Capítulo 194: Meeting Again - Black Book.
"Earthly Intent…" Shu He mumbled the words as he stared at Chao Shi off in the distance, his attention captured by the feeling of power rippling from his body, if before Shu He could compare him to a sheathed sword of a mortal expert, he was now a sword emanating sharpness despite sleeping, just a single movement would be enough to cut the world in twine.
He could tell that 'attack' before and the aura he felt from Chao Shi was one and the same, just on a vastly different scale, the thought of this caused him to shiver.
'Is this what an 'Advanced' intent can do? Just a single thought and I could be erased?' He felt like he had a sword pressed against his throat the moment he tried to probe with his territory, it wasn't a conscious action from Chao Shi but rather an automatic one, all Shu He could tell in the end was that his senior brother has stepped on a level far above him.
Even the Sect Master didn't give him the same feeling, rather based on instincts he felt Chao Shi was far scarier!
"So, this is intent…" he couldn't help but murmur, he hadn't been face to face with intent yet so this was his first true exposure, it was his first-time hearing of the intent rankings.
'If the second rank is Earthly Intent, it should follow the usual naming schemes cultivators use… so it would be Mortal Intent, Earthly Intent, Heavenly Intent and finally Divine Intent…' at least, that's what he surmised, there could easily be more detail he knew nothing about.
For the average cultivator in the sect, all they knew of was 'Intent' and not that it contained levels, that was because basically no-one had attained it… which is why a lot of disciples were confused despite the cheering.
"It seems some of your are confused, I don't blame you; Intent is something touched upon by only experts or the most talented among cultivators, the fact is despite Intent having multiple levels we effectively treat it as a single level, because you can count the amount of people who have achieved the second level and are still alive on one hand" Rong Jia explained before sighing.
"Even I, your Sect Master, have only reached the pinnacle of the first level… to think I'd be beaten by my nephew…" Her voice got quieter as she went on, a hint of irritation could be heard by the most intuitive before she moved on. "That's why, this is cause for celebration, and also a reminder for everyone here – the sky is not the limit when it comes to cultivation, you should always aim to surpass it!"
More cheering was heard as all the disciples were new clued in, yet there were many questions bubbling as well. "Is Senior Brother Chao going to be the next Sect Master?!" someone blurted out as the crowd suddenly went silent.
It was a question a lot of people wanted to know, but no one wanted to ask, Rong Jia's expression twitched upon hearing it as her eyes turned sharp. "Why? Do you dislike me that much?" she sent a glare towards the young man that asked the question causing him to turn pale and stumble "N-no, I didn't mean that! We are just curious that's all!".
"Idiot…"
"Watch your words…"
A few people whispered seeing his pathetic state, it was common sense not to ask the current sect master who was replacing her when she was still in her prime, that's like rubbing shit in their face! Rong Jia shook her head in disappointment "No guts in these kids" she mumbled to herself before turning back to Chao Shi who began stepping towards the crowd.
"I won't" were his first words to the crowd, yet he didn't give them a chance to ask why as his eyes flowed with Sword Qi while they turned to the sky. "My path doesn't stop here, it goes beyond, much, much further".
"Senior brother…" A girl could be heard audibly blushing in the crowd as she was entranced by his looks. She wasn't the only one, there were tens, maybe hundreds in similar situations, it seems Chao Shi's breakthrough was affecting more than his strength, his looks and bearing had improved greatly as well.
"Senior brother! Do you mean you're going to ascend?!" A hot-blooded disciple burst out with a question he couldn't hold off any longer, his eyes were filled with vigour as he awaited an answer.
Chao Shi let off a smile "That's right".
And then the crowd burst with excitement on a level incomparable to before, while a second level of intent seemed exciting enough, it didn't seem tangible to most of the disciples since they didn't understand what Intent was in the first place, yet an ascension was something entirely different!
It was a legendary event in the Iris country! Such a thing only happened every few hundreds of years if they were lucky so most people alive hadn't ever seen one! It was rumoured that witnessing a cultivator undergo their ascension would be beneficial to ones understanding of the world itself! It was like a boon for their Dao!
If their Senior Brother was going to ascend, then without a doubt there would be disciples selected from their sect to witness it!
"When is it?!"
"Are you going soon?!"
"Who will be going to watch?!"
Chao Shi smiled wryly as he was bombarded with questions, in the end where there were benefits, cultivators became as ravenous as a pack of starved wolves! He glanced over to Rong Jia who sighed "A date hasn't been set, you all don't need to worry, when it is we'll organise an event to pick those who will be going!" she announced.
"That's all! You should disband and return to your cultivation activities now! If you're not gone within an hour you'll have points deducted!" She said causing the crowd to skitter about like cats that had their tails stepped on.
Shu He was also going to make his way home, but he saw Chao Shi speak quietly to Rong Jia who then scanned the crowd with her eyes before she quickly fixated on him, he was probably easy to find since he had a large white duck in his arms.
"Shu He, come with us" she gave the order, so he had to follow, he followed the two to the familiar elevator that headed to the summit of the central mountain.
…
Half an hour later the three of them were sat in the same garden that Shu He had entered to make the pact when he became an inner disciple, the one difference was that the three of them were sat around a table with tea in front of them this time, one of the masked cultivators delivered it in silence before departing without speaking a single word.
"Haaah, it's nice having something good to drink after a long period of closed cultivation" Chao Shi exclaimed as he drank happily, he washed up and gotten a change of clothes, so his appearance was the familiar one Shu He had seen before, just sharper.
"You changed your tone as quickly as always, it would be nice if you remained stoic, people wouldn't mistake you for a fool otherwise" Rong Jia complained as she too took a sip before glancing at Shu He who was staring at his cup in silence "What's wrong? It's good".
Chao Shi couldn't help but chuckle "Auntie, he's sharing a table with his Sect Master, do you expect him to be calm?".
"Don't think you can call me Auntie just because you surpassed me!" she glared at Chao Shi "But… I guess our first meeting wasn't the best, Shu He, I'm not the Sect Master right now so no need to be so stiff".
"Even if you say that…" Shu He felt an awkward drip of sweat slip down his brow. His first meeting with Rong Jia wasn't one he'd call pleasant, he was restrained by formations and questioned without even being asked and then whisked away afterwards, his impression of her wasn't pleasant to say the least.
"That doesn't help much Auntie, that's just going to make it worse!" Chao Shi couldn't help but chuckling "Shu He, no need to mind her, she seems like a steel woman when she's acting as the Sect Master, but she's just a normal old lady otherwise".
"Brat, do you want a beating?! It doesn't matter if you've achieved Earthly Intent I'll still run circles around you!" Rong Jia yelled as she went to grab her saber.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was just joking, to lighten the mood!"
"Hmph, watch your words" Rong Jia sat back down while huffing.
Shu He watched on with an awkward smile as he decided to finally take a sip of the tea, he felt the fresh scent and taste of mint spread throughout his body as a genuine smile crept on his face. "It's good…" he couldn't help but murmur.
"Right? The servants here make some great tea, I wish I could come here all the time to drink it" Chao Shi nodded in agreement. "This is the Sect Master's residence you know? How would it look if disciples went and came freely…" Rong Jia replied while her face was hidden behind the cups lip.
A few moments of silence passed as they enjoyed the drink.
"You've grown a lot, Shu He" Chao Shi spoke, his tone of voice lacking the joking vibe from before "Not just your height, you cultivation feels robust… I can smell a faint scent of alchemy from you as well, you've been busy".
"Well, it has been about 5 years since we last met…"
"Right, it didn't feel that long for me, but for you…" Chao Shi sighed "I see you've got a little friend there, what's it's name?" he said glancing at the little duck that was perched on the floor next to Shu He in silence watching their conversation.
"Right, I've heard the reports but I've never seen her myself, mind showing us?" Rong Jia asked. Shu He looked down to Shu Xue and nodded lightly, then with a flash of light she took human form and awkwardly bowed to them "My name is Shu Xue, I'm Shu He's spirit companion".
"Hmm it was hard to believe without seeing it, but a spirit animal achieving transformation at the Birth stage… it's unbelievable" Rong Jia said as she nodded to the little girl. Meanwhile Chao Shi's eyes were filled with shock "What?! How?! Wait… doesn't she kind of resemble you Auntie? If you changed her eye colour to jade green instead…." He began travelling down a weird tangent causing the other three to stare at him weirdly.
He stopped and cleared his throat "Never mind, but you really are filled with surprises Shu He… I didn't expect this from you at all" he reached into his robes "But that doesn't matter, I wanted you here to give you this."
He placed what seemed like a black book on the table, it was cover in wear and tear with the pages nicked in various places, there was no writing on the cover, but it was made of expensive materials, it was clear that it had been used very thoroughly.
Shu He frowned as he looked at it, confused. "What's this? Why are you giving it to me?" he had remembered that Bai Shun had told him a while back that Chao Shi wanted to give him something, but this was it?
"It belonged to Tai Min".
Shu He froze as memories flashed in the back of his mind, his pupils slowly moved to the black book and then to Chao Shi.
"Is this a joke?" He asked, his voice cold.
Chao Shi returned his stare "Right now, I'm not joking, I want you to have this".
"…Why? Why would you give me something of his? Do you think I even want it?!" Shu He couldn't help but raise his voice, if there was one person he hated most in this world, it was the person who took his parents from him, even if he was already dead!
"Shu He, you should understand that a cultivator should use everything they can get to grow".
"I do! But this doesn't make sense, what could he have that I need?".
"It isn't about what you need, but what you deserve, it was yours in the first place".
"What are you talking about?" Shu He frowned "The one who killed him in the end-"
"Was you" Chao Shi cut him off, Shu He stared at Chao Shi with surprise.
"I don't know how much you remember since you collapsed right after, but you dealt a blow to his spirit heart with your arrow, rupturing part of it, at that point he was already a dead man; The only thing I did was skewer a corpse" Chao Shi explained.
"…" Shu He was slightly startled by this revelation; he knew he did something to Tai Min but not the extent.
'I… killed him?' It didn't really make a difference to Shu He, but oddly, there was a sense of pride that he was the one that dealt the final blow welling from inside him.
He was the one that defeated his parent's killer.
Chao Shi pushed the book closer to Shu He "That's why this is yours, I flipped through it myself when I returned to the sect, but it isn't helpful for me, but for you who has barely begun your cultivation journey, it may give you some insights".
Shu He stared at the book, he felt reluctant, like just touching that book was something that disgusted him… yet logic prevailed in his mind as he touched its smooth surface, feeling the worn cover, it was just a simple book, there wasn't any hidden features or formations inside.
He picked it up and flipped through it, as he did his pupils constricted with each page that passed, his teeth ground hard against one another.
"This…! Something like this…?!" He was in disbelief, the book was some form of cultivation journal, it detailed Tai Hui's experimentation as he tried to further his cultivation.
However… his cultivation wasn't normal.
The pages were filled with illustrations that detailed the butchering of humans, the uses of different organs, the types of Qi inside and how special Qi can be produced, how they can be beneficial for your cultivation and such.
It was written in almost obsessive, sickening detail.
But that wasn't just it… it slowly transitioned into something incredibly rare to find.
A lifeblood cultivation method.
Estado de energía semanal
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