Shen Hui stood where he was, looking down at the finely minced heap of flesh by his feet.
The stench of blood mingled with the acrid smell of burning, wafting into his nostrils in waves.
The White Banner was still burning. Flames licked at its pole with a crackling sound, as though something were wailing.
Watching the fire, he suddenly bent down and picked up the Jadeite Gourd. Its stopper had rolled off somewhere.
He peered into the gourd from a distance. It was pitch-black inside; he couldn't see a thing.
He shook it, but heard nothing.
After a moment's thought, he casually picked up a pebble and used the Earth Transformation Art to turn it into a stopper. He plugged the gourd and tucked it into his robes.
Then he raised a hand and formed a spell seal.
A fierce blaze surged out of thin air, rolling toward the clearing like a wave.
Where the flames passed, the dry grass turned to ash in an instant. White bones crackled faintly in the inferno, then crumbled into dust.
He walked step by step, letting the flames lick every inch of ground.
At last, the White Banner burned through. Its pole snapped and fell into the fire.
The scattered woodcutting knives and cleavers gradually glowed red in the blaze, warped out of shape, and finally melted into a pool of molten iron that seeped into the soil.
He retreated to the edge of the clearing and watched the flames rise until they engulfed the entire place.
After about fifteen minutes, only a patch of charred earth remained. Nothing could be recognized.
He formed a Wind-Borne Art seal.
A gentle breeze swept along the ground, lifting all the remaining ashes and scattering them over the cliff below.
Then he raised a hand, and the earth began to churn.
As if an invisible hand were plowing the ground, it turned over the entire layer of scorched soil.
He pressed his hand down, and the fresh earth compacted at once, level with the surrounding ground.
The breeze passed, and the grass and trees swayed gently.
Shen Hui withdrew his spells and stood quietly for a moment before turning to leave.
The walk back to the temple was slower than the journey there.
As he walked, Shen Hui summoned the Parchment Interface.
[Daoist Name]: Qingxuan [Bone Age]: Twenty-three [Realm]: Qi Induction (1896/10000) [Status]: Recovering Qi... [Dao Xing]: 1465 (Available to Allocate) [Daoist Arts]: Lesser Five Elements Art • Control Fire Chapter (Minor Achievement), Lesser Five Elements Art • Wood Nurturing Chapter (Initiate), Lesser Five Elements Art • Control Water Chapter (Initiate), Lesser Five Elements Art • Sharp Gold Chapter (Initiate), Lesser Five Elements Art • Transform Earth Chapter (Initiate), Aura Observation Art (Initiate) [Destined Path]: Unrevealed [Corpse Liberation Wheel]: 1 (Available to Draw)
He paused.
One thousand four hundred and sixty-five points.
"That's worth four months of hard cultivation."
Shen Hui muttered under his breath and shook his head.
He'd been focused on chopping the man to pieces and hadn't paid close attention to the change in his points.
Now that he looked, he realized they had increased by that much.
This was the first time he'd killed someone. He felt a little uneasy, but he didn't regret taking the old man's life.
From the moment he'd seen those white bones, he'd already made up his mind. He'd secretly used the Aura Observation Art to look at the old man.
And what did he find?
Layer upon layer of black-red aura crowned the man's head, like a clotted mass of old blood—dense and pure.
He even suspected that with the old man's aura so thoroughly steeped in black, he'd never done a good deed in his entire life.
So he didn't believe a word of the claims about "a demon wreaking havoc" or "a disciple's tragic death."
He'd originally planned to withdraw for now and return to the temple for reinforcements, but the old man had insisted on asking "Little Friend to protect him while he cultivated."
He had no choice but to act.
Fortunately, although the other man's aura was strong, it was scattered and unfocused. Though he had many methods, they were a jumble, lacking any purity.
Even though his realm was a notch above Shen Hui's, it was only on par with Second Senior Sister's cultivation. He hadn't reached Foundation Establishment.
He glanced at the interface again.
[Corpse Liberation Wheel]: 1 (Available to Draw)
It had been sitting there quietly all along, marked "Inactive" ever since he'd first gotten the panel. Only after he killed the old man today had it changed to "Available to Draw."
Could killing someone be the only way to earn points?
He thought it over, but didn't dare tap it just yet. He decided to investigate more carefully after returning to the temple.
The mountain path grew darker and darker, until the forest was impossible to see through.
He formed a spell seal and conjured a ball of flame above his head, then continued on by its light.
His qi sea was empty.
In the battle earlier, he'd taken turns using fire arts, metal qi, and earth walls. Then he'd set the mountainside ablaze, plowed the earth, and buried the ashes. After all that, his spiritual energy was nearly spent.
But he could also feel it slowly recovering on its own.
By his estimate, at this rate he'd have recovered thirty or forty percent by the time he reached the temple.
If he meditated and regulated his breathing overnight, he'd be back to full strength by morning.
That was good news.
He kept walking, then suddenly thought of the old man's various abilities.
Retracting his head into his abdomen, Black Wind that corroded everything, bewitching demonic eyes, that White Banner, and the evil spirits released from the gourd...
His methods were sinister and bizarre, nothing like the spells of a proper Daoist sect.
"I wonder which sect or school he came from."
Unfortunately, there were no books about cultivation sects in the temple. What he'd read before had only been tales of worldly factions and their secrets.
By the time he returned to the temple, night had fallen completely.
The back gate was little more than a blurry shadow in the darkness. Its two wooden doors stood ajar, with a faint lamplight spilling through the crack.
Shen Hui pushed open the gate and saw Third Senior Brother coming out of the Dining Hall, carrying an empty bowl and still chewing on something.
"Little Junior Brother?"
Qingyi called out through a mouthful. "Where've you been all day? I left your dinner warming on the stove."
"I went to the back mountain and wandered farther than I meant to."
Shen Hui answered casually. "Third Senior Brother, has Master turned in?"
Qingyi shook his head. "The old man's been in the meditation room all day. He didn't even come out for dinner. Do you need something from him?"
"There's something I'd like to ask him about, but it can wait until tomorrow."
As he spoke, Shen Hui casually added, "Where's Fourth Senior Sister?"
"Jinghui went back to her room this afternoon. She was excitedly saying she wanted to draw talismans, so don't disturb her."
Qingyi yawned. "All right, I'm heading back. You should turn in early too."
Shen Hui answered, then went to the Dining Hall to look for his meal.
A coarse porcelain bowl held half a bowl of brown rice, topped with two chopsticks' worth of pickled vegetables and a piece of salted radish.
That was what meals at the Daoist temple were like—sometimes good, sometimes bad.
Fortunately, Shen Hui didn't mind. He sat on a long bench in the Dining Hall and ate slowly, then washed and put away the bowl and chopsticks before heading to the back courtyard.
He opened the door to his little room, conjured a flame, and sat on the edge of the bed. Then he took the Jadeite Gourd from his robes and placed it on the table.
"Keeping you on me just doesn't feel safe."
He muttered to himself, then pushed the gourd to the corner of the table.