Fire raged all around them. Hui watched through the woman’s eyes, quietly gauging her body’s visible age. Now that she’s awake, her body has stabilized somewhat, and she isn’t cycling through lives and deaths so quickly, but she isn’t going to stay like this forever, either. I estimate we have an hour, at most, maybe two.
I’m not sure what happens to me if she burns up to ash. I lost my tether when I got dragged into her… I might be able to survive it, but I’m not going to bet my life on it. Especially since…
He touched his tongue thoughtfully. I said my name. Does that mean I’m no longer a reaper? That’s worrying. Then, am I just a ghost right now? A mere, mortal ghost? Unmortal, but still. Of the mortal variety! Killable!
I need to be more careful…
Sweat broke out on his soul-brow. Hui mopped it away, fanning himself slightly. So hot… it hurts so much! Even with my pain muted in soul-form, it hurts. I don’t like pain, I don’t like it at all! Even if I’m used to it. Even if I can bear a lot of pain, I don’t like it! The faster I can escape this, the better.
It’s too bad that I can’t talk to Senior without holding her pain. Ahhh, I only wish I could…
Around him, Huo Fenghuang’s raging qi began to settle. She circulated it, guiding it through her. It burned, almost hot enough to burn Hui’s eyes. He watched at a distance, a quiet observer, not a participant. Let’s see how she handles the life qi and death qi inside her! Just watching them coexist doesn’t give me much insight. Seeing how the two mingle as she cultivates, on the other hand…!
Qi spun in her qi passages. Rather than the life or death qi, she manipulated a fiery qi, so thick with the fire element that it was more fire qi, truly qi and fire at the same time, than fire-elemental qi. As opposed to the wood-elemental qi in Mysterious Heavenly Forest, or in other words, qi tinged with an element, this qi is fundamentally fire, as much as it is qi. It’s more like life qi or death qi, which have to be handled specifically and with care and can’t be considered the same as ordinary qi, as opposed to an elemental qi, which will help people who use that element, but is still weakly-elemental enough to be considered and handled the same as ordinary qi.
I don’t know if fire qi exists anywhere but inside Huo Fenghuang’s body.
“It used to,” Huo Fanghuang said. “Exist outside of me, that is.”
“Oh?” Hui asked. I forgot. I’m so deeply synced with Senior right now, that unless I take extreme care, she can hear all my thoughts.
Well, small cultivator is used to Seniors hearing all my thoughts, anyways!
“Phoenixes. I stole this qi from phoenixes. This qi is the essence of phoenixes, their heart and their soul.”
Oh, Hui thought, not quite understanding.
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“If a human cultivator loses all their qi, what happens?” Huo Fenghuang asked patiently.
Hui considered for a moment. “They become mortal?”
“Even mortals have some qi,” Huo Fenghuang corrected him.
“They die?” Hui tried.
She nodded. “They die. But what about a phoenix? What if a phoenix loses all its qi?”
“It…” Hui paused. He put a hand to his chin. It should die. That’s the easy answer. But that isn’t it, is it? Phoenixes are immortal. If they die, they are born again from their ashes. Lacking qi, do they still respawn? Or do they simply… cease to exist?
“Close,” Huo Fenghuang said, chuckling.
She waved her hand, summoning a phoenix to her palm. It bit viciously at her, drawing blood. Like lava, Huo Fenghuang’s blood glowed brilliantly and sizzled, burning hot. Lovingly, she stroked the qi-beast, even as it clawed at her arm. “It was a trick question. A phoenix cannot be separated from its qi. In short… a phoenix is its qi. To extract qi from a phoenix is to distill the essence of the being from the inconsequential, physical form.
“When I ‘ate’ phoenixes… I didn’t eat the beasts. To eat their physical bodies is a meaningless task, utterly without purpose. Instead, I absorbed their qi and dominated them, utterly subordinating them to my will. Their qi became mine, and I became their qi. In this way, I took in all the phoenixes.” She turned her hand over and closed it around the phoenix. It burst, vanishing into fire qi once more.
Ah. She absorbed their fire qi and formed it into hers. It reminds me of myself and Fatty, or me and Master’s songbird. Hui nodded. Makes sense, makes sense! So phoenixes are essentially complex qi constructs. They’re the advanced form of Fatty or the songbird.
Hmm, I wonder if qi has some kind of karma with birds…?
Huo Fenghuang frowned at Hui. “You don’t seem surprised.”
“Ah, well, Senior, this small cultivator has encountered a great number of strange qi types, and a great number of bird-shaped qi constructs. Putting the two together seems entirely natural, now that Senior has suggested it,” Hui said humbly, nodding.
“A fifth-realm cultivator has encountered qi constructs and unusual qi types?” Huo Fanghuang muttered.
“Senior, please, please. I was third-realm when I first encountered Fatty—that is, my duck qi construct. It’s nothing too impressive,” Hui insisted.
She blinked at him. A moment later, she nodded. “Indeed. I suppose life qi isn’t that strange a thing to encounter, either.”
“I’m currently death qi, Senior,” Hui said.
“Death qi? You encountered death qi by fifth realm? What happened to the world while I was locked away?” Huo Fanghuang said.
“Er, Senior, although not everyone acknowledges the existence of death qi, there are a great many death cultivators and ghouls in the mortal world right now. It isn’t so strange to encounter death qi,” Hui said, waving his hand.
“What happened?” she muttered again, ignoring him.
Hui cleared his throat. “The Heavenly Dao is breaking down. Perhaps it’s a symptom of that?”
Huo Fenghuang’s eyes widened. “The Heavenly Dao…!”
“Ah, yes. Er, the Underworld is on the brink of crumbling, in fact… oh! But Senior, don’t worry! I have a plan,” Hui said with a nod.
“A fifth-realm—”
“Senior shouldn’t put so much weight on realm. In any case, I’m on the verge of breaking through. Senior can consider me as sixth realm,” Hui said gently.
Huo Fenghuang squinted at him. “You think a single realm makes a difference in being able to fix the entire Underworld?”
“No, no. Naturally not,” Hui said, shaking his head. He paused, then cleared his throat. “Ah, well… Senior is going to help a lot in fixing the Underworld.”
“I?” Huo Fenghuang scoffed.
“No, no, Senior! Senior can help a lot, a lot indeed. Senior’s flames are essential!” Hui said reassuringly.
“What makes you think I’m going to help you?” Huo Fenghuang asked icily, despite the boiling heat.
Hui tilted his head. “Respectfully, Senior… what makes you think I’m going to give you a choice?”