Sword Light Like a Meteor

Chapter 6: Sword Light Like a Meteor

Pills refined from beast blood damage the soul, whereas pills refined from human blood merely increase negative emotions, which can be purged through meditation and entering a state of stillness.

Before this, Chen Ye had never been able to grasp the reason for this difference.

It was not until he read that detailed record that an immature hypothesis began to stir in his mind. Let us assume that the essence of beasts and humans is no different, and that the efficacy of the blood pills is the same; logically, the principle behind the side effects should also be identical.

Since the principles are the same but the outcomes are vastly different, perhaps the crux lies in the so-called "clash." The books contain thousands of interpretations regarding the phenomenon of the clash, but most merely list the conflicting items and occasionally mention methods of neutralization, while remaining completely silent on why they clash in the first place.

Those predecessors seem to have been in such a hurry, knowing only to warn their descendants "do not do this," while deleting the key "why" from their writings. Perhaps they were too lazy to research it, or perhaps they felt that writing it down was too much effort, choosing to cut corners wherever possible. In any case, for most cultivators, simply following along is enough; knowing the "why" is of no benefit to their cultivation.

Take Chen Ye's master, Mo Ci, for example. He always followed the rules, cultivating exactly as the books recorded without ever digging for the root cause, and didn't he still manage to cultivate a formidable amount of power?

If not for his poor luck in running into a high-ranking disciple of the Qinghe Sword Sect, Mo Ci might well have broken through a few more realms; even if he couldn't become an immortal, he could have lived for several hundred more years.

Of course, there are also those with malicious intent who deliberately fabricate falsehoods.

Chen Ye had seen contradictory fallacies in several ancient cultivation texts, most likely caused by that stale, deep-rooted custom of "masters holding back secrets from their disciples."

The true teachings are like a puzzle missing a key piece, all for fear that the disciple might learn too much and turn the Ten Thousand Soul Banner against their master.

It is not strange; most of us Devilish Cultivators are like this.

Chen Ye is stubborn by nature. In his eyes, cultivation is the most important matter in life, and he must investigate it until he understands it clearly. Based on what he had learned and realized over the past few months, and comparing it with his experimental results, Chen Ye believed that the root of the blood pill clash still lay in the soul.

The foundation of cultivation is spiritual energy; all the wonders and mysteries of the world are born from it.

A cultivator's soul is far more resilient than that of a mortal, but even after death, it must borrow spiritual energy to take shape in order to become a ghost; otherwise, it would scatter at the first gust of wind.

What if a beast's soul could also influence spiritual energy? Then the most easily affected would undoubtedly be the spiritual energy originally contained within the heart blood, which had already been refined.

Devilish Cultivators refine pills using heart blood, which contains not only digested spiritual energy but also the beast soul that has not yet completely dissipated. Taking a blood pill means integrating this spiritual energy into oneself and refining it a second time.

In this way, one cannot help but absorb the residual soul into the body during the process. Once it accumulates, it naturally begins to affect one's own sanity.

Why can human blood pills be purged? It is only because human resentment is generally similar; all humans have four limbs and five senses, and when compared to one another, the differences are minimal.

Human suffering can be understood by other humans.

If it can be understood, it can be self-resolved.

Only by knowing the "why" can one resolve the confusion.

But the five senses of beasts are fundamentally different from those of humans. Once a beast soul enters the brain, how could a human possibly comprehend the sensation of walking on all fours and devouring raw flesh and blood? Not to mention that a beast's hearing, sense of smell, and so on are all different from a human's, making the force of this clash even more violent.

It sounds complicated, but in short, it is that humans cannot understand beasts.

By the same logic, beasts cannot understand each other.

This is why a wild boar will inevitably die after consuming a Wolf Blood Pill, and will even display the habits of a wolf before death; this is the result of the wild boar's soul being eroded by the wolf soul.

In a word, cross-species consumption does not work; therefore, the Blood Refining Method must involve cannibalizing one's own kind.

Verifying this inference is not difficult. There is still some Wolf Blood Pill left; one only needs to capture a wolf and feed it the pill to see the truth.

According to Chen Ye's speculation, feeding a wolf the Wolf Blood Pill would at most make it agitated and restless, with no risk of it going insane and dying suddenly.

With his mind made up, Chen Ye carefully put away his records and, taking advantage of the night, dashed out of the ruined temple again. If he didn't catch a wolf tonight, he feared he wouldn't be able to sleep.

Zhao Hezhou had just finished vomiting everything in his stomach when he looked up and realized Chen Ye was gone. Just as he was filled with confusion, he saw his wife pick up the wild wolf Chen Ye had brought back, wielding a small knife to skillfully skin and butcher it, preparing to put it in the pot.

Watching his wife's efficient movements, Zhao Hezhou couldn't help but try to stop her: "Wait, this is that warrior's prey. It is not right for us to take it without asking..."

His wife glared at him fiercely and scolded: "You've read so many books of the sages, yet you are as dull as an ox when it comes to human affairs. Husband, do you really think that young man needs you to do things for him? He was just giving you a way to save face. If he didn't want to help us, why would he have been so generous yesterday? Why are you so thick-headed?"

Zhao Hezhou thought it over carefully and realized his wife was right. He blushed with shame and hurried off to fetch firewood, secretly swearing to himself that he would never be so pedantic again.

By the time the wolf meat soup was ready, Chen Ye had still not returned. On any other day, Zhao Hezhou would have waited for his benefactor to return before daring to touch his chopsticks, otherwise, it would be a breach of etiquette. But now, he simply divided the meat soup in silence, set aside a full portion for Chen Ye, and then let his wife and child fill their stomachs first.

Although he had lost some of the elaborate formalities, Zhao Hezhou now understood that these empty rituals could not fill their bellies, nor could they feed his wife and child. He even calculated that when Chen Ye returned, he would beg the warrior to take him on as a servant; it didn't matter if he had to work like a beast of burden, as long as his wife and child could have a full meal. All the books of the sages and the fame of the imperial examinations were worthless in the face of life and death.

However, even deep into the night, there was still no sign of Chen Ye. Zhao Hezhou felt anxious and restless, fearing that Chen Ye might have met with misfortune while walking in the mountains at night. If the warrior really encountered danger... Zhao Hezhou thought for a moment, gave his wife a few instructions, then took a torch and strode out of the ruined temple, intending to search for Chen Ye's tracks.

At the same time, Chen Ye was two mountains away.

The youth sat upright on a jagged boulder, staring at the wild wolf below. The wolf was thin and weak, its eyes bloodshot, glaring fiercely at Chen Ye as if it would tear him to pieces in the next second.

Chen Ye, however, was all smiles, watching the beast intently. It seemed that his hunting over the past two days had been unrestrained; he had searched for most of the night before finally finding a lame, lone wolf. Chen Ye fed the Wolf Blood Pill into the wolf's mouth and waited quietly for the medicine to take effect.

It wasn't until the moon reached the center of the sky that the lame wolf finally showed signs of change. First, it ignored its leg injury and lunged at Chen Ye with all its might, then it tilted its head and let out a long howl, looking much more spirited than its previous half-dead state.

Fearing he might accidentally kill his test subject, Chen Ye hurriedly hid behind the boulder and observed patiently. Two hours had passed since the medicine took effect, and although the lame wolf was exceptionally irritable, it had not gone completely insane.

According to Zhao Hezhou's records, after the medicine took effect, neither of the two wild boars had lasted more than an hour before dying. The lame wolf before him was much weaker, yet it was still jumping around after two hours; Chen Ye felt his deduction was correct.

The Wolf Blood Pill contained the residual soul of a wolf, but for a fellow wolf, it did not clash; it was merely the lingering resentment before death that made the lame wolf extremely irritable.

This was a change in temperament, not damage to the soul.

Chen Ye laughed out loud and recorded the results in detail. Now that the crux had been found, the next step was to think about how to remove the influence of the residual soul. Once he overcame this difficulty, Chen Ye would go and become a butcher, slaughtering thousands of pigs, cows, and sheep, and his dantian and sea of energy would be complete.

Just as he was rejoicing, Chen Ye suddenly heard Mo Ci's voice: "Quiet, hold your breath."

Although Chen Ye was full of questions, he did not ask immediately, closing his lips tightly as instructed and slowing his breathing to the absolute minimum.

At that very moment, a brilliant radiance streaked across the sky.

Only after the radiance vanished into the horizon did Chen Ye hear Mo Ci speak again: "It is done."

Chen Ye quickly asked: "Master, what was the meaning of that meteor?"

"That was no meteor!" Mo Ci's tone was grave. "That was the sword light of the Qinghe Sword Sect! To fly on a sword, one must be at least a cultivator of the Tongxuan Realm; they could take your head with just a glance."

Chen Ye suddenly realized that the direction in which the two sword lights had vanished was exactly where Cui County was located.

The saying "sword light like a meteor" was truly no exaggeration; the madman who had been impersonating the Qinghe Sword Sect was likely in trouble.