I’d lied. The true best way to relax and de-stress was a hot bath with a gorgeous woman by your side, but as I’d so painfully discovered, there were no baths out here—especially not the steaming hot variety.

  I would settle for a small dose of petty revenge followed by a long stint of healing the wounded. Personal satisfaction and improved cultivation would be a well deserved reward for my efforts.

  Leaving Xiao Cui alone with the village head was a hasty decision. I didn’t regret it, but I did need to check up on them. The few silver coins I’d left wouldn’t last much longer.

  Sun Deng interrupted my idle thoughts, appearing beside me as we both appraised our shared enemy. Huo Ze Qiang was arguing with another cultivator in his group, while the twin leaders of the third group watched the unfolding action with interest.

  “Do you know those two women?” I asked, nodding my head towards the startlingly similar female disciples. I guessed twins, but it could also be coincidence.

  “Xin Xue and Lei Chunhua. They are the top inner disciples on Gentle Lake Peak, both candidates to become core disciples under Elder Ling Liling. The reason for their appearance is the Gentle Lake Peak’s unique method of cultivation—Refining Purity Scripture,” Sun Deng explained.

  Wang Ren interrupted. “Most disciples of the Gentle Lake Peak are stunning beauties—the object of desire for all male disciples in the Cloudy Falls Sect. Which among us hasn’t dreamt about Senior Sister Lei before,” he said, smiling as he looked around the group.

  Many of the male disciples were red in the cheeks while plenty of the women scowled at Wang Ren. I appraised him with fresh eyes. Had he always been that bold?

  “That’s very interesting. Their beauty is akin to the first drop of dew rolling from a lily as the sun rises,” I replied, earning a few nods of appreciation. “However, none of that information is useful. Will they intervene if we attack Huo Ze Qiang?”

  “Unlikely. Not only is he arrogant and domineering, but he constantly tries to seduce the female disciples. They’d be more likely to help us kill him,” Sun Deng snorted.

  For once, the world didn’t seem to be throwing a pile of dragon shit my way. This was one grudge I could settle before returning to Three River City.

  There, with my newfound cultivation, I could return to the palace and settle the grievances I had there—for both mine and Xiao Cui’s sake. I looked forward to a clean slate, though I suspected I would need to leave the city and the influence of the Cloudy Falls Sect depending on what unfolded here on the Jagged Sword Peak.

  However, there was nothing that would stop me. I was a healer, but I was not a saint. I tried not to be violent when I didn’t need to. Maybe a doctor working in safer conditions would’ve had different views, but my life had always been lived on the edge.

  I came to these mountains to seek enlightenment so that I could protect those around me, but all I found was the callous cruelty of a cold spear and the indifference of cultivators.

  Sometimes, healing the world began with a beating. Even the body followed this principle. Devouring damaged and rotten cells was the first step in defeating an infection.

  “Don’t kill him,” I said as I cycled my qi through five meridians, each completed cycle filling my body with an overwhelming sense of power.

  Sun Deng raised an eyebrow at my remark. “I thought the goal was to kill him before the elder arrived?”

  “We have plenty of time… and I need to practise my healing techniques. Don’t ruin this,” I replied, cracking the stone ground as I kicked away from the group.

  I leapt forwards, arriving in front of Huo Ze Qiang before he realised we were on the move. However, he reacted fast, his spear whirling around as flames erupted at the tip.

  He jumped to the side and thrust his spear at my neck, but I had no need to defend. Sun Deng appeared in a gust of wind, his sword expertly parrying the spear to the side.

  Huo Ze Qiang frowned. “You would work with this demonic scum, Sun Deng? I always knew you were a despicable bastard but this is a new low,” he sneered, his confidence unshaken even though he was battling against the odds.

  “Ze Qiang, you would doubt the judgement of the Elders? Either you’re more of a fool than everyone believes or you’re more arrogant than a damn dragon,” Sun Deng retorted without pause.

  I was tired of all this talking. The only thing cultivators seemed to love more than slaughtering each other was the sound of their own voices.

  My leg flashed, a sharp kick aimed at his knee. Ze Qiang avoided it but a swift slash from Sun Deng’s sword blocked off his path of retreat.

  He grunted in annoyance as the pressure continued to increase. I erupted into a flurry of punches and kicks, ducking and weaving as his flaming spear danced through the air like a phoenix.

  Sun Deng interspersed the clash with precise thrusts and cuts of his sword. As a surgeon I could appreciate his surgical attacks, but now was not the time for admiration.

  I was forced away from the clash as another cultivator joined the battle. It was the guy that had been whispering with Huo Ze Qiang earlier. He was only three-star Qi Gathering, but I couldn’t ignore his heavy sword strikes.

  I couldn’t avoid every single one, his sharp blade carving gashes along my arms and legs as we traded blows. Eventually I delivered a swift whirling kick to his chin, his head whipping to the side with a sharp crack.

  Exhaling, a wave of medicinal energy flowed from my lungs towards the wounds on my skin. Since breaking through to the Qi Gathering Realm, my healing techniques had been far more potent on my own wounds.

  I’d noticed it before but could confirm it now; every time I healed myself the renewed flesh was a little tougher than before. In Body Tempering I’d achieved two extra small realms, so was the Qi Gathering Realm going to be an endless cycle of self improvement instead?

  There was no time to ponder such things. Without my assistance Sun Deng was at a standstill in the fight against Huo Ze Qiang, the overpowering techniques of the spear user made a perfect defense against Sun Deng’s elegant sword style.

  I leapt back into the fray, pushing back Huo Ze Qiang once more. He was on the backfoot, his spear suited to defend against two enemies at once but not fast enough to block all the strikes headed his way.

  More of my punches and kicks connected, with a few of Sun Deng’s slashes also drawing blood. When it seemed as though we were about to finally break his guard, I sensed his qi erupting from his dantian and leapt away, grabbing Sun Deng’s arm.

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  However, I couldn’t get away in time. Sun Deng was hit worst as a storm of flames radiated outwards from Huo Ze Qiang.

  I smelled the burning flesh before I saw it, the acrid stench of meat assaulting my improved senses. I weathered the fire, my body and dantian working overtime to sustain itself. However, my qi was draining rapidly.

  An attack of this scale had to be a final technique. I doubted Huo Ze Qiang could use any techniques after this, let alone unleash another one on this scale.

  Unfortunately I wasn’t sure whether my healing could outlast the burning maelstrom, while retreat would mean leaving Sun Deng to suffer alone. We were only allies of circumstance, but I wasn’t the type of pig bastard to leave him suffering while saving my own skin.

  Surprisingly, I was taking a little less damage from the flames with each passing moment. I still had to clench my jaw through the agony. Burning alive was not a fun experience, but it was growing more bearable with each breath.

  I had a sudden spark of inspiration. This was fire born from qi, not natural flames, which meant that when reduced to its base it was just energy. My physique refined energy into healing…

  What I was about to do was extremely risky but would have enormous payoff if it worked. Not only for the immediate battle, but for future techniques and my path.

  I exhaled, letting the cold wave of medicinal energy restore my flesh. It tingled and I hesitated for a breath, knowing if my theory was wrong I was about to experience an entirely new level of agonising torture.

  Preparing myself I took a deep breath, letting the violent flames race down my throat into my stomach. If not for my stomach being refined I may not have risked this. It didn’t seem to have the same function as my lungs but I was betting it would be similar.

  The fire qi went wild as soon as it entered my body. My tongue melted, my throat ablaze as the qi seared away my flesh. However, as the breath came to completion a portion of the fire qi was absorbed into my lungs.

  Instead of burning away the flesh, it was devoured. I exhaled, an action that should be natural sending waves of devastating pain through my chest. Along with the pain came the most potent stream of healing energy I’d created, rejuvenating every burnt cell in its wake.

  Once my flesh was restored, the fire qi attacked again with renewed vigour. However, it was far less effective. It still burnt through my flesh but it took about twice the time as before.

  What happened next surprised me. The remaining fire qi in my body suddenly all moved in a single direction, sinking into my stomach as though it was being drawn into a black hole.

  My stomach sucked in the flames and I watched as it drew a stream of qi from my dantian. The swirling mess reminded me of my healing technique, the fire qi blending with my own as it was mixed inside my stomach.

  The stream of qi sped up as the two types of qi merged, the line between the flames and my own qi blurring. Soon a single strand of qi was all that remained, a gentle orange that reminded me of the sky at sunset.

  Instead of being forced outwards into my body, the new strand of qi became inert within my stomach. I realised it would not move without me exerting my will.

  I couldn’t know what the effect of this new qi would be however, without having experienced it before. My body continued to burn under the onslaught of the fire storm, so I repeated the process a few times until I had five strands of this strange new qi stored in my stomach and my flesh no longer burned.

  The fire qi storm began to withdraw as Huo Ze Qiang was drained of energy. I raced forwards, finding Sun Deng kneeling on the ground.

  I barely recognised him, every inch of his skin was blackened and charred like meat that had been left on the grill too long. His qi was faint, barely a pulse.

  I placed a hand on his shoulder and he didn’t even react. His skin cracked at my touch, a few flakes peeling away and crumbling to the ground.

  The fact he was still alive was testament to his immense willpower and the fortitude of his physique. I was a healer first; before claiming vengeance on Huo Ze Qiang I would ensure Sun Deng would not die or be forced to live as a burnt cripple.

  What I was about to do was risky, but I had a gut feeling it was going to be more effective than any of my previous healing techniques. Plucking two strands of the strange new qi from my stomach, I guided them into Sun Deng’s body while clamping down with my intent.

  The steps were identical to any other use of the qi healing technique, but every single component was unique to me and my physique. The final outcome was a mystery, but the instant the orange qi entered his body I watched it explode with vitality.

  The charred flesh on his shoulder cracked and fell away, revealing pristine skin like jade. This spread like a wave across his body as the two strands of orange qi exploded into a mist of rejuvenating energy.

  His scarred eyes opened as he inhaled sharply, coughing black blood. He leapt to his feet and then staggered.

  I caught him and chuckled. “Take it easy, Sun Deng. That fire storm technique was potent. You were on death’s door.”

  He stared at me wide-eyed. “You healed me? How!? No technique exists to heal such wounds, unless you’re…” he exclaimed, suddenly going quiet towards the end. “Are you a hidden nascent soul sage!?”

  “Hah!” I snorted, doubling over at his outburst. What a ridiculous accusation, though given how lacking this world’s healing techniques were I wasn’t too surprised at his line of thought.

  “Not quite,” I replied. “I have a unique physique suited for healing. My techniques are derived from that and far more potent than the regular qi healing technique or any healing pills.”

  He nodded, seemingly satisfied with my explanation but still threw me suspicious glances every now and then. The whirlwind of qi within his body came to an end and I watched as the strands of orange qi reformed.

  However, they seemed to have lost the unique effect that had been created in my stomach, returning to the vibrant green of my regular qi. Additionally, the quantity of qi had doubled, four strands rushing into my dantian as I gasped at the cold sensation.

  I wasn’t sure if that was unique to the qi refined in my stomach or if I could expect similar gains through every application of my healing technique in the Qi Gathering Realm.

  Before discovering the answer to that question, I had to finish the battle. I walked forwards to where Huo Ze Qiang stood.

  He was panting, the flow of his qi erratic and weak after unleashing the devastating storm of fire qi. His spear still burnt brightly and he levered it at me as he noticed my approach.

  He couldn’t stop the shock from showing on his face however, eyes wide and mouth open. “How are you still alive!?” he exclaimed. “I was right, you truly are a demon.”

  I slapped him, the sound reverberating across the basin as the gathered cultivators watched. Everyone else had rushed away from his technique, though I spotted a few unfortunate souls who had been caught in the blast, burnt and bloody on the rocky ground.

  “Enough.”

  He stumbled backwards, clutching his face. “You dare?”

  I rushed forwards, sweeping his legs from beneath him as I delivered a chop to the back of his neck. He fell to his knees, unable to move.

  Some weaknesses still remained even on a cultivator’s body, it seemed. “Stop blabbering. Your ass must be jealous of the shit that comes out of your mouth. Calling me a demon while your own fellow disciples tread the line between life and death after burning in your technique,” I snarled.

  At first this had been for personal satisfaction. To pay him back for trying to kill me during my breakthrough. I’d planned to leave him beaten for his master to drag back to the Cloudy Falls Sect.

  That was letting him off lightly.

  For a moment I stood in silence, watching the flow of his qi. His body was like a furnace, his dantian the bellows blowing the fiery energy around his meridians.

  Qi could be used to heal, reversing the damage left by a weapon. A surgeon’s scalpel could carve out a tumour, but it could also sever tendons.

  A man like this did not deserve to have power over others. He was irresponsible, rash, and cared little for the collateral damage he caused.

  Not to mention that he was trash who had constantly betrayed fellow disciples of the same sect. For a man like this, there was only one punishment I felt would suit his crimes.

  Qi gathered around the tip of my finger as I bent down so that my face was level with his. “You throw your power around without care. As a healer it is my duty to eradicate infections anywhere I find them,” I said as I placed my finger against his stomach, right above his dantian.

  “What are you doing! Stop!” I heard a panicked voice cry from above right as I unleashed my qi and shattered his dantian.