Milk Him Dry

"Since this is the True Person's commission, this disciple will naturally serve him to the death!"

After a moment's hesitation, Qi Yun rose and cupped his hands, accepting the assignment to serve as bait.

This boy... knew what was good for him!

Seeing Qi Yun agree, a trace of satisfaction flashed through Zheng Yi's eyes, and his smile deepened. He was just about to rise and leave when this minor cultivator from the Outer Mansion, who had only just declared his loyalty, straightened his back again, wearing a hesitant expression mingled with embarrassment and misery.

"It's just... please understand, senior brother."

Qi Yun rubbed his fingers together, his voice tinged with embarrassment, yet his gaze was extraordinarily sincere as he looked at Zheng Yi. "My cultivation is meager, and I have neither background nor support. Here in the Outer Mansion, every step is a struggle, and my life is... rather impoverished.

"Now that the True Person has graciously favored me with this important duty, I naturally dare not slack off in the slightest, much less... disgrace him.

"So... senior brother, do you think... perhaps... you know..." He left his words unfinished, but the rubbing of those two fingers and his meaningful gaze made his meaning perfectly clear.

I can be bait, but you've got to give me something sweet first.

Zheng Yi understood at once. Though he wore a scholar's exterior, he had spent decades clawing his way through a demonic sect. How could he not understand this little game?

Fine. Even a condemned man gets a last meal. We are asking him to risk his life, after all...

Maintaining his gentle expression, he nodded.

"Mm, what you say is reasonable enough, junior brother.

"Tell me, what would you like?

"So long as it isn't excessive, I'll do my best to arrange it."

Then I won't stand on ceremony.

At his words, Qi Yun immediately looked thoughtful, then said frankly:

"My cultivation is shallow. Anything too profound or wondrous would be useless to me, and would only go to waste.

"If it's convenient, senior brother, just give me three or five thousand Sacred Yuan. This disciple can go to the treasure market and buy a few suitable things himself."

"How much? Three or five thousand?"

Laughed into anger outright, Zheng Yi could not help raising his voice.

"What do you take me for? One of those heaven's favored sons with peerless talent and limitless backing from the sect?"

"A-aren't you...?" Qi Yun asked in surprise, his expression sincere.

"You, you rascal..." Though he knew Qi Yun was flattering him, Zheng Yi still felt thoroughly pleased. Forcing down the corners of his mouth, he said solemnly:

"Sacred Yuan is hard currency. Apart from True Persons, few people have such a large sum on hand."

His gaze swept over Qi Yun, and, sensing the True Qi circulating smoothly within him, he changed tack.

"I see your foundation is solid and your True Qi abundant. You must have already reached the Qi Refining Third Layer.

"I happen to have a Law Artifact that I bought back in my days at the Outer Mansion, after scrimping and saving Sacred Yuan for a long time..."

As he spoke, he turned his palm over, and a streak of lush emerald light suddenly flared!

A flying sword roughly three feet long appeared out of thin air. Its entire blade looked as though it had been carved from a single piece of rare jadeite, crystalline and translucent, shimmering with precious light. A heart-chilling sharpness flowed along its edge.

"This sword is named [Azure Sky]." Zheng Yi gently brushed his fingers over the blade, a trace of reminiscence and reluctance showing in his eyes. "It cuts iron like mud and is indestructible. Ordinary steel tempered a hundred times is no different from rotten wood before it.

"When activated with True Qi, it can even unleash a Sword-Ray over ten feet long. Taking an enemy's head within a hundred feet is as easy as reaching into a bag. It truly is a superior weapon for attack!

"Though I no longer have any use for it, I've always treasured it and kept it with me...

"Today, I'll lend it to you for protection!"

He offered the [Azure Sky] sword to Qi Yun, yet his gaze remained glued to it as he repeatedly cautioned, "You must take good care of it, junior brother. Don't... don't let it down!"

"Rest assured, senior brother. I'll use it with the utmost care. I certainly won't let you down." Accepting the gleaming magical sword, Qi Yun forcibly suppressed the Law Technique Panel's restless stirring and spoke earnestly.

"Mm." Only then did Zheng Yi reluctantly withdraw his gaze. He took out a warm, lustrous white jade talisman shaped like a seashell and handed it over. "This is a communication jade talisman. Inject True Qi to activate it, and you can contact me. If anything happens, let me know at once."

Having finished his instructions, Zheng Yi turned to leave, his steps somewhat hurried.

"Ah, Senior Brother Zheng, please wait! There's one more thing I'd like to ask..." Qi Yun's voice rang out again.

"What is it now? I don't have any other Law Artifacts." Frowning slightly, Zheng Yi spoke in a low voice.

"You misunderstand, senior brother. Having received this magical sword, how could I be so insatiably greedy as to ask for another Law Artifact?

"It's actually that I've been practicing the 'Skull Incantation' today, but whenever I reach the final step of animating it with True Qi, I can never grasp the knack.

"Your cultivation is profound, senior brother. Could you clear up my confusion?" Qi Yun looked utterly sincere, the very picture of an earnest student asking a question.

"Oh, that." Hearing that Qi Yun merely wanted instruction, Zheng Yi's grave expression eased considerably.

"Very well. I've practiced this 'Skull Incantation' too. As for the key to that final step, you could call it difficult, or you could call it easy. Listen carefully..."

With personal guidance from Zheng Yi, who had already walked this path, a few brief words pointed straight to the crux.

The problem that had plagued Qi Yun for over half a month, defeating him time and again, was pierced in an instant like paper over a window!

Hum!

Inside the room, the ghastly white skull that had been animated anew now floated docilely beside Qi Yun. Ghostly green soul fire flickered in its sockets, with none of its former ferocity or frenzy.

At the slightest movement of Qi Yun's will, the skull turned nimbly, as responsive as his own fingers, and he could freely release or withdraw the resentment Qi it spat out.

Truly, one sentence of genuine teaching outweighed ten thousand scrolls of false instruction.

However detailed the explanatory jade talisman might be, it could not compare to a single incisive pointer from an advanced cultivator.

Seeing that Qi Yun had mastered the "Skull Incantation," Zheng Yi gently exhaled a breath of stale air.

"From here, you only need to practice more, and you'll gradually master its subtleties.

"All right, there's nothing else, is there? Then I'll..."

"Er, to tell you the truth, senior brother, there are also a few things I don't understand about my Qi-refining cultivation method..."

Zheng Yi: "..."

After spending the better part of the day there, with evening fast approaching, Zheng Yi could endure no more. Ignoring Qi Yun's repeated entreaties to stay, he forcibly tugged the hem of his Daoist robe out of Qi Yun's hand, said goodbye several times, and hurried away without looking back.

He was deeply afraid that if he were even a step slower, that fellow behind him, whose skin was thicker than a city wall, would entangle him again.

"Come visit often, senior brother~"

Waving as he watched Zheng Yi's figure disappear completely, Qi Yun's respectful, humble smile gradually vanished. He swept his broad sleeve, sending a surge of True Qi rolling out, and the courtyard gate slammed shut with a bang.

Back in the main room, the gleaming [Azure Sky] flying sword lay quietly on the table beside a thick stack of papers whose ink did not even seem fully dry.

These were the cultivation insights and essential principles that Zheng Yi, pestered into helplessness during Qi Yun's earlier "requests for instruction," had been forced to dictate while Qi Yun rapidly wrote them down.

Lowering his eyes to the two items, Qi Yun suddenly grinned. He reached out, grabbed the [Azure Sky] flying sword, and refined it in an instant.

Be bait?

Bait, my yo-yo!