1

Wang Ren's glaive flashed like lightning, his movements as fluid as a river as he clashed with two disciples of the Soaring Sword Sect at once.

His body was covered in cuts but he was holding his own despite the unfavourable odds. The same couldn't be said for all of his allies, as the brutal battle ran its course at the summit of Jagged Sword Peak. Three groups of cultivators were fighting each other at the same time, all for a chance at claiming the Ten Ascensions Lily.

Wang Ren expected a measure of betrayal during this outing from the sect. Even among fellow disciples, competition was fierce.

They wouldn't even hesitate to stab their fellow martial brothers and sisters in the back for a chance to break through a single star, let alone for a treasure as valuable as the Ten Ascensions Lily. A single petal could allow a Qi Gathering cultivator to advance by one star and the entire flower supposedly bloomed with five petals.

If one claimed the entire lily for themselves, they would soar through the Qi Gathering Realm in a single swoop.

Such a thing was almost unheard of in the Celestial Jade Empire. Typically cultivators struggled for dozens of years to reach the peak of the Qi Gathering Realm, with many never achieving it at all.

What had shocked him was the utter disregard for their fellow disciples' lives the leaders of the expedition had shown. Wang Ren was only valued for his strength and talent, but Sun Deng had literally thrown the weakest in their group—a one-star inner disciple without any backing—in the path of a sword slash directed at him.

Right now he couldn't even consider trying to claim the Ten Ascensions Lily. He continued to guide his qi through complex flows, employing the Drifting Cloud Steps while his glaive danced around him like a whirlwind.

His weapon was well suited to this style of fighting, two hands manipulating the heavy polearm as he deflected and parried the sword strikes of his opponents. A few broke through here and there, leaving shallow cuts on his skin.

Fighting with his focus split on two enemies and two techniques at the same time was draining. He knew he wouldn't last forever, which meant he had to take a risk.

The Ten Ascensions Lily hadn't shown any sign of blooming yet. He'd wanted to save his strength for the real battle; where the elites present would clash to claim the treasure.

He sighed. Perhaps he had been a little arrogant. He was still only a two-star cultivator after all, while many of those present were four or five-star Qi Gathering cultivators.

Nonetheless, he would persevere. He would try to claim at least one petal for himself. If that failed he could just resort to assisting Sun Deng and pray the bastard shared.

Turning his focus back to the battle, he suddenly stopped moving. The two sword cultivators were caught by surprise, but their movements were fluid and they didn't stumble. In fact, they didn't delay at all as they resumed their joint attack.

Wang Ren had a breath's worth of time before their blades reached his body. That was plenty.

His qi flowed like a raging river, rushing back to fill his dantian as he stopped using Drifting Cloud Steps and swinging his glaive. What came next required little thought.

The Shattering Earth, Carving Heavens Glaive was imprinted in his muscles and meridians, the qi flows and movements second nature after intensive training.

Elder Bang was a ruthless master who was hard on his disciple, but Wang Ren did not resent him. Not only had his training allowed his cultivation and martial prowess to soar, but Elder Bang was even harsher on himself than others.

It was hard to hate a man so dedicated to his path.

Wang Ren still hadn't mastered the first technique of his master's glaive arts. That meant every time he used Shattering Earth, Carving Heavens Glaive it damaged his body.

He could accept that tradeoff. Better to be injured than dead.

Right before the first sword reached him, Wang Ren let out a qi-infused war cry that shook the earth and stopped the two cultivators in their tracks for a brief moment. That instant of hesitation was when he struck.

Qi condensed on the edge of his glaive as he swung it down with enough force to break boulders. He wasn't quite at the level of 'shattering earth' just yet, but it was enough to defeat those at a similar cultivation.

The first sword cultivator recovered from his shout and raised his blade to block. The glaive smashed it aside like dry reeds and carved the man in half from shoulder to waist.

But it didn't stop there.

The strike had plenty of momentum left. Wang Ren was impassive to the destruction he wrought as his swing continued. The second disciple had more time to react and she actually shifted the course of his blow to the left.

Her actions allowed her to avoid death, but he still delivered a deep wound from her thigh to her calf. Crimson blood dripped to the floor in rivers and she glared in defiance.

"How dare you kill Junior Brother! Bastard, prepare to witness the might of my Whirlwind Sword Dance," she cried, tossing a pill into her mouth and rushing at Wang Ren.

The cut on her leg slowly closed as she ran, but her movements were a little unsteady. He was breathing heavily, the taste of blood in his mouth. A few of his smaller spirit veins had burst while the flow of his qi was still erratic.

It seems as though I may need to rely on Sun Deng after all… he sighed inwardly.

Similar scenes were playing out around the spirit spring, with disciples of the two sects split into hastily created factions and killing indiscriminately.

For the most part, the disciples of the Soaring Sword Sect did not fight each other, focusing on killing those from the Cloudy Falls Sect. The same could not be said for the latter group.

The Cloudy Falls Sect's disciples were in chaos. Different groups competing for the Ten Ascensions Lily were fighting off the sword cultivators, but also slaughtering each other in the treasure hunting frenzy.

It was impossible to tell which group would emerge on top. All of them were led by Middle Qi Gathering cultivators, four or five-star elites of their respective sects.

Blood sprayed everywhere, plenty of it splashing into the once pristine spirit pond. What none of the cultivators present noticed however, was how the streams of blood subtly flowed towards the sealed lilypad in the centre of the pond.

****

I raced up the mountain paths, unhindered by any obstacles. I thought I was fast at eleven-star body tempering, but breaking through to the Qi Gathering Realm had increased it exponentially.

Boulders and twisting roots proved no obstacle at all, my steps light as I kicked against the ground. I pushed my body further, trying to reach my goal as fast as possible.

The reason I was in such a rush was the same reason as before; I was coated in stinky, black gunk. The foul smelling impurities had once more been expelled from my body after my breakthrough and my urgent need for a bath had only increased.

The spirit pond at the summit of Jagged Sword Peak was calling to me, the blessed waters that would finally bring an end to this cursed existence of filth.

I was a little surprised at how easy the journey was. I'd expected to see a few awakened beasts at least or perhaps some other cultivators, but instead it was just me and the quiet whispers of the wind as it meandered through the mountains.

A sense of unease crept into my mind, but I suddenly realised why it would be so empty. Everyone here was probably fighting over the Ten Ascensions Lily.

Perhaps even the awakened beasts would try to claim it? Could beasts even use natural treasures? They probably could, otherwise human cultivators would have a crazy advantage over them.

Though beasts were a lot sturdier and could cultivate simply through consuming beast cores and just… staying alive for a long time. The heavens were fair to all.

Except geniuses and prodigies, who seemed to get ridiculous advantages over ordinary cultivators. And mortals, who lived a miserable existence due to their weakness and the constant threat of violence.

You might not wake up one morning because a passing cultivator was in a bad mood and decided to take their frustrations out on your village. Or if you were a woman, perhaps they took a liking to your appearance and stole you away to be in their harem.

I shuddered at the thought. I thought back to Earth… it was emotionally demanding enough to be entangled with one woman, why would you seek out more?

Rant about horny cultivators over, I continued onwards. After a while strange noises came from above.

Screams and shouts. The clashing of blades and the roars of beasts. More than the sound, I felt a pull deep inside, urging me towards the summit.

For the first time I felt the effects of my oath beyond my physique or broken spirit roots. There were people to be healed and perhaps if I played my cards right, a treasure to claim.

With renewed vigour I leapt up the mountainside. The sounds of battle grew louder with every passing moment and soon I detected the rampaging qi.

I saw the explosion of colour before I felt its effects, all kinds of qi present. There was a narrow pathway between two boulders and I squeezed myself through as I reached the top of the mountain.

The clash of swords and the scent of blood in the air was overpowering, but it wasn't able to overcome the foul stench of impurities that had clung to me all this time. What I saw when I emerged from the narrow pathway reminded me of my previous life.

The hell on earth that was war.

I'd experienced the brutality of cultivators firsthand but this was the first time I was seeing a large-scale battle in this world. It was truly horrifying, the casual ease with which they slaughtered one another.

I couldn't blame the beasts; they were simply following their instincts and acting as nature demanded. However, the humans were another matter.

More than the corpses strewn everywhere and the dizzying array of techniques on display, my gaze was drawn to a sparkling pond in the centre of the rocky bowl.

The waters were polluted with blood, the liquid seemingly alive as it rushed towards a solitary lilypad in the middle of the spirit pond. The flower itself was still hidden, but it seemed to swell with every passing moment.

I lamented the awful behaviour of these cultivators. How dare they!? I'd struggled and fought all in the hopes of reaching this hallowed ground and claiming my true prize.

Yet now that I was here, I found the promised bath unusable. I clenched my fist, restraining my fury. I would not resort to violence over this, no matter how unforgivable it was.

Amongst the endless clashes I spotted a familiar face. It was the same fire cultivator who'd almost killed me once before.

I should try my best to avoid him, unless I wanted to reach an early grave. Instead of worrying about the state of my hygiene or treasures, I instead decided to do what I'd originally come here for.

While many of the bodies on the ground were devoid of life, there were plenty of badly injured cultivators and beasts who had yet to draw their last breath; hovering between life and death.

I was curious about whether my techniques would still work now that I no longer had any blood essence. Then again, the original used qi so it should be fine.

In fact, my breakthrough had unlocked a world of possibilities. The toxic properties of my blood essence remained, giving me ideas for new cures and deadly techniques alike.

Too much medicine was poison, while poison could also be used to cure. Such was the way of the world.

There was more insight to be gained from that simple concept, but comprehension escaped me. I would need more time and perhaps some secluded cultivation.

I'd been thrown from one event to the next ever since my arrival in this world without any time to rest. As I made my way through the Qi Gathering Realm, I would need to consider the dao.

For me it might be easier than most—I already knew the path I wished to tread. It was just a case of discovering where I would stop along the way.

First, returning to the basics. I descended into the rocky basin as stealthily as I could manage.

Which was to say, I was quite conspicuous. Nonetheless I managed to reach my first patient without being spotted by a nearby cultivator. They were all too focused on killing each other to notice my arrival.

I knelt down beside the female sword cultivator, her blade lying useless on the ground beside her. I couldn't tell which was more bloodstained—her blue robes or the sword. Clearly she hadn't gone down without a fight.

This was a perfect candidate to test my healing technique with qi for the first time. Without my help she would soon succumb to her wounds, so I was sure she wouldn't complain about being healed—even if it was a bumpy ride.

That was assuming something went wrong of course. I felt the qi in my dantian, still just a single drop but brimming with more power than all of my blood essence combined.

Truly a qualitative difference. No wonder all these cultivators were obsessed with advancing on their path. Becoming drunk on one's power was easy. Restraint took a strong will.

My qi was not as excitable as the blood essence had been. Where before I barely had to guide the technique, I now had to focus my intent.

The qi swirled in my dantian before rushing through my first meridian. I guided it towards my outstretched fingers and towards the unconscious woman.

I still remembered Wang Ren using the qi healing technique, the image of his qi flowing through his hands and sealing the disciple's severed arm with ease imprinted in my memory. Another benefit of the breakthrough was a noticeable increase in my mind's processing speed and memory recall, which worked wonders here.

Frowning, I realised I'd forgotten one crucial aspect. Wang Ren had made a hand seal when he cast the technique, but I'd never needed to due to my blood essence's eagerness to work with me.

However, it seemed not to be an issue. Despite being less erratic, my qi was medicinal in nature and combined with my intent to heal the female disciple it smoothly entered her body.

The first thing I noticed was how much smoother the process was. With blood essence, the sparks seemed blind and needed to travel through my patient's body to discover the injuries, even when I could see their condition from outside.

Qi was better in every way. Perhaps it was the intent behind the technique, but the drop of qi flowed like a raging river as it travelled from one wound to the next.

The female disciple had been covered in cuts, with one of her hands severed entirely. In a few seconds almost all of the external wounds had vanished. A stream of green qi swirled around her chest, joined by the woman's own qi in a potent whirlpool.

Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my temple and winced, but managed to maintain skin contact. The pain dissipated but a lingering ache clung to my skull.

My gaze darted around but there was no one looking my way; no enemies nearby who might have struck from the shadows. Perhaps I had over exerted myself in my excitement?

Thankfully, my technique had almost run its course. The disciple coughed and then began breathing regularly once more. A strand of qi raced into my arm, a few remnants of foreign qi still clinging on.

Before she could wake up and attack me I moved on. While walking towards the next injured cultivator, I inspected my qi as it returned to my dantian.

Something strange occurred as the drop of qi passed out of my first meridian and into my dantian. The single drop of green qi splashed against the bottom, but all the lingering remnants of the woman's qi were sucked into the void in my dantian.

A few seconds later, a second drop of green qi dripped from the empty void and splashed against the first. A wave of relaxation spread through my body and the headache was washed away.

I circulated both drops through my meridian and smiled. My cultivation may have improved, but some things never change.

Before I could reach my second patient I was forced to stop in order to dodge a three pronged dagger that flashed in front of my eyes. When it crashed into the rocks a small explosion occurred, sending sharp shards in all directions.

I threw up my arms to guard my face and spread my senses outwards. A smart decision that paid off immediately as I felt something to my left.

A graceful step later I found myself face to face with a scowling woman, wearing the red robes of a Cloudy Falls Sect inner disciple. "Any chance we could talk this out, fellow cultivator?" I offered, plastering a friendly smile on my face.

Her reply was to raise two daggers identical to the one that had nearly exploded my head.