I grunted and stood up from the chair, kicking it over in the process. “Zhao Dan, are you alright?” Xiao Cui asked once more, worry evident on her face.
“Mhm,” I grunted, managing to raise an arm to stop her getting out of bed. The arm burst in a bloody shower right after I did so, which gave her the opposite message I’d intended.
Not that it was my fault. This breakthrough was happening whether I liked it or not. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t annoyed about advancing to nine-star Body Tempering, but it was awful timing.
As my legs broke and the muscles turned to jelly, I collapsed into a heap on the ground. I hoped Xiao Cui knew what was happening, since she’d seen me breakthrough once before.
Unlike the previous breakthroughs in the Body Tempering realm, this one didn’t stop even after my bones shattered. It felt as though my organs were being ground to a pulp. And then a fire erupted in my gut.
Just above and behind my stomach, where my spirit roots were situated. They were broken, showing no signs of mending. Yet this was the feeling that was supposed to accompany the formation of a cultivator’s dantian.
It said so in Zhao Dan’s notes. I’d given them a brief read every now and then, hoping to glean some insights about how to best advance despite veering from the traditional path.
Unfortunately they held little of value. Nothing in the Cloudy Falls Sect’s methods was applicable to my own cultivation. It wasn’t unusual for this pain to occur when advancing to nine-star Body Tempering—the entire point of this realm was to prepare one’s body to accept qi and begin cultivating in truth.
I just wasn’t sure why it was happening when I had no spirit roots. But I wouldn’t let myself grow worried until something bad happened.
All I needed to do was grit my teeth through the agony of my body reforging itself, better, stronger, and more perfect than before. Which was much easier said than done.
I didn’t mind a little pain as long as I continued to advance. Having a greater cultivation meant my healing should be more effective. As always, it was better to advance in leaps and bounds than small steps.
Provided you didn’t leave shaky foundations in your wake. However, despite my rapid speed of cultivation thus far, I hadn’t noticed anything wrong with my body.
In fact, I almost found the opposite to be true. Comparing myself with other cultivators in a similar realm I was sturdier, stronger, and able to regenerate quicker.
Perhaps I was a little slower, based on spars Zhao Dan had witnessed, but everyone had their own strengths and weaknesses. A dragon was not a phoenix, but one was not necessarily stronger than the other.
All I could feel was burning agony and a distant sensation of grinding. Xiao Cui shouted something, but I couldn’t tell whether she was talking to me or what she said.
My previous breakthroughs had been painful, but nothing compared to this. I was hovering between life and death. I knew that if I let my consciousness waver for even a single breath of time I might die.
It wasn’t until this moment that I realised just how true it was when the elders said that cultivation was a rebellion against the heavens. Each consecutive breakthrough was far more difficult than the last.
Achieving immortality, or even a greater mortal existence, was a struggle. Only geniuses and prodigies could ascend to the heavens in a single step.
For me, who was still somewhat clueless about this world and how it worked, I was satisfied with my steady progress. I wasn’t even that concerned with reaching the heavens, only advancing my knowledge of healing.
But the longer I spent in this world, the further I advanced, and the more I saw; I realised that I would need to keep breaking through the realms of cultivation in order to reach the pinnacle of my path.
I had been naive to think that I could simply ignore the existence of cultivators; ignore their bloodthirsty methods of advancement. I didn’t have to be like them, but in order to protect the people I cared about and myself, chasing strength was a necessity.
Even now, Xiao Cui and I were held prisoner by Lord Teng. I hadn’t even been involved in the killing of his men and neither had Xiao Cui. And yet simply by virtue of association and the fact that the city lord was stronger than the both of us, he was able to imprison us without trial or due process.
That was the truth of this world. The truth of the Celestial Jade Empire.
I didn’t need to stop being a doctor or shun the path of healing. This world needed it. However, I would need to be a little more decisive and ruthless when it came to dealing with my enemies and the corrupt cultivators in power.
And I could only do that by becoming more powerful myself.
At that moment something resonated inside me and I felt a wave of soothing cold pass through my body. Looking inwards I saw a hollow shell in my centre, where my dantian would eventually be—if I was able to break through to the Qi Gathering Realm.
My spirit roots were still broken, but I believed that didn’t matter with my unique method of cultivation. Only time would tell.
My organs no longer felt as though they were being crushed and a faintly metallic shimmer appeared on their surface. Bones reformed, hard as diamond and flexible as rubber.
Tendons twanged into place, tough as a spirit beast’s and my muscle fibres multiplied and grew denser. I was far stronger than any bodybuilder back on Earth, but as slim as a marathon runner.
My skin was perfect, unblemished and smooth as silk. It shimmered faintly like jade, which I confirmed by taking out the horse Zhao Dan’s sister had gifted him and holding it beside my arm.
I noticed Xiao Cui looking at me strangely when I did that. I couldn’t blame her, but I’d read a few xianxia novels and wanted to confirm they weren’t just speaking out of their ass when they rambled on about jade-like beauties.
Was I the jade-like beauty now?
Damn, I needed a mirror. Not the time. Exhaling, even my breath released a cloud of dirty air from my lungs. The final advancement in the Body Tempering realm was over. And I was absolutely filthy.
“Eww! What the hell is that brown gunk?” Xiao Cui exclaimed, pinching her nose and waving her hand in front of her face.
“Erm, I’m not quite sure,” I replied, looking down to see my body was covered in brown gunk that looked like…
Gross.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
I hadn’t experienced the famous expelling of impurities yet, so I had naively assumed this wasn’t one of those worlds. How wrong I had been.
The powerful stench wasn’t even the worst part. There was no way to hide my breakthrough from the city lord and Captain Kang with the mess I’d made of the room. Unless…
“The guard tried to come in while you were breaking through,” little Cui said, her voice whiny as she was still pinching her nose. “I just shouted out some nonsense about not coming in and giving us privacy, but I’m not sure how long that will last.”
I nodded, standing up and grimacing at the filth I was covered in. This room was pretty big, so surely they had a bath or a basin for cleaning patients lying around somewhere.
After trailing muck across the entire room, staining the wooden floorboards, I found a small basin with some water in it. It took ten minutes and a lot of scrubbing, but eventually I cleaned myself off.
Unfortunately the same couldn’t be said for the floor or my robes. I could explain away the stains on the ground as Xiao Cui’s healing. Actually, I could probably just use healing her as an excuse for my change of clothes, too.
Luckily, there was one last set of clean robes in my belongings. Donning it, I realised that if we managed to obtain our freedom, the first thing I needed to do was go clothes shopping.
That was something I never thought I would say…
I was getting distracted. Soon enough the room was clean enough that only an extremely detailed inspection would reveal that someone had broken through there. At a glance it would just seem like a rather messy healing process had occurred.
Which was great, because at that moment there was a knock on the door. “Prisoner Zhao, open up,” shouted Captain Kang.
This bastard… What if I’d still been in the midst of healing Xiao Cui? I asked them for privacy, but I guessed I shouldn’t have expected respect from people like this.
I inhaled and pushed the annoyance down. I was feeling good right now and I wouldn’t let him spoil it.
After that last breakthrough I felt like I had a much better idea of the path I was treading and the steps I needed to take to achieve what I wanted in this second life. Unfortunately I was still not powerful enough to challenge even Captain Kang, let alone City Lord Teng.
As long as the city lord was true to his word and I was able to obtain freedom for little Cui and I by healing his son, I would have plenty of time to grow in secret while healing people and advancing my techniques.
When the time came, I could have a little revenge. I wouldn’t go as far as the wild, bloodthirsty cultivators of this world did. Exterminating nine generations seemed a bit intense. Punishing those who deserved it, like the bastard who hurt Xiao Cui, was good enough for me.
I reached out for the door handle, intending to open it, when I suddenly realised something terrible.
I’d forgotten to wash the impurities from my hair!
I turned to rush for the basin, but Captain Kang banged on the door once more, even louder than before. So I did the only thing I could think of at that moment.
There was a knife on a nearby table, presumably left there for surgical purposes, so I grabbed it and in a single clean stroke, shaved off all my hair. Xiao Cui gawked at me, hiding her shock behind a cough.
Captain Kang threw open the door. I managed to brush the hair under the table with my foot just in time.
“Why didn’t you answer me?” he demanded, glowering at me.
“As I said before, Captain, I required privacy to treat Xiao Cui. Do you not respect patients in the city lord’s manor?” I replied coldly.
He spluttered. “Of course we do! But my man reported hearing shouting and screaming, as well as strange noises coming from within. And some kind of foul smell. Can you explain all of that?”
“Do you believe that healing a wounded person is a simple process, Captain Kang?” I said, raising an eyebrow. “Of course there will be weird noises and smells. That is par for the course. You should know this, being a cultivator.”
He stared at me with fiery intensity. I didn’t shrink under his gaze, but I felt the pressure from him wasn’t as hard to deal with compared to before my breakthrough.
“Indeed, you are correct. I am just doing my duty as the city lord’s chief guard. I could never forgive myself if something awful happened in the palace,” he harrumphed, flicking his sleeve and bringing out a small wooden box.
“I’m not sure why you requested these if you were able to heal the girl without them, but inside this medicine box are three mortal-grade healing pills,” he said, handing me the box.
I coughed nervously. “Ahem, of course they are necessary for Xiao Cui to recover. My healing technique is fairly advanced but even then it is not a perfect cure. These pills should help her return to full health in no time,” I lied, opening the lid to peek inside.
A powerful medicinal aroma struck me instantly and I clamped the lid shut. I didn’t want the pills to lose their potency. I did manage to glimpse at their appearance briefly.
They were white and spherical, with faint streaks of green running through the surface.
What had the captain called them? Mortal-grade. I assumed that was the lowest grade of pill, but I couldn’t be sure. Neither the previous Zhao Dan nor I knew anything about alchemy.
Though given how my physique worked and the fact I was hoping to become a master of the healing arts, it would do me a lot of good to begin learning. I sort of wished I’d not been kicked out of the sect now.
However, it was too late. I was sure they would just laugh in my face if I climbed back up the mountain and asked to join the Cloudy Falls Sect once more. Not that I actually wanted to do that…
It was simply the case that the sects seemed to have the greatest collections of knowledge. They hoarded it.
Well, it was time to see how my physique worked when it was being overloaded by toxins. Opening the box once more, I pulled one of the pills out before closing the lid.
Then, without any delay, I tossed the pill into my mouth and swallowed it. An almost minty taste blossomed on my tongue, right as Captain Kang leapt forward and grabbed my arm.
“Zhao Dan, you dare!? Those pills were for the girl, not you! Taking the city lord for a fool,” he exclaimed, raising a fist.
I swallowed the pill, the chunky sphere almost getting stuck on the way down. Coughing, I managed to splutter, “Relax, Captain.”
He seemed to get even angrier, eyes smouldering and his grip tightening as he gnashed his teeth.
“I can hardly give one of these pills to little Cui without testing them first, can I?” I finally said, once I could breathe again. “Would you feed the city lord a pill without knowing it wasn’t poisoned first?”
He released my arm and his face scrunched up, before relaxing. “No, I suppose I wouldn’t. But you’re on thin ice. Behave yourself and remember that you are a prisoner. You have no idea how much worse your confinement could be,” he warned.
“Of course, Captain. I shall be on my best behaviour. Like a prized chicken,” I replied. “You may tell Lord Teng that I am now prepared to cure his son, provided Xiao Cui is given a better place to rest and that bast… guard who injured her is kept away.”
He nodded, turning to leave. Suddenly he pivoted to face me once more and stared at me intensely. “Why the hell are you bald?”
I coughed, almost choking. He’d caught me by surprise. I almost thought he hadn’t noticed. “Just a side effect of the healing,” I said, waving my arm as though it was nothing unusual. “My technique is a little… unique.”
He narrowed his eyes, but didn’t say anything. Through the open door, I spotted his second-in-command in the distance. The man’s gaze quickly turned away when he saw me looking in his direction and he rushed to meet the captain. Strange…
Closing the door behind me, I lifted the chair from the ground and took a seat beside Xiao Cui once more. I reached up to run my fingers through my hair.
I sighed, realising I was bald. That would take a long time to get used to. I bet I looked like an idiot.
You needed more muscles to pull off the bald look. Despite my many breakthroughs and superhuman strength, I was still quite slim. I was sure it didn’t work for me.
“It doesn’t look that bad,” said Xiao Cui, hand covering her mouth.
“You can’t even say that with a straight face, lying witch,” I replied, nudging her with my elbow.
“I’m just so taken aback by how handsome you look with your shiny, bald head!”
“Just stop there, you’re making it worse,” I groaned.
She giggled. I sighed, leaning against the backrest and rubbing my forehead. I was fairly confident that I would be able to heal Teng Sheng, but if something went wrong, it wasn’t just my life on the line.
I’d wanted some contingencies, but I knew too little about this place to come up with a good plan. It was looking like I would need to stake it all on one throw of the dice.
“Xiao Cui, keep a close eye on the guards while I’m gone. Try to find out some more information about the captain’s second-in-command especially. Or that Councillor Gao. Something about them is suspicious,” I told her.
“Do you want me to try and ask them questions?”
“No, don’t do anything that might put you in danger. We’re in the heart of the tiger’s den after all. Just keep an ear out for any gossip.”
“Sure,” she replied with a nod.
Suddenly, there was an explosion of ice in my gut and I doubled over in pain, clutching my stomach.