Chapter 22: Entering the Lunar marsh
As the Huang family was mourning, Gu Lin, the former head of the Auction Hall was standing over the corpse of Gu Ouyang. The servant who had brought back Huang Longwei's corpse had also taken the other four with her.
He knew something like that was going to happen when he had failed to find his grandson a few days back. This idiot had attacked Chen Guo, but the boy had finished the job this time.
When he was younger, Gu Lin had lost his entire family, brutally murdered. The only one he had left was now lying with his head separated from his body. Gu Lin did not know how to react at all. Qi began to gush out of him. As a late 9th-grade Mortal, he was at the limit of being a Mortal Warrior. Even though he could not really control it, his Qi could sometimes exit his body.
This day, he felt like he had nothing more to lose in this life. His family was gone, his status was gone. The last thing that mattered was to send his grandson's murderer to join him in death. Gu Lin still had some hope of achieving something with his life. Even though he was 82, his cultivation could allow him to live at least until 300 years old. His cultivation talent was mediocre and he spent more time managing the auction hall and his grandson than training. But through these activities, he had the possibility of doing something that could matter. All this was now gone.
Right now, he decided to give it his all. He consumed many pills to forcefully increase his cultivation. To become a Mortal Warrior, he had to open specific points on his palms and the soles of his feet. Through the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall, he was able to obtain medicines designed for that. The opening would not be very clean, but the points would be open nonetheless.
When he finally directed the medicinal essence to these points, he felt as if a dam had just broken down. All of his Qi could now willingly leave his body and be used outside. He launched a palm strike and a rock many meters away from him was reduced to dust.
Satisfied with this new-found power, he went back to his grandson's body.
"Gu Ouyang, you were reckless and stupid. I failed you in that regard. But it seems like your old man is as stupid and reckless. No matter your faults, you were my family and Chen Guo will pay with his life!"
During the next few days, Gu Lin took care of the final ceremony for his grandson's burial. He then departed. Having just broken through to Mortal Warrior, he was faster and stronger than before. His cultivation was a little shaky but it did not matter at all for him. He knew where Cao Yun was headed to and he used his old connections in the Myriad Hall to get informations on his moves. Almost all of his fortune was spent in this endeavor, but money was not a problem anymore.
-
Huang Cixi had a very different reaction.
She had simply left Yinmen City to go back to the main branch of the Huang family in Baziyun. This town was much larger than Yinmen City. It was the capital of the entire Wu Province. The Hongchen Kingdom was so vast that it was divided into several Provinces, each one with a unique capital and a governor.
It took her more than a month to reach her destination, as the only path to Baziyun City was to cross the Nine Peaks mountain, following what Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue had done. She stopped where her servants had found her brother's tomb. She stayed the entire day there, showing respect the her second brother. It was apparent that the ones who killed him took great care of his body after his death. For a moment, she was relieved. Her brother had not been devoured to death or brutally tortured, maimed and killed. He had been shown some humanity, even in death.
After this long travel, she finally arrived before the Huang estate. Compared with her mansion in Yinmen City, this estate was a small town in itself. There were many statues and a huge door in which her family name was engraved. Most statues depicted various forms of the phoenix, the sacred beast of the family. A legend stated that the Huang family had a trace of the fenghuang's blood in them, making their hair pure white.
Huang Cixi was brought to her grandfather, the current head of the family.
"Little Cixi, I've missed you so much!" Her grandfather seemed to only be in his forties and had a huge physique, with numerous scars on his neck. "It's a real tragedy what happened to your brothers." She immediately noticed that he did not even mention her father.
"Grandfather, I must ask you a favor."
"Anything, my dear. You're back with your family now, you can have anything you want."
"I wish to enter the Wubei Sect." Her grandfather was taken aback. "I know that our family has some connections there. And... I want to become strong!"
"Little Cixi, you just came back to grandpa and you want to leave so soon? If it's to avenge your brothers, let your family deal with it, just tell me who did it!"
"Grandfather, I'm sorry. But it's more than that. If I had more strength, none of this would have happened. My brothers would be alive and my father would be fine."
"Your father is precisely the one who should have protected you! He's the one who should have been strong!" Her grandfather's rage erupted but he controlled himself. "What I meant is, you can rely on your family to be strong for you."
"Please, grandfather." Huang Cixi pleaded with her charming eyes on the brink of tears. She knew exactly how to get what she wanted from her grandfather.
"Fine, fine. We'll see about that. First, let's celebrate your return."
Huang Cixi did not want to just kill Chen Guo, it was the truth. All this tragedy had taught her that her schemes were nothing. What she needed was real strength. She would not scheme against Chen Guo, she would fight him fair and square. After beating him, she would send him to join her brother.
-
Cao Yun was unaware of these two people swearing to take his life. It had taken him two months but he could now see Heidai Peak, the peak where the Wubei Sect was located. To finally reach his destination, he had to cross a deep swamp called the Lunar Marsh. At night, the marsh reflected back the light of the moon and became silver.
Before entering there, Cao Yun decided to sleep in a very small town nearby, Fulao.
During the night, he felt that the time was right. The Qi contained within his Eight Extraordinary Vessels was so rich that it was beginning to overflow.
Sending his mind back to the 'Cultivation of Wrath', he read the part about the 5th-grade of the Mortal realm. According to the 'Universal Law of Immortality', a cultivator had to circulate his Qi through his Meridians. There were 12 main Meridians and each one had to be filled with Qi at a certain hour of the day. You would circulate your Qi within in order to free the Meridians of any blockage and then sent the Qi back to your Vessels. By repeating the process over and over again, the Qi would naturally flow through each Meridian. This would increase the overall health of a cultivator and strengthen him for the next stages of cultivation.
The Mortal realm was also called the Foundation Realm because its main goal was to prepare humans for the other realms.
The 'Cultivation of Wrath' was a little different. You had to circulate your Qi along strange pathways that would originate from and end in the Vessels, going across different Meridians. The point was to create a pathway between all your acupoints, vital points on the surface of the body connected to the Meridians. Despite being more difficult, this method would give great results in the next stages of the cultivation.
With his strong intent, Cao Yun was not afraid of directing his Qi along difficult pathways. After this couple of months, he had almost reached Perfection with Yi the Earth Intent. He only needed six more repetitions of the character, but each repetition was more difficult than the last. Anyway, with his strong intent Cao Yun could already direct the Qi anywhere he wanted and getting rid of blockage was simpler as well.
Usually this process took around 2 years for the average cultivator. Some were able to complete it in less than 8 months though. With his intent, Cao Yun was confident to perfect this strange pathway through his Meridians in half a year.
Cao Yun calmed his mind and circulated Yi the Earth Intent. He was still short of five repetitions. Given the difficulty, it would take at least a month to perfect this first character. The First Layer of 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' was called 'Discipline the Five Children' because there were five characters to perfect. Cao Yun was impatient to work on the second character but he was not rash and did not try to do it before perfecting the first one.
After calming and resting his mind, Cao Yun focused his intent on his Qi. As his intent followed the pathways described in the 'Cultivation of Wrath', he could feel his Qi following behind. His Meridians were still very small and only a fraction of his Qi could flow within them. Despite his big confidence in his intent, completing the first pathway was harder than he had thought. He had to complete it in one go, otherwise some of his Qi would remain in his Meridians and could harm him from the inside.
After a stick of incense, Cao Yun finally completed the first pathway. He had circulating his Qi through every single point of each one of his Meridians. As he relaxed, he felt that a very small part of the Qi accumulated in his Eight Vessels was slowly getting in his Meridians, following the pathway he had just focused on.
Cao Yun was officially a 5th-grade Mortal. As he practiced, his Meridians would become larger and stronger and his Qi would eventually flow naturally through them. Already, Cao Yun could feel his body being nourished by the little Qi in his Meridians. He was a little stronger and faster.
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The time had finally come to cross the Lunar Marsh. Cao Yun was familiar with this place through the reports that Dun Mofan had given him. From some villagers, he also got information on the type of demonic beasts and plants.
The Lunar Marsh was very Yin. During the day, the dangers were few, but at night, this place was a nightmare for simple mortals. Luckily, Cao Yun was not a simple mortal. Combining his strengthened mind and his new cultivation, he did not have to sleep as long as mere mortals to rest. It would then be easier to protect himself during the night.
It was possible to take a long way around the Lunar Marsh. But it would take too much time, and Cao Yun had another reason for going this way. From the reports of Dun Mofan, he hoped to find something in this swamp.
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He entered in the Lunar Marsh during the day and was able to cover a lot of distance. With his new cultivation, Cao Yun realized that he was able to go even farther than he had thought. This small change within his body was giving him many benefits. His senses were also more refined.
As the sun was setting, he used everything he had learned from Feng Yingyue to examine the plants, the trees, even the insects. Combining all of these clues, he found a place where he would be mostly safe during the night. The first night went by without any problem. Some screeches echoed in the swamp and Cao Yun could make out some dangerous beasts, but none of them decided to make him their prey.
As he continued walking with caution, he found something familiar. In a pond of water, there were stems coming from the very bottom of the water up to the surface. By examining them, Cao Yun understood why they seemed so familiar. These were Embalming Lake Lotuses. By consuming the Frozen Heart Pill made from their leaves, he had obtained a great benefit for his mind cultivation.
He really wanted to pluck them but there were two main issues. First of all, they could only be obtained during a new moon night. But the other problem was more difficult. They were very Yin and so, you had to preserve them in a Yin environment to be able to keep their medicinal essence.
Cao Yun was very frustrated. This treasure was before him but he could do nothing with it. After some pondering, he decided to walk away. This swamp was known to be rich in Yin energies. Thus there was a chance to find something suitable to preserve the medicinal energy of the lotuses. And if Cao Yun was not mistaken, there would be a new moon during his time in the swamp. He would have to rely on a bit of luck.
Even though these leaves were beneficial for him, he had other more important business in this swamp, and he did not want to miss the entrance exam into the Wubei Sect. During his travel through the Lunar Marsh, Cao Yun had to fight off several demonic beasts. But most of them did not exceed the 2-core stage, so he had no problem with any of them.
One night, a Red Slashing Tarantula tried to slit his throat during his sleep. His mind was alert enough to wake up in time and kill the beast. Another time, he almost got surprised by a Bark Parasitic Moon Eater, a type of carnivorous plant. This plant had the particularity of hiding within a tree, looking very similar to its bark. But if you were unfortunate enough to touch the tree, its very potent paralytic would kill you instantly before it tried to digest you. Luckily, Cao Yun had learned a lot during his time with Feng Yingyue.
He collected some materials as he was roaming through the swamp. Until one day, he finally found what he was looking for. There were clear traces of humans.
According to the reports he had read, many people got kidnapped and their bodies were later discovered in the outskirts of the swamp. Anyone would think that the swamp had killed them, but the authorities suspected a group a demonic cultivators. There were some more urgent matters to take care of than this as they only seemed to target normal mortals, not cultivators. Thus, the Shuangli Province Governor had not sent anyone to investigate.