Barbarian King

The eye formed from that wisp of black smoke hung above the table. It was only the size of a thumb, yet the temperature in the entire room plummeted.

Li Xuan's blade was already held horizontally before him. The qi and blood in his body circulated at full force, while the golden markings in his palm burned as though they were about to catch fire.

He stared at the eye. Deep within his right shoulder, the Wolf Soul Mark throbbed frantically, and every pulse carried a tearing pain.

Shi Yong stood behind him, fists clenched, his voice lowered to a whisper. "What the hell is that thing?"

"Don't move," Li Xuan said.

The eye moved.

It floated up from the table and slowly circled Li Xuan once, as though sizing him up.

With every fraction of a turn, Li Xuan could feel the Wolf Soul Mark inside him grow hotter. It wasn't the sensation of being scorched, but rather—

Resonance.

As if two things of the same root and origin were calling out to each other.

"Body Tempering Realm Level 9... No, first level of the True Qi Realm?" That hoarse voice rang out in Li Xuan's mind again, carrying a trace of surprise. "How are you this weak?"

Li Xuan said nothing. The hand gripping his blade was as steady as a rock.

"That thing inside you—was it left behind by me?" The eye stopped before Li Xuan, less than a foot from his face. "No, not left by me. It was left by that useless subordinate of mine. Before he died, he gave you the last bit of his soul seed, hoping to use your body to come back to life."

Li Xuan's pupils contracted slightly.

"What a pity that he was too useless." Mockery filled the eye's voice. "After planting the soul seed, he dispersed first. Now, the thing inside you is nothing but an empty shell. It has only a trace of a mark left and can do nothing."

Shi Yong listened from behind, utterly bewildered, but he understood one thing—the eye knew the thing inside Li Xuan.

"Who are you?" Li Xuan asked.

The eye rotated, as though smiling. "Thirty years ago, people called me the Shaman King. Twenty years ago, people called me a barbarian remnant..."

A boom went off in Li Xuan's mind.

"Judging by your reaction, you've heard of me." Satisfaction colored the eye's voice. "Good. That makes things easy. Boy, let's make a deal."

Li Xuan did not respond.

"Although the soul seed inside you has dispersed, the mark remains. It was planted through my clan's secret art. As long as the mark remains, I can find you." The eye spoke slowly. "I originally thought I'd have to wait a few more years, until the seal loosened further, before I could come looking for you. I never expected you to deliver yourself to my doorstep."

"So the corpse in the cave opened its eyes because of me?" Li Xuan asked.

"Of course." The eye replied, "The moment you entered the cave, I woke up. That corpse belonged to one of my subordinates back then. I borrowed his eyes to look at you. Unfortunately, the seal stood between us, so I couldn't see clearly. I could only tell that you had something of mine inside you."

Li Xuan remembered the green light in the shamanic mummy's eyes when it opened them, and a chill ran down his back.

"Now I can see clearly." The eye continued, "You're weaker than I expected, but you can endure more than I expected as well. Although the soul seed dispersed, the fact that it remained inside you this long without being refined means your physical foundation is quite good."

Li Xuan remained silent.

"The deal is simple." The eye said, "Help me with one thing, and I'll help you refine that mark. Keeping it inside you will bring trouble sooner or later. When you break through into the True Qi Realm, it will take advantage of your turbulent qi and blood to turn on you. At best, it will cripple your foundation. At worst, it will take your life."

Li Xuan's heart sank. He knew the thing was not lying, because every time the Wolf Soul Mark throbbed, he could vaguely sense a trace of malice.

"What is it?"

"Go into the cave and help me retrieve something."

Li Xuan stared at the eye. "You're sealed. How can I retrieve it?"

"The seal binds me, not that thing." The eye explained, "Thirty years ago, someone shattered my physical body, and my soul was sealed deep within the mine. But my magical artifact is still there, in the underground river at the very bottom of the karst cave. Help me fish it out and bring it before me."

Li Xuan's thoughts raced. "Your magical artifact? What is it used for?"

"To break the seal." The eye answered bluntly. "When my physical body was shattered, the artifact fell into the underground river. For the past thirty years, I've been waiting for someone to fish it out for me. Unfortunately, the cultivators who came were either too weak or too clever. The weak ones died in the cave, while the clever ones... didn't come."

Li Xuan was silent for a breath. "Were all those bones in the cave people who came to retrieve the artifact?"

"Some were, some weren't." The eye said, "Some wandered in by accident, some came to prospect for ore, and some were sent by your Crimson Firmament Sect to investigate. Seventeen have died over the past thirty years."

Seventeen.

A chill seeped into Li Xuan's heart.

"What makes you think I'll go?"

"Because you have no other choice." The eye said, "That mark will become increasingly active in my presence. You won't be able to withstand it. Right now, it only pulses once in a while. In another three months, it will pulse every day. In another six months, it will send your qi and blood into reverse circulation. The day you break through into the True Qi Realm will be the day you die."

Li Xuan stared at the eye without speaking.

"And besides..." The eye's tone suddenly turned playful. "One of the seven of you has already agreed to help me."

Li Xuan's pupils abruptly contracted.

"That person also carries something of mine." The eye said, "It's fresher than what you carry."

Several figures flashed through Li Xuan's mind: the pallor on Xu He's face after being questioned, the claw mark on Zhou Wu's leg, and Shadow's calm gaze when the Shadow Division took him away...

"Who?"

The eye laughed. The wisp of black smoke trembled, and the eye it formed began to disperse. "Seven days. I'll give you seven days to think it over. If you still haven't decided after seven days, I'll find someone else. In any case, one of the seven of you will agree."

"Who!" Li Xuan reached out to grab it, but his hand closed on empty air.

The black smoke dispersed completely. The rune fragments on the table crumbled into powder, and when the night breeze blew in through the window, nothing remained.

Silence returned to the room. Moonlight poured in and shone upon the hand gripping Li Xuan's blade.

Shi Yong came over from behind him, his face ashen. "What it said... was it true?"

Li Xuan sheathed his blade, sat back down beside the bed, and remained silent for a long while.

Shi Yong sat down beside him and slammed a fist into the bedboard. "Damn it."

The two remained silent for a long time.

"Who do you think it is?" Shi Yong asked.

Li Xuan shook his head.

But he had a suspicion.

Xu He's face had been far too pale after the questioning, pale to an abnormal degree. If it had only been fear of questioning by the Enforcement Hall, it shouldn't have been like that.

Unless—something inside him had also been pulsing while he was being questioned.

Or Zhou Wu. That claw mark had been left by the black shadow. If the black shadow was connected to the eye, then the claw mark might well have carried something as well.

When Zhou Wu was carried to the Medical Hall, he had still been clutching the rune fragments.

Or Shadow.

Shadow had old scars on his wrist. Shadow had taken the rune fragments of his own accord. Shadow had been taken away by the Shadow Division.

If Shadow had been in contact with the eye from the beginning and the Shadow Division had discovered it, then everything made sense.

But if Shadow had been watched from the start, why had he entered the cave? Why had he collected the rune fragments in front of everyone?

Unless he had done it deliberately, deliberately letting Li Xuan see him, deliberately—

Li Xuan suddenly remembered something.

Shadow had been seen by him when he collected the rune fragments.

At the time, Shadow had reached his hand into his sleeve. The movement had been quick, but Li Xuan had seen it.

If Shadow hadn't wanted anyone to see, he could have simply turned around or waited until no one was paying attention before collecting them.

But he hadn't. He had collected them right in front of Li Xuan, only moving his hand very quickly.

It had been deliberate.

He had deliberately let Li Xuan see.

Why?

"Shi Yong," Li Xuan suddenly said, "Shadow said before that he wanted to recruit me into the Shadow Division, right?"

Shi Yong was taken aback. "Right. He said it in the cave."

"Why did he want to recruit me?"

Shi Yong thought for a moment. "Because you fight well? And retreat quickly?"

Li Xuan shook his head.

If Shadow really belonged to the eye, then there were only two possibilities for recruiting Li Xuan into the Shadow Division: he either wanted to win him over or monitor him.

But if it had been an attempt to win him over, Shadow should have found a chance to speak with him alone in the cave today. Yet Shadow hadn't.

If it had been surveillance, then after letting Li Xuan see him collect the rune fragments, Shadow should have worried that Li Xuan would report him. But Shadow had shown no reaction at all. Even when the Shadow Division took him away, he had not so much as glanced in Li Xuan's direction.

Unless...

A thought suddenly surfaced in Li Xuan's mind.

Unless Shadow had deliberately let him see. Deliberately letting him learn about the rune fragments, deliberately making him suspicious, and then—

And then what?

Li Xuan couldn't figure it out.

The watchman's clapper sounded from outside the window. It was already the third watch of the night.

"Go to sleep for now," Li Xuan said. "We'll talk tomorrow."

Shi Yong stood up and walked to the door, then turned back. "About those seven days..."

"I know."

Shi Yong pushed open the door and left. His footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

Li Xuan lay down and stared at the rafters, replaying the eye's words over and over in his mind.

Seven days.

If he refused after seven days, that person would agree in his place.

The person who was already connected to the eye.

Could it be Xu He?

Or Zhou Wu?

Or Shadow?

Or—

Li Xuan suddenly sat up.

Shadow had been taken away by the Shadow Division.

If Shadow really belonged to the eye, would the Shadow Division discover it? If they did, could Shadow still "agree" in his place seven days later?

Or had the Shadow Division taken Shadow away not because they had discovered his connection with the eye, but because—

Because Shadow had exposed himself deliberately, so that he would be taken away?

For what?

To escape suspicion over what happened in the mine? Or to enter the Shadow Division for some other purpose?

The more Li Xuan thought about it, the more confused he became. In the end, he simply stopped thinking.

He sat cross-legged and began circulating the Mountain Suppressing Art, refining the remaining thirty percent of the Earth Vein Fiend Stone inside his body.

The Earth Vein Fiend Stone flowed slowly through his meridians, carrying a heavy earth-element aura. It mixed with the killing intent of the Blood Fiend Gang Qi, yet the two did not clash. Instead, they faintly showed signs of merging.

Li Xuan recalled the defining trait of the Mountain Suppressing Art: its defensive power was supreme among those of the same realm.

If he could merge the "baleful intent" of the Blood Fiend Gang Qi with the "heaviness" of the Mountain Suppressing Art, what effect would that produce?

The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, just after Li Xuan opened the door, he saw Su Ying standing outside the courtyard, her expression unpleasant.

"Something happened," she said.

Li Xuan's heart tightened. "What happened?"

"Xu He." Su Ying lowered her voice. "After he returned last night, he suddenly vomited blood in the middle of the night. The people from the Medical Hall examined him and said his qi and blood had reversed, damaging his foundation."

A boom went off in Li Xuan's mind.

Qi and blood reversing.

His foundation damaged.

It was exactly the same as what the eye had said.

"Where is he now?"

"The Medical Hall." Su Ying said, "My uncle said his condition is very strange. It seems as though something inside him is causing trouble, but they can't find it."

Li Xuan turned and walked out at once.

When he reached the Medical Hall, Xu He was lying on a bed, his face as pale as paper, with blood still clinging to the corners of his mouth.

When he saw Li Xuan enter, his eyes darted away, and he turned his head to the other side.

Li Xuan walked to the bedside and asked in a lowered voice, "What's inside you?"

Xu He said nothing.

"Does it pulse?" Li Xuan asked. "Like a heartbeat, but not your heart beating?"

Xu He whipped his head around and stared at Li Xuan, terror in his eyes. "How do you know?"

Li Xuan did not answer and continued asking, "When did it start?"

Xu He remained silent for a long time before finally speaking. "In the cave. During the retreat, the black shadow grazed me. I didn't feel anything then, but after I came back, it started pulsing."

Li Xuan remembered the claw mark on Zhou Wu's leg.

"Is Zhou Wu the same?"

Xu He nodded. "He... he should be."

Li Xuan drew a deep breath.

Seven people entered the cave once, and two of them had been affected.

One had been wounded by the claw mark, while another had been grazed by the black shadow.

If both the claw mark and the graze could transmit that thing, then—

Had Su Ying been grazed?

What about Shi Yong?

What about Zhou Wen?

What about Shadow?

Li Xuan suddenly remembered that Shadow had remained at the very back of the group during the retreat.

At the very back, closest to the black shadow.

"Xu He," Li Xuan asked, "did you see Shadow get grazed?"

Xu He thought for a moment and shook his head. "I didn't notice. It was too chaotic."

Li Xuan turned and walked outside.

He was going to find Elder Heiyan.

He walked to the door and ran straight into someone.

Shi Yong.

His face was paler than Xu He's. Seeing Li Xuan, he grabbed his wrist, his voice trembling:

"Zhou Wen is dead."