I danced around corpses and the bodies of barely breathing cultivators as I tried to evade her rapid strikes. The female disciple was fast as the wind and every time I dodged one slash I found another arcing towards me.

  My meagre knowledge of Earth’s martial arts had allowed me to contend with practitioners in the Body Tempering Realm, but I found myself severely outmatched by this woman. She was two-star from what I could tell, only a single minor realm between us, but her techniques were a step above my own.

  Which wasn’t difficult, given that I had no combat techniques whatsoever. The previous Zhao Dan had only obtained one opportunity to select a technique from the sect library and he’d chosen a defensive one.

  However, his hastily scrawled notes on it were far from enough for me to utilise it properly. Thus I was at a disadvantage, only made worse when I stumbled and one of her daggers carved three crimson valleys in my side.

  The side of her mouth curled upwards and she pressed harder, the speed of her attacks increasing even further. The next slash was so fast I heard the whoosh of wind as she went for the kill.

  I managed to step out of the way just in time, but the next strike was already at my neck. I felt the cold grip of death closing around my throat.

  But right before her strike landed I felt the earth rumble and the female disciple threw herself to the side. All I saw was a flash of silver as the glaive descended.

  The ground where my opponent had stood an instant before was shattered, an ornate glaive buried in the stone. Looking up, I cracked a smile as I saw the face of my saviour.

  “Junior Brother Zhao! What a coincidence this is,” chuckled Wang Ren before I could speak.

  “Ha! A coincidence, he says. I came to the mountains for a bit of training and to seek enlightenment, but end up getting tangled in this bloodthirsty chase for a potent treasure,” I replied, standing up and clasping his arm. “It’s great to see you well, Senior Brother Wang. I hope those arrogant young masters and geniuses in the inner sect haven’t been too much to handle.”

  “Pah! What geniuses? Everyone is a genius somewhere, but most are just noisy chickens and pigs when the time for action arrives. The heavens are equal in their judgment,” he said with mirth. “I am surprised to see you here. I am shocked to see your cultivation has progressed so rapidly, but pleased for you.”

  “Perhaps the sect was simply the wrong environment required to advance my path. I have experienced much since my expulsion and it has led to some meagre insights,” I replied, glancing over his shoulder as the female disciple’s sword shot towards his neck.

  However, before I could even warn him, the ground beneath his feet cracked as Wang Ren stomped his feet. The shudder knocked the girl off balance and her blade swung wide.

  His glaive was carving through the air like a diving hawk the next moment. His opponent managed to escape the brunt of the strike, but screamed as the edge of the blade caught her wrist.

  Blood sprayed the earth as her hand was severed, falling against the ground. Wang Ren was merciless, already striking a second time before she’d comprehended her fate.

  His glaive buried itself in her heart and her arms dropped to her side. With a grunt he flicked her body from his weapon and deftly removed the blood in a single graceful movement.

  A cough caught in my throat. This was the first time I’d seen Wang Ren fight with his life on the line and it was a far cry from the kind senior brother I knew from my memories and the first day awakening in this world.

  Then again, even the gentlest of cultivators was still that—a cultivator; one who would seek to advance by any means necessary. That was something I still hadn’t fully grasped.

  To me, the Ten Ascensions Lily was merely a bonus on my journey to the mountains, but to everyone else here it represented far more. The opportunity to advance in leaps and bounds represented status, power, and a longer life.

  Coming from a world where everyone was equal in death and still not even fifty years old, I couldn’t wrap my head around it yet. Maybe my perspective would shift when I lived beyond a century.

  Though I would have to get there first. With how often I was finding my life threatened in recent days, that was not a guarantee.

  “You know, it would help me a lot if you could try to leave them alive,” I said as Wang Ren returned to my side.

  “Oh? Why are you showing care towards these intruders of the Soaring Sword Sect?” Wang Ren asked, raising a brow. “I know being expelled had to bite deep, but surely you haven’t betrayed your former home so fast?”

  “Nothing of the sort,” I dismissed his accusation with a wave. “My cultivation method is a little unique. I’m not quite sure of the specifics, but mostly I condense qi through healing others.”

  “That… is strange. I have never heard of such a method. Is this some strange art you picked up during your time in the world below?”

  “Something like that…”

  I suddenly felt an overwhelming sensation of dread. My breath hitched in my lungs and my heart felt as though it was being grasped by icy tendrils of darkness.

  A cold sensation brushed against my neck, followed by a sharp clang of steel. Less than a breath’s time had passed and I wasn’t quite sure what had happened, but I now found myself staring into a pair of obsidian eyes with a gaze reminiscent of a snake’s.

  “Wang Ren, you dare impede this sovereign’s blade?” he snarled, gaze turning towards my former Senior Brother.

  A sword was pressed against my neck, a single drop of blood running down the blade from where it had ever so slightly broken my skin. I would have lost my head if not for the ornate glaive currently pushing against it.

  Wang Ren had saved my life, but as I glanced down and saw the bright red robes of my would-be assassin, I couldn’t help but furrow my brow in confusion. This entire situation continued to grow more confusing.

  Furthermore, I saw sweat glistening on Wang Ren’s brow and heard his heavy breaths as he continued resisting the force of the sword. Even now the man was still attempting to kill me. And as a five-star Qi Gathering cultivator, I would be utterly unable to stop him.

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  “Senior Brother Sun, forgive my actions—I mean no disrespect. This cultivator is an acquaintance of mine; a former member of our Cloudy Falls Sect. I cannot stand by and watch you take his life,” he wheezed through a clenched jaw.

  “Former disciple you say?” he said, appraising me anew. “Do you mean that former disciple… Junior Brother Wang, you really should keep better company if you intend to continue advancing through the ranks of the sect. Talentless trash who couldn’t survive in the outer sect are not worthy of your attention,” he spat.

  I felt like now wouldn’t be the best time to point out that since leaving, my rate of cultivation far surpassed the majority of disciples in the Cloudy Falls Sect. Or for that matter, the entire Celestial Jade Empire.

  Luckily, my ever reliable Senior Brother Wang was there to ensure I didn’t lose face. Or my head.

  “Rumours are just that. You of all people should know better than to believe the ramblings of the masses, Senior Brother Sun. If all stories spread through the sect are to be believed, you only obtained your position through nepotism-” Wang Ren had to hold up a hand to forestall the other man’s complaint.

  “I do not say this to insult you. I have experienced your skill with the sword and the force of your techniques myself. I know that you deserve your position in the inner sect, regardless of your Master’s status. I simply mean to say that you shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”

  The man narrowed his eyes, staring at Wang Ren as though he was deciding whether to kill him on the spot or embrace him for his praise. In the end he removed his sword from my neck and flicked the drop of blood from the tip.

  “Hmph. Your choices are your own to make. As are your mistakes. This is the last time you will block my blade, unless you wish to enter the six paths anew, Junior Brother Wang,” he harrumphed, flicking his sleeves as he turned back to the battle.

  He pointed a finger at me without looking back. “You, make yourself useful. Wang Ren cannot save you twice. Perhaps if you contribute enough here, a portion of the rewards will find their way to your pockets,” he declared.

  Wang Ren chuckled and turned back to me, raising his huge glaive with a single hand as though it were a child’s toy. “Well, it seems as though Sun Deng won’t kill you for now. Unfortunately we are fighting against not just the Soaring Sword Sect, but other disciples of the Cloudy Falls Sect. A vicious battle, but such is the way of heaven and earth. Beasts die for food; men die for wealth,” he said with an expression reminiscent of a wise elder. “I suppose this time the beasts are dying for wealth, too,” he added with a laugh.

  “That look doesn’t suit you,” I remarked. “Stick to swinging that big thing around.”

  He scoffed. “Give some face here, I’m supposed to be the senior brother.”

  “As you say, Senior Brother Wang. Lead the way.”

  I was a bit frustrated that my efforts had been thwarted. Nothing was stopping me from continuing to heal the wounded, but somehow I doubted that this Sun Deng fellow would consider that meritorious contribution.

  Reconsidering my hasty approach to situations was definitely in order. If I’d returned back to Three River City instead of allowing my greed to lure me here, I wouldn’t be in this situation.

  Then again, if I hadn’t come to the summit of Jagged Sword Peak I wouldn’t have the opportunity to make such gains in my cultivation. If I managed to survive in this bloody battlefield reminiscent of hell, my cultivation could soar beyond a mere one-star Qi Gathering.

  Again I worried about unstable foundations and rushing through the realms, but thus far it hadn’t seemed to cause any issues. However, the Body Tempering Realm was the lowest of them all, involving no spiritual energy, qi, or even much enlightenment; I knew each step ahead of me now would be more difficult than the last.

  I looked out over the carnage. It was as though heaven and earth had been upturned, leaving cultivators and beasts slaughtering one another. How many of them would genuinely have a chance to claim the Ten Ascensions Lily?

  It didn’t matter in the end. What determined the outcome was whether they believed they had a chance or not. While I was here, I would try to ensure that these foolish battle maniacs wouldn’t die a dog’s death.

  Wang Ren was confident as he returned to the melee, his glaive whirling around his body in fluid arcs as he charged at the nearest person in the robes of the Soaring Sword Sect. I followed after him, wondering how I could even begin to assist in a battle of this calibre.

  I ended up not needing to do much. Like the unfortunate female disciple who’d been attacking me, he dispatched this next opponent with ease. He’d always been talented, but the memories of him I had didn’t quite match the indomitable warrior I saw before me.

  He was like Guan Yu, carving his way through the battlefield. Every now and then I would stop and kneel beside an injured victim; whether they were cultivator or beast. My qi didn’t discriminate.

  All under the heavens were worthy of healing. What happened after that was their business. In most cases anyway—some people did not deserve a scrap of kindness.

  I was absent-mindedly circulating my qi while watching Wang Ren’s back, when it suddenly struck me. My qi had faint toxic properties, absorbed during the Body Tempering Realm.

  My only combat technique until now had been the rather sadistic cancer touch, which I felt should be saved as a last resort and not unleashed wantonly on whoever I fought. Poison was still viewed in a rather negative light, but as I knew, it was just another form of medicine. Two sides of the same coin.

  It was only a hypothesis, but I felt that I was on the right path. There was a sense of resonance from within, urging me onwards.

  I gathered my qi—of which I had now four droplets—swirling it around my meridian and back to my dantian. Focusing on its medicinal energies, I tried to shift it towards corruption rather than restoration.

  At first it was futile. Nothing happened and I even coughed blood when my practice was interrupted by a sudden heavy impact to the chest. Looking up I realised I’d been struck by a stone monkey.

  If I didn’t know any better I’d say it was laughing while pointing its tail at me. Vicious bastard. The awakened beast was far larger than any of the stone monkeys I’d fought on the way up the mountain and from the feel of its qi I’d put it somewhere in two-star Qi Gathering.

  About two small realms stronger than me, which left me in danger. Wang Ren was currently occupied clashing blades with a skilled sword cultivator who refused to go down as easily as his sectmates had.

  Today this mountain range was earning its name. It had become a mountain of blades atop seas of fire as blood streamed into the once pristine spirit pond.

  While the monkey was stronger than me, I had the knowledge gained from dozens of battles against its kin. I felt I had a solid grasp of its strengths and weaknesses.

  To quote the great Sun Tzu; if you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

  I was still working on the whole know myself part, but I certainly knew about these monkeys. When its tail shivered I knew what was coming.

  My movements were like floating clouds as I avoided the stone spikes, but they were far faster than I’d expected. The last of the three spikes scratched against my cheek, drawing blood.

  The wound burned faintly, the first sting of battle. This annoying beast had interrupted me right on the verge of an epiphany, but perhaps I could learn through action instead.

  One teaching I’d retained from Zhao Dan’s memories had been administered on the first day he joined the sect. The sect leader himself had made an appearance—the only time Zhao Dan had ever seen him in person was that day—and offered the new disciples sage words of wisdom.

  “Cultivation is the eternal refining of one’s vessel towards immortality. Through the spiritual energy of the world we achieve physical purity; through meditation we may glean insight into the Dao; but it is only in the crucible of struggle that one’s comprehension may become tangible progress.”

  The language was a little flowery, but the core message behind his words was that you couldn’t reach the pinnacle of cultivation just by sitting around and meditating. It was similar to medicine, in a way.

  I studied for seven years at university, but I wasn’t allowed to practise as a doctor until I’d done a few years shadowing senior doctors on the job. All this was a long way of saying that instead of trying to figure things out without context, I needed a suitable opponent to test my theories on.

  I ducked under another round of stone spikes, but the awakened monkey beast was far from done. I was forced to throw my arms up to guard against a heavy punch.

  My whole body shook from the impact and I was pushed backwards. My arms ached and I found myself more than willing to use the monkey as a test subject for my first attempt at a qi poison.