After the blood pill entered her mouth, as soon as her qi had refined it a little, it immediately turned into a surge of heat that poured into her abdomen.
Huaiqing experienced the same agony Xu Qi’an had suffered back then. What she felt she had swallowed was not a blood pill, but a great mouthful of magma. The searing heat first exploded in her throat, “melting” it, destroying her vocal cords and robbing her of speech.
Then it scorched its way down her oesophagus and entered her stomach.
And during this process, a small portion of the blood pill’s power had already fused into her blood, rushing through her veins towards her limbs and bones, tearing her body apart from the inside.
This kind of pain was a thousand, a myriad times worse than lingchi, death by a thousand cuts. Anyone below Refining Spirit would die instantly under such agony.
Huaiqing’s consciousness quickly descended into chaos and became muddled, immersed in overwhelming pain.
To advance to beyond-mortal through a blood pill, one had to endure terrifying pain, enough to easily kill any fourth rank. To use a shortcut to step into beyond-mortal, this was the necessary price.
Xu Qi’an had already told Huaiqing all this in advance.
She had been mentally prepared, but she had not expected the pain to be so horrifying.
I can’t bear it, I really can’t bear it… Huaiqing’s primordial spirit rapidly perished, like snowflakes melting into water, breaking apart and scattering.
The only thing left in her fading consciousness was fear.
Fear of death, fear of pain, like a child walking through ice and snow, longing for a light to appear ahead.
“Hold your essence and return it to unity. Endure it!”
In her dazed state, she heard a low, gentle voice by her ear.
The little girl in the ice and snow saw the light she had longed for.
Huaiqing’s consciousness abruptly cleared. Only then did she realise that at some point she had rolled off the dragon bed and collapsed, covered in blood, in Xu Qi’an’s arms.
Her clarity did not last long before wave after wave of pain, like the tide, drowned it again.
“Endure it. What you need to do now is keep your primordial spirit from collapsing,” Xu Qi’an said in a deep voice.
“Y-you, back then, got through it like this…” Huaiqing said weakly, her mind muddled, speaking in broken fragments.
If she looked in a mirror now, she would certainly be shocked by how hideous she looked.
The flesh on Huaiqing’s cheeks had split open, and streams of blood seeped out, like impurities being expelled from her body.
The same was true of her whole body.
“For me back then, if I couldn’t endure it, my whole family would’ve been killed,” Xu Qi’an said softly. “I had no other choice. Huaiqing, you don’t have a choice either. If you can’t endure it, you’ll only die.”
Huaiqing said nothing more and did her utmost to resist the collapse of her primordial spirit.
At that moment, a golden dragon emerged from within her body. It coiled around her like a python, “winding” around her disintegrating primordial spirit and preventing it from scattering.
Time passed second by second. Xu Qi’an silently guarded her side, raising a barrier that sealed in Huaiqing’s screams and the aura of the blood pill so that not the slightest bit leaked out.
Only when the sandalwood smoke in the golden beast incense burner stopped rising did Huaiqing’s condition gradually stabilise.
Her fleshly body had already shed its mortal shell. Every cell brimmed with vigorous vitality, endlessly renewing itself. Severed limbs could regenerate, mountains could be moved and seas filled.
In the present age across Jiuzhou, the first female beyond-mortal martial artist had been born.
The golden dragon dissipated, and Xu Qi’an withdrew the barrier as well. Taking hold of Huaiqing’s blood-soaked hand, he channelled qi into her.
“I’ve succeeded?”
Huaiqing opened her eyes, and two sharp streams of qi pierced through the palace roof. She still could not yet perfectly control this new power.
“Congratulations, Your Majesty, congratulations!”
Xu Qi’an cupped his hands repeatedly, smiling.
Huaiqing slowly let out a breath, sat up cross-legged, and beckoned over a clean towel, carefully wiping her lovely face.
After she had barely tidied herself up, she said softly:
“Thank you.”
“Between us, what’s the need of a ‘thank you’?” Xu Qi’an said with a smile, waving his hand, thinking to himself that she was his sister-in-law after all.
Huaiqing said softly:
“If there’s no need to say ‘thank you’, then Silver Gong Xu doesn’t need to keep calling us ‘Your Majesty’ in private either.”
Although she always had “Silver Gong Xu” at the corner of her mouth, when she was in a good mood and there were no outsiders around, she would still call him Ningyan.
Does she want me to call her by her birth name, or Huaiqing? Xu Qi’an said:
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
”…”
Huaiqing could not be bothered with him anymore and said coolly:
“When will Li Miaozhen advance to third rank?”
Xu Qi’an replied:
“Tonight. She’ll condense the light of merit on the Bagua Platform of the Stargazing Tower and break through to third rank in one stroke.”
Huaiqing nodded and asked:
“How certain is it?”
“According to Daoist Jinlian, Miaozhen has roamed the jianghu for three years, and the power of merit she’s gathered is extremely great. But the karmic backlash that comes with it will also be immense,” Xu Qi’an said.
“Shall we go and watch tonight?”
Huaiqing nodded.
Now that they had finished talking and Huaiqing had successfully advanced, Xu Qi’an glanced at the sky and felt like leaving.
He had already arranged with Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao to go and listen to songs at the goulan in the afternoon. After that, he still had to enjoy himself among flowers and jade. It all had to be done before dusk, because at night he had to instruct Lin’an.
Oh, right, when he had come in the morning, he had even found time to satisfy Fuxiang.
Time flies like an arrow. There’s never enough time… Xu Qi’an sighed from the bottom of his heart and said:
“Your Majesty, I’ll take my leave first.”
Huaiqing pressed her lips together. A little disappointed, she still nodded in response, then, somewhat unwilling to let it go, said flatly:
“Silver Gong Xu’s married life is truly carefree.”
“There’s never enough time. That girl Lin’an’s clingy, she wishes she could stick to me every day.”
As soon as Xu Qi’an said this, he saw Huaiqing’s face darken. Without much emotion, she said:
“We won’t see you out!”
He immediately turned into a mass of melted shadow and vanished from the bedchamber.
…
Night.
The cold, lonely moon hung high. A few scattered stars were set into the night sky. The capital, lively by day, had already fallen asleep, and now and then the cries of night birds came from afar.
On the Bagua Platform of the Stargazing Tower, a crowd of onlookers had gathered.
Sun Xuanji, and Protector Yuan at his side. Yang Qianhuan, standing with his hands behind his back and his back to the crowd. Chu Yuanzhen, the swordsman in azure robes with a streak of white at his brow. Huaiqing, changed back into her white palace dress embroidered with plum blossoms. Hengyuan, looking as if he carried bitter hatred. Al-Asura, unafraid of mind-reading. The disappointing disciple Miao Youfang. Li Lingsu, his belt hanging ever looser, haggard with regret and worn thin with resentment towards Xu…
And of course the central figures of tonight’s event, Li Miaozhen and Daoist Jinlian.
Xu Qi’an sat beside a desk and looked at the youngest son of the Asura King.
“Once Miaozhen succeeds in advancing, we’ll attack Ananda.”
Al-Asura took a deep breath. “Good! I’ve waited for this day for a long time. Ever since returning to my position, I’ve been waiting. Ever since I helped you pull out the Demon-Sealing Nails, I’ve been waiting for you to say those words.”
Between the Buddhist sect and the Asura race there was the hatred of extermination, and for him there was the personal vengeance of his father’s death.
No one wanted to flatten Ananda more than he did.
When al-Asura had fought as a beyond-mortal for the Great Feng in the Yunzhou war, it was not for the country or its people. What did the people of the Central Plains and the court of the Great Feng have to do with him?
He was placing a bet.
Betting that Xu Qi’an could rise, betting that the Great Feng could win, and then counterattack the Buddhist sect of the Western Regions.
He had won that bet.
Miao Youfang yawned and asked,
“Why choose to advance at night?”
With two dark circles under his eyes, Li Lingsu said in a deep voice, “Night’s good, very good.”
At last, he could rest for one night.
Daoist Jinlian explained,
“Day and night make no difference. It’s just that for this poor Daoist, we feel a bit more spirited at night.”
More spirited at night? Daoist Leader, have you possessed too many cats? Has your routine become completely “cat-like”? Xu Qi’an glanced at Daoist Jinlian, deeply suspicious.
Noticing Xu Qi’an’s gaze, Daoist Jinlian coughed, looked towards Li Lingsu, changed the subject and drew everyone’s attention elsewhere, saying in surprise,
“You’ve already cultivated Bronze Skin and Iron Bones?”
You’ve actually been driven to cultivate martial arts to sixth rank? Everyone felt a wave of sympathy inside.
Li Lingsu ignored them all and merely turned his head away bitterly.
Miao Youfang said in delight,
“Brother Li, perhaps you can become a fourth rank dual system expert, one of the finest below beyond-mortal.”
Bastard, this isn’t something worth being happy about at all… Li Lingsu felt no joy whatsoever, and said through gritted teeth,
“I’ve got Xu Ningyan to thank for his encouragement.”
Back when he had set up the stockade and gathered refugees, he had already been eighth rank. Seventh rank Refining Spirit cultivated the primordial spirit, which was basically no difficulty at all for the Holy Son of the Heaven Sect. After that, however, he’d remained stuck at Refining Spirit, unable to break through to sixth rank.
“No need to thank me. That’s what brothers are for,” Xu Qi’an said with an utterly sincere face.
”…” Li Lingsu turned his head away again.
At that moment, al-Asura looked at Protector Yuan and clicked his tongue.
“You’re still alive? Have you found out who issued the wanted notice? I think it was the Emperor.”
Huaiqing’s expression did not change as she said coolly,
“We think it was you!”
Li Lingsu shook his head.
“I don’t think it was Her Majesty, nor al-Asura. I think it was Xu Ningyan’s younger sister. That girl looks delicate and lovely on the surface, but she’s black-hearted. Besides, the one who lost the most face that night was her.”
Xu Qi’an immediately retorted,
“Why not say it was you? Back in Jianzhou, you lost far more face than she did.”
His old wound ripped open, Li Lingsu felt old and new grudges surge up together.
“You bastard, I’ve put up with you for a long time.”
Yang Qianhuan immediately chimed in,
“Bastard! I’ve also put up with you for a long time.”
Miao Youfang hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
“Alright, alright, stop arguing. Let’s just say I issued the bounty notice, shall we? I was the one who offered seventeen thousand taels for Protector Yuan.”
Everyone glanced at him.
“You’re not worthy!”
Miao Youfang: ”…”
Li Miaozhen opened her eyes at just the right moment, saving him from embarrassment.
“Daoist Leader, I’m ready.”
She had already adjusted herself to her peak state in every respect.
Daoist Jinlian gave a slight nod.
“I’ll stand guard for you, but in the end, what I can do is limited. Whether you succeed or not depends on you.”
Li Miaozhen then glanced at Xu Qi’an. During the day, this fellow had stood guard for Huaiqing.
Freeloader Xu had a very strong survival instinct, and whispered,
“I’ll be watching over you, don’t worry.”
Huaiqing gave a snort in her heart.
Li Miaozhen closed her eyes and circulated the Earth Sect’s heart methods for condensing merit.
As long as one was human, one had both karmic hindrances and merit. The Earth Sect’s hearth methods merely gathered together the power of a person’s merit, gave it form, and made it practical.
Li Miaozhen had travelled the world for three years, righting wrongs and helping the weak. Just how much merit had she gathered?
No one knew.
Even Daoist Jinlian found it hard to make an accurate estimate.
A quarter of an hour later, those on the Bagua platform saw scattered golden lights drifting over from the pitch-black distance, like a magnificent swarm of fireflies.
Pure, gentle, holy, like the most beautiful force in the world.
“How beautiful…”
Huaiqing said softly.
Above Li Miaozhen’s head rose a figure that looked real, only one step short of material substance.
This was her Yin Spirit.
The Yin Spirit sat cross-legged just like her body, eyes closed.
The “fireflies” filling the sky drifted over, covering Li Miaozhen’s body, settling among her hair, shrouding her whole form, then slowly merging into her.
In an instant, Li Miaozhen’s Yin Spirit was enveloped in vast and holy power of merit.
“I never thought that in just three years, she’d gather as much merit as this poor Daoist needed thirty years to accumulate.”
Daoist Jinlian shook his head and sighed.
“When ordinary people do good deeds, they act according to their means, and sometimes even according to their mood. So even good people can only do good a limited number of times. Lanlian acts chivalrously and righteously without thought of reward, eager to help the needy without delay. Such purity of heart is rarely seen in the world.”
Blue Lotus Flower, ah ah~ Once again the familiar tune echoed through Xu Qi’an’s mind, and he screamed inwardly:
No, Daoist Leader, please stop calling her Lanlian!
After the time it took an incense stick to burn, less and less power of merit came pouring in from the horizon, until none drifted over any longer.
By now, Li Miaozhen’s Yin Spirit had already solidified into substance, radiating holy golden light.
Her Yang Spirit had formed.
“So this is using the power of merit to shape the Yang Spirit?” al-Asura had seen through some of the method.
“Correct!” Daoist Jinlian nodded.
“Only a golden body shaped from the power of merit can bring the Earth Sect’s merit magic to their utmost limit.”
Then worry appeared on his face.
“Miaozhen’s power of merit is more than enough for her to step into third rank, but the corresponding karmic backlash mustn’t be underestimated.”
What was called “merit” was merit only when it benefited one region.
Normally speaking, helping others and doing good could also gather merit, but that did not mean helping others and doing good was necessarily merit.
For example, a vicious outlaw with countless killings to his name was being hunted by the authorities. Half-dead, he collapsed by the roadside, and a passer-by rescued him.
That kind-hearted person carefully looked after him and saved his life. After escaping death, the outlaw turned around and went on another killing spree, causing innocent people to die.
The outlaw should originally have died, but because of the passer-by’s good deed, he escaped death. That passer-by had indeed done a good deed, and would still gather the merit of saving a life, but the karma stained upon him would be ten times, a hundred times, or even more than that merit.
Take the same example, if the passer-by had only saved a petty thief instead, then because the karmic hindrance caused by that thief was so slight, once merit and hindrance cancelled each other out there would still be some left over, and the passer-by would have gathered merit.
That was why the Earth Sect faced the danger of karmic backlash. But so long as one cautiously accumulated merit, did not save evil people, and kept one’s merit forever in a state of “profit”, one could eliminate the danger of falling into demonic corruption.
Back then, Daoist Jinlian had bewitched an emperor into cultivating Dao, causing decades of neglected governance and hardship for the people. That karmic power had directly become nourishment for Heilian, leaving Daoist Jinlian no chance to remedy it.
Although Li Miaozhen had spent years acting chivalrously and saving countless people, she had also inevitably helped and saved the wrong people at times. Those hindrances would cause no problem when she was not cultivating merit.
But once she cultivated the Earth Sect’s merit, those hindrances would strike back.
In the Earth Sect’s terms, this was called “karmic backlash”.
Miao Youfang pointed at Li Miaozhen’s brow and cried out in shock,
“It’s—it’s turning black.”
At the centre of Lady Flying Swallow’s brow, a patch as black as ink appeared, and rapidly spread.
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