1

I spotted the flaming spear wielder among the red robed figures, my eyes narrowing as he carved through beasts and cultivators with ease. I was only human; letting go of grudges wasn't easy.

For now I decided to assist the disciples of my former sect. I had a few allies among them at least, whereas I had no friends in the Soaring Sword Sect and had already put myself at odds with the local beast population. Beating half of them to the edge of death wasn't the finest way of forging a positive relationship.

A sudden gust of wind brushed my cheek. I was still falling through the air towards the edge of the pond, unable to adjust my position. Three sharp blades of qi carved apart the air in their wake as they raced towards me.

An unassuming man in loose fitting blue robes walked through the battlefield as though he was on an evening stroll through a field of flowers. His blade lazily floated back into his scabbard and his face was relaxed.

He seemed truly uncaring of the carnage unfolding around him. A red robed disciple stepped into his path, their clothes bloody and torn. They brandished a spear and yelled something incoherent as they thrust it at the peaceful man.

I threw up my hands to guard my face and chest as the three blades of qi sliced into my skin. My tough skin offered little resistance as the sharp qi carved deep wounds along both forearms and my right side.

As I dropped my arms and landed heavily on the ground, I looked up and saw the man still walking forwards, with the spear wielder nowhere to be seen.

No, that was wrong. A single drop of blood was splashed onto his cheek like a falling teardrop, a fresh corpse sliced in two at his feet.

He had reaped a life like wheat in an instant, even as his sword technique carved my defenses apart like tofu. A six-star Qi Gathering cultivator, likely approaching seven-star.

This otherwise regular fellow was actually the strongest cultivator present, a deadly threat who had decided to make me his target. That was perfect.

Taking on an opponent two small realms above me was the fastest way to establish my dominance of the battlefield and test my newfound strength. I exhaled, releasing a breath that rose in a cloud of steam as the spiritual water evaporated from my body.

Mysterious green energy was released from my lungs in a cloud, filling me with energy as the three wounds left by his sword technique healed in a single breath. The man's unbothered expression finally broke as he raised a single eyebrow.

"Impressive," he drawled, as though the very act of speaking was too exhausting. He suddenly frowned. "I was supposed to claim the lily. Die."

I blinked and he disappeared. All that remained in his place were a few falling flower petals. Wind blew against the side of my head and I leapt away.

He'd missed.

Or so I thought, until I felt hot moisture dripping down my neck and soaking my collar. Reaching up a hand I touched my ear, only to find half of it missing.

He stood a few metres away from me, his sword still in the scabbard and his face expressionless. I took a deep breath, the wound healing as I exhaled once more. Not fully—I was far from being able to regrow flesh in moments—but enough to stem the bleeding.

He sniffed and vanished. I tensed, drowning out all my senses except hearing and touch. A breeze. The scent of flowers.

I twitched, bending backwards. Cold air buffeted my face as I opened my eyes to see his sword passing over my head.

His eyes widened and I saw a flower petal falling from the tip of his sword. He stepped backwards and I saw his body blurring, but I was already on the move.

My fist planted itself square on his jaw, his head snapping to the side with a satisfying crack. I saw him cough blood as his body disappeared.

He reappeared a few metres away, stumbling and spitting blood. I didn't want to give up the advantage, so I began closing the distance.

When he saw that he instantly reacted, stomping on his blood and smearing it across the rocky ground in a fluid motion. He drew his sword from its scabbard while I increased my speed and began twisting and writhing on the spot.

Just before I reached him I kicked against the ground and my leg exploded outwards like lightning. It smashed into his chest, but the impact felt strange. Soft.

My strike continued onwards, but not a moment later his body exploded into a cloud of petals. Every petal was like a tiny blade, slicing into my skin.

I winced as dozens of burning wounds appeared across my body. Every petal left behind a drop of sticky orange sap, which began seeping into my blood.

He attacked again before I had a chance to examine the sap, slashing across my chest in a wide swing filled with openings. As his sword descended I moved to strike the flat of the blade to parry, but found my joints locking up.

The steel parted my tough skin like tofu, blood spurting in a crimson fountain in its wake. I staggered on the spot, my movements clunky as my ligaments and joints ignored my mind's command.

He wasn't done yet. Even as I gasped for breath, my right lung partially severed, his hand twisted slowly and his sword swirled back towards me.

I raised a hand, but it felt as though I was dragging it through honey, failing to stop his blade as it lazily sliced my neck. Streams of blood poured down, joining the waterfall of life escaping my body.

Even then he gazed upon me with utter disregard. He stepped towards me and his sword curved around a third time. His movements looked sluggish while being paradoxically fast, flashing through the air like lightning.

He thrust the ornate blade into my heart, delivering the final judgement. At once all of my blood started flowing upwards, crimson streams dancing along the blade's edge. My heartbeat slowed to a crawl and a powerful scent of orchids crawled under my skin, my vision blurring.

This was unfair.

The difference in cultivation was one thing, but his ridiculous technique was another. Against another six-star cultivator, I might have had a chance of victory, but this was an awful matchup.

I grew dizzy with the scent of orchids and iron, my mouth filled with blood. My heart thumped weakly, a final protest against the blade lodged inside it.

This kept happening. Against the spirit snake. Before my breakthrough to one-star Qi Gathering at the end of the fire cultivator's spear. And at my new peak, the most powerful I'd ever been, I'd still lost.

It stung.

And that wasn't just the sap in my wounds, though most of it had been burned away by my qi by now. I'd lost too much blood to move my limbs, despite the joints no longer being jammed.

Another heady burst of flowers struck me, threatening to tip me over the edge. I was dancing the line between life and death, my performance fast approaching its end.

I frowned, the small movement sending bursts of pain down my neck. This fresh scent was different to the man's technique. It was familiar.

The scent of lilies.

"In the end, trash is still trash, even if they obtain the favour of the heavens. Meeting your end by my sword is your fate, but fear not. Your blood shall feed my blade and I will carry your will as I ascend to immortality, as I do with every soul she reaps," the man murmured, stroking the blade as my blood continued to stream down its edge.

I saw true passion in his gaze, his previously dead eyes sparkling with life as he spoke about his sword. Creepy.

Bad timing, too. Why was he telling me this now? I'd rather die in peace. Suddenly I smelled an overpowering floral aroma, making my head spin.

Unlike the dizzying scent of the sword cultivator's techniques, this scent was familiar. Lilies.

I wasn't sure what it meant, aside from the obvious. I was still refining the energies of the Ten Ascensions Lily, but a breakthrough wouldn't save me now.

My vision went black. I snapped my eyes open, forcing myself to stay conscious. As soon as I let myself slip under, it was truly the end.

The fifth petal of the Ten Ascensions Lily withered, the spiritual energy all gobbled up by the abyssal void in my dantian. It had stopped producing qi a while ago, but I hadn't noticed while fighting for my life.

I still didn't know what it was, the mysterious hole in my spiritual core that had appeared while I passed out during my breakthrough. All I knew was that it sometimes stole my cultivation resources and paid me back in qi.

For all I knew it was a hidden aspect of my Fivefold Medicine Forge Physique. In the end, my speculations wouldn't change my fate.

"You are close, insignificant one. It was a gift from I, your predecessor. Your reckless actions led me to intervene as you woke me from my slumber. Those who desire my favour number in the trillions. Be grateful you were graced by my presence," an ancient, heavy will spoke directly into my mind.

I wondered if I was going insane as I died, but it continued, shaking my very soul with each word. "You released your innate vital qi, a lethal action without proper precautions. It is the essence of life, brought into existence at birth. Every drop spent represents your very lifespan vanishing. For you though, inheritor of the Fivefold Medicine Forge Physique, it represents a unique opportunity."

Time was frozen in this moment as an incomprehensible existence imposed its thoughts upon my being. I was frozen in the instant before my death, staring into the crazed eyes of my lethargic murderer.

"What are you?" I thought to myself, but it seemed to hear my question.

"Perhaps you may find out one day, if you can crawl high enough. A frog in a well cannot see anything except the sky. First climb Mount Tai before you try to gaze upon what lies beyond. For now, I have corrected your mistake. It will be the only gift you receive from this exalted one. If you cannot even break free from that pathetic, crippled realm then you are not worthy of further attention."

Time resumed, the streams of blood meandering along the steel blade. The strange sword cultivator looked into my eyes and furrowed his brow.

The void in my dantian collapsed, leaving behind a stream of golden qi, far denser than anything I'd ever felt. The stream exploded into mist, countless tiny droplets infusing every inch of my body.

My wounds healed instantaneously under the influence of the golden qi, but that wasn't all it did. About a third of the qi was directed to my heart, infusing the bleeding muscle with life.

Pierced through by the insidious flower sword, it hadn't beat for a few seconds. However, that changed the moment the potent golden qi appeared.

My heart absorbed the energy like a man dying of thirst in a desert, the withered organ regaining a lustrous sheen. A metallic thump echoed across the basin, like a giant pounding on a steel drum.

I recognised the sound, even if it was a variation on the last two. My heart had been fully refined according to the Fivefold Medicine Forge Physique, the process accelerated by the mysterious golden qi.

A feeling of indignation welled up inside and I was confused as to the source, until I looked down at the sword that still pierced my heart. Two thoughts crossed my mind simultaneously as I moved to act.

The sword cultivator noticed something was off and had already begun to withdraw his blade, but it was too late to escape my grasp. My body was healed, my qi circulating as I purged the fifth meridian of impurities having broken through to five-star Qi Gathering without much effort.

I had paid in suffering instead. A price worth paying. I gripped his sword by the blade, not caring about the sharp edge digging into my skin.

Thankfully the impurities expelled were eradicated by the golden qi that suffused my body. The source of my indignation was this bastard trying to steal my blood to fuel his sword.

It was an insult to the heavens. An insult to me—which in my opinion was the graver offense of the two. With my touch and the influence of the golden qi, which seemed unbound by worldly restrictions, my blood began to flow in reverse.

Now I drank from the blade. I saw a dark qi gathered in the hilt of his sword, the screams of dozens of tormented souls unable to have their final rest. A sinister technique, even by the standards of this world.

He'd claimed it was my bad fortune to encounter him, but today I would teach this man an important lesson. There are heavens beyond the heavens. With a twist of fate, destiny had reversed and now I was in control of this moment.

I had reclaimed my blood, tearing the sword from my heart as my body became whole and unblemished once more, brimming with power. As the last drops of blood left his sword, I scowled.

"I've been called a demonic cultivator for my techniques, but this weapon is truly evil," I admonished him, eliciting a frown and narrowed eyes from the cultivator.

"She is simply acting as is her nature, imparted by the man who forged her. To carry the blood of the defeated on my path is to give them face even in death. You dare impugn this sovereign's honour!?" he cried, voice crescendoing as he spewed his nonsense.

I didn't respond. There was no reasoning with someone who either didn't understand the truth of his weapon's power, or knew and was blind to the implications.

Instead, I began doing what I do best—healing. The souls trapped inside his sword were beyond my medicinal skills, but that didn't mean there was nothing I could do to help.

To be forged into a sword, metal must undergo a myriad of processes that warp it from its natural form. It is twisted, this evil sword even more so than other blades. I wasn't sure what trapped the souls within, despite being able to feel their desperate pleas for help.

Nonetheless, I had confirmed my application of the poison technique on the awakened bear beast earlier and now had another opportunity to put it to use. Poison, when applied correctly, can be used to treat all manner of afflictions.

I was no saint; I could not return the sword to its natural state, nor could I bring a soul back from the dead. Or at least whatever unnatural state they were trapped in.

What I could do was release them and return the sword to the earth. Balance restored, the natural order healed. Poisonous qi surged from my fingertips and grasped the blade.

Under the corrosive nature of my technique, the once magnificent sword returned to dust. As the ornate, flowery hilt crumbled I felt the gratitude of the released souls as they were returned to the six paths.

I clenched my fist, the cut on my palm already healed. All this had felt like an eternity, but in reality only a moment had passed. I inhaled sharply, my gaze descending on the hapless villain.

What was a sword cultivator without a sword? He discovered that they were nothing as my fists unleashed my fury upon him, bursts of toxic qi surging through his flesh with each strike.

I preferred to leave my opponents with a single breath remaining, thus leaving them a path to salvation through healing. For this man, the only treatment I could devise was a swift death.

The old me—the me who yet to experience this world—would have perhaps let him live. I was merciful, but only to a point. I knew now that to reach the peak and bring true enlightenment I needed enough strength to give weight to my philosophy.

Might makes right in the Celestial Jade Empire. The only language cultivators like this understood was their own and I was growing more proficient by the day.

He coughed blood as I held him by the neck. His head rolled to the side and I tossed away his corpse like trash. There was nothing to be gained.

I felt another wave of qi spread through my body as the remnant energies of the Ten Ascensions Lily were fully refined. The fifth petal hadn't allowed me to break through another small realm to six-star Qi Gathering, but I was already satisfied with my current cultivation.

It would be enough to deal with the rest of these violent children. I surmised this six-star sword cultivator was one of, if not the strongest person present.

With his death, I noticed a few of the elite cultivators of the Soaring Sword Sect despair, their battles growing desperate and hurried. Mistakes were made and in the time it took to drink a cup of tea, every blue robed disciple lay dead or incapacitated.

"Junior Brother… your cultivation," Wang Ren exclaimed, scratching his blood soaked chin as he approached.

His glaive was equally baptised. I could see he had fought well, the man's strength spoke for itself. His technique was fearsome and I doubted anyone at two-star Qi Gathering was his match. Perhaps he could even handle a three-star.

"I was fortunate to obtain the Ten Ascensions Lily for myself," I replied with a wry smile.

More than anyone else, Wang Ren knew how meteoric the rise of my cultivation was. From a mere four-star Body Tempering practitioner I had ascended an entire realm since leaving the Cloudy Falls Sect. If one counted the extra ten and eleven-star small realms and my current cultivation, then it was even greater than that.

"Fortunate indeed. Truly, the heavens are smiling on you, Zhao Dan. I am not sure I understand how one can accomplish such a rate of cultivation, but it makes me happy to see you thrive."

"As are you, Senior Brother Wang. Your glaive technique is formidable, even more so than it was when we last met. If not for this treasure I would still be looking up to you like a tiger cub does its father."

"Nonsense, you overpraise me for my meagre accomplishments. You must tell me what you have been up to since leaving the sect. I am intrigued. First though, let us deal with these beasts," he said, planting his feet in the ground before swinging his heavy glaive overhead.

A strange beast struck him. It looked like the bastard child of a wolf and a lizard, with scales and fangs in all the wrong places. A three-star awakened beast and yet he cleaved it in half with a single slice.

Looking at Wang Ren's bulging arms I couldn't help but joke, "You certainly didn't slack off in the Body Tempering Realm, Senior Brother!"

He raised an eyebrow as he looked towards me. "Unlike you, I didn't rush through it in a matter of months," he retorted.

****

Clearing out the beasts was only a matter of time. Once the Soaring Sword Sect had fallen all of the Cloudy Falls Sect disciples gathered at the summit worked together to slaughter or drive them back into the mountain range.

Now, the only people who remained in the rocky basin were red robed inner disciples of the Cloudy Falls Sect and myself. With no enemies to unify them, they had already begun arguing amongst themselves as long standing rivalries flared up.

I had many bones to pick myself, especially with the spear cultivator whose name I had yet to discover. "Who is that disciple?" I asked Wang Ren to finally put a name to his sneering face.

Wang Ren's gaze flickered to the haughty man, eyes narrowing as he caught sight of the flaming spear. "That is Huo Ze Qiang, one of the inner disciples closest to becoming a core disciple," he replied. "He's also an arrogant bastard and the heir of some powerful cultivator clan," he added with a snide chuckle.

That made a lot of sense given his behaviour until now. All that spouting about demons and evil was just him compensating for his failures after the elders poured all their spirit stones into his training. Or something like that, anyway…

All I cared about was getting a little satisfying revenge. Killing him felt too far, but he had killed me—or would have, if not for my breakthrough.

He believed I was dead, which meant the intent was there. Although with an elder of the Cloudy Falls Sect supposedly on the way, I would have to be careful about my actions.

Until that point, however, I was free to do as I pleased. At five-star Qi Gathering I was among the strongest there. Most of the other disciples were injured after the harrowing battle, whereas I'd received a second wind through the release of my innate vital qi healing me.

I followed Wang Ren until we joined the disciple leading his group, where three large groups were having a standoff. Sun Deng was leading the group we joined, gazing down on the others like an emperor looks upon a common criminal.

He heard our approach and turned to face us. I saw his fingers twitch upon seeing my face, but he didn't act. "You survived, Junior. Impressive," he said, his tone indicating he felt otherwise.

"Is junior the correct form of address still, Sun Deng?" I replied with a smirk. "We are both five-star cultivators now, after all."

He exhaled heavily, cocking his head to one side. "I suppose not, Zhao Dan. An impressive journey. From a four-star Body Tempering trash to a Middle Qi Gathering cultivator in a matter of months. Who else could boast such a speed of progression? I imagine there are those who would accuse you of cultivating unorthodox methods," he replied, eyes sweeping over the crowd.

I saw many small conversations break out in hushed whispers, weaker cultivators throwing wary glances my way. I ignored them all and strode forward, joining Sun Deng at the front of his group.

"Let us put aside our… differences for now, Sun Deng. Let me ask you a question. What is your relationship with Huo Ze Qiang?"

I gazed at the spear cultivator himself as I spoke, the man noticing my stare and meeting it in kind. His eyes widened and his jaw fell open as he recognised my face. I smiled and waved.

His eyes lit up with rage and he turned to the person next to him, waving his arms as he shouted something I couldn't hear. Which was strange, because my hearing had improved a lot with four breakthroughs.

Perhaps he had some kind of talisman that guarded against eavesdropping. Knowing he was the young master of some clan, it made sense that he had plenty of extravagant treasures on hand.

"We have our differences. Differences I would happily settle here and now, before the elder arrives," Sun Deng intoned slowly, sounding out my reaction. "If that is what you were suggesting, of course."

I turned to him with a frown on my face. "What!? You would kill a disciple of your own sect in front of all these witnesses? Of course I would never suggest something so villainous," I exclaimed, internally chuckling as his face paled and he stepped back.

Sun Deng coughed. "Of course, I was only testing fellow cultivator Zhao to see his true intentions. Forgive me," he said sheepishly behind his hand.

I burst out laughing, wheezing and pointing at him. "You're too easy, dude. This is why you need to care less about face. Let loose. You know what the best way to blow off some steam is?" I asked once my ribs began to hurt and I had to stop teasing him.

"This is not the time for trickery, Zhao Dan. We have limited time. Will you move on Huo Ze Qiang or not?" he demanded, gripping the hilt of his sword.

"So impatient," I tutted. "Regardless, I'll tell you. The best way to blow off steam is to slap the face off an annoying bastard. Lucky for us, we have one right there."