Ping Qi

Outside Tiger Roar Manor, an old man of about fifty, whose facial features bore a slight resemblance to Ping Fei, toyed with a thin, five-colored soft gauze in his hands. On the ground lay a man in yellow robes with a gaping hole in his chest, clearly beyond saving.

The five-colored smoke that had previously blanketed Tiger Roar Manor had already vanished. The old man muttered to himself, "It seems I arrived a step too late. To think a cultivator from the Giant Dharma Sect would take action personally and even use this Five Poison Cloud Smoke Cover. Yet, according to my calculations that day, this brat shouldn't have died so early."

He stepped into Tiger Roar Manor and saw corpses everywhere, all bleeding from their seven orifices, having died of poisoning. He arrived in the small hall to find three people lying on the floor. Two of them were identical to the corpses outside, bleeding from their seven orifices—they were Ping Fei and his son. The third person was Yan Chihuo, whose face was deathly pale, though no blood flowed from his seven orifices.

The old man felt a stir in his heart; he checked Yan Chihuo's breath and then cast a spell into the latter's body. A moment later, Yan Chihuo groaned and slowly regained consciousness.

The old man asked, "Who are you, and how do you feel?"

Yan Chihuo felt weak all over. He looked around, saw the corpses of Ping Fei and his son, and was startled. "What happened?"

The old man said, "A cultivator from the Giant Dharma Sect attacked Tiger Roar Manor with the Five Poison Cloud Smoke Cover. I arrived a step too late and only managed to save you."

Yan Chihuo hurriedly said, "Many thanks for the rescue, old sir. However, I still have no strength in my body."

The old man said, "The poison has only just been neutralized, so that is normal. But since everyone else in this manor died of poisoning, how did you survive?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Chihuo was greatly shocked. Not knowing if this old man was a friend or foe of Tiger Roar Manor, he said, "I accidentally ingested a poisonous fruit. Before I lost consciousness, I only saw a cloud of five-colored smoke, and I know nothing else."

The old man was taken aback and asked, "What poisonous fruit?"

Yan Chihuo said, "It was a Spirit Candle Fruit gifted to me by the Manor Master. However, it seems they mistook it for something else, and that is how I was poisoned. I do not know what kind of fruit it actually was."

The old man scrutinized Yan Chihuo again and said, "You have actually cultivated the Spirit Jade Vajra Art. What relation are you to Ping Fei?"

Seeing that the old man could identify his cultivation technique at a glance and noting the resemblance to Ping Fei, Yan Chihuo's heart stirred. He replied, "This humble one is a disciple taken in by Manor Master Ping, named Yan Chihuo. Thanks to his kindness, he passed down the entirety of the Ping family's martial arts to me."

The old man said, "So that is how it is. In that case, you and I are not outsiders. My name is Ping Qi. Do you know me?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Chihuo realized his guess was correct and said joyfully, "So you are my Martial Uncle-Grandmaster. Please forgive me for not being able to pay my respects due to my illness."

Ping Qi said, "That cannot be blamed on you. I had Ping Yun go down the mountain that day, but later I grew worried and followed him down a few days later. I discovered that a disciple of the Giant Dharma Sect had used the Five Poison Cloud Smoke Cover to slaughter Tiger Roar Manor. I was ultimately a step too late; although I killed that thief, I only saved you."

He added, "Actually, it was not I who saved you. The reason you did not die is likely because you were already poisoned, and when you were struck by the poison of the Five Poison Cloud Smoke Cover, the two toxins countered each other, thus preserving your life."

Ping Qi asked again, "I see you are not very old, yet you have already reached the Body Tempering Middle Stage in the Spirit Jade Vajra Art here at Tiger Roar Manor. Your aptitude must be quite good. Would you be willing to follow me back to the Cloud Soaring Sect to cultivate the Dao?"

In the current situation, there was no room for Yan Chihuo to refuse. He struggled to stand up and said, "Many thanks to Martial Uncle-Grandmaster for your grace!"

Ping Qi sighed heavily, "You are the only one left of my Ping family in the secular world, and now you have become a cultivator. Very well, you need not call me Martial Uncle-Grandmaster anymore. I have no disciples, so you shall be the first disciple under my tutelage."

Yan Chihuo kowtowed several times and said, "Greetings, Master."

Ping Qi said, "Get up and pack your things; we shall leave now."

Yan Chihuo stood up, but first went to lift the corpses of Ping Fei and his son, saying, "I should bury their bodies first. The Manor Master was very kind to me in the past."

Ping Qi nodded inwardly, unaware that Yan Chihuo was playing a trick. Although Ping Fei had been decent to him, it was hardly "very kind," and the fact that they had tried to harm him with the Demon Immortal Fruit made him hate them to the bone. Yet, to leave a good impression on Ping Qi, he did not hesitate to perform this insincere act.

He found an open space, retrieved a hoe from somewhere, and dug a large pit to bury the two. While moving Ping Yun's corpse, a jade box rolled out. He opened it to find it was the other Demon Immortal Fruit.

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

Yan Chihuo said, "That is correct. I obtained two of them from Gao Bing of the Golden Sword Gang."

Ping Qi took a look and said, "That is no Spirit Candle Fruit; it is clearly a Demon Immortal Fruit. It seems you were poisoned by the Demon Immortal Fruit." At this moment, it dawned on him that Ping Yun had used Yan Chihuo to test the poison, never expecting that Yan Chihuo would escape this disaster.

He tossed the Demon Immortal Fruit to Yan Chihuo and said, "This fruit is highly toxic. Keep it; it might be useful in the future."

After burying the two, Yan Chihuo found the corpse of Qu Wuxing and laid him to rest as well. Among the Thirteen Guardians, Qu Wuxing had been the closest to him, unlike the others. His unexpected death filled Yan Chihuo with a sense of sorrow.

However, as he looked out, there were hundreds of people in Tiger Roar Manor; how could he bury them all? Ping Qi said, "Forget it. Go pack your essential belongings, and let us leave this place."

Yan Chihuo nodded in agreement, returned to his room to organize his belongings, and retrieved Gao Kun's long sword before returning to Ping Qi. Upon seeing the sword, Ping Qi said, "Where did you obtain this Talisman Artifact?"

Confused, Yan Chihuo handed the sword over and said, "This belonged to Gao Kun, the Young Gang Leader of the Golden Sword Gang. Relying on this sword, he was nearly unstoppable, yet in my hands, it holds no power."

Ping Qi took the sword, examined it, and said, "Now that you have entered the world of cultivation, you should know a thing or two about basic cultivation knowledge. The weapons or treasures used by cultivators are divided into eight types: Talisman Artifacts, Dharma Tools, Spirit Tools, Magic Treasures, Spirit Treasures, Form-Shifting Spirit Treasures, Pure Yang Spirit Treasures, and Profound Heaven Spirit Treasures. This sword has only two layers of restrictions and is a low-grade Talisman Artifact."

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

Ping Qi said, "Exactly. This sword is made of Refined Copper Wood and has dual gold and wood attributes, which is why it can be inscribed with gold-attribute restrictions. However, the Spirit Jade Vajra Art is an earth-attribute technique, so naturally, it cannot drive it. Once this sword has twenty-four layers of restrictions inscribed, it can advance into a Dharma Tool. Only then can it be driven by other attribute techniques."