Chapter 97
Grace is Never Free
A week had passed since Yu Minge returned from the forest.
He immediately settled back into the isolation point, while Xiaoling scurried to make up an excuse or two to cover up her absence. The promise was made that as she tried her best to maintain the Sect's status quo, he'd try his best to ascend through the realms as quickly as possible. After all, as someone who already walked the path, even if he had to walk it anew, he supposed it wouldn't have taken that long to at least reach Soul Ascendance Realm.
Though he knew something was off as soon as he started cultivating, it wasn't until he reached Foundation Establishment--which took him in total 3 hours and 18 minutes--that he recognized something was very off.
It didn't stop there--he blazed through the realm and quickly reached Core Formation, then Spirit Creation, and then Fusion Realm. He was currently an inch away from breaking into the Avatar Realm, a mere week after he'd restarted cultivation.
It was impossible, flat out. Not just for him, but for anyone. Even if a perfect child were born into the world, blessed with the mythical (and entirely theoretical) Primordial Spirit Roots, and showered with every mythical and legendary cultivation resource, it would not have made the progress he did. Not even close, in fact.
Even if his past experiences were there, they did not account for the discrepancy.
Then again, it wasn't even the speed of cultivation that had shocked him the most when it came to the changes. It was something else entirely.
Though he'd predicted his eventual death relatively quickly, he was overtaken by the 'parasite Qi' as he named it far quicker than he anticipated. It did not matter that he didn't use Qi, or even cultivate--it was like an all-consuming virus, devouring him from within at an accelerated pace. By the time Xiaoling found him, he was all but catatonic, just barely alive.
It was impossible for him to examine the true nature of the 'parasitic Qi' as even touching it burned his soul beyond the reach of pain. All he could do was watch it crawl through his meridians and into his dantian, taking everything he worked his entire life to build.
And yet, there it was--not just within his meridians, but also within his veins as well as his bones. It flowed freely through his body, but unlike before, it obeyed his intent. Furthermore, compared to 'ordinary Qi', it was... magnificent. Unmatched. A single mote of it could do as much as a sea would before.
Initially, after waking up in the forest, he had theorized how Master Leo saved him, and the most likely scenario was that he utilized the vast array of fabled herbs to concoct a pill or a soup of sorts that effectively 'reset' him. It annihilated all Qi within him, effectively 'killing' him momentarily until the 'parasitic Qi' was vanished. It was the only theory, after all, that made sense, even if it too was a bit of a stretch.
Now, however, he knew that was wrong.
Rather than changing the Qi, it seemed Master Leo changed him. Reshaped his body, altered it in ways that even Yu Minge couldn't discern, and in the process made it so that he was able to command this strange, new form of Qi.
Extending his hand, he summoned a swirling haze of Qi above his palm, examining it. Whereas 'ordinary Qi' was, by nature, white, increasingly so with greater purity until it was all but blinding, this new Qi was... different. It bore shades of gray and black, was almost like an untamed beast as it never held still, writhing and coiling like a restless child. Even so, it never disobeyed.
For all the excitement, however, Yu Minge also feared it; it was an unknown, and unknowns were seldom ever a grace. Rather, they were often the kindle igniting the all-consuming flames of conflict. If the world beyond the walls of this little cabin were to learn of his progress and the cause for it, what else would commence but a continental war? All Sects, small and large, would unite underneath the banner of self-righteousness, accusing him of performing demonic arts while secretly in want of them for themselves.
Such were the ways of the world, small and large, and he--as well as all others--merely tiny little parchments at the whims of the howling winds. No, he couldn't divulge this to anyone, and he knew that going back to the forest to ask Master Leo was pointless. After all, were the answers to be given, they would have been given already.
Yu Minge couldn't ask for more--not only was his life saved, but he was also graced with rebirthed potential unlike any other he'd ever seen. For now, he would hide it in the depths of his soul, keeping it so for as long as he could, only ever showing it to the world when he knew there would be no other to tame him.
**
Tunnels wound in increasingly strange and unpleasant ways.
Not only were they growing narrower, for some reason the darkness within them grew thicker, making it so that the same amount of light illuminated less and less space.
Nonetheless, thanks to Gon's guidance--as that was the old man's name--the three made decent progress. Liang took the front, Yue the rear, and both would react swiftly to any noise, protecting the old man at all cost.
They've been journeying for over two days, and yet they hadn't even made it to the 'next' layer, let alone deeper below it. Most of the tunnels were flat, seldom bending downward. Nonetheless, according to Gon, this was a much safer option, as the alternative was constant skirmishes with the Others as well as the Demonic Beasts.
They paused and came to a halt within a small alcove of sorts burned into the side of the cave's walls. It was unnatural, confirmed by Gon's quick explanation.
"You'll find these occasionally," the man said as the three sat down onto the carved-out bench. Though uncomfortable, it was still marginally better than the floor. "Stopping points, you can call 'em. These tunnel walls are made of the so-called qudstone. Very hard to work with, so there aren't too many of them, especially along these less-travelled roads."
"How far away are we from the Brooch?" Yue quizzed, grabbing a jug of water and taking a sip.
"About an extra day's travel," Gon replied. "Perhaps three-fourths of that if we hurry, perhaps slightly longer if we encounter an obstacle."
"Why don't other Guides take this road?"
"Because the path narrows even further," the old man replied--he did so with every question Yue and Liang had, replying with a level of patience that made him seem saintly in the two's eyes. "And because, most times, Guides are hired for major expeditions. Not for personal journeys. While this little road can accommodate the three of us, trying to squeeze fifty or sixty people would be impossible."
"Oh," Yue exclaimed softly.
"I've heard Guides charge, at minimum, a hundred times more than what you asked of us," Liang suddenly interjected. "And that is the beginner Guides, with barely any experience."
"You've heard correctly."
"Why, then?"
"Hmm, I was mighty surprised when you came to me," Gon said, seemingly untouched by the somewhat implicit accusatory tone. "It told me quite a few things, you see? Told me that you were first-timers, that you haven't been here for long, and that you weren't part of any larger power, both within and without. Otherwise, you would have never set foot near my courtyard." Yue and Liang stayed silent, waiting patiently for the continuation. "Four years ago, shortly after the yearly Flood, I guided a group composed of some two hundred cultivators. The plan was to descend to the furthest depths and collect as many washed-up treasures as possible. Alas, in my hurry to be the first, I settled on taking a riskier route that all other Guides were avoiding--to cut straight through the heart of the labyrinthine city of the Others. Over the years, I have picked up on some habits, especially around the time of the Flooding. As their city was close enough to the bottom that, if the Flood was especially bad, it could be affected, they would retreat up a few layers, settling in smaller hamlets, only leaving a few behind as scouts. So, I calculated that they wouldn't be there."
"And they were?"
"They were," he nodded. "We were ambushed, and only sixteen of us survived. The news spread fast, and I became a cursed trinket nobody wanted."
"Why not leave?" Yue asked.
"Because... this life is all I've ever known. I was born here, you know? My Father was a Guide, and he taught me as early as seven. I did my first job as a solitary Guide when I was fourteen. This... this is my life. Where could I possibly go? I'm already old and weak. I had saved enough that I knew I'd be able to live out my days in silence and solace, on the outskirts, ignored by everyone. You weren't the first to come seek me out in desperation, but you are the first I accepted. Do you know why?"
"Because we are good-looking?" Liang said, and though Gon laughed thinking it was a joke, Yue didn't since she was certain her Junior Brother sincerely believed it.
"Ha ha ha, no, not quite. Every other time I was approached, I was approached with insincerity. Yours was the first plea that I knew was genuine and honest. Though I do not know why precisely you are seeking to go to the depths of this thankless place, I need not know. I will guide you the best I can, using every last bit of knowledge I've acquired in nearly seventy years of living here."
"... that's rather admirable."
"Ho ho, I suppose it is. Have you rested enough?"
"Have you?"
"Let us go," he said, jumping off the seat and stretching for a moment. "Long journey to the hell's maw awaits."