Blood Refining
Qi Xianqing and Yan Jue sat very close together. Qi Xianqing lowered her eyes to look at her, her gaze carrying a trace of desire that was hard to hide.
The aura of the Immortal Spirit Physique drifted at the tip of her nose. Meeting Qi Xianqing’s eyes, Yan Jue once again truly felt that things were different now.
Different from when she had been a little fox, different from when she had been Junior Sister Yan.
Yan Jue slowly lifted her eyelids. “You tell me, then. How else are you supposed to dual cultivate?”
Qi Xianqing did not answer. Instead, the corners of her brows and eyes curved slightly as she bent down and gently kissed her lips.
The room was quiet; the candlelight was dim.
Yan Jue subconsciously closed her eyes, her heartbeat thudding like a drum.
A little sweat broke out on Qi Xianqing’s fair forehead. After her lips pressed against Yan Jue’s soft mouth, she did not move at all.
Yan Jue waited several breaths before realizing something was wrong.
Qi Xianqing simply… didn’t know how.
Yan Jue waited a moment longer, then found Qi Xianqing amusing. She hadn’t expected the renowned Lord Meng Heng to have such a clumsy side.
Yan Jue reopened her eyes and reached out to pat Qi Xianqing on the back.
Qi Xianqing froze. Yan Jue flipped herself upright and, in an instant, had pinned her beneath her.
For someone usually so domineering, her body was soft as water. Yan Jue lowered her head and lightly brushed the tip of her nose against Qi Xianqing’s.
Qi Xianqing tilted her head back to look at Yan Jue. Her throat bobbed slightly, and even her cheeks had gone faintly red.
She had never experienced anything like this before; in front of Yan Jue, her body unconsciously went soft.
By the time Yan Jue leaned in, her mind was a blank, and her movements were a little stiff.
Yan Jue pinned her down and lowered her head to peck at her lips now and then.
Qi Xianqing lay beneath Yan Jue, her brow faintly furrowed. Even those beautiful, clear peach-blossom eyes had taken on a misty sheen.
Beautiful enough to bring ruin to a nation.
Faint footsteps came from outside; it might have been Yun Zhen returning and passing by the room.
Yan Jue swallowed, then rose, intending to leave; but the back of her head was pressed down by Qi Xianqing.
Yan Jue’s waist went soft at once.
Qi Xianqing learned very quickly.
The pure yang energy gained from such intimate contact left Yan Jue’s mind blank. Her whole body felt thrillingly light.
The pure yang energy from kissing was far more satisfying than simply stopping at the threshold. When they kissed, they exchanged saliva, and Yan Jue shivered all over in comfort; her tail accidentally slipped out.
Qi Xianqing suddenly felt something stir. A thought flashed through her mind, and she couldn’t help reaching out to rub that fluffy tail.
That one rub made Yan Jue feel as though she might explode. A blush rose on her fair cheeks, and her tail wound around Qi Xianqing’s hand, tightening and tightening.
The pure yang energy of the Immortal Spirit Physique slowly poured into her meridians, then fused perfectly with her.
By the end, even the simple act of kissing carried a faint sense of losing control.
In the end, Yan Jue could not help biting Qi Xianqing’s neck.
Qi Xianqing clenched her teeth and held Yan Jue’s waist, allowing her to do as she pleased.
Yan Jue’s fair cheeks were flushed. She propped herself up on the bed and sat upright. “Senior Sister.”
Qi Xianqing opened her eyes a slit and lifted a hand to cover her mouth. “What should you call me?”
Yan Jue froze. In an instant, her face turned red. She stared at Qi Xianqing for a long while, then looked away. Qi Xianqing held her in place and would not let her move.
Yan Jue closed her eyes. After a long moment of gritted silence, she yielded and said in a low voice, almost as if surrendering, “Xianqing.”
Qi Xianqing’s brows and eyes curved, her smile drunk on the spring breeze. “A Jue.”
By the time Yan Jue came back to herself, she had already turned into her little red fox form, curled up like a baby in Qi Xianqing’s arms, six fluffy tails swaying behind her as she slowly gnawed on Qi Xianqing’s fingers.
Yan Jue kept her head lowered very deeply. Qi Xianqing’s embrace was too soft, too gentle.
So gentle that Yan Jue was afraid that when she woke up, she would find that this had all just been a dream.
Qi Xianqing drew her hand back, wiped her fingertips clean with a handkerchief, and then rubbed the little fox’s head.
“Why do you always like chewing on people’s hands?” Qi Xianqing asked.
The little fox couldn’t possibly understand her, and happily chewed on Qi Xianqing’s hand all the more.
Qi Xianqing sat up, hooked a finger around the cuju ball, and tossed it out. Yan Jue’s eyes immediately went straight; she happily ran over, picked up the ball in her mouth, and brought it back to her.
Qi Xianqing threw it again; she ran out and fetched it again.
When the cuju ball struck the wall, it gave off a faint sound. Worried about disturbing Yun Zhen, Qi Xianqing threw it very lightly.
The little fox’s footsteps were especially soft as well.
Later, the little fox played until she was tired, curled into a ball, and lay in Qi Xianqing’s arms, lazily yawning.
Under the dim candlelight, the little fox’s fur was bright red, her two ears glossy black, and the fur on her belly pure white.
The colors were vivid and striking, a rare excellent specimen among the Red Fox Clan.
Leaning against the bedhead, Qi Xianqing kept playing with the little fox’s ears with her fair fingertips. The sensitive fox ears folded backward in a chaotic tangle——
It itched terribly, and Yan Jue could not sleep either, her hind legs kicking about as she protested in her throat.
Qi Xianqing’s eyes held a smile. She pinched the fox’s mouth and lifted it slightly, revealing a row of tiny front teeth.
Yan Jue was truly angry now. She curled into a ball and refused to pay her any attention.
-
The next day, Qi Xianqing woke very early.
After washing up in the Purification Room, she walked out at a leisurely pace and saw the blue gauze curtain at the foot of the bed lifted by the wind, the room dimly lit.
Yan Jue was still asleep. Hearing footsteps, she poked her head out from beneath the brocade quilt, narrowed her long phoenix eyes into slits, and stared fixedly at her.
Yan Jue moved her lips, her voice carrying a hint of hoarseness. “You’re leaving just like that.”
Qi Xianqing smiled and came to the bedside, bending to look at her.
Yan Jue had only spoken offhandedly, then closed her eyes and continued sleeping. A soft sensation fell against her lips; her whole body stiffened, then she subconsciously began to respond.
Qi Xianqing kissed her very naturally, clearly having learned already.
Qi Xianqing had actually managed to figure out a good-morning kiss on her own…
Yan Jue closed her eyes in satisfaction.
Qi Xianqing patted her faintly blushing cheek. “Morning.”
Yan Jue met her gaze for a while, then smiled and lazily said, “Morning.”
Her skin was so fair it seemed nearly transparent in the sunlight. When she smiled, her thick black lashes drooped, and there was a shallow dimple in her left cheek.
Qi Xianqing firmly memorized that scene in her mind, then went to the window and climbed out.
…
After Qi Xianqing left, Yan Jue lay there a while longer before getting up.
She washed up and had just stepped out of the room when she heard knocking at the door outside.
A maid in a light blue cross-collared ruqun stood at the entrance, saying that City Lord Liang of Skyferry City had invited both Five Dragons Sect immortals, Qi Xianqing and Yan Jue, to the manor for a visit.
Yan Jue and Qi Xianqing went out, strolling through the gradually livelier morning streets before soon arriving at the city lord’s manor.
When City Lord Liang saw Qi Xianqing and Yan Jue, she immediately stood and bowed. “Immortals.”
It was a formal deep bow; her whole body nearly knelt all the way down.
Yan Jue hurriedly supported her. “City Lord, there’s no need for such courtesy.”
City Lord Liang was a beauty, dressed in a rosy pleated dress with a snow-white feathered robe over it, which only made her frail figure seem even more delicate.
Qi Xianqing got straight to the point. “City Lord Liang, the season when the Bixian herb withers is approaching. We would like to borrow the Sun-Moon Beast from the city lord for a time. May we ask if you would be willing to lend it to us?”
They had originally planned to borrow the Sun-Moon Beast anyway, so this was a perfect chance to ask properly.
City Lord Liang smiled weakly. “I was imprisoned by that tiger yao in a cellar for many days; I thought I was bound to die, but thanks to the two immortals saving me, I am endlessly grateful. I don’t know how to repay you.”
“How could I refuse such a simple request?”
She then had someone bring out the Sun-Moon Beast.
The large white cat dozed lazily inside an iron cage.
City Lord Liang: “The two immortals may bring the Sun-Moon Beast outside the city to search for Bixian herb.”
Qi Xianqing thanked City Lord Liang, but when she left, she looked back once.
City Lord Liang was fiddling with a feather robe, worry seeming impossible to dispel between her brows.
Qi Xianqing and Yan Jue took the Sun-Moon Beast outside Skyferry City.
A servant respectfully bowed to them, then opened the iron cage holding the beast.
Once the cage was opened, the Sun-Moon Beast walked out.
Searching for Bixian herb might have been this season’s instinct for the Sun-Moon Beast.
For the Sun-Moon Beast, eating Bixian herb could not only improve its cultivation, it could also allow its body to gather enough spiritual power to last through an entire winter.
As soon as the snow-white cat was out of the cage, it began looking around everywhere.
Yan Jue followed quietly behind it and saw it quickly find a blade of grass.
That blade of grass was a pale emerald green and looked utterly ordinary; only if one examined it closely could one see that its shape was somewhat like a bird’s feather. Indeed, it looked no different from common grass.
The Sun-Moon Beast opened its mouth and swallowed the grass in one gulp.
It closed its eyes and chewed the spirit herb slowly, looking extremely pleased. After swallowing it down, it suddenly opened its eyes; its pair of mismatched pupils emitted a faint light, and it darted excitedly around.
Soon it found another blade of grass.
Yan Jue hurriedly darted over and picked it up. The Sun-Moon Beast complained unhappily, wriggling about in Yan Jue’s arms.
Qi Xianqing drew out the immortal sword Zhuying and quickly cut the Bixian herb down.
Since the Sect Master had sent them out to find materials, it definitely would not be just one or two blades. Yan Jue put the Sun-Moon Beast back down, and it burrowed into the grass to keep searching.
Very soon it found five or six more identical blades. Each one was growing in an extremely secluded place; if not for the Sun-Moon Beast, there would really have been no chance of finding them.
The Sun-Moon Beast had been busy all afternoon and hadn’t eaten a single blade, wriggling restlessly in Yan Jue’s arms before being put back into the cage by a servant, where it huffed in irritation.
Yan Jue found it amusing and took out the Bixian herb they had just found, reaching into the iron cage to hand it to the beast.
The Sun-Moon Beast’s eyes lit up. It clamped down on the Bixian herb and chewed it quickly.
After swallowing the Bixian herb, it became excited again, banging around and spinning in circles inside the iron cage, looking a little bewildered.
Yan Jue looked at the Sun-Moon Beast and fell into thought.
Qi Xianqing had been paying attention to her the whole time. Seeing Yan Jue’s brows drawn together, she asked with concern, “Junior Sister, why are you silent? Is there something wrong with this material?”
Yan Jue stood up. “I once heard of a kind of grass called catnip. After cats eat it, they become extremely excited.”
“This Bixian herb seems more like it puts beasts into a dazed state.”
Qi Xianqing quickly understood what Yan Jue meant. “You’re saying the longevity elixir the Sect Master is refining may very well have a problem.”
Yan Jue nodded. “It’s only a guess.”
-
When the two returned the Sun-Moon Beast to the city lord’s manor, City Lord Liang was still wearing that snow-white feather robe, sitting by the window in a daze.
City Lord Liang bowed to Qi Xianqing and Yan Jue. “Thank you again, immortals.”
Qi Xianqing: “I have something I’d like to ask City Lord Liang.”
City Lord Liang raised her eyes. “Please ask.”
Qi Xianqing: “City Lord Liang’s cultivation has already reached the fifth realm. Reasonably speaking, you shouldn’t have been so easily controlled by that tiger yao.”
“Moreover, the city lord’s manor is full of formations. If the tiger yao wanted to do anything without anyone noticing, it would have required the city lord’s own willingness.”
After she finished speaking, the room fell quiet.
Liang Tingmian stared blankly out the window, her expression suddenly twisting with pain.
It seemed as though she was struggling with something inside. Her fingers unconsciously tightened around the feather robe in her arms. “To tell the truth, immortals, my being imprisoned by the tiger yao this time did indeed have hidden reasons.”
“I wonder whether the two immortals would be willing to step aside so we can speak privately?”
Qi Xianqing had traveled outside often; she had seen all kinds of situations like this. Sometimes one thing would be the trigger, and it would drag out many others. After all, Five Dragons Sect was a righteous immortal sect, and slaying demons, upholding the Dao, and acting with chivalry were all part of her principles.
“Of course.”
Qi Xianqing and Yan Jue followed City Lord Liang into the inner room, only to see her take off the snow-white feather robe and kneel. “I would like to ask the two immortals for one favor.”
“Please speak freely.”
Liang Tingmian stroked the snow-white feather robe in her hands. Yan Jue was slightly stunned; from the beginning, City Lord Liang had been wearing this feather robe.
“This is a feather robe of the Phoenix Clan,” Qi Xianqing said.
The moment the words fell, it was like thunder cracking overhead.
City Lord Liang tightened her grip on the robe and smiled weakly. “The immortal has broad knowledge. I won’t hide anything from you.”
“This feather robe used to be worn by my wife.”
Liang Tingmian paused. “My wife came from the Phoenix Clan.”
“Five years ago, I met my wife outside the city. At that time, she was still just a little girl who knew nothing.”
“I liked her innocence and took her to play around Skyferry City.”
“Later, we fell in love and became husband and wife within the city. Only then did I learn that she was a princess of the Phoenix Clan.”
As Liang Tingmian spoke, sorrow filled her brows.
“We loved each other deeply, but the Phoenix Clan are born noble. They absolutely would not permit a princess of the clan to marry a mortal.
“As time passed, my wife’s clansmen learned that she had secretly married a mortal, and people from Luan Terrace kept coming to urge the princess to return.”
“Only then did I learn that my wife had already been betrothed to someone from the Phoenix Clan five years ago.”
Yan Jue could not help asking, “Did your wife want to go back?”
Liang Tingmian shook her head. “She disliked that engagement from the start. She never agreed to her clansmen’s demands; but one morning, when I woke up, she who had been sleeping beside me was gone.”
“Only this feather robe had been left by the bedside. She never came back.”
City Lord Liang: “I didn’t know what to do.”
“My first thought was that the Phoenix Clan had sent people to take my wife away.”
“Because I am a mortal, with not the slightest trace of Phoenix blood, my princess and I could never possibly be together.”
“The two tiger yaos said they had immortal medicine.”
“That medicine was something they had stolen with great difficulty from beneath Luan Terrace: a phoenix fetus. If I ate it, I could shed my old body and be reborn with Phoenix bloodline.”
“Who knew that after I ate it, I would become dazed and muddle-headed all day, letting their scheme succeed.”
Phoenix fetus.
Yan Jue froze.
She silently listened to everything City Lord Liang said, then could not help asking, “Then what do you plan to do now?”
City Lord Liang: “I want to send a letter to Luan Terrace.”
“I want to know whether my wife is safe.”
“After all, that day she left so suddenly…”
“It’s a pity I don’t know any reliable cultivators who could help me deliver a letter. If I went alone, the Phoenix Clan would absolutely never see me.”
City Lord Liang said through tears, “If the two immortals could help me deliver a letter to Luan Terrace, that would be a tremendous kindness. I will give you both ample reward.”
“There’s no need, City Lord,” Qi Xianqing said lightly. “It’s only a small matter; Junior Sister and I happen to be going to Luan Terrace anyway.”
“We can deliver the letter for you.”
Before anyone noticed, the sky had already turned to dusk.
Liang Tingmian ground the ink, picked up a brush, and wrote a long letter before handing it to them.
“Thank you, both immortals.”
-
After Yan Jue and Qi Xianqing finished handling everything in Skyferry City, they returned to Five Dragons Mountain with Yun Zhen.
This trip to search for Bixian herb had gone fairly smoothly aside from the trouble caused by the two tiger yaos.
But it had also taught Yan Jue many things.
…
When Yan Jue arrived at Frozen Peach Haven, she was still somewhat embarrassed.
Because before, she had always come here in her little fox form; today, however, she was here as a human.
If Qi Xianqing hadn’t insisted that she come, she wouldn’t have wanted to.
Though she thought that, her steps were quick.
In just two or three strides she crossed into the fence of Frozen Peach Haven and saw Qi Xianqing reading at the table.
Qi Xianqing lifted her eyes, a smile in them. “You’re here?”
Yan Jue jumped in front of Qi Xianqing. “Senior Sister, how come you never contacted me?”
Qi Xianqing laughed softly and looked away. “I only asked you to come yesterday; wasn’t it because you were the one who was embarrassed?”
If Yan Jue had tails behind her, they would surely have been wagging into the sky already.
Before long, it was afternoon.
Yan Jue had loosened her collar, which now hung slackly from her shoulders. Sitting at the doorway, she glanced at the peach trees in the courtyard. “These peach trees are about to ripen, aren’t they?”
She was already an inner sect disciple now, and her clothing was somewhat different from before. She was still in narrow sleeves and tied leggings, but her dao robe had changed to a blue-black color, and the fabric was of better quality than before. Worn on her body, it gave her an elegant immortal air, all youthful vigor and confidence.
Qi Xianqing rested her chin on her hand. “Mm. I figured earlier that the time for the Myriad Immortals Assembly is coming soon too.”
Yan Jue nodded and began sorting through recent events with a furrowed brow.
It was truly a novel feeling. At this time in the past, she would have been alone in her tiny dormitory.
But now she was together with Qi Xianqing.
Whatever came to mind, she could tell Qi Xianqing directly.
The Sect Master wanted to refine the longevity elixir, and now, unconsciously, two of the materials had already been found.
Merfolk pearls, Bixian herb.
As the chief disciple of Five Dragons Sect, Qi Xianqing bore unimaginable responsibility and hope.
The things the Sect Master had ordered them to find concerned the honor, humiliation, rise, and fall of the entire Five Dragons Sect. No matter what she said, Qi Xianqing had to gather these materials.
Only after gathering them could they determine what scheme the Sect Master was truly plotting.
The remaining materials were phoenix fetus, xiangjing grass, and the heart of a nine-tailed fox demon.
This time in Skyferry City, they had already made early contact with the phoenix fetus. According to City Lord Liang, after consuming a phoenix fetus, one could increase the power of one’s own bloodline. Combined with the Bixian herb, which could drive beasts mad, and the merfolk pearl, which after ingestion could make a person lose control in an instant…
Yan Jue already had a vague outline in her mind.
Of course, this was only Yan Jue’s guess. Whether it was really as she thought would have to wait until the materials were all gathered before any conclusion could be drawn.
Since she had agreed to help City Lord Liang deliver the letter, she might as well make Luan Terrace the next destination.
The second matter was that this outing had let Yan Jue hear with her own ears from San Niang how the blood-refining art was practiced.
In this world, every part of any living creature could be cultivated.
Bones, divine sense, flesh and skin.
Even blood.
Cultivating blood was called blood refining.
Once blood-refining methods were cultivated to a sufficiently profound level, not only could recovery from blood loss be sped up, but blood could even serve as a defensive divine ability.
The reason Yan Jue’s spiritual power had suffered so much from excessive blood loss in Fuxian Mountain was that she had usually neglected the cultivation of blood-refining methods.
The afternoon sun was excellent; all things were quiet.
Qi Xianqing sat somewhat lazily at the table, lowering her head to look at the book before her.
Yan Jue looked up and suddenly called out without any preamble, “Xianqing.”
Qi Xianqing’s brow twitched; her fingers subconsciously fiddled with the hem of her robe. “What is it?”
Yan Jue had actually called her that.
In Qi Xianqing’s memory, no one had ever addressed her like this before.
Yan Jue: “I have something I don’t understand.”
Qi Xianqing’s eyes darted around for a moment, then she rested the end of her brush against her chin and gave a quiet “Mm.” “Go on.”
Yan Jue knelt on the floor and asked earnestly, “I’ve heard that the blood-refining method is extremely sinister, and usually only demonic cultivators practice it.”
“But can ordinary cultivators practice it too?”
The room fell silent for a moment.
Qi Xianqing considered it. “Blood-refining techniques are broad and profound. The more common ones involve blood sacrifice, using living people as offerings to increase the power of one’s own blood.”
Then she changed course. “But there are also more ordinary methods of blood refining.”
“For example, using the elements to refine blood; blending the five elemental forces in the air into the blood so that the blood gains powerful offensive might.”
Yan Jue was stunned. “If I have an ice spiritual root, then I can try to merge the ‘ice’ in the air into my own blood.”
Yan Jue had always been very perceptive.
Qi Xianqing: “Exactly.”
“In Five Dragons Sect’s Library Pavilion, there are also books specifically introducing such methods. If you want a more ordinary blood-refining path, I recommend Bloodline Mind Method. It is a righteous blood-refining manual written a thousand years ago by True Monarch Huoyun. If you are interested, you can study it.”
Qi Xianqing paused. “If you don’t understand anything, you can ask me.”
-
Yan Jue made time to go to the Library Pavilion.
Because she had been down the mountain continuously these days, it had already been a long while since she last went there.
The Library Pavilion was still as it had always been; there were not many people.
Yan Jue skillfully threaded her way between the bookshelves, climbed up a ladder, and found a brand-new book on the top shelf.
Clearly, no one had really flipped through this book. It was wrapped in a layer of pale blue silk. Yan Jue removed the silk, and on the cover were the four large characters Bloodline Mind Method.
Yan Jue flipped through a few pages, then sat down in a chair in the Library Pavilion’s small cubicle and began cultivating according to the book’s contents.
Yan Jue was exceptionally talented when it came to cultivation; she very quickly memorized the most basic content and copied out a full six pages of notes.
Then she took the notes to the Cold Pool.
The area around the Cold Pool was especially quiet; it was now winter, and layer upon layer of thin ice had formed on the water’s surface.
It was dusk, and the evening clouds in the sky shone in seven-colored brilliance; the surroundings seemed like a fairyland.
Yan Jue sat cross-legged by the Cold Pool, feeling the flow of elemental energy in the air with each breath in and out.
Once she settled her heart, she could feel the ice-blue demon core inside her body spinning wildly. Circles and circles of spiritual energy spread out like ripples in water, and blood surged and flowed through her meridians.
Water and earth in the air slowly merged into her bloodline.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Yan Jue felt that the speed of her cultivation this time had become especially fast.
The Immortal Spirit Physique was favored by heaven and earth. Even if she had not drunk Qi Xianqing’s blood, merely absorbing Qi Xianqing’s yang energy made Yan Jue feel that her body had improved.
Yan Jue suddenly opened her eyes and could not help but smile silently.
She’d have to find a day to properly thank Qi Xianqing.