Chapter 29: Third-Rate
Afternoon arrived.
In Changqing County, at the Pure Yang Martial Academy, a dark blue carriage came to a gentle stop beneath a sprawling sycamore tree at the academy's entrance.
A young driver dismounted, and two beautiful young women emerged from the carriage. The first, dressed in white, stepped out with grace, while the second slowly opened an oiled paper umbrella. It was Su Li and her maid, Xiao Qing.
"This is the Pure Yang Martial Academy…" Su Li said, her feet firm on the ground as she looked up at the four characters on the weathered sign. "The calligraphy is quite impressive. Could it be that some reclusive master truly hides here, cultivating in secret?"
Su Li had inquired about Su Heng's recent experiences from Su Gui, learning of his martial arts training here and the subsequent changes in him. Hearing was believing, but seeing was knowing. Driven by curiosity, she decided to investigate personally, hoping to find a plausible explanation.
"We're here to visit Master Ning," Su Li said with a smile to a white-robed disciple standing at the entrance.
"Please wait here, ladies. I'll go fetch my master!" The disciple, recognizing the Su family carriage and the striking beauty of Su Li and Xiao Qing, felt a jolt of respect and didn't dare to be negligent. After bowing, he hurried inside the academy.
Shortly after, a flurry of footsteps echoed from within the gates. However, it wasn't Master Ning Zhibai who emerged first, but two young disciples, each wielding a Taiji longsword.
Before Su Li could register her surprise, two more disciples appeared, carrying iron zithers. Then, two female disciples followed, each holding a whisk.
The six disciples formed two lines, standing opposite each other, each bearing themselves with pride and bearing, creating a path before the academy entrance.
Finally, a distinct set of footsteps approached. A balding middle-aged man, barely five feet tall, emerged, dressed in white robes embroidered with four golden characters that danced like dragons and phoenixes.
Though thin, the man's eyes were remarkably bright. He surveyed his surroundings before his gaze settled on Su Li.
"Is this Miss Su, the eldest daughter of the Su family?" Ning Zhibai nodded slightly, his smile gentle.
Su Li was speechless. She had been quite impressed by Ning Zhibai's grand entrance. However, upon closer inspection, she realized it was all for show. Still, to avoid misjudgment, she cautiously took out her Spirit-Seeking Disc and glanced at it.
Unsurprisingly…
The crystal at the center of the disc remained dull. No traces of demonic activity were detected near the Pure Yang Martial Academy.
"I am," Su Li replied, quickly concealing her initial assessment. The name "Pure Yang" sounded like a Daoist lineage, so she bowed to Ning Zhibai in a formal greeting.
"Master Ning, I've come to request a look at the Pure Yang's foundational stances and meditative scriptures," Su Li stated her purpose.
Seeing Ning Zhibai hesitate, Su Li produced a silver ingot and slipped it into his hand.
Ning Zhibai was startled. The seemingly delicate woman possessed surprising strength; her hand was easily pried open.
Indeed…
The Su family were all extraordinary.
Ning Zhibai was vain, but not greedy.
"Miss, you mustn't!" Ning Zhibai returned the ingot, explaining with a wry smile, "Your younger brother, Su Heng, has been a great benefactor to the Pure Yang Martial Academy. I cannot accept more money from your family. The Pure Yang's stances and scriptures are not some closely guarded secret; there's no reason not to share them with you."
"However, the cultivation of Pure Yang must be gradual. Avoid rushing," Ning Zhibai cautioned.
He was helpless. Since Su Heng's subjugation of the water ghost spread through the county, countless young people flocked to the Pure Yang Martial Academy daily. But these individuals lacked the aptitude and innate talent, remaining ordinary mortals. They often pushed themselves too hard, injuring their muscles and tendons, resulting in months of bed rest and causing much trouble. Ning Zhibai's hesitation stemmed from his concern that Su Li might make the same mistake.
Ning Zhibai produced a small booklet and handed it to Su Li. Su Li accepted it, her smile now more genuine. "Thank you, Master Ning."
"May I borrow a quiet room within the academy to study?" Su Li asked.
"Of course," Ning Zhibai nodded, smiling. "There are many empty rooms; I'll have a disciple arrange one for you."
…
In a quiet courtyard within the academy, birds chirped merrily, and a golden jasmine bloomed in a corner garden. As the sun dipped westward, casting a reddish glow, Su Li finished studying the Pure Yang stances and scriptures, even practicing several movements repeatedly. As a top scholar, Su Li's aptitude was unquestionable. In less than half a day, she had grasped the basics of Pure Yang.
"What do you think of this martial art?"
Xiao Qing's clear voice broke the silence as she placed a cup of hot tea on the stone table before Su Li.
"Sigh…" Su Li sighed, gazing at the setting sun, wearily rubbing her temples.
Without speaking, she held up three slender fingers.
Xiao Qing tilted her head, puzzled.
"Third-rate," Su Li said. "In the Demon Suppression Agency, nobody would even bother looking at such a technique. It's only good for propping up tables or gathering dust in a corner."
"But your brother, using only Pure Yang, tore apart a demon," Xiao Qing pointed out.
"If he truly cultivated it himself, his innate talent and aptitude are beyond description," Su Li mused.
In the Demon Suppression Agency, Su Li's talent was considered once-in-a-century. Yet, to cultivate this technique to the point of confronting demons, Su Li had no confidence whatsoever. Moreover…
The Pure Yang technique was incomplete, lacking the necessary medicinal catalysts for breakthroughs.
Yet Su Heng had done it. In just three months.
Two possibilities existed: either Su Heng was an unparalleled prodigy, rendering the current cultivation system irrelevant to him, or he had inadvertently encountered a unique demon, undergoing transformation…
Su Li leaned towards the latter, especially given the Spirit-Seeking Disc's reaction.
As the sun set, recalling her past interactions with Su Heng, Su Li's expression darkened, losing its previous carefree air.
"Should we report this to the elders of the Demon Suppression Agency?" Xiao Qing suggested.
"No!" Su Li shook her head. "Not yet."
"You fear the elders might harm your brother, but by doing nothing, you expose yourself to danger," Xiao Qing said calmly, but with a hint of sternness.
"Trust me, Xiao Qing. I'll handle this," Su Li said after a moment of silence, pinching Xiao Qing's cheek and forcing a smile.
She waved her hand, walking towards the exit, bathed in the setting sun.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 30: The Fire Poison
"Hiss…" Su Heng's pupils contracted as he watched wisps of fog, like white silk ribbons, drift through the inky blackness of the mountain forest.
The panther had been powerful, yet it wasn't the Mistfiend's true form. Just how strong was the real Mistfiend?
But wait… Su Heng reconsidered. There was a flaw in his logic. He was right here. If the Mistfiend truly wanted him dead and still had strength to spare, it could have simply sent another puppet.
Instead, after Su Heng had battered the panther to the brink of death, the Mistfiend had gone silent, choosing to seal off a large section of the forest with its fog. It wasn't Su Heng who had shown weakness, but the Mistfiend itself.
"With the panther gone, the Mistfiend must be severely weakened. Should I take this opportunity to delve deeper into the Blackspine Mountains? I might be able to find its true form," Su Heng pondered.
Even with his enhanced sense of smell, which allowed him to detect demonic auras within a certain range, finding a single fiend in the vast, fog-shrouded Blackspine Mountains was like searching for a needle in a haystack. He risked getting lost, and that was the worst-case scenario.
With this in mind, Su Heng abandoned the idea.
Swish!
He didn't linger. Scooping up the five-tailed white panther's carcass, he touched the ground lightly. His form blurred, becoming a black streak as he sped towards Changqing County.
In less than half an hour, Su Heng returned to his small courtyard in Nine Stripes Ward. Descending to the basement, he began dissecting the Mistfiend's puppet. Skinning, gutting, deboning, and slicing. He meticulously hung the organs on hooks and placed the meat, cut into chunks, into wooden barrels for curing.
With the experience gained from processing the Water Ghoul, and the array of tools he'd prepared, such as the boning knife, Su Heng worked with practiced ease and a sense of grim satisfaction.
The Water Ghoul, though nearly seven feet tall, had been gaunt, yielding little flesh. This panther, however, was a true beast, over ten feet long with solid muscle, promising at least three hundred pounds of meat.
The only disappointment was the lack of a demon core. The panther was not a true demon; its flesh, compared to the Water Ghoul's, would be slightly less potent.
By the time he finished processing the panther, evening had crept in. Su Heng left the courtyard and headed to the Su family estate for dinner.
He happened to encounter Su Li returning from her outing. Su Li and Xiao Qing, her maid, emerged from the carriage one after the other. Spotting Su Heng, Su Li forced a smile and gave a slight nod of acknowledgement before leading her maid away, disappearing from his sight.
Su Heng beckoned to the coachman, who quickly approached. A brief conversation revealed that Su Li had spent the afternoon at the Pure Yang Martial Hall.
"Is she investigating my past?" Su Heng looked up at the setting sun in the western sky. Images flashed through his mind: Su Li's complex expression during their first encounter after her return, the strange compass in her hand with its flickering red light, the unnatural strength she'd displayed when they embraced, and the unsettling presence of her maid.
"Could it be…?" Su Heng's expression turned peculiar. A disturbing possibility began to form in his mind.
"Could Su Li be under the influence of a demon, perhaps even led astray? This could be very bad."
…
…
…
Several days passed in a blink. Su Heng continued to discreetly observe Su Li's movements while steadily gaining attribute points from consuming the flesh of the Water Ghoul and the five-tailed panther. Su Li's strange behavior only served to reinforce his suspicions.
Meanwhile, his cultivation progressed rapidly. The abundance of demonic flesh, coupled with the Water Ghoul's poison sac aiding his digestion, allowed him to fully exploit his golden finger. His next step was to push his current cultivation techniques to their limits.
He was currently in the Meridian Transformation stage. Su Heng eagerly anticipated the changes that would come when he reached one hundred percent, and what new realm of power it would unlock.
"Now, let's start with the Crimson Poison Art."
Whoosh!
Thirty attribute points vanished, instantly boosting the Crimson Poison Art from the introductory level to the Limit Breaking level. This technique was incredibly domineering. Mastery required the practitioner to infuse a deadly fire poison into their body through a specialized method. This process was extremely dangerous; a single misstep could trigger the fire poison and lead to instant death.
Of course, if cultivated to mastery, the Crimson Poison Art would be the most potent of Su Heng's three techniques. However, while other cultivation methods improved health and longevity, the Crimson Poison Art was different. The higher the cultivation, the deeper the fire poison seeped into the internal organs, shortening the practitioner's lifespan and increasing the risk of sudden death.
In that sense, the Crimson Poison Art was a quintessential demonic cultivation technique.
His attribute panel's unique ability came into play once more, bypassing the perilous process of absorbing the fire poison and directly completing the cultivation. Furthermore, the properties of the fire poison were perfectly simulated through a specific transformation of his True Qi.
[Detected overlapping elements between Crimson Poison Art and Yang Extreme Black Demonic Art. Fuse the two techniques?]
"Yes!" Su Heng confirmed without hesitation.
[Fusion in progress… Fusion proceeding… Fusion complete!]
[Crimson Yang Black Demonic Art, Ninth Level (Effects: Yang Extreme True Qi, Fire Poison, Demonic Dispelling Roar)]
(End of Chapter)