The Night the Sky Glowed Red (Part Two)

The journey took just under an hour, after which they reached a small clearing. A few wildflowers and stunted bushes seized the opportunity of greater exposure to sunlight to sprout from the ground, but there was enough room for the footwork that Yao Hu's technique used.

Yao Hu stopped in the middle of the clearing, and Shao Ling respectfully stood a few paces behind him. Yao Hu flung off the cloth covering with a single fluid motion, revealing a long sabre with a slight curve, which grew thicker towards the tip. It had a large guard and an almost cylindrical pommel, and looked worn with use but well-maintained. There were no decorative engravings on the sword, but it whispered promises of death and carnage as Yao Hu held it under the faint moonlight of an embryonic crescent. It was a magnificent sight to behold Yao Hu holding that sabre every time.

The sabre was sent flying towards Shao Ling with a casual toss, and Shao Ling caught it with familiar ease. The wickedly curved sword retained Yao Hu's violent aura. It took Shao Ling a while to compose himself when holding the sabre at first, but he now held it with a graceful demeanor as soon as it entered his hands.

"Go through the moves."

Shao Ling responded to his master's curt command by instantly flowing into the first move of Yao Hu's sabre technique: Tiger Unsheathes Claws. Yao Hu's sabre technique was actually a cultivation technique in the form of a domineering sabre technique. When Shao Ling asked his master what the technique was called, he simply answered with "it's my sabre technique, that is all." Shao Ling was astonished at his master's humble naming sense regarding the technique, especially considering the overbearing names of some of the moves, such as "Tiger Bites the Dragon's Throat," or "Army Sweeping Blow," and the astonishingly arrogant "God and Demon Cleaving Stroke." Privately, Shao Ling thought of the technique as the Demon Tiger Sabre technique, which incorporated Yao Hu's name and had a better ring to it than "Yao Hu's sabre technique."

Master sure is an unrestrained person, Shao Ling thought idly as he diligently executed each move of the Demon Tiger Sabre.

Because the Demon Tiger Sabre was both an internal and external martial arts cultivation technique, it sculpted Shao Ling's body into a fortress of muscle despite his lean frame, and enriched his spiritual energy- the latter effect was reduced due to his unbalanced meridians.

Although the night was rich in Yin energy that reached its peak at midnight, Shao Ling's meridians still absorbed Yang Qi from the Heavens and Earth since Yin cannot exist without Yang, and vice versa. It felt like he was filling his organs with battery acid. Even so, he went through the sabre moves while absorbing Heaven and Earth Qi without betraying his pains on his face, other than several streams of sweat and an unnatural excess of body heat.

Shao Ling forcibly regulated his breathing as he concluded the series of sabre moves with Tiger Lies on Mountain.

Yao Hu's face remained impassive as a gravestone throughout the demonstration, but he commented with a rare "not bad" when it ended.

"Thank you, master."

Shao Ling bowed deeply to Yao Hu. He had noticed that his master bore no sabre, and now that he had taken a break from cultivating the Demon Tiger Sabre, he had the time to wonder about it.

" We won't be sparring today."

"Yes, master," Shao Ling said respectfully, but his mind was in turmoil.

The master and disciple had sparred with the sabre every day for the past four years, even when Shao Ling felt so sick that it felt like his intestines were trying to escape his body. It was said to take a week to gain competency with the sabre, but Yao Hu declared that countless competent warriors were slaughtered on every battlefield by the superior ones. What's more, actual combat experience was necessary to gain insights into the Way of the Sabre.

"Why aren't we sparring today?"

Yao Hu smiled faintly. He expected his disciple to be straightforward in his demeanor and questions. Consider the importance he put on sparring, Yao Hu would've been disappointed had his disciple neglected to ask why they were forgoing it.

Yao Hu drew an object wrapped in silky cloth from his robe and tossed it to Shao Ling, who almost dropped it due to its unexpectedly heavy weight.

"You're breaking through to the Qi Gathering stage, if you have the ability."

"Wait, what?!"

In his past life, Shao Ling yearned to stand at the peak of martial arts. In this life, pursuing the martial path became its own goal. The Qi Gathering stage was like a ravine that martial artists either leapt across or plummeted into, never to reach the other side.

Shao Ling swallowed once he realized that he'd been staring at Yao Hu with an open mouth.

I must have a chance. Master wouldn't bring it up unless there was a chance... No, not unless there was a good chance!

As Shao Ling's thoughts raced excitedly, he glanced at the object in his hands, which emanated a piercing aura.

"This is..."

"The rib of a Four-Tusked Hazard Boar. It would be more effective if it was refined into a pill, but old Shao Wei put a lot of effort into obtaining this, so make good use of it."

Shao Wei... No, father got his hands on a Hazard Bone? For me?

Shao Ling's heart leapt into his throats as he was overcome with gratitude for the man who had raised him for the past four years, and took care of his current body for the last sixteen years.

I'll repay him with a breakthrough... And I'll be a more filial son.

Shao Ling knew that his obsessive pursuit of martial arts wasn't conducive to one day holding Shao Wei's position as a landowning gentleman.

I'll make you proud, in both the martial and gentlemanly arts, he thought resolutely.

"Thank you, master."

Shao Ling could tell that the Hazard Bone had already been prepared, most likely by Yao Hu since alchemists charged exorbitant fees to prepare Hazard Bones to be used in cultivation. He broke the bone in half as easily as breaking a block of cheese. A violent aura struck him, but it felt tempered, like a vicious wolf who had undergone training; Shao Ling could tell the marrow was rich in Heaven and Earth Qi. Although Shao Ling had only dreamed of acquiring a Hazard Bone, he had studied how to use one in case he ever had the opportunity to do so, which he was thankful for now. He took a deep breath and exhaled to bring his breathing under control before scooping out the dark crimson marrow with his fingers and eating it directly.

It felt like he had just put a mouthful of burning embers into his mouth. He swallowed down the bone marrow and began circulating the rich, savage energy that poured into his meridians while brandishing his sabre into the first move of the Demon Tiger Sabre. Shao Ling precisely controlled the flow of Heaven and Earth Qi in his meridians while cultivating. he could feel the violent energy expanding his meridians, which felt like thin plastic being stretched just shy of breaking beyond repair. An inferno raged within Shao Ling as he slashed apart imaginary armies with a domineering sabre. A faint phantom of a bloody river with a bank of corpses could be seen as Shao Ling furiously cultivated, eliciting a smile from Yao Hu like a demon watching the destruction of the world.

"ROOOOAR!!!!"

Shao Ling released the primal bellow of a raging tiger. His head felt light and as heavy as an iron cauldron at the same time. His meridians pulsed as a violent waterfall of Heaven and Earth Qi poured into them. It felt like his meridians were being torn apart by a torrential rain of knives; however, he could feel them expanding and hardening like red-hot steel quenched in a barrel of water.

He was unable to admire the effects of the Hazard Bone as the waves of agony and ecstasy assaulted his mind and body. Shao Ling used all the martial arts experiences he had in this world and his past life to cling to consciousness. He could feel his cultivation level rapidly increasing until it pressed against the roof which separated the Meridian Opening stage from the Qi Gathering stage.

As Shao Ling struck out with God and Demon Cleaving Stroke and a mighty roar he could feel a faint pop that instantly became an explosion of Heaven and Earth Qi that condensed in his body, propelling him to the Qi Gathering stage.

The moment Shao Ling made his breakthrough, a red light appeared in the sky. It was as if a dying sun had appeared in the heavens, transforming night into a twisted ghost of day in a radius of several miles.

Boom!

An explosion of desolate crimson radiance swallowed all sight and sound, rendering the world silent in an instant.