Ten minutes later, I had tied Sli Ker to a tree in the distant forest, poured a hastily concocted paralyzing brew down his throat, and then brought him back to consciousness.
“Here we are, meeting again” - I said with a predatory smile on my face. - “You didn’t really think you could get rid of me, did you?”
“What?” - The victim’s eyes bulged as he frantically looked around. - “You wouldn’t dare! My father… my teacher knows everything! If something happens to me, he will kill you in such a torturous way that you’ll beg him to finish you off quickly.”
“You know” - I smiled - “it’s quite amusing, but that’s exactly how I finished him off not too long ago.” - As I spoke, I pulled a corpse out of my ring. Although its head was little more than a bloody mess, the clothes were still recognizable.
“What? Father!... No! You’re lying! There’s no Qi coming from him. This is just a corpse you dressed in my master’s clothes.”
“And how would I have obtained those clothes?” - I asked, then stowed the body back in the ring. - “But it doesn’t really matter. I could kill you the same way I killed your father, but I’ve got a more interesting option.”
Horror appeared on Sli Ker’s face because at that moment I was looking at him with Malicious Gaze technique, ignoring Heaven and Earth. - “That pill I gave you provided resistance to most poisons. But it also introduced a vulnerability to certain other poisons. And now I’m going to test exactly how that works in one very promising case.”
I took out several herbs, mixed them, and created an extract, which I used to coat the blade of my ‘trophy’ dagger that I’d obtained back in the Forbidden Tomb. I made a small cut on the test subject’s cheek and quickly stepped back, ready to shield myself if necessary.
The wound immediately darkened, and instead of crimson blood, a coal-black liquid began oozing out. An ulcer formed on the cheek and started to spread rapidly across his entire body, turning it into that same black rot. Sli Ker screamed and writhed, but there was nothing he could do. In less than a minute, his body had almost completely decayed.
But that wasn’t the most important thing. Thanks to the alchemical transformation of poisons, the liquid oozing from him turned into something akin to “Alien’s blood” corroding any organic matter. I hadn’t simply brewed poison from the herbs; I’d imbued it with dark Qi from the Leaky Caves. As a result, the corpse turned into a bubbling substance that dissolved not only the victim’s body and clothing but also part of the forest around it. I tossed Wang Zhu Tang’s body into the newly formed pool and watched as it, too, turned into black sludge. Then, ten minutes later, that substance spontaneously ignited and burned to ashes, erasing any trace of what had happened.
After examining yet another scorched patch of ground, I turned around and strolled home without much hurry. The “mysterious disappearance” of the Inner Courtyard steward and his illegitimate son had nothing to do with me. And who would suspect a mere tenth-level Qi Condensation cultivator no matter how gifted of murdering them?
I wasn’t worried that anyone else might know I had beaten Sli Ker and “tricked” Wang Zhu Tang into giving me permission to go on the trip. I remembered perfectly well the remark one of the disciples had made about the head of the Outer Courtyard. He was extremely sensitive about losing face and would hardly let anyone learn of such a “shame.” In fact, that very secrecy was why he had decided to finish me off without witnesses. Now that same secrecy worked to my advantage, allowing me to wipe out all evidence of the crime.
Returning to my stone house, I sat down on a stone couch, pulled a stone blanket over myself, and sank into meditation, doing my best impression of an actual rock. I carefully examined the traces of Qi that Cheon Chu Han had left in my body and confirmed my suspicions. He hadn’t simply inspected me — he had implanted an entire set of seals meant to halt my development. By using the Malicious Gaze technique, I managed to detect remnants of the Heavenly Law, from which I gleaned that it limits cultivation up to the fourth level of Core Crystallization (24).
Mentally cursing the sect leader, I set about eradicating all these seals before they could become fully “ingrained” in my energy body. I could only manipulate Qi of that density indirectly, but I had a brutal cheat at my disposal called Dark Qi. This energy dissolved not only physical matter but Qi structures as well. I couldn’t directly see the Qi in those seals due to my comparatively low cultivation level, but I perceived it through psionics. That proved sufficient to gradually, step by step, dissolve all the seals. Cheon Chu Han had taken care not to leave obvious traces, so the amount of energy in his seals was minimal.
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After cleansing my body and my Qi Thread of these fresh foreign elements, I turned my attention to the slave seal. To my displeasure, I discovered that while this seal was isolated from my Qi channels, it had fused with my physical body, and any attempt to destroy it caused organic decay near my heart. Therefore, I settled for making that portion of the seal completely inert and unable to respond to any commands. Essentially, one-third of the seal remained behind as a mere husk, bound to my physical form.
I spent four full days, sitting in meditation the entire time on this “sludge-cleansing” process. When I finished, I intended to focus on a detailed study of my Qi Thread and advancing it further, but that was when my solitude was abruptly interrupted. A servant at the eighth level of Foundation Formation (18) brazenly burst into my home, announcing that he had brought my share of the spoils.
“Dump everything over there in that corner” - I said, pointing to the far corner of the room. - “And give me the jade with the item list.”
Offended by my tone and my disregard for both him and the “treasures” the servant practically dumped the load in the indicated spot, threw the jade at me, and stormed off.
“And where is the Spring Forest Qi Crystal?” - I asked, quickly comparing the list’s contents to the items.
Of course, the question was rhetorical, since I could clearly see the crystal in the servant’s pocket. But he pretended to go deaf and walked away as though nothing had happened.
Figuring that my meditative state of mind was already ruined, I decided I might as well occupy myself with something else. In roughly three weeks, an expedition to the Dragon Dungeon was set to begin, and I wanted to be sure in advance that I could take part. If that turned out to be impossible, I’d have to start dissecting my own sect in search of hidden knowledge.
I decided to head to the Alchemists’ Guild to find my teacher. Leaving my “treasures” unattended, however, could easily mean losing them altogether. On the other hand, I could sense from here that seals infused with the sect leader’s Qi had been placed on them, so I had no intention of going near them, either. Hence, I resolved to protect my haul with a simple trap.
I had gained a thorough understanding of how traps worked back in the Forbidden Tomb. Essentially, they all consisted of a thin Qi thread, a sensor that detected the breaking of that thread, and a “detonator” that triggered a technique. These traps were primitive, yet effective. The trick lay in making the Qi threads extremely thin nearly impossible to detect by ordinary means. Even I sometimes only sensed a trap because I felt the approach of my own demise or picked up on the energy powering its combat function, rather than spotting those Qi threads. Considering the local inhabitants’ level, I could be sure they would realize there was a trap only once they had walked right into it.
Since I wasn’t familiar with the principles behind seal-crafting, I decided to base my traps on alchemy. I brewed five different types of poisons, loaded them into the traps, and “armed” them by lacing my “treasury” with Qi threads. After examining the resulting mousetrap, I nodded with satisfaction and headed to the Alchemists’ Guild.
I remembered on my way in that I’d apparently been given a task to produce certain pills, so I decided to stop by the storage facility to pick up some hay. But the moment I set foot inside the local barn, the storekeeper came rushing out to meet me.
“Did you bring me the herbs?” - he asked excitedly.
“No, I’m here to take what’s left.”
“What? Khah-khan!” - He coughed up blood. - “I won’t give it to you!”
“I’ve got the sect leader’s orders” - I said, hoping to turn up the pressure.
“What orders?”
“These.” - I took out the jade containing the list of pills.
He immediately grabbed the stone and scanned it. But within seconds, his concern vanished, and he returned the jade to me.
“There are no herbs for you. If you have a problem with that, speak to the guild leader.”
“All right.”
And that gave me a reason to drop by Chuk Cha Pyo’s office and find out where I could locate Mu Niam. But when I entered the guild master’s office, I found all three grandmaster alchemists there, locked in some heated discussion.
“Greetings, Grandmasters” - I said with a slight bow.
“Tan Ji Tao? You’re right on time.” - Chuk Cha Pyo addressed me. - “We’ve run out of herbs in our warehouse, so we’re sending a squad of alchemists to the Lands of the Sacred Foliage. You’ll be going along with them. Your colleague, O Hu Yan, will lead the squad. You leave tomorrow, so you’d better get ready.”
“Understood.” - I nodded. - “Teacher, I’d like a word.” - I turned to Mu Niam.
“Let’s go.” - He nodded.
We left the office and went into the next room. I noticed a certain pomp in its furnishings, very much Mu Niam’s style.
“This is my office. Have a seat.” - He pointed to a chair.
“Teacher, I wanted to confirm my participation in the expedition to the Dragons’ Dungeon” - I said without preamble, settling into the soft, comfortable chair quite a contrast from the stone couch in my own house.
“Yes, that’s possible. Although a small group from the guild will be going under Elder Zhao Han’s command, I’ll be representing the Alchemists’ Guild separately and can therefore choose my own expedition team. However, before we depart, you’ll need to finish producing all the pills listed in the jade you received from the sect leader.”
“Yes, I’ve been thinking about that. But there’s a problem with the herbs. Especially the ones older than five hundred years.”