Black Stone

"Hey. Why'd you walk off without saying anything?" Shi Yong caught up, half a step behind. "Which one did you choose?"

Li Xuan did not answer.

Shi Yong waited three breaths, then scratched the back of his head. "Inconvenient to say? Forget it, then."

His tone was casual, as if he had merely asked in passing.

Li Xuan glanced at him.

"You waited here just to ask that?"

"Not entirely." Shi Yong said, "There's a mission in a few days. I'm short one person and wanted to team up with you."

"You and I only met today."

"Exactly."

"You don't even know what weapon I'm good with, or how much my injuries have healed." Li Xuan said, "Just because I defeated Zhao Yuanchen in three moves, you dare recruit me into your team?"

Shi Yong fell silent for a moment.

"Actually, I asked Senior Sister Yun." he said, "She said you're fine."

Li Xuan's footsteps slowed slightly.

Shi Yong continued, "She said that in Iron Wall City, you killed Wanyan Lie within ten days, then held the rear until the very last moment before retreating. She also said that before Wang Meng died, he handed you the retreat order to carry out, and you didn't leave until the last batch of wounded soldiers had exited the city."

He paused. "Someone like that won't sell out his teammates during a mission."

"Then how do I know you won't harm me? You expect me to trust you based on a single sentence?" Li Xuan replied flatly.

Shi Yong froze.

He clearly had not considered that question.

"Why would I screw you over?" He scratched the back of his head. "We don't even have a grudge."

Li Xuan said nothing, merely looking at him.

Under Li Xuan's gaze, Shi Yong grew somewhat uncomfortable. He frowned and thought for a while before suddenly letting out an "Oh."

"You're afraid I'll use you as cannon fodder?"

Once he had said it himself, he seemed to stop worrying over the matter.

"That's easy. The positions in the mission will be assigned according to our specialties—I have high attack and low defense, so I have to charge to the front when engaging the enemy. You're good at defense, so staying behind to cover the retreat suits you perfectly."

He paused, then added, "That should put your mind at ease, right?"

His tone was as bland as if he were saying, "The meat in the dining hall was a little salty today."

Li Xuan did not take the bait.

"How will the spoils be divided?"

"There are six people on the team. Everyone keeps their own basic Contribution Points. After any additional spoils are handed over to the sect, thirty percent of their value will be converted and divided according to contribution." Shi Yong said, "If you kill more enemies, you get the larger share. If I give lousy orders, I get the smaller one."

He spoke as though it were self-evident, with no intention of haggling over it.

Li Xuan looked at him.

"You're recruiting me just for this?"

"Not entirely." Shi Yong said, "I've been stuck at Body Tempering Realm Level 9 for half a year. My meridians are too narrow, so I can't condense inner qi. The people at the sect's Medical Hall said I need twenty low-grade spirit stones to nourish them, but I sold everything I could and only managed to scrape together seven."

He paused, seemingly considering how to phrase it without making himself sound pitiful.

"The people at the Medical Hall said that if I delay too long, my meridians will stiffen. It's best to attempt the breakthrough within three months. After that point, my odds will drop by ten percent for every month I delay."

He looked at Li Xuan without hiding anything or trying to play for sympathy.

"This mission offers one hundred and fifty Contribution Points. With the extra spoils, I can exchange them for around ten spirit stones. We both need Contribution Points, so isn't cooperating only natural?"

Li Xuan was silent for three breaths.

"When do we depart?"

Shi Yong grinned.

"Seven days from now, at the Chen hour, at North Mountain Gate. If you agree, I'll go register the number of people."

Li Xuan did not answer directly.

"Who else is there?"

"We have a scout to lead the way, and a poison specialist named Xu He—the man's mouth stinks, but his hands are skilled. There's also a girl who uses a hammer. She's at Body Tempering Realm Level 9, strong as an ox, but she's never entered a ruin. Then there's a pair of twin brothers whose combined attacks can stand against someone at the first level of inner qi."

Li Xuan nodded, which counted as agreement, and then moved to pass by him.

He had taken only three steps.

"Wait." Shi Yong called from behind.

Li Xuan turned around and looked at him in confusion.

Shi Yong scratched his head, as if choosing his words.

After a long while, he said in a muffled voice, "About what I said just now about being stuck at my cultivation level... don't spread it."

Li Xuan looked at him.

Shi Yong added, "If it reaches my mother's ears, she'll start nagging me again."

After saying that, he turned to leave, but suddenly stopped again.

"Oh, right. There's a small market in the West Courtyard these next few days. Inner Disciples privately exchange various items there." He gave him a time. "If you're short on Contribution Points, you can go take a look. When I first arrived, I relied on that market to exchange for my first spirit stone."

Li Xuan stood where he was and watched Shi Yong's back disappear around the alleyway.

At dusk, Li Xuan returned to the East Courtyard.

He first swallowed a Qi Gathering Pill, sat cross-legged on the bed, and circulated the mental cultivation method of the Mountain Suppressing Art.

His qi and blood sank into both legs.

...And then

there was no "then."

One incense stick.

Two incense sticks.

Half an hour.

He opened his eyes and lowered his head to look at his completely unresponsive legs.

Thinking back to the night when he had first mastered the Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique, he had killed seven barbarians in succession. His bones had cracked like beans frying in a pan, and his strength had visibly surged.

Yet this cultivation method before him—after sitting motionless for an entire hour, he had not even entered the threshold?

Li Xuan ended his circulation, rose, and walked three laps around the courtyard. After calming down, he sat down again.

The second day.

The third day.

On the fourth day, he finally felt the faintest trace of qi and blood sinking downward.

But at least he had made it in.

His qi and blood slowly sank into his lower body like a boulder dropping into water, pressing toward his legs, waist and hips, and spine.

A soreness and swelling spread through his bones. It was unlike the shattering pain of the Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique, instead resembling a slow, unceasing pressure.

One breath.

Ten breaths.

A hundred breaths.

Half an hour later, Li Xuan opened his eyes.

His legs felt as heavy as if they had been filled with lead, their weight increased by thirty percent.

[Mountain Suppressing Art: Initial Mastery (Proficiency 3%)]

[Effect: Qi and blood thickness +5%, lower-body strength +3%]

Cultivating this technique through sheer effort alone was indeed as time-consuming and laborious as the rumors claimed.

Fortunately, he did not have to rely solely on painstaking cultivation.

[Potential Points: 5.3]

With a thought, he poured two Potential Points into the Mountain Suppressing Art.

A stream of heat surged from his dantian and followed the cultivation method's route into his legs.

The soreness and swelling suddenly increased a hundredfold!

The muscles in his legs felt as if they were being pierced by thousands upon thousands of steel needles, while his bones gave off a low hum. Li Xuan clenched his teeth, the veins at his temples bulging, and dug all ten fingers into the edge of the bed.

The wooden bedframe splintered.

Three breaths.

Five breaths.

Ten breaths.

The intense pain receded like a tide.

Li Xuan lowered his head. The soreness in his legs had vanished, replaced by an unprecedented steadiness.

He rose. Every step felt rooted to the earth.

[Mountain Suppressing Art: Initial Mastery → Accomplished Mastery (Proficiency 51%)]

[Effect: Qi and blood thickness +30%, lower-body strength +25%, defensive strength +20%]

[Technique Trait Unlocked: Immovable as a Mountain—When standing, thirty percent of the force from impacts can be dispersed]

Li Xuan clenched his fist. As his qi and blood circulated, it faintly carried the weighty stillness of a mountain.

He glanced at his remaining Potential Points: 3.3.

Enough, but not much.

He still needed more.

Outside the window, dusk settled over everything.

Distant bells rang—the You hour had arrived, and the West Courtyard's small market was opening.

The West Courtyard was where the Inner Disciples lived. It was much larger than the East Courtyard, with rows of adjoining courtyards and crisscrossing alleys.

When Li Xuan arrived, more than twenty people had already gathered in an open area. Some sat, others stood, each with a cloth spread before them and various objects displayed on top.

Pills, weapons, incomplete cultivation methods, ores of unknown purpose...

Bartering, or trading with Contribution Points.

Li Xuan walked slowly among them, sweeping his eyes over the stalls.

"Body Tempering Pills! Three for one Qi Gathering Pill!" a thin-faced young man shouted.

"Low-grade Yellow Rank broken sword—fifty Contribution Points and it's yours!" another disciple called, waving the broken sword in his hand.

Li Xuan stopped at a stall in a corner.

It was not for any other reason than a stone.

It was the size of a fist, completely black, with fine golden patterns covering its surface.

Those golden patterns had not been carved onto it. They seeped out from within the stone and flowed slowly beneath the lamplight.

He crouched down and picked it up.

It was cold to the touch.

A sluggish aura faintly lingered inside the stone, like a hidden river deep beneath the earth.

"How do I trade for this stone?"

The stall owner was an old man in gray robes, with graying hair at his temples.

He raised his eyes, his gaze lingering on Li Xuan's face for a moment.

"What do you want it for?"

"I feel that we're fated to meet."

The old man did not press further. Lowering his eyes, he said, "One hundred and fifty Contribution Points."

Li Xuan put down the stone.

He rose and took two steps.

"Wait."

The old man lowered his head and sorted through the scattered items on his stall, his tone flat. "I saw you crouching in front of that stone for half an incense stick. Someone who doesn't want to buy it wouldn't squat there that long."

He paused.

"Not enough Contribution Points?"

Li Xuan did not deny it.

The old man fell silent for a moment.

"Then we'll barter." he said, "Do you have a Body Tempering cultivation method? A top-grade mortal method or a low-grade Yellow Rank one will do."

Li Xuan shook his head.

He had only entered the Inner Sect three days ago. The only thing he had was a copy of the Mountain Suppressing Art.

That was a sect cultivation method, and he absolutely could not use it for trade.

The old man glanced at him and said no more.

He took a piece of old cloth from his sleeve and carefully wrapped the black stone, but he did not push it over. He merely placed it at the corner of the stall.

"I don't want your cultivation method." he said, "I want you to enter the second floor of the Cultivation Method Pavilion on my behalf three months from now."

Li Xuan's pupils contracted slightly.

"The second floor?"

"Inner Disciples may enter the second floor once a year and choose one high-grade Yellow Rank cultivation method to read." the old man said, "I was an Inner Disciple myself back then, but later I damaged my foundation and transferred to the Deacon Hall, which cost me that qualification."

He paused.

"On the second floor, there is a technique called the Earth Mother Profound Art, a high-grade Yellow Rank earth-element method. When I was young, I wanted to study its general principles to verify my own cultivation." He looked at Li Xuan. "But I never found the right person."

Li Xuan was silent for a moment.

"What makes you think I'll help you?"

"If you don't, you can still take the stone." He paused. "It's useless to me. I couldn't sell it even after eight years. Today I finally met someone who knows its worth, so consider it a good karma."

He pushed the black stone forward.

Li Xuan did not take it.

"I may not choose that technique for the second tier."

"No matter," the old man said. "You only need to help this old man flip through it when you enter the pavilion, and memorize the first three pages of the general outline. There is no need to copy it or pass it on to others; just recite it to me."

"It is a matter of the time it takes to burn an incense stick."

He paused.

"If you feel it is not worth it, consider this stone a gift from this old man."

Li Xuan lowered his head and looked at the black stone.

"...Why me?"

"It is simply that I happened to be here, and you happened to ask."

"Three months from now, if you are still alive, come to Cinnabar Nine Room."

Li Xuan tucked the black stone into his robe and turned back toward the East Courtyard.

It was the middle of the night, and the moon was bright with sparse stars.

Li Xuan sat cross-legged on the couch, holding the Earth Vein Fiend Stone in his left hand and pressing his right hand against his knee.

The Mountain Suppressing Art circulated, sinking his vital energy and blood into his lower body.

At the same time, he split off a wisp of Blood Fiend Gang Qi and probed it into the stone.

Inside the stone, the Qi of Earth Sha was like a thick, muddy current, sluggish and slow.

The moment the two auras came into contact—

The Blood Fiend Gang Qi vibrated violently!

It was like a beast encountering its own kind—not out of affinity, but for a fight.

Li Xuan groaned softly, forcibly suppressing the backlash of the Blood Fiend Gang Qi.

Earth could suppress baleful intent, and it could also nurture it.

He wrapped the Qi of Earth Sha with the vital energy and blood of the Mountain Suppressing Art, like burying charcoal fire with mud and sand.

It was slow and difficult.

Yet they were indeed merging.

One incense stick.

Two incense sticks.

Three incense sticks.

The golden patterns on the Earth Vein Fiend Stone dimmed by a fraction.

[Mountain Suppressing Art: entering the chamber → thorough mastery (proficiency 78%)]

[Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique third tier: perfection → perfection (baleful intent reserves +5%)]

Li Xuan opened his eyes.

Outside the window, the east was already growing pale.

He lowered his head to look at his left hand.

Faint golden patterns were faintly discernible on his palm, resembling the markings on the Earth Vein Fiend Stone. They were extremely faint, difficult to detect unless one looked closely.

This was the trace of the initial fusion between the Mountain Suppressing Art and the Blood Fiend technique.

He clenched his fist.

His raw strength had not increased, but the density of his vital energy and blood, as well as the resilience of his gang qi, had both risen slightly.

A knock came from outside the door.

"Senior Brother Li Xuan," Zhou Ning's voice called out. "Senior Brother Shi Yong asked me to pass along a message: tomorrow at noon at the Discussion Hall in the West Courtyard, your team task is missing just one person."

"What kind of task is it?"

Zhou Ning paused, lowering his voice:

"At the northern foothills of the Crimson Firmament Mountain Range, a former dynasty's ruins have been discovered. The sect has ordered Inner Disciples to form teams to investigate, designating it a Class C mission. Each person who completes it will receive one hundred and fifty contribution points, with extra spoils calculated separately."

"However, let it be said in advance—those ruins bear runes of the same origin as the witchcraft of the Northern Territory barbarians."

Li Xuan's pupils constricted slightly.

Barbarians.

Witchcraft.

Ghost Face.