Nine Echo Pill

The sound of giggling flowed through Zhong's estate as the silhouettes of three slim figures could be seen peering through a window into a petal garden beyond.

"He's been sat there since morning, do you think he's okay?"

"That wolfs fur was so soft, why can't I have one?"

"Has he opened his eyes yet?"

The figure that had caught the girls interests so much was the figure of the youth that Zhong had saved. Watching as the wolf ran around the petal garden, sniffing and licking at the flowers causing it to roll around made the girls giggle and sigh, wishing they could all play in the petal garden and meet their new guests.

"Shall I go get him some food? He hasn't eaten for a while," standing on the left of the trio was Ming, the tallest and oldest of the three, with long silky black hair hanging down to her waist as it hugged her lithe frame, highlighting her snow white skin and exquisite charm. On her pale face was a slight tinge of red as she watched the youth sat under the sun, highlighting his firm muscles and tanned skin, causing her to ogle and not want to look away, something about him drew her in.

If she looked at any other disciples this way then they would be ecstatic and earn the jealously of all, the three sisters being known as the three beauties.

"It seems that sister Ming has finally been caught"

"What betrothal gifts shall we prepare?"

Hearing her sisters teasing words Ming's cheeks became dyed in a deeper shade of red as she hurriedly looked away unable to face them in case they teased her even more.

"It was sister Ming who helped undress him after all, there won't be any surprises on the wedding night," hearing Min's words she could only grow more embarrassed as her pale skin flushed even deeper making her look more irresistible, like a juicy red apple that you just wanted to bite into and savour.

On the day that Zhong brought the youth to the estate it had been Ming and Elder Hwei-Ru who undressed and treated his wounds, shocked by the level of damage he had sustained as well as the old scars that were spread across his body. At the time Ming hadn't thought of how it was the first time she had seen and touched a man's body but afterwards she felt her heart beat faster whenever she thought about it. Still in a slight daze, Ming continued stealing glances of the youth as he cultivated, his once long hair now trimmed and tied as it rolled down his back, the feral beard shaved off revealing a strong and youthful face.

"Ah at least sister Ming has her eyes set on a man whilst Mei's are only looking at the beast," Ming sighed in relief as the target of their teasing finally switched. Mei the middle of the trio had been enamoured with the beast as soon as it had awoken, the youth had interested her slightly but she wanted the wolf, its soft fur and wild nature had captured her adventurous soul.

Seen as the prettiest of the three Mei had the same pure white skin as her other sisters, whilst her body possessed the curves of a seductress combined with the elegance and charm of youth. Her silky hair always flowing with the wind displaying her free and spirited nature.

"It seems that I am doomed to wonder this world alone….." before Min's further words of mischief could continue she grew silent as she gazed into the petal garden. The youth had woken up revealing two clear emerald eyes that drew her in, mesmerising her, making her forget her previous words as her mind grew blank.

"It seems that our youngest sister has finally grown up"

"Someone can tame our little minx after all"

Enjoying the rare opportunity to tease their younger sister Ming and Mei took full advantage as they patted her head and pulled her cheeks lovingly. Min the shortest of the lot standing just under Mei's chest level, was always being teased due to her innocent and cute expression opposite to her nature of causing trouble and mischief wherever she went. Much to Zhong's annoyance, she would always be forgiven when she started to look sad and turned on the water works, quickly dumping the trouble on him before escaping, truly a devil in a cute body.

Further words were cast around as the sisters continued to tease and play with each other causing them to giggle and laugh, the youth smiling at them caused them to quickly hide and blush.

Zhong was simply stunned.

All these years disciples and elders had been trying to get closer to the girls and create some kind of relationship yet they had always been refused or turned down, but as soon as he brought one near dead youth home they were obsessed with him. He didn't know whether he should happy or upset by this outcome.

Clearing his throat loudly Zhong took great pleasure in watching the girls jump as they were focusing so much on the youth. Three bright red faces turned to face him as Min began to pout, her large eyes starting to water, already seeking to be forgiven and escape quickly.

"I'm sure you have more things to do than stand around all day and watch our guest," watching the girls look away sheepishly he couldn't help but smile to himself, "give it time, once I know more about him and his wolf then you girls can meet him properly."

No longer looking downcast or as guilty the girls scampered away, each lost in their own thoughts. Shaking his head slightly Zhong looked into the petal garden as the youth continued to cultivate, he did worry about how he was going to pass the test.

Having been in contact with the youth over the past month Zhong had noticed some strange peculiarities about him. His cultivation was now at the 9th stage of the human realm, if he was lucky then he could break through into the 10th stage or even the soul refinement stage at any time, yet the amount of essence he had was enormous when compared to any cultivator at the same stage. Even a cultivator at the 5th soul stage would have less essence than the youth, it wasn't just the amount but the purity of his essence as well, having watched him cultivate Zhong realised that his cultivation method was definitely special.

This quality of his essence alone was rare and hard to come by but somehow the wolf quite happily bathed and played in it, when Zhong released a small amount of his essence the wolf grew scared like any other demonic beast at its rank, he didn't understand how the youths essence did no damage to the beast.

Tempering themselves whilst cultivating was something that all cultivators took part in but few specialised or focused on, yet the youths physique was absolutely monstrous and the speed at which his wounds healed rivalled that of demonic beasts themselves. He truly was a mystery that Zhong wanted to unravel, but only if he survived the inner court promotion test.

Walking out into the petal garden Zhong couldn't help but greet the youth as the wolf disappeared further in, Zhong's natural essence scaring the beast away.

"Qing how are you feeling?" with the youth unable to talk Zhong had promoted the name of Qing due to his verdant green eyes, surprisingly a name that the youth agreed to and answered too.

"... … ….. …. ," Un-intelligible sounds came from Qing's mouth, his attempt at speaking to Zhong and returning his greeting, something that he had not done in many years. Only Qing inside his own mind could understand what he was trying to say, instead, he could only sadly smile to convey his gratitude.

"It's good that you're trying to talk my strange friend, just give it time and you'll get your voice back. It's not uncommon for this to happen to cultivators after being trapped in strange places on their own for many years, after taking the nine echo pill I made it will only take a few more days until it takes effect and stimulates your vocal chords. There are so many things that I want to ask you, how long did you spend on that mountain? Did you have a different name before?"

Qing remembered who he had been, he had been ignorant and full of arrogance, he didn't regret who he had been as he had learnt from it but accepting the name of Qing seemed right to him.

He had found his own way now, his path to tread.

Watching Qing sat amongst the petals waiting on Zhong reminded him of when he used to be sat like that waiting for his master to speak, to guide him, he really was beginning to feel older with all these youngsters In his house now.

With a sigh Zhong began, "In one month you will have to take part in the inner court promotion test, you either agree to this or the patriarch and elders will remove you from the sect after destroying your cultivation. You have to participate on your own, Shade over there is banned from helping so he has to stay in the estate."

Hearing his name called Shade perked up his ears as Zhong had mentioned him, paused in his actions of digging a hole he resumed his task after Zhong's attention was re-directed, shades goal was to dig up one of the roots from the petal tree and gnaw on it. His actions in the garden over the past few days had infuriated Zhong no end as he destroyed the otherwise pristine and immortal garden earning him the name Shade as all the girls and Zhong saw were different shades of fur as the wolf ran away when discovered.

"In the test you will be joining groups of other outer court disciples from the mountain ranges, your goal is to survive in a beast land whilst completing missions and slaying the most beasts. The disciples that pass are the ones who perform the best or complete set missions, I will not be informed of the beast land due to my connection with you. I am sorry for causing you trouble, but I would choose to step in every time, life isn't so cheap as to just sit still and watch it slip away."

An aura of solemnity descended around Zhong as he finished his sentence, the very air of the petal garden seemed to taste purer almost containing a trace of life itself, the changes even made Shade pause as the root was nearly exposed. Qing digested what Zhong said and placed a hand on Zhong's shoulder, he understood and accepted that Zhong had done everything possible for him.

Seeing the acceptance and understanding in Qing's eyes Zhong continued "My goal in the next month is to aid you in advancing your cultivation as much as possible, I would also like to see any martial skills that you have so we can improve them or get you some better ones."

Shaking his head slightly at the mention of pills and martial skills Qing could only hope that Zhong got the message.

Qing truly felt grateful to find such a good benefactor but the cultivation method he was using reduced the effect of essence pills, they would help but wouldn't impact his cultivation by much, even martial skills were hard for him to use.

"What martial skills do you currently practice?"

Once again shaking his head at the mention of martial skills Qing was trying to think of some way to explain his problem to Zhong. Due to the way he cultivated his essence was overly pure and strong, normally this would be a good thing for a cultivator but with his cultivation only being at the 9th stage human realm his body couldn't yet cope with the strength of the essence when performing martial skills.

Using his finger Qing dug two straight lines in the dirt, a finger width apart, using his palm he collected and began pushing dirt through the two lines, pointing towards his own arm he showed the two lines being torn apart as the dirt went through only to scatter everywhere as he waved his palm.

"Hmm….I'm guessing that you're telling me that your body cannot cope with your essence whenever you try and use a martial skill, the strength of the essence as it activates the martial skill tears apart your muscles and veins so the skill fails. If this is the case then you had best avoid martial skills until you reach the Earth spirit stage, when breaking through into this stage your essence reworks and improves your body so theoretically you should then be able to cope with and practice martial skills."

Glad that Zhong was smart enough to figure it out Qing now knew that he had to reach the Earth spirit stage to fully utilise his essence.

"Well if I can't teach you any martial skills then the most I can do is improve that already monstrous body of yours, you'll have to rely on it and be careful until you can utilise your essence. If possible I'd prefer that you break through into the soul refinement stage before the test, so that you can awaken your essence spirit."

Qing was glad that Zhong had understood fully, a stronger body was his only option, with Zhong's help he was sure that he would improve much faster than on his own.

"Well then, no point sitting around," standing tall Zhong placed his hands on Qing's shoulders "I will do my utmost best to improve and strengthen your body, let's get started."

Blissfully unaware of the baleful aura that Zhong seemed to release, Qing was dragged further into the estate, only the girls were aware of Zhong's bad habit.

"You think he will be okay?"

"He will be fine Sister, Zhong has done this for lots of disciples"

"Yes but he has broken just as many disciples under his strange concoctions"

Quickly using her hands to seal Min's mouth, Mei looked over catching the look of worry that seemed to be engrained on Ming's face, she really had developed feelings for Qing.