Chapter 1: Necrobound

Darkness fall; despite the sun rising, the world was still pitch black. 

The gloom was all Pepper could see, as an eclipse blanketed her senses; this was a frequent occurrence nowadays, but all Pepper can do was to not let the moments of sensory lost affect her.

It was a free fall into an endless abyss, not knowing when she will wake up.

"One of these days, I am not wake up from that nightmare."

Pepper calmly stated to herself, acknowledging her condition as an inevitability. 

The marks of a Necrobound encompassed Pepper's frail flesh, jagged burn-like scars sprawled beneath her loosely-fit garment, yet, it was not the curse of being a Necrobound that doomed her the most.

Pepper had come to accept her status as a Necrobound; she never cared much for cultivation anyway, so not being able to do such wasn't a big deal to her. 

While others her age battled their inner demons and Qi deviations, she didn't have to deal with that. 

She thought it was a fair trade, at least, she was fine with it for so long.

…

Pepper arose with the daybreak, with her routine of preparing medicine, or rather, her insomnia kept her awake until morning. 

Over the few years working in the Flowing Cloud Sect, she had picked up some alchemy knowledge; while not able to produce elixir pills, she can make some basic medicinal mixtures.

Pepper made medicinal mix until her fingers went numb, as the process often involved peeling acrid herbs and fruits, but she knew that this was the only thing she can do, at least, at the moment.

Deep in thought, Pepper accidentally tripped over a random wooden stool, almost dropping the herb mix packet from her arms.

"Sister? Is that you?"

The disturbance outside drew the attention of Pepper's younger brother, Bell, and as he came out of the inner training room, Bell quickly rushed help his sister up.

"Ah. I'm fine. It may not look like it, but I am still pretty sturdy."

Pepper shook her head and squeezed out a smile, while secretly cursing under her breath about the misplaced wooden stool.

"Come on, I'm not six anymore. Your health has been getting worse and worse. Please just wait for the upcoming trial, I can get a good placement and you don't have to work so hard anymore."

Bell urged his sister, despite only being 10, he wanted to be more helpful.

"I'll be looking forward to it. But right now, why don't you take these foundation mix."

Pepper couldn't help but smile, her cheeks flushed red for a moment from the excitement. This little home was the only place where she felt comfortable letting her guard down.

"Blah. Okay, but it is so bitter."

Bell did complained a little, but he still followed his sister's direction and went to boil water in a little kettle.

The Cloud Sect Foundation Establishment Mixture, or the Cloud Foundation Mix, was a special powder blend that improves the user's intrinsic Qi. 

Of course, even the Qi refining process was far from Pepper's grasp.

While she did have a pure fire intrinsic aptitude, her potential in cultivation is greatly undermined by her Necrobind, completely restricting her growth.

The mechanics of a Necrobind is still unknown, but the results are clear; inability to strengthen and control one's Qi, lost of one's Golden Core, and a heavenly tribulation occurs whenever one tries to cultivate further. 

"It's what we need to do, get stronger so that you can protect yourself. It's a dangerous world out there."

Pepper said, and as she put up her hand to pet her brother, before Bell promptly intercepted her arm.

"I'm all grown up now, you need to stop treating me like a little kid. I'm ready to help you out."

Bell declared, but all it did was making Pepper more excited, she mustered the strength out of nowhere to pull Bell into a loving embrace.

"No matter how grown up you get, you are still going to be my little brother~"

…

There are three reasons why Pepper was able to stay in the Flowing Cloud Sect despite having a Necrobind.

First, her brother, Bell has great potential in cultivation, as he shares some genetics with her, who had a pure fire spiritual root.

And second, even though Necrobind stops one from getting stronger, one's strength could still be greater than their peers. 

To better explain it, it would be easier to demonstrate with a volunteer… and here comes the Sect Leader's son. 

At 17 of age, Yansha Huang was already nearing the Core Formation stage of cultivation, with the heavenly-grade lightning spiritual root his abilities far outweigh his peers and he even bested some of his seniors in spars.

His attitude to challenge the strong had made his name quite well-known, even if he didn't have any relations to the Sect Leader.

To many, he is a handful. As he never gives up until he can defeat you.

"Can you please go away, I have herb collection tasks to do today."

Pepper was greeted by the sight of the young Sect Leader's son, his face very much annoyed her, as their interaction would doubtless attract more and more unwanted attention to her.

The last time that Yansha came by, Pepper had found some mindless goons trying to scout where she lived. But of some reason, Pepper had found this idiot seemed to have taken a liking to her… only in fighting, though. 

"Herb collection? That's in the mountains right? Is this how you train to be stronger?"

Yansha inquired, the questioning seemed to strike a nerve with Pepper.

"You do know that I am a Necrobound, right? I cannot get stronger."

"Mind if I tag along, then? I'm sure I can be of use. Ah, that's right, the Sect's welcoming trials are hosting soon. You want the herbs for your brother right?"

Yansha asked, as the herb collection task have a 70/30 split between the Sect and the individual, it was an educated guess on his part. 

"What of it?"

Pepper said, as the marks on her body flared up, burning a red hue. It was then, her black hair wavered in the wind, taking the same colors as of those burning markings.

The activation of the Necrobind seemed to quickly evaporate the impurities in her body, Pepper could tell the difference in sensory perception, it was night and day.

Almost as if a heavy weight has lifted off her body, almost as if she was back to normal again.

She knew she couldn't maintain this form for long, not just for how it can damage her body, but also the addictiveness of the levity; being unrestrained, unbounded by anything.

"I just want to see what you've been doing, nothing about your brother, despite your Qi not increasing, you are still getting harder to beat."

Yansha innocently shrugged his shoulders, and then continued: "I can make it worth your while to show me your experience. The 8th Sect Elder gave me a special breakthrough elixir for my Core Formation. But you know me, I want to feel like I've earned what I have, rather than be given everything."

"That's a rich man's lousy reasoning. But you're saying that you'd give that elixir to me, for just leading you around the back mountains?"

Pepper crossed her arms, her flaming Necrobound form subsiding slowly and only leaving her hair red, obviously enticed by the proposition. 

The 8th Sect Elder was the only one in the Sect that has produced a grade 2 elixir, which is 10 times more valuable than grade 1 elixirs... of course, not that Pepper had seen either before.

"Here's some grade 1 rejuvenation elixir as deposit. It's going to be much better than the common powder mixes."

Yansha tossed Pepper a porcelain bottle, who promptly caught with a firm grasp. 

"Hey, be careful with that."

Pepper looked down at the bottle, and after much contemplation, she sighed: "Fine, but don't tell others that you are giving the special elixir to me, at least, don't let others know it's for my brother."

Pepper reluctantly accepted the offer, even if she might get randomly harassed by jealous individuals when they catch wind of the trade.

She really didn't want the attention, but the Sect Leader's son just gave too much.