I was actually relieved that the cold sensation on the back of my neck was the disciple's blade and not my technique completing. I hadn't quite been prepared for that.
Even so, this was a rather precarious situation. The female disciple was a Qi Gathering cultivator after all and could end my life with a single slash of her sword.
I coughed lightly, making sure not to let my neck jerk backwards into the tip of the blade. "Fellow cultivator, I believe this is just a misunderstand-"
"Silence, dog. Are you claiming that you didn't kill these disciples of the Cloudy Falls Sect?! My senior brother lies at your feet, the evidence clear as day," she snarled, tone laced with venom.
"Dead?" I asked. "What makes you believe that?"
"Was your father a pig? You can see the hole in his chest and there is no trace of his qi remaining," she exclaimed, pushing the blade slightly into his skin and drawing a drop of blood. "What other conclusion can I draw?"
"If you think he is already dead, why not let me finish? It won't change the outcome. Your senior brother is not dead, but he will be if you don't let me heal him," I told the girl.
"Do you take me for a fool? Reviving one who is hovering between life and death is impossible except for a nascent soul sage," she sneered, her blade pushing a little deeper. "Which you are most certainly not."
My eyes darted towards the guy's chest as a sudden spark of qi blossomed within it. I watched as the faint stream of qi merged with the swirling blood essence and expelled the final remnants of the fire qi.
As that happened, the hole in his chest started to heal from the outside in. The burnt flesh cracked and turned to dust as new flesh formed, the rate of healing visible to every present.
"What the-" the female disciple exclaimed, the pressure of her sword disappearing from my neck as she rushed to the man's side.
I sighed in relief, glad that had happened at such a good time and that I wouldn't have to keep attempting to convince this headstrong disciple that I hadn't killed her Senior Brother… and disrespected my former sect.
Not that she knew I was once a disciple of the Cloudy Falls Sect. I couldn't expect every random person I bumped into who was a part of it to recognize me, even though Zhao Dan had been quite famous… for being an utterly talentless sack of chicken dung.
Well, I was not the same man. In most ways at least. Retaining his memories and having to live in this new world, one could argue that I had allowed a large part of the former occupant of this body to merge with myself.
Nevertheless, I truly believed that I was still me, just operating with a slightly different set of circumstances. The healing process accelerated once the fire qi had been wholly destroyed and the visible damage was almost healed entirely.
Anyway, back to the female disciple. Her face had gone through a journey of myriad emotions as she watched me heal her fellow disciple. Shock, confusion, suspicion, elation, and then finally acceptance… or perhaps relief? I wasn't sure.
She turned to look at me. "How is this possible? Qi healing?" she asked, but it was more of a rhetorical question than her truly seeking an answer. "No, it can't be. You… you're just a mere Body Tempering practitioner! What technique can you possibly possess that would allow for this? Yet…"
I simply smiled at her as she tried to come to terms with reality. Honestly I was rather taken aback myself. The city lord and his men had been surprised that someone of my cultivation could heal his son, but that had been different to now.
Removing a poison that they'd assumed couldn't be that potent was vastly different to bringing a Qi Gathering cultivator back from the brink of death. In some ways it was more surprising that the woman wasn't accusing me of using demonic techniques or something similar.
I looked up as a flash of silver carved through the air. The female disciple had levelled her sword between my eyes, though it was quivering due to her shaking hand.
"You must be a practitioner of demonic arts," she declared, confusion and rage in her eyes.
Damn it. I was joking, why did this cliche scene actually happen? I wasn't sure how I could dispel her doubts, except to allow my healing technique to finish.
Whether she would allow that to happen or not was another matter… I guess I would have to resort to an ancient art that has long been passed down in one particular country back on Earth.
A land of prideful warriors with strict personal codes of conduct, who were skilled in the art of battle as well as being educated thoroughly. This art was known as… Bullshido.
I twisted my face into a mocking sneer, levering a severe gaze on the female disciple. "I feared this might happen during my venture outside the cult…" I complained, my expression only half faked as I realised something terrible— I'd used a reference from the wrong damn culture!
This was a cultivation world, not a samurai one… Nevertheless I was committed to my tactic. The girl clearly hadn't expected me to just come out and admit it, which had taken her by surprise.
Her blade lowered just a little and I relaxed. Right up until she clenched her fist and then shoved the sword back between my eyes.
"Foul demon, you court death! Your filthy presence pollutes these lands of the Cloudy Falls Sect. Unhand Senior Brother this instant," she demanded, determined in her actions.
"Damn, I was joking," I retorted, expression returning to normal. "Why are you so serious, did a snake bite your ass? I told you, I'm healing your fellow disciple. Just watch."
"Lies! In the name of the Cloudy Falls Sect I shall exterminate you, demonic bastard," she cried, raising her sword into the air.
Oh dear…
I hadn't expected her to act so decisively. Then again, maybe my little prank had gone too far. Perhaps acting as though the idea of being a demonic cultivator repulsed me would've been a better delaying tactic.
The sword fell towards my neck and I had to seriously decide whether I should abandon the man I was healing. It was an impossible decision to make.
If I chose to stop my technique early without healing him, I had no idea what would happen. He wouldn't be in a good condition and there was even the possibility all my efforts would be for naught as his blood flowed in reverse.
His condition would be poor and that would give the female disciple further reason to kill me. Yet if I tried to finish healing him, I would be leaving myself exposed to death by her sword.
At that moment a cough came from below, making both of us freeze. I exhaled, my breath shuddering as I looked down at the sword against my neck.
When the cultivator removed it, there was a faint red line running across my skin. That was far too close for comfort.
Looking beyond the blade, I saw that my patient was stirring. The hole in his chest was completely healed and looking beyond the surface I saw that my blood essence had been joined by multiple streams of qi, both energies working in tandem to heal his body.
"Senior Brother Shen!" the girl exclaimed, dropping her sword and rushing to his side.
"Wait!" I cried as she drew close. "Don't touch him yet or you may interrupt the healing technique."
She froze, regarding me with caution and a whole complicated mix of emotions on her face. I wasn't sure what to think and clearly neither was she.
All I knew was that I'd never experienced my healing technique being interrupted or the interference of a third party. Which meant I had no idea what would happen if the female disciple touched him before the technique was complete.
She seemed extremely conflicted now. All her earlier ranting about demonic cultivators and evil was forgotten. Honestly I wasn't surprised that even in a world of cultivators and beasts, teenage girls were still prone to mood swings.
Then again, I wasn't much better. I'd literally abandoned my disciple just days after accepting her and rushed off to seek enlightenment in a mountain range.
Also I was still covered in smelly gunk from my breakthrough, which left me looking rather dishevelled. Not the image I wanted to project to the world, but beggars can't be choosers.
Thankfully the girl had listened to my advice and taken a step back. Just in time, because I suddenly felt a rush of energy as my blood essence returned.
Alongside that, I briefly saw the man's eyes open as he coughed once more. Then I felt it…
"Not again," I groaned aloud, garnering the female disciple's attention.
"What happened?" she asked nervously, eyes darting to her senior brother. "Did your technique go wrong? Will he be-"
I didn't hear the rest of her questions because all I could focus on was the excruciating pain of my body bursting apart. I guess I really was going to do the impossible… for the second time.
****
Xia Caihong stared in shock at the strange cultivator as his skin burst and he showered the ground in blood. Her senior brother was also caught in the spray, his face twisting in confusion as he hauled himself into a sitting position.
"What in the heavens is happening?" he mused aloud, looking around until his gaze landed on her. "Junior Sister, you're awake?"
"Yes, I think that stinky- that strange cultivator healed us. I thought he was from some demonic cult but perhaps not… I am glad to see you alive, Senior Brother Shen. Where is-"
She was interrupted by a nearby tree exploding, broken branches and a torrent of leaves blasting towards them. Despite being freshly healed, her senior brother moved like the wind.
He appeared beside her and carved all the debris into fragments that fell harmlessly to the side. Peeking around his stoic figure, her face fell.
The first of the newcomers was a muscular man wearing unfamiliar robes with the sleeves ripped off. Caihong had never seen robes of that colour in the Cloudy Falls Sect.
Yet the other male and female with him both wore the same robes. Finally her eyes landed on a symbol embroidered on the breast of each robe—a sword. Her brow raised in shocked realisation.
"Soaring Sword Sect! You aren't allowed to be here, the Jagged Sword Mountains belong to the Cloudy Falls Sect," she cried out, pointing at the bulky cultivator with poor fashion sense.
He scoffed and stared at her with disdain. "A weak and cowardly woman, hiding behind her fellow disciple. You aren't worth my time. The time has come for the Soaring Sword Sect to claim what is rightfully ours. These are the Jagged Sword Mountains, are they not?"
"Is this all the famed disciples of the Soaring Sword Sect can do? Your words are sharp indeed," chuckled Shen Zhu. "However, you will soon regret your decision to come here. Let this grandfather show you the error of your ways," he said, stepping forward and drawing his weapon.
The disciple of the sword sect glanced beyond Shen Zhu. "Trying to stall for time while your comrade breaks through? Admirable, but let us see if your words are more than simple bragging."
Without any further conversation, the muscular cultivator took a step forward, a long sword appearing in his hand as though from thin air. Despite his brutish appearance, his every movement was fluid and graceful.
Shen Zhu seemed surprised at this turn of events, but took it in stride as he raised his own sword to block. The sound of steel striking steel rang through the forest as their battle began in earnest.
The other two disciples from the sword sect did not simply watch either, but drew their blades as they rushed in. One moved to strike at the female disciple while the other split off and headed towards Zhao Dan.
As he was currently breaking through he was utterly immobile, with no means to defend himself. Taking his life would be easier than killing a chicken.
Xia Caihong found herself in an extremely difficult position. Her senior brother was facing a powerful disciple of the Soaring Sword Sect and she desperately wanted to assist him.
However, she was far too weak to get involved in that battle. That brutish-yet-graceful swordsman not only had a higher cultivation than her but also was far more talented with his weapon.
She might die if she tried to step in. And that was only the beginning of her problems.
One of the other disciples was heading her way, also wielding a sword and clearly intending on killing her outright. Then again it wasn't that surprising that a disciple of the soaring sword sect was using a sword…
As a cultivator, Xia Caihong was used to bloody battles and putting her life on the line constantly to achieve even a single step of progress towards the next stage or realm of cultivation. It had been that way since she was a mortal who hadn't even entered the Body Tempering Realm and it would continue to be so until she died or reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm and achieved quasi-immortality.
Of course that was a long term goal. One that she aimed for with full confidence—all cultivators did—but knew was not going to happen for at least a few thousand years. If she made it that far.
Which is why usually it wouldn't have been a problem for her to be facing an opponent in a life or death battle. Except for the fact that a man who she owed a life debt to was in the midst of a breakthrough and another enemy was about to kill him.
In that moment Xia Caihong made an extremely uncharacteristic decision. Even if she died due to the consequences of that decision, she would not regret it. Luckily for her, the heavens tended to smile on those who honoured oaths and debts.
So ignoring her first opponent for now, Caihong used the one technique she had managed to reach Average accomplishment in. A heritage art of the Cloudy Falls Sect—Drifting Cloud Steps.
It was called Average, but the truth was that most cultivators would pick up various techniques throughout their lives and would rarely dedicate enough time to one to gain enough understanding to draw out its true power. Simply learning a technique enough to use it granted Minor accomplishment.
However, in order to reach the next step—Average—needed the user to actually understand some of the concepts behind the technique. Needless to say this was a difficult task.
A difficult task that Caihong had accomplished after almost a decade of painstaking effort. While geniuses and prodigies could advance in leaps and bounds without much sweat and blood, ordinary cultivators like her needed to spend twice the effort for half the results.
Eventually she had achieved her goal, with her master being extremely satisfied with her progress. It had allowed her to surprise some opponents at the sect tournament which happened every three years and receive a Refined-grade Spirit Sword as a reward from the sect treasury.
While she was under no illusions as to her level of skill with a sword—Caihong knew her technique would be inferior to those from the Soaring Sword Sect—she believed in her movement art and the quality of her weapon.
After all, she did not need to win the battle outright, only delay long enough for her saviour to finish his breakthrough. She also believed her Senior Brother Shen would achieve victory against his opponent.
Taking a deep breath, Caihong began the first movement of the Drifting Cloud Steps. As the name suggested, the movement technique was all about embodying the state of a cloud drifting through the skies.
Allowing yourself to be carried forwards rather than fighting against the world to gain momentum. At Master accomplishment, one could literally become light as a cloud. At her current level, Caihong was far from that.
But she easily sidestepped the clumsy slash of the sword disciple. She could've counter attacked, but that would've dragged her into a battle she didn't need. Instead Caihong continued forwards, but she feared she would still be too slow.
The distance between the other swordsman and the wandering cultivator was rapidly closing. And all the man needed was a single slash. Snuffing out his life right now would be easier than smashing a plank of rotten wood.
She pushed herself harder than she'd ever done before, exerting all the qi remaining in her dantian to empower her movement technique. Despite that, Caihong knew it wasn't enough.
The disciple had already begun to swing their sword and she was still a few steps away, not close enough to draw her own. To close the gap I would need to be as fast as the wind, Caihong cursed her own weakness.
Wait… fast as the wind? The Drifting Cloud Steps has elements of wind, so what if…?
Enlightenment often strikes when you least expect it. Yet while it can seem like a sudden realisation it often builds on existing knowledge. Like the ten years of practice and study Caihong had put into the Drifting Cloud Steps.
The disciple of the sword sect had utter confidence in killing the cultivator who was currently experiencing a breakthrough. He had been shocked that his fellow disciple had allowed her target to slip past her, but the female disciple was too slow to reach him in time.
He swung his sword at the mass of flesh that was sort of human-shaped and allowed himself a smile at a job well done. With this out of the way, taking down the female disciple would be easy in a two versus one battle.
Right before his blade could cut into the cultivator however, something entirely unexpected happened.