Chapter 204: The Flawless Body
Moonlight filled the sky. Within the Star-Picking Villa, a guesthouse reserved for visiting sect immortals, lanterns blazed bright.
In the pavilion over the water, Song Yan sat at a table, cradling a cup of spirit tea, and drank it at leisure.
The spirit tea was scalding, but for a cultivator, it was nothing of note.
He set the cup on the table and asked casually, “Where do you plan to go next?”
Ju Luyi sat before Song Yan with some reserve. She had been lost in thought and silent until now, and only upon hearing Senior Song’s question did she return to her senses.
“I…”
In truth, she did not know where to go.
In the past, every scheme to earn spirit stones and silver had been for the sake of treating her mother’s illness.
After her mother passed away, she had been alone in the world, with nothing to hold her.
Where to go?
She did not know.
Or rather, perhaps the question should be rephrased: what was she to do with the rest of her life, living on until she grew old and died?
There was no reasonable answer.
If she allowed herself to dream, to indulge in fantasies, then she wished to establish her Foundation and soar into the sky.
Alas, that was impossible.
The young woman remained silent. Song Yan gazed at her and spoke slowly. “If you have nowhere to go, would you like to serve as a temple guardian here in Cloud Stream City?”
Because of the tiger demon, the city of Cloud Stream was now short three or four temple guardians.
Besides the guardians of Qingu and another township who had been slain by the tiger demon, Su Li of the Xuan Yuan Sect had been cut down by Xiao He.
Song Yan had grown quite accustomed to killing people from the Xuan Yuan Sect.
From Wang Xi to Shen Huai of Changping later, the debts of enmity were already deep. Killing a traitor like Su Li brought no burden of conscience whatsoever.
How the Xuan Yuan Sect might handle the matter, Song Yan did not care in the slightest.
Liu Xincheng of the Abyssal Abyss Sect, Temple Guardian Liu, had also been dismissed from his post for concealing and delaying his reports.
Now the position of temple guardian in Cloud Stream City sat empty. If Ju Luyi was interested, Song Yan need only notify one of his senior or junior brothers dispatched by the sect to handle the aftermath.
The role of temple guardian was of little consequence to the sect, regardless of whom it was given.
Though Little Ju had not been a disciple of the Abyssal Abyss Sect before, no one would raise a word of objection to a recommendation from a disciple of Demon Extermination Peak.
Little Ju’s cultivation at the third level of the Qi Refining Stage was passable.
She was not suited to be a guardian of the city proper, but in the townships and villages around Qingu or Linxi County, she would be more than adequate.
Hearing Song Yan’s inquiry, Little Ju raised her head slightly.
Temple guardian?
Someone like her could become a temple guardian?
In the past, this would have been something she could never have imagined.
In the mortal world, the status of a temple guardian was exalted, revered by all. Even city lords and county magistrates showed them deference.
After all, the position represented not merely a cultivator, but the entire sect behind them.
To become a temple guardian meant she would no longer be merely a rogue cultivator attached to the Abyssal Abyss Sect.
She would be a cultivator of the Abyssal Abyss Sect.
For her, this was an earth-shattering stroke of fortune.
The kindness Senior Song had shown her was something she could never repay in a lifetime.
She wanted to accept, to pour out her gratitude in further words.
And yet…
The words reached her lips but were blocked by some unspoken thought, and she did not speak them.
To become a temple guardian was indeed wonderful, but was that truly what she wanted?
Her thoughts drifted. “What do I truly desire…”
Little Ju, oh Little Ju, you must be content.
You do not even know what you want. Would you refuse Senior Song and forfeit such a lifetime of prosperity?
That would be the height of ingratitude!
Speak now.
Accept Senior Song’s offer, and express your heartfelt thanks.
But the more she tried to counsel herself, the more she suppressed the vision in her heart. That thought was like a single spark falling upon a heap of dry kindling.
“No.”
Little Ju refused.
She lowered her head, not daring to meet Song Yan’s eyes or expression. “Little Ju does not wish to be a temple guardian.”
Song Yan was slightly taken aback, having not expected such an answer.
He regarded the young woman before him with thoughtful silence, quietly waiting for her to explain.
As though she had made some decision in her heart, Little Ju suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with resolve.
“Senior Song, Little Ju wishes to bow to you as master.”
She spoke thus.
Since childhood, because of her, her entire family had been subject to gossip. Her father had even abandoned her and her mother.
When she ascended the immortal mountain, her poor aptitude barred her from the Dao gates. Desiring to find spirit medicine for her mother’s illness, she could only rely on her skill at sewing to eke out a living in the Spirit Source Marsh market.
When her mother passed away, she could do nothing but watch her die.
She wished to return home to visit, but the villagers would treat her as a creature of calamity and ill omen, spurning her, driving her away. They had even tried to kill her.
Perhaps her entire life would be a failure, lived out as a joke.
And so she would no longer live on in a daze.
Seeing Song Yan’s stunned expression, Little Ju felt no anxiety. She knew her aptitude was poor, or she would not have been unable to enter even the outer sect.
For Senior Song to refuse her was entirely to be expected.
But that did not matter.
Little Ju had already decided that once Senior Song departed, she would set out on her own two feet to measure the world, to see its sights.
Sure enough, Song Yan shook his head.
A flicker of dejection crossed the young woman’s face, but she quickly masked it.
“You think too highly of me. I am not qualified to take a disciple.”
Song Yan smiled self-deprecatingly. “In the eyes of those true cultivation elders of this world, you and I are both Qi Refining Stage cultivators. There is no difference between us.”
He was not being modest.
At the eighth level of the Qi Refining Stage, he was still, in the end, merely at the Qi Refining Stage.
What qualification had he to take on a disciple and lead them astray?
As for the traditions of the Sword Sect, he himself had not yet fully grasped them. To teach them to another simply did not bear thinking about.
Little Ju was simple of heart and earnest in her deeds. Had his cultivation been sufficient, taking her as a disciple would truly have been no impropriety.
“Say no more of taking a disciple.”
“However, I am currently traveling from the sect and will not return for some time. If you also wish to journey far, then travel with me.”
Song Yan spoke in a gentle tone. “If you have any questions regarding cultivation, calling it guidance would be too much, but we may discuss and explore the matter together. I will certainly share all that I know.”
Taking a disciple was truly out of the question, but during their travels, answering a few of her questions would be no great matter.
It would cost little time, and as the saying went, reviewing the old brings understanding of the new. He himself might benefit as well.
Little Ju stood frozen, looking at Song Yan with something close to disbelief.
Within her chest, her small heart pounded wildly.
“Senior Song means that Little Ju may accompany you as you travel the world?”
What of it?
It was not the same as taking a disciple.
Song Yan nodded. “Though I cannot say when I will return to the sect.”
“If it is too long, you may accompany me to Dragon Pool Mountain to observe the Nine Veins Assembly, or you may return to the sect on your own. It is up to you.”
Little Ju suppressed her heart, which seemed ready to leap from her chest. She straightened herself and knelt properly.
Her hands rested one upon the other, quiet upon her knees.
“Little Ju will certainly not cause you any trouble.”
Had it not been for the affair in Qingu, Song Yan would already have been preparing to leave Cloud Stream City.
The sect needed several days to handle the matter and dispatch its response.
He could have left at once, but since there were many matters to attend to regardless, he simply informed City Lord Zhao that he would stay a few more days.
For an immortal to linger a few more days, Zhao Huaizhen was naturally only too pleased.
That day, Song Yan sat in the main chamber, holding a pouch in his hand.
This was the one Elder Bai Tao had left in the ruined hut. Besides a few scattered spirit stones, it held nothing, not even pills.
He supposed that before his death, when Elder Bai Tao had dismissed his disciples, he had distributed everything to them.
Beyond this, however, there was an ancient map. From the images still vivid in his memory, it marked the location of Elder Bai Tao’s sect.
This sect should lie near the border between the Jiang Kingdom and the Central Domain.
It was far too distant from the State of Chu.
Song Yan had not yet established his Foundation and could not fly. He had no reason to travel so far.
Moreover, according to the memories, the sect had long since been abandoned.
Perhaps among the disciples Elder Bai Tao had taken over the years, one of talent might wish to return to his roots and rebuild the sect.
That had nothing to do with Song Yan.
Perhaps someday, when the chance arose, he would go and see.
The pouch belonging to Su Li of the Xuan Yuan Sect had already been retrieved by Xiao He. It held little of value, only some common formation tools.
The man must have dabbled somewhat in the art of formations.
Sorting through all his spoils and organizing them by type, Song Yan took out the demon core.
If he sold the demon core, it would certainly fetch some price.
Demon cores had wide-ranging uses. The greatest use Song Yan currently knew of was the crafting of talismans.
In the cultivation world, when people spoke of spiritual materials and what could be made with them, it was a topic that could never be exhausted.
Among the many arts, the four most widespread were alchemy, talismans, formations, and artifacts.
Demon cores could rarely be used for alchemy, for they were essentially crystallizations of demonic energy and the vital blood of demon-kind.
Used as medicine, they could easily infuse a cultivator with demonic energy and baleful qi.
Without effective secret techniques or spiritual materials to purify the contamination, it would do no good for one’s path of cultivation.
Thus only a very few pills could be refined from demon cores.
The demon core in Song Yan’s hand now carried the feeling of something neither palatable to eat nor worth discarding.
A second-rank spirit beast, one equivalent to a human cultivator at the Foundation Establishment realm, possessed a demon core of immense value, which could be sold directly for a large sum of spirit stones.
Yet this Young Lord of the Mountain was only at the late first rank. Selling it would not yield many spirit stones.
Keeping it in hand, he had no idea what to use it for.
As he pondered, he noticed Xiao He, now in human form, sneaking about and peeking at her from the side.
“Hm?”
Song Yan’s mind turned, and he waved the demon core before her. “Xiao He, do you want this?”
“Mm.”
Xiao He nodded vigorously.
Song Yan felt a twinge of confusion.
Xiao He was a snake demon, and the Young Lord of the Mountain was a tiger demon. They were different species of demon-kind. Could the tiger’s demon core truly aid Xiao He’s cultivation?
Xiao He’s demonic energy was already at the mid-first rank, and it was brimming. Perhaps she would soon break through to the late first rank.
If she could make use of this demon core, that would be ideal.
“Consider it yours.”
Flicking his finger, he sent the tiger demon’s core arcing through the air.
To his surprise, Xiao He simply opened her mouth wide, caught it in one gulp, chewed it a few times with a munching sound, and swallowed it down.
That worked too?
Song Yan’s horizons expanded. She had simply eaten it directly?
How convenient.
He knew little of such matters among demon-kind. In any case, Xiao He would manage it herself.
Xiao He patted her little belly. The Profound Serpent Dragon Transformation Art began to circulate of its own accord.
At the same time, she felt a warm current slowly rising within her body, and she began to grow drowsy.
“Ha…”
She yawned, crawled under the covers, and fell asleep.
Song Yan processed the Young Lord of the Mountain’s carcass with brisk efficiency.
He collected the vital blood for later use and took a portion of the tiger demon’s flesh and bone.
Neither he nor Xiao He, nor Little Ju who would soon be traveling with them, could yet dispense with food.
This was fine spirit meat, a rare delicacy.
The tiger hide was shredded beyond use.
Having sorted the rest, Song Yan retrieved the bronze medicine cauldron from his Cosmos Bag, following the steps he had used before to temper his body with qilin blood. He prepared to undergo body-tempering once more.
Compared to the gold-and-crimson brilliance of the qilin blood, the tiger demon’s blood was far simpler in color, a deep red shot through with undertones of dark crimson.
Though it lacked the fierce radiance of the qilin blood, it carried its own acrid, baleful scent that struck the face the moment it was drawn out.
“It is only tiger demon blood after all. The effect will likely not amount to two or three tenths of the qilin blood.”
He took a pinch of powdered spirit herbs and scattered them into the cauldron. The baleful qi of the demonic blood was somewhat dispersed by the medicinal fragrance.
He had prepared few herbs this time, for the tiger blood was far less violent than the qilin blood.
Moreover, Song Yan’s constitution had grown immeasurably stronger than it had been during his first tempering.
When he stepped naked into the cauldron, his skin felt a needle-like burning pain, but it was far milder than last time.
The nameless incantation circulated, and the beads of blood seeping from his pores carried a faint golden glow.
Under inner observation, the crimson-gold light within his flesh and meridians ceaselessly devoured the demonic energy of the tiger blood.
His sinews and channels greedily absorbed the nourishment.
The liquid in the cauldron turned turbid at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Three hours later, the medicinal broth had wholly transformed into a pool of waste.
Song Yan opened his eyes and slowly stood.
Beneath his luminous skin, a faint crimson-gold radiance appeared, then swiftly vanished.
“This nameless incantation is truly profound.”
After a brief cleansing, he tested the flow of his Sword Dao energy. This tempering had not significantly widened his meridians.
But the strength of his flesh had improved considerably.
What surprised Song Yan most was that under inner observation, the surfaces of his five organs and six viscera all bore that crimson-gold glow, which had even begun to condense into a membrane of near-substance.
“Light illuminating the body, organs of gold and jade…”
This was precisely the “flawless” realm that so many body cultivators at the Qi Refining Stage dreamed of attaining.
Reaching this realm meant that even without a protective barrier of spiritual energy, without circulating any technique, without any defense, the martial arts of the mortal world, internal palm strikes, and ordinary poisons could no longer harm a cultivator’s foundation.
It was only at this moment that he truly understood how precious the qilin blood had been.
His previous temperings had already pushed his physical strength at the Qi Refining Stage to near its limit.
It was precisely because of this that in his decisive battle with Li Yi, he had lost by only a narrow margin.
Though the tiger demon’s blood was of modest grade, it could refine those corners of bone and sinew that the qilin blood had not reached.
Now, as his breath circulated, every gesture carried a faint echo of tiger and leopard thunder.
This was precisely the phenomenon described in the nameless incantation: “Qi Refining perfection, primordial flawlessness.”