Bing Meilu sat, calmly sipping tea. She sat on a plush couch, Zhang and Xia Xuefeng both at her sides. The two both had nervous expressions on their faces.
They were in the Wing Masters' office, waiting for her to arrive.
It was nearly an hour before she did.
A tall, white-haired woman strode through the door, ornate blue robe emblazoned with gold filigree in the shape of flying birds.
Her cultivation was high enough Bing Meilu couldn't sense it with her meagre Qi Condensation spiritual sense, but the strong, fiery aura was unmistakably that of an alchemist, as most in the lower world were under the impression only a Pill Flame could refine Alchemical products.
Her eyes landed on Bing Meilu, narrowed.
The Wing Master gave a polite smile, taking a seat behind a desk and facing the three of them.
"Greeting young miss. I wasn't aware that Prime Elder Hai Yu had taken a disciple."
It was a secret," Bing Meilu confirmed. "Once I was strong enough she planned to reveal me at a large tournament of some kind."
The Wing Master nodded. It wasn't an unrealistic story, old timers could be quite dramatic with how they announced new disciples.
"Sadly she died before such a thing could become possible," Bing Meilu continued, sighing. "But I trust my knowledge of the Grand Xia Frozen Matrix should be enough to confirm my identity? Prime Elder Hai Yu would only teach such a thing to her legacy disciple, after all."
"Of course," the Wing Master confirmed.
She waved her hand and an Identity Token appeared upon Bing Meilus's lap.
The girl grabbed it, peeling a pinprick as it took her blood. The token glowed as it registered Bing Meilu's identity as a member of the Twelve-Headed Avian Sect.
"Sadly, in a fight, I lost my spatial ring, so I have nowhere to keep my identity token," Bing Meilu commented.
The Wing Master immediately gave her a spatial ring of the fifth rank, and Bing Meilu thanked her, storing away the token with a wave of her hand.
"Since the tragic destruction of the Moon Crying Swan Palace, surviving disciples have been given the chance to transfer to any of the other branches," the Wing Master commented. "Is there anywhere you wish to go?"
"Sky Swallowing Gulper Armada," Bing Meilu answered.
It was the number one branch of the Twelve-Headed Avian sect. controlling the very tip of the Bird Talon Continent. They had also taken over Moon Crying Swan Prefecture after the destruction of the Palace, so they would be flush with Yin-related artifacts. They were the obvious choice.
"I see, then I'll make sure to send a message to them and have them come pick you up," the Wing Master commented.
"This girl here is Xia Xuefeng, " Bing Meilu commented. "She was also a new disciple of the Palace."
The Wing Master turned to look at Xia Xuefeng with a raised eyebrow.
"Does she have her identity token?"
"I'm afraid she also lost it," Bing Meilu replied, sipping her tea.
The girl in question had begun to fidget nervously as the gaze of the Wing Master pierced her.
"A second unknown disciple who happened to survive the destruction without an identity token or spatial ring?" the Wing Master commented wryly, turning to stare at Bing Meilu suspiciously.
"Yes."
"Does she also have any unique secret techniques to confirm her identity?"
"My junior apprentice sister walks the unique Dao of Blood, so her techniques are a little different compared to the normal disciple."
The Wing Master rolled her eyes and Bing Meilu frowned, unused to such open disrespect from a mortal.
It was obvious the alchemist thought that Xia Xuefeng was not actually a disciple, just someone Bing Meilu had picked up and promised a fake identity in return for something.
"I'm afraid that without an Identity Token, I can't confirm her as a member of the Moon Crying Swan Palace," the Wing Master said. "I can make an exception for you because of The Prime Elder's face, but the protocol does need to be followed."
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Very well," Bing Meilu said. "I'm sure she'll be able to pass the Sky Swallowing Gulper Armada's recruitment exam anyways, though such a thing is a waste of time given she was already a member of the Twelve-Headed Avian Sect."
"I'm sure," the Wing Master snorted. "I've sent a messenger jade to an Elder of the Gulper Armada, who'll be here to pick you up in three days' time. I'm sure he'll let you bring those two with you. In the meantime, feel free to stay at our humble academy. If you need anything, ask the Guard Captain."
With that, the Wing Master vanished, leaving the three alone.
Xia Xuefeng heaved a sigh of relief, rubbing her brow.
"Mistress, was it really necessary to lie to her like that?" she asked, face pale and nervous.
"It was worth a shot," Bing Meilu said. "And also, don't say such things aloud. She's probably still listening to us with her spiritual sense."
A slight smile graced Bing Meilu's normally impassive face. It went to show Xia Xuefeng was still unused to the cultivation world if she assumed they couldn't be heard just because the Wing Master had left the room.
Xia Xuefengs already pale face became even paler, her eyes widening nervously. Bing Meilu and Zhang both chuckled lightly.
"It's fine," Bing Meilu waved her hand to calm down her servant. "With my identity, she won't do anything."
Suitably calmed down, the blood cultivator followed her mistress as the three of them exited the Wing Master's office.
---
"Icelight Jade, one pound. Whispering Nettle, three needles. Blood Burst Ginger, two bulbs, three meridian clearing pills and two meridian opening pills- " Bing Meilu said.
She and her two followers were in the storage of the Bluewing Alchemy Academy, Bing Meilu taking full advantage of the Wing Masters' hospitality to acquire anything she felt she needed. That included cultivation and alchemical resources, several magical treasures and talismans and more. She had gathered a few of the items needed to heal Zhang's meridians too.
She didn't take too much, not because she was afraid of overstepping her welcome, but simply because most of it was useless garbage to her. The more she took from the Bluewing Alchemy Academy, the more connected she was with them, and the more karma she would incur. Therefore, aside from any objects she thought would be extremely useful, enough to justify the cost, she left them.
It was best to keep the lightest karmic connection possible in preparation for the Deathless Realm, where she would sever her Karma and surpass the natural laws of heaven and earth.
"That will be all," Bing Meilu said, as one of the Bluewings fetched her requested items.
With that done, she returned to Greenwind Pavilion. Xia Xuefeng was given enough money to buy whatever blood she needed to cultivate, and Zhang was told to focus on recovering his vitality.
They had three days till the Gulper Armada Elder arrived, and Bing Meilu planned to make strides in the meantime.
---
"Whad'ya want?" a gruff older man asked, staring at Bing Meilu skeptically.
"I need to borrow your forge."
"...For what?"
"To forge something."
"You plan on forging something?"
The old blacksmith gave a skeptical look to the small girl before him. She was slender and without muscle, with flawless unblemished skin. Obviously, she was a sheltered noble of some kind, who had no experience with the harness of physical labour. not to mention being both a child and a woman.
"Look girly, I don't know what silly fantasy novels you've read, but a forge is dangerous. You're dealing with bellowing fire and red hot metal. Injuries are very common, even for trained men. I can't in good conscience lend it to a small child-"
Bing Meilu held out a small trinket. It was a jade dagger covered in glowing runes, one of the items she had taken from the Alchemy Academy, a flying dagger.
"I-is that a magical treasure?" the blacksmith said, eyes wide.
"It is. Imagine how much your forging technique could improve if you were to spend some time studying this item. You might just become the best mortal blacksmith in the whole city."
At this point, the blacksmith's intense eyes were completely focused on the dagger.
"How long do you need? " he gasped.
"Just a few hours," Bing Meilu said. "You can study the item while I use your forge."
"..Fine-But I'll supervise you and if you look like you're about to hurt yourself, I'll intervene."
"No. I'll need privacy." Bing Meilu said.
As the blacksmith hesitated, his greed and moral concern warring, Bing Meilu gave the deathblow.
"If you're not interested in the deal, I'm sure one of your competitors would love the chance..."
"I agree," he hastily said. "But it's not on me if ya hurt yourself!"
"Naturally. I shall be fine."
---
Bing Meilu sat alone in the forge, holding three needles of whispering nettle, a plant whose Yin Qi could cut through the souls rather than the body.
Bing Meilu planned to forge a Lifebound artifact. Normally these could only be made during the ascension to the nascent soul realm, where a cultivator gained the power to wield their soul. However, Bing Meilu knew that a life-bound artifact forged when one was weaker would be all the stronger than one forged later. If she took one with her from Qi Condensation to the higher realms, it was unimaginable how powerful it might end up being. Only a reincarnated immortal like Bing Meilu would have the knowledge and prowess to do such a thing in the first realm of cultivation.
Therefore, she would have to slice off pieces of her soul far earlier than was healthy. So long as she quickly reached the nascent soul realm, the damage could be healed. If she took too long her soul would stay permanently damaged.
"it's worth the risk," Bing Meilu calculated. "Having a higher combat prowess will let me contest for more resources to cultivate faster.
I'm basically taking a loan from my Nascent Soul future self, but I should be able to pay it off just fine!"
It was unknown how many cultivators would be shocked by Bing Meilus's unhesitating decision to mutilate her own soul for power, something extremely taboo and risky, but that was precisely why she'd ascended past the Bird Talon Continent to Immortality and none of the others had. Only the decisive, those willing to take risks could become powerful in the long term. In a gamble against heaven, only one's own life was a large enough wager to win! The risk-averse might not lose as quickly, but they'd never win either.
Bing Meilu drove the three whispering nettles directly into her Dantian, face cold and unmoving besides a small wince, even as the Yin needles tore slices through her soul. The pain was unimaginable. No physical would ever compare to the pain of the soul.
After a moment, she pulled out the three whispering nettle needles. Each one glowed with a slight blue-white light- fragments of Bing Meilu's soul.
Bing Meilu took out from her spatial ring multiple materials. Various metals, herbs, animal parts and others. They were all meticulously calculated to be the best base she could create for her soulbond weapon.
She began by placing a pound of Icelight Jade into the blacksmith's furnace, feeding charcoal into it, and watching the flame grow hotter and hotter.
Still, the Jade did not begin to melt or soften.
It was discovered by the Moon Crying Swan Palace, well into Bing Meilu's first life, that Icelight Jade, which was unable to be refined by fire, could be used to forge items, where previously it was only carved into various boxes to help store spiritual pills.
"That which is done by Yang, can be done by Yin. The Liangyi are not opposites but are born from each. That which can be refined by fire... can be refined by ice!"
This was the discovery of the Moon Crying Swan Palace that had let them learn to refine previously unusable materials.
Bing Meilu's incredibly pure Yin Qi flooded the forge, causing the flames to turn into a strange white ice-fire.
As this happened, the Icelight jade finally began to melt, not by heat but rather by cold. Such a queer and strange technique was the result of the studying of countless years and incredibly precise formulation, and Bing Meilu was glad to stand on the shoulders of giants.
Through several hours of work, Bing Meilu forged, adding in various materials, shaping, carving and hammering until she was finally done. Lastly, Bing Meilu inserted the three Whispering Nettle needles, gasping as she felt a strong spiritual connection form to her new life-bound weapon.
"It's done!"