to magnanimously teach a stranger lucky enough to stumble across him or a beautiful woman (perhaps loli in some cases) who would end up in the protagonist's harem sooner or later. He intended to play me, I was certain of that. In fact, I had a feeling that he already had me dancing to his tune in the palm of his hand.
I had to make preparations to ensure I didn't fall into his schemes. So I had best get out of here before I was overwhelmed by the demonic realm that saturated the deeper portions of the cavern. Perhaps if I was stronger both spiritually and physically, I could come back. But right now I would just be delivering myself into his grasp.
Taking a deep breath, I put the scroll into a pocket on my jacket and then bowed my head politely.
"All right. Thank you for this Yin Yang Swordsmanship. I will graciously accept your gift."
"Heh. Good boy." Tian Mo laughed. "I would like to think of this as an investment, one that would bring you back here in future."
He must have noted my consternation, for he continued gleefully.
"I'm confident you will return here…and become my successor. No matter how strong-willed and above temptation you believe yourself to be, your great ambition and desire for supreme power will overwhelm your resolve in the end…and you will come crawling back to me."
His words made me frown, but I didn't say anything.
"Kid, you'll learn how cruel the cultivation world truly is. You might seem to be an orthodox cultivator now, but you'll learn that these so-called orthodox people – despite claiming to fight for justice and morals – are in reality wolves in sheep clothing. They hypocritically condemn us demonic cultivators, but they do the exact same thing we do…plunder resources from the weak, greedily hoard status and wealth, and oppress others to maintain their wealth and positions. You'll see them discard their facades and sink to their true natures…and then you'll return here, raging at them…cursing how unfair the world is…and seeking for the strength to take revenge."
I closed my eyes and moved away, not wanting to listen to more of his rambling. If I stayed here any longer, I might go mad.
"Wait, kid…before you go, at least tell me your name."
"Shu Cong." There was no reason not to tell him. Even if he knew my name, it wasn't as if he could do anything about it. He couldn't even leave this damned cave.
"Ha ha! Shu Cong, eh? Good! Ha ha ha ha!"
With his laughter ringing in my ears, I left the demonic cave and toward the outcrop of rock that stretched from the entrance.
When I emerged, the first thing I did was close my eyes and expand my sixth sense. I needed to know if the winged demonic tiger was still lurking around. As much as I hated to admit it, if the damned commander-ranked spirit beast was still hanging around this area, I would have no choice but to retreat back to Tian Mo's accursed cavern.
No…there was nothing.
Looking up, I stared at the cliff edge as if expecting the winged demonic tiger to pop up at any time. However, if I couldn't sense its qi with Heavenly Flow and Earthly Paths, then it was less likely for it to appear within my sight.
Apparently, the winged demonic tiger had given up on searching for me. It must have assumed that I had fallen all the way down to the abyss below, perhaps after flying around the area. I wondered if it had caught sight of the rocky outcrop and the entrance to the cave. Even if it did, it must have been intimidated by the dense demonic aura and flown away.
No wonder no other living thing except those creepy plants dwelled within the cave. Nothing could have withstood such an intense evil aura. Normal spirit beasts would have died, their vitality sucked out by the demonic domain. Even those plants weren't ordinary.
I took the manual out of my pocket and studied it. Even though there was arcane power emanating from the scroll. It wasn't malevolent like the demonic qi that saturated the cavern. Tian Mo wasn't stupid. He probably knew that if he tried something weird like infusing the scroll with demonic qi, I would have immediately thrown it away. Even if I gave into temptation and kept it, such a demonic text would definitely draw attention from the orthodox cultivators he assumed I spent time with. That would cause a lot of unnecessary problems, not which these cultivators demanding to know where I found the scroll from.
Still, I couldn't believe that I actually found another piece of Heaven and Earth Formula. I had originally set out and joined Seven Stars Academy to find out more about Heaven and Earth Formula, but I never imagined that Tian Mo himself would be occupying a cave in the cliff next to the edge where my current university was located upon.
Fate sometimes had strange ways of playing pranks on us mortals.
"Now then…how do I climb up?"
Glancing at the steep incline of the cliff, I shook my head and sighed. Gritting my teeth, I steeled my resolved and prepared for the arduous journey back toward Starry Forest. Perhaps I could use my footwork techniques and attempt to run up the cliff using sheer speed and strength.
I doubted I would be able to defy gravity in such a manner, but then again, cultivation was about going against the heavens.
Taking a deep breath, I kicked off the ground and launched myself upward. Infusing qi into my feet, I executed Jin and hoped for the best – that the sharp burst of speed of my footwork technique would allow me to defy gravity and bring me back over the edge of the cliff.