Ping Qi

Outside Tiger Roar Manor stood an old man of about fifty, his features somewhat resembling Ping Fei's. He idly toyed with a thin layer of five-colored gauze in his hand. A man in yellow lay on the ground, a gaping hole in his chest—he was clearly beyond saving.

The five-colored smoke that had blanketed Tiger Roar Manor had already vanished. The old man muttered to himself, "It seems I'm still a step too late. I never thought a Great Dharma Gate cultivator would make a move in person, and even use this Five Poison Cloud Smoke Cover. But when I divined his fate that day, this boy wasn't supposed to die so soon."

He walked into Tiger Roar Manor and saw corpses everywhere, their seven orifices bleeding—they had all died from poisoning. In the small hall, three people lay on the floor. Two were just like the bodies outside, blood pouring from their seven orifices. They were Ping Fei and his son. The third was Yan Chihuo, whose face was deathly pale, though no blood had flowed from his seven orifices.

The old man's heart stirred. He checked Yan Chihuo's breathing, then sent a spell formula into his body. A moment later, Yan Chihuo groaned and slowly came to.

The old man asked, "Who are you? How are you feeling?"

Yan Chihuo felt weak all over. He glanced around and saw the bodies of Ping Fei and his son. Startled, he asked, "What happened?"

"The Great Dharma Gate cultivators attacked Tiger Roar Manor with the Five Poison Cloud Smoke Cover. I arrived too late and only managed to save you."

Yan Chihuo hurriedly said, "Thank you for saving me, senior. But I still feel completely powerless."

"The poison has only just been dispelled; that's normal. But everyone in this manor died from the poison. How did you survive?"

Only then did Yan Chihuo realize the full gravity of it. Unsure whether the old man was friend or foe to Tiger Roar Manor, he said, "I accidentally ate a poisonous fruit. Before I passed out, I saw only a cloud of five-colored smoke. I don't know anything after that."

The old man paused. "What poisonous fruit?"

"The Spirit Candle Fruit the manor lord gave me. It seems they mistook it for something else, and that's how I was poisoned. I don't know what kind of fruit it really was."

The old man looked Yan Chihuo over again. "You've actually cultivated the Spirit Jade Vajra Art. What were you to Ping Fei?"

Yan Chihuo saw that the old man had recognized his cultivation method at a glance. He also noticed the resemblance between the old man's features and Ping Fei's, and his heart stirred. "I was a disciple taken in by Manor Lord Ping. My name is Yan Chihuo. He was kind enough to pass down all of the Ping family's martial arts to me."

"I see. In that case, we're practically family. My name is Ping Qi. Have you heard of me?"

Yan Chihuo knew his guess had been right and said happily, "So you're my grandmaster. Forgive me for not paying my respects; I'm too weak from my illness."

"I can't blame you for that. I told Ping Yun to come down the mountain. Later, I grew worried, so I came down a few days afterward. That was when I discovered Great Dharma Gate disciples using the Five Poison Cloud Smoke Cover to ambush Tiger Roar Manor. I was a step too late. I killed the bandit, but only managed to save you."

He continued, "In truth, I wasn't the one who saved you. You likely survived because you were already suffering from one poison when you were hit by the Five Poison Cloud Smoke Cover's poison. The two toxins counteracted each other, and that's what kept you alive."

Ping Qi asked again, "You don't look very old, yet you managed to cultivate the Spirit Jade Vajra Art to the Body Tempering Middle Stage while here at Tiger Roar Manor. You must have decent aptitude. Would you be willing to return with me to the Cloud Soaring Sect and cultivate the Dao?"

Given the circumstances, Yan Chihuo had no room to refuse. He struggled to his feet and said, "Thank you, grandmaster, for taking me in!"

Ping Qi sighed. "You're the only one left among my Ping family's secular kin, and you've even become a cultivator. Never mind—there's no need to call me grandmaster. I have no disciples, so you can be the first to join my lineage."

Yan Chihuo kowtowed several times. "I pay my respects to Master."

"Get up and gather your things. We'll leave."

Yan Chihuo stood, but first he picked up the bodies of Ping Fei and his son. "Let me bury them first. The manor lord always treated me well."

Ping Qi silently nodded in approval, unaware that Yan Chihuo was being a little shrewd. Ping Fei had treated him decently, but hardly exceptionally, and had even used a Demon Immortal Fruit to harm him this time. Yan Chihuo hated him to the bone. But to leave Ping Qi with a good impression, he didn't hesitate to act against his true feelings.

He found an empty patch of ground and somehow procured a hoe. Then he dug a large pit and buried the two men. As he moved Ping Yun's body, a Jade Box rolled out. He opened it and found another Demon Immortal Fruit inside.

Ping Qi saw it and asked, "Is that the Spirit Candle Fruit?"

"That's right. I got it from Gao Bing of the Golden Sword Gang. There were two in all."

Ping Qi examined it briefly. "How could this be a Spirit Candle Fruit? It's clearly a Demon Immortal Fruit. So you were poisoned by the Demon Immortal Fruit." At once, everything became clear to him: Ping Yun had used Yan Chihuo to test the poison, but Yan Chihuo had unexpectedly escaped the disaster.

He tossed the Demon Immortal Fruit to Yan Chihuo. "This fruit is highly poisonous. Keep it safe. It might be useful someday."

After burying the two men, Yan Chihuo found Qu Wuxing's body and laid him to rest as well. Among the Thirteen Guardians, Qu Wuxing had been closer to him than the others. He hadn't expected Qu Wuxing to die so tragically too, and a trace of sorrow stirred in his heart.

But looking across the manor, how could he possibly bury the hundreds of people who had lived there? Ping Qi said, "Forget it. Gather whatever you need, and let's leave."

Yan Chihuo nodded and returned to his room. He packed his belongings, then took out Gao Kun's long sword and went to Ping Qi. Seeing it, Ping Qi asked, "Where did you get this Talisman Artifact?"

Yan Chihuo didn't understand. He handed it over and said, "It belonged to Gao Kun, the young leader of the Golden Sword Gang. With this sword, he was nearly unstoppable. But in my hands, it can't show much power."

Ping Qi took the long sword and examined it. "Now that you've entered the cultivation world, you should learn some basic cultivation knowledge. The weapons and treasures cultivators use are divided into eight grades: Talisman Artifacts, Dharma Tools, Spirit Tools, Magic Treasures, Spirit Treasures, Transforming Spirit Treasures, Pure Yang Spirit Treasures, and Xuantian Spirit Treasures. This sword has only two Restrictions, making it the lowest-grade Talisman Artifact."

Yan Chihuo asked, "Restrictions? Do you mean these patterns?"

"That's right. This sword is made of fine copperwood and has both metal and wood attributes, so it can have metal-attribute Restrictions engraved on it. The Spirit Jade Vajra Art, however, is an earth-attribute cultivation method, so naturally you can't activate it. Once twenty-four Restrictions have been engraved on this sword, it can advance to a Dharma Tool. At that point, it can be wielded by cultivators with other attributes as well."