As guests of honor, Sun Yin and Lu Bang were sought by the people on the ship. Their appearances from yesterday's events had convinced the rich and influential to try their luck in gaining a cultivation sect's favor. It caused them to retreat to their room for breakfast and probably for most meals to come.
Sun Yin and Lu Bang ate on the table that came with their cabin rent. Knowing that they were both hungry, they took silence as an enjoyable chatting topic. However, Lu Bang decided to break it, which was rather surprising knowing him.
"Sun Yin." He noticed how the maiden perked her head up when she heard her name. "You said you have eight core pieces, right? Three of them represent the weapons you had: Buyue, Yuanyan, and the Cinder Army. What about the other five? How do you know what you gain?"
"It's strange for you to open a conversation." She hummed as she started to eat in a rather seducing manner, which made his eyebrow twitch. "Then again, jumping right in the main course." She chuckled to herself before bringing her chopstick down.
"Are you prepared to listen to me?" Sun Yin averted her gaze. "I would basically give you a gist of the Hushe Path of Transcendence. You might get tempted to join them if you hear about its power from me."
"Yeah, do I have a core?" Lu Bang snorted. "Besides, if we're looking for the rest of the cores, I should at least know what we're getting our hands on. Not that I'm not benefiting from it at all."
The maiden brought her eyes on him again before shrugging. She laid the food on the table in a line like they were the cores. She was lucky there were eight plates she could use. "The Hushe Path is composed of mainly eight schools of world-tier techniques. I learned most of them from the gods that I traveled with after they took an interest in me.
"The first school would be the instilled school of the Sun sect, purification mastery." She gestured to the rice bowl. "This school focuses on clearing dark energy from objects to bring their purity back. However, the Hushe Path made use of it as a tool to draw dark energy from an object. The more dark energy you draw, the more you will store inside of you.
"The second school would be sword art mastery." She gestured to the next food item. "This school makes use of a cultivator's handiest weapon, a sword. It could be something else as well, but since the Mother used a sword, it's sword mastery." She looked up at him with a bitter smile. "This is the one your father found. This is the one for Buyue."
Lu Bang nodded in response. He gazed at the food items instead of her face, though, like they were indeed representations of the core pieces.
"The third school would be undead mastery." She somewhat cringed at using the chicken broth as the bowl for it so she switched it with the scrapped bones bowl. "This is the hardest one to master. Every undead you make will take a portion of your life span."
The listener lifted his head from looking down at the food. "Is this the reason why you took on the wager with the Whimsical One? You became immortal after winning, right?"
She nodded with a slight chuckle. "Yes. Cultivating energy to become immortal will take me so long. When he offered to make me an immortal, I just gambled everything I've got. If I failed, at least I tried.
"Since I am immortal, the limit of creating the undead vanished. However, there can only be too many dead bodies. Unless I kill people, my army would soon run out... which takes us to the next school, treasure mastery."
She brought her chopsticks to the chicken broth. "The fourth school, treasure mastery, focuses on utilizing a secondary weapon since the sword would leave your hand. The Mother used a musical instrument that could also be used as a weapon, the iron fan Yuanyan. Other kinds of treasures could be used, but something that heals the undead would fit this best.
"Now that we're ready, it's time for the fifth school, controlling the Cinder Army. The fifth school could be called conjuration mastery. It deals with your control over the undead that you had created. Just like the relationship between me and the Huiqi Tiger and the Storm Snake. I have created them, but I do not control them."
"Question." The 'student' raised his hand just above his chest. "If the Storm Snake was a guardian beast, how come you created it?"
The maiden chuckled at the point. She hummed as she tapped her chopstick against the rim of the bowl. "You see, one of the fastest ways for me to grow power was eating cores of demonic beasts. The Storm Snake was nothing but a dying snake by then. I gave it one of the cores I was supposed to devour. It turned into a beast, but instead of attacking people, it swam to the sea to find its kind. Its own will to protect activated the core and turned him into something gigantic.
"It's the same as having an animal tap into their spiritual roots like humans would. They grow strong and absorb energy until they break through levels and attain golden cores of their own." She hummed as she grew hungry and took a piece of the roasted meat in the bowl. "Animals with certain intelligence and life span could cultivate. That's how you get magical beasts."
Lu Bang nodded at her again, sucking in air and realizing how dire the situation was back in those days the Bride was against them. "This is more complicated than I thought..."
Sun Yin liked what she saw on his face. He was neither disgusted by the nature of the schools nor was he excited by the raw power of each school. She brought her gaze back to the food bowls, fighting the urge to continue eating in silence.
"The next schools are purely optional, but they will give you overall control of the battlefield. The sixth school, talisman mastery, is a great side trump card. If you use your treasure to heal and still have to attack, you can use your talismans to make a special assault array, the triangle blade. Talismans can also help you draw more dark energy; of course, you can also suppress your enemy with it.
"The seventh school is vision and perception. Like what I told you, becoming one with the dark energy and the gods turns you into a higher being. If you can wield the powers and nature of a spirit, you would be able to manipulate your enemies into losing before the battle ends. Information and execution are key parts of this school.
"The last school is the most dangerous of all, even more dangerous than creating undead." She lifted her eyes at him and stayed silent unless he met her gaze. "It's becoming an undead yourself."
"What?"
"The eighth school would be known as blood wielding mastery." She brought her eyes down at the last food bowl. "This makes use of your own blood to create the material. Becoming the most powerful being in the world would be useless if you can be killed. The [Blood Wield] could give you the power to turn your blood into the strongest armor you can ever wear to protect yourself."
Lu Bang twitched and stared at her. She did not need to explain how she made use of that school. He hummed as he took a bite from the conjuration mastery—err, a piece of roasted meat. "Are you telling me that your red hanfu is made of your blood?"
"Yes. It protects me from projectiles and arrays." She chuckled as she hummed at all the possibilities she remembered doing with the [Blood Wield]. "The school includes how to cast that kind of protection on yourself using your blood. The undead uses nothing but their bodies to fight; this is how you become one of them."
"...They all sounded so powerful to be wielded all at once. Good thing you weren't stupid and kept them all within your control." Lu Bang twitched and massaged his head. "What am I saying? It would have been better if you were. The Society probably wouldn't have collapsed. They probably would have reached their goals as well—which isn't good."
Sun Yin brought down her bowl and chopsticks. "Lu Bang, if I weren't standing in front of you right now and you have a core, would you go through the pain of undertaking the Hushe Path?"
The male could only look at her. He then shook his head as if ridiculing her for asking him that stupid question. "I gave up my entire life to save my little brother. What is pain at the face of fear... losing the most important person in the world?"
A smile broke onto her lips, but it was helpless. She picked up her bowl and chopsticks to start eating again.
Lu Bang then murmured as if not letting her hear his question, "if that was blood, then would that mean she was naked back then?"
"Would that be the same thoughts in your head if you knew that when you first saw me?"
"I was eight and burnt to death; why would I be lustful by then?"