Blood Refinement Secret Art

Now.

The cell door was dark.

Zhou Yi stood outside.

Zhu Xiaowei stood inside.

"Old Zhou, if you want to laugh, then laugh. I can take it!"

Dressed in a deathly white prison uniform, Zhu Xiaowei wore a face like a funeral procession. "For the sake of all our years as colleagues, could I ask you to do something?"

Zhou Yi nodded. "Old Zhu, go ahead."

Zhu Xiaowei pleaded, "With a major treason case hanging over me, confiscation of property and exile are unavoidable. When the time comes, Old Zhou, please help make some arrangements, so my wife, children, and elderly family do not suffer on the road."

"Old Zhu, how did you get involved with the Crown Prince's Faction?"

Zhou Yi did not look down on him, but the Crown Prince had already been governing the realm before this supposed rebellion. How could he possibly have taken notice of a mere Subordinate Ninth Rank captain?

"Two years ago, when White County Marquis got married, I got in with the Heir of the Duke of Qi."

Zhu Xiaowei said, "Later, using the convenience of the Heavenly Prison, I squeezed quite a bit of silver from several convicted officials. That was how I caught the Crown Prince's eye."

The Heir of the Duke of Qi's niece was the Crown Prince's secondary consort. Implicated by the treason case, the Duke's title had been demoted to a marquisate.

Among the corrupt officials imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, some had hidden their ill-gotten money before their crimes came to light. Exploiting his position, Zhu Xiaowei had used brutal torture, threats, and inducements to squeeze the silver out of them.

The Heir of the Duke of Qi happened to be short of silver to buy an official post, so he did not care about Zhu Xiaowei's lowly origins and drew him into the Crown Prince's Faction.

"Old Zhu, rest assured about this. Our colleagues in the prison will certainly look after your family."

Zhou Yi comforted him. "Once they are sent to the place of exile, we will also speak to the local bailiffs. I cannot promise they will live in carefree comfort, but at least they will not be made to do heavy labor or suffer humiliation."

"Old Zhou, you are truly righteous!"

Zhu Xiaowei was moved beyond measure. The world had no shortage of those who added flowers to brocade, but few who sent charcoal in the snow.

Zhou Yi offered Zhu Xiaowei a few more words of comfort, saying that once his family received a pardon and returned to Shenjing, they could be arranged positions as prison guards, allowing them to settle down and make a living without worry.

Cell Block Nine.

There was something wrong with this cell's feng shui. So many important figures had entered it, only to be jinxed to death.

Li Ye paced back and forth within the cell, glancing toward the corridor from time to time as if awaiting something.

Also in the cell were Li Ye's three younger brothers, ranging from seven or eight years old to over ten. Terror filled their faces, and they were pale as paper.

Zhou Yi arrived outside the cell door and swept his gaze over the four of them. The three younger boys had been born into silk and fine food, never following Li Wu through southern campaigns and northern battles. Their vigor and spirit were worlds apart from Li Ye's.

Joy flashed through Li Ye's eyes as he tested the waters. "Senior, you are..."

"It is indeed I."

Zhou Yi transmitted his voice. "I once promised Li Wu that I would leave the Li family a bloodline, lest a hero's line be cut off!"

The aged voice falling into his ears was exactly the same as that of the senior who had secretly acted before. Li Ye finally breathed easy. This was the last path to survival his father had left for the Li family.

"Thank you, Senior, for saving our lives."

Li Ye read Zhou Yi's expression and understood that he did not wish to reveal his identity, so he had his three younger brothers retreat into the inner room for the time being.

Zhou Yi asked curiously, "How did you know who I was?"

Li Ye said, "Before Father died, he sent someone with a message. If one day the entire clan was thrown into prison, we were to wait in this cell for the person delivering food. That person would be the Li family's final opportunity."

Zhou Yi asked again, "Did the Li family truly participate in the Crown Prince's rebellion?"

Li Ye fell silent for a moment before answering truthfully, "This junior did indeed contact the Eastern Palace, intending to send the Crown Prince to the throne early and seek life amid death. But the time was too short, and I had not yet had the chance to contact old comrades in the military."

Zhou Yi said in surprise, "So this rebellion was staged by the Emperor Hongchang himself?"

Li Ye nodded. "As far as this junior knows, the Crown Prince never harbored any intent to poison him. He only wished to force the current ruler to abdicate."

Zhou Yi clicked his tongue in wonder. "The Emperor Hongchang is a ruthless man as well. To uproot the Li family, he would rather abandon his own son. Such an eager frame-up clearly means his days are numbered."

Li Ye bowed. "I beg Senior to save the Li family!"

Zhou Yi reminded him, "I promised Li Wu that I would save only one."

Li Wu's four sons were wanted criminals of the court, thorns in the Emperor Hongchang's eye and flesh in his side. Finding an opportunity to save even one was already exceedingly risky.

"This junior does not dare ask for too much. Being able to preserve the Li family's bloodline is already a blessing beyond measure."

Li Ye continued, "Before Father died, he left behind a scroll of secret arts, taught to him by the late emperor. Now that the imperial clan seeks to wipe out the Li family, this junior need no longer honor that oath. I offer this method in exchange for Senior taking my third brother as a personal disciple!"

"Your third brother?"

Zhou Yi asked doubtfully, "You are the current Duke Who Pacifies the Nation. If you die, the Li family's connections in the military will be half ruined."

"After Father died, our former uncles and elders avoided the Li family as though we were venomous snakes and savage beasts. What connections are left?"

Li Ye said, "This junior's martial talent is poor. Becoming a Grandmaster is already beyond hope. My third brother possesses extraordinary gifts. If he can cultivate at Senior's side, he may perhaps break through to the Innate realm in the future."

Zhou Yi asked, "Is it the secret art of flying swords?"

Back then, when Li Wu had lured martial world experts into a trap, Lao Bai had witnessed it with his own eyes: flying swords cut down men like mowing grass.

"The secret art is called Blood Refinement of Spirit Weapons. Only Innate Grandmasters can cultivate it."

Li Ye explained, "Find an object with spirit and sacrifice blood to it, joining one's heart and will with it. Over months and years, it can be absorbed into the body and wielded as easily as one's own arm and fingers."

Interest appeared on Zhou Yi's face, but he shook his head. "The secret art is good, but unfortunately, I do not accept disciples."

In this era, the relationship between master and disciple was not as simple as teacher and student. Calling them reborn parents would not be an exaggeration.

When the master had business, the disciple labored for him.

When the disciple committed evil, the master also bore the blame.

Li Ye sighed dejectedly. The Blood Refinement secret art was the only thing he had worth offering. He had nothing else that could move a Grandmaster.

"However..."

Zhou Yi changed tack. "I have a cultivation method with particular requirements for one's innate foundation. Few in this world can cultivate it successfully. If one can enter its gate and cultivate diligently for several decades, the Innate realm will be within sight!"

Li Ye pondered for a moment, understanding that there was no other choice. "Thank you, Senior, for granting this method. This junior will first reveal the Blood Refinement method..."

He then recited the entire secret art to Zhou Yi, not missing a single word.

"This secret art can already be considered artifact refinement."

As Zhou Yi secretly pondered it, he found it increasingly profound and mysterious. He asked, "How does one determine what counts as an object with spirit?"

"This junior does not know either, but Father once said that Shenjing possesses two spiritual objects."

Li Ye said, "The Rivers and Mountains Cauldron attended in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and the inherited Imperial Jade Seal of the Fengyang Kingdom. Both were passed down from the Grand Ancestor who founded the dynasty. Together with the Grand Ancestor's sword that Father refined back then, they were known as the Three Treasures of Fengyang."

"Both are rather troublesome."

Zhou Yi had seen the Rivers and Mountains Cauldron in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. It stood nearly as tall as a man and weighed two or three tons.

Though the inherited Imperial Jade Seal was small, it was hidden deep within the imperial palace, guarded inside and out by an unknown number of Imperial Guards. Moreover, he would need to personally investigate which palace and which location the seal was hidden in.

"Let us put this matter aside for now and proceed slowly in the future."

Zhou Yi could afford to wait. He could even outlast the Fengyang Kingdom itself; then the Rivers and Mountains Cauldron and the Imperial Jade Seal would fall into his hands as easily as plucking something from a bag.

"This cultivation method of mine is called the Origin Returning Art. Fewer than one in ten thousand people in the world can cultivate it."

Zhou Yi said, "Call your three younger brothers out and test their innate foundations one by one. If none of them succeed... you may try other clansmen as well."

"Everything will be as Senior says."

Li Ye did not insist that his three blood brothers survive. There were still Li Wu's concubine-born sons and daughters in other cells, and farther out, collateral branches of the Li family.

How could a clan's great plan for revenge be severed over closeness of blood?

"Heaven and earth are dark and boundless, without end or limit. When united, they become primal qi; when mingled, they return to one..."

Zhou Yi passed the Origin Returning Art to the four brothers and waited quietly as they sat cross-legged to cultivate. They did not need to truly cultivate Mana; as long as they could stir the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, it showed they possessed the aptitude for cultivation.

About half an hour later.

Li Ye was the first to rise. He shook his head slightly and looked hopefully toward his three younger brothers.

Then the second and third brothers finished meditating. No matter what they did, they could not sense the clear, pure qi of heaven and earth described in the Origin Returning Art.

Only the fourth brother, Li Hong, remained seated cross-legged. Not only did he not feel tired, he instead wore an expression of blissful absorption.

"So this is... a spiritual root?"

Zhou Yi keenly sensed the spiritual qi of heaven and earth stirring slightly, gathering around Li Hong's body. Its quantity and speed were several times greater than when Zhou Yi himself cultivated.

"The Li family will have successors!"