The Bone-Knitting Pill was far more potent than any medicine Hanyuan had seen in the Bai Clan. By the next sunrise, the throbbing ache in his ribs had vanished, and his right arm, though still slightly stiff, felt solid once more. He spent the morning testing his grip on the Cold Cloud Spear. The blue steel seemed to hum as he swept it through the air, the runes along the shaft glowing faintly with his Qi.
Thwack! Thwack!
Hanyuan fell back into his rhythm. Five hundred thrusts to warm the marrow; five hundred sweeps to stabilize the stance. Sweat soaked his white robes, freezing into fine crystals as he moved.
"Now, let's try the real deal," he muttered.
He tightened his grip, the ice in his Dantian spiraling into the spear. He stepped forward and swung. "Silver Crescent Horizon!"
A visible arc of frost-Qi, shaped like a curved blade, hissed from the tip. It didn't sputter this time; it sliced a thin, frozen line across the courtyard's stone wall before dissipating. He immediately transitioned, planting his feet and pouring his remaining Qi into the tip.
"Star-Point Piercer!"
BOOM.
The air in front of the spear imploded as a ray of concentrated ice punched through the air, striking the iron dummy with the force of a falling glacier. The dummy vibrated so violently the stone floor beneath it cracked.
"I've improved," Hanyuan thought, his breath coming in ragged bursts of steam. He had twenty-five days until the Outer Disciple Competition. If he could reach a point where these moves were instinctive rather than exhausting, he might actually have a chance to challenge the Top 20.
Ten days dissolved in a cycle of repetition. Hanyuan's world shrank to the size of his courtyard and the length of his spear. The only time he broke his focus was for shared meals with Qin Yu, where they swapped progress notes over steaming bowls of spirit meat.
By the eleventh day, the moon was high and the Cloud-Jade Isle was silent. Hanyuan finally set his spear down, his muscles humming with a strange, pleasant fatigue. He walked out of his hut, needing to clear his mind. The silver moonlight danced on the island's waterfalls, and the air smelled of night-blooming jasmine and sharp mountain frost.
"A break is just as important as the blade," he mused.
He sat beneath a gnarled plum tree, the manual for the Silver Frost Spear Art resting on his knees. He spent an hour re-reading the subtle descriptions of the third technique,Whirling Silver Veil,looking for the hidden "flow" he hadn't yet grasped.
As the sun began to peek over the sea of clouds, Hanyuan stretched and made his way to Qin Yu's residence. He raised his hand to knock, but the door flew open first.
Qin Yu stumbled out, his azure robes rumpled, his hair a bird's nest, and dark circles under his eyes.
Hanyuan stared, then burst out laughing. "What in the heavens happened to you? Did you spend the night fighting a ghost?"
Qin Yu's face went a shade of red that rivaled a sunset. "I... I just finished a fourteen-hour cultivation cycle for the Spiraling Water manual, you asshole! Not everyone is a madman who can look refreshed after a night in the cold!"
They were still joking as they walked toward the cafeteria for a morning meal when a loud, wet thud echoed from the central plaza. A crowd of disciples had gathered in a circle, their voices hushed and fearful.
In the center, Mu Rongbing stood with her sword still sheathed. However, her foot was currently planted on the chest of a skinny, trembling youth named Zhu Feng. Zhu Feng was also at the 5th Layer of Qi Refining, yet he looked like a broken doll beneath her.
"Wait, why is she beating up Zhu Feng?" Qin Yu whispered, his humor vanishing.
"That idiot," a nearby disciple whispered back, his voice shaking. "Zhu Feng was caught trying to use a remote-sensing talisman to peek into Sister Mu's courtyard while she was bathing."
Hanyuan's brows shot up. Zhu Feng was a 5th layer cultivator yet he had used his strength for such a pathetic, dishonorable act. The boy's face was already swollen beyond recognition as Mu Rongbing delivered another cold, clinical kick.
"Peeping?" Hanyuan muttered. "Truly an idiot.
But more than the drama, Hanyuan focused on Mu Rongbing. Even while simply standing there, she felt different. Her pink hair seemed to shimmer with a faint aura.
The gap was no longer just the 8th Layer.
"She's at the 9th Layer," Hanyuan whispered, his obsidian eyes narrowing. "She broke through again. She's already at the Peak of the Qi Refining realm."
The excitement he had felt from his own progress cooled instantly. In the Cultivation World, even when you ran at full speed, others were flying.
Mu Rongbing turned her gaze away from the broken Zhu Feng and looked toward the crowd. For a fleeting second, her cold blue eyes met Hanyuan's. She didn't say a word, but the crushing weight of her presence told him everything: I am already at the top. You are still climbing.
Hanyuan didn't look away.
Qin Yu's expression turned solemn. He gripped Hanyuan's shoulder. "The 9th Layer... if Mu Rongbing is already there, the competition will be a bloodbath. I'm heading into closed-door cultivation immediately. If I can't reach the 8th Layer, I'll be nothing but a stepping stone for those geniuses."
Hanyuan watched his friend hurry back to his stone hut. He understood the feeling. In the World, you either moved forward or you were trampled. He touched the Cold Cloud Spear on his back. Its icy aura was comforting, but he knew his Cultivation wasn't deep enough to sustain combat for long. He needed more harvest of Merit Points to secure better resources for his own seclusion.
He turned toward the Mission Hall.
The morning air in the hall was chaotic. Group recruitment was in full swing.
"Looking for a 6th Layer body-temperer for the Crimson Cave!" a tall boy shouted.
A cute girl with a floral hairpin noticed Hanyuan's blue spear and brightened. "Junior brother, you have a high-tier spear! Want to join our squad for the Mountain Bear hunt? We'll give you five merit points just for participating!"
Hanyuan offered a polite, distant nod and shook his head. He bypassed the crowds and headed to the solo mission board, his eyes scanning for something specific.
There, a slightly scorched parchment caught his eye:
[Mission: Auxiliary Cold-Qi Infusion]
Target: Assist Elder Huo with the stabilization of a high-heat Pill Cauldron.
Reward: 14 Merit Points.
Requirement: Pure Ice element Qi. High endurance. A steady mind.
Fourteen points? Hanyuan's brow climbed his forehead. That was more than some beast-hunting missions that lasted days. This was only a single session of labor.
He snatched the scroll and took it to the deacon's desk. The deacon, a man with heavy bags under his eyes, looked at the scroll and then at Hanyuan with a look of profound pity.
"Junior brother, I see you have an Ice affinity, but are you sure?" the deacon whispered. "Elder Huo is... well, his temper is hotter than his furnaces. If you aren't precise with your Qi, or if you blink at the wrong time, you'll lose a layer of skin to his tongue,or the fire. He's had three assistants quit this week alone."
"I can handle it," Hanyuan replied.
The deacon stamped the tally and handed it over, muttering under his breath, "Don't be late. If the furnace starts to flicker because you're lingering on the road, that old man will scold you until your ears fall off."
Hanyuan followed the instructions to the far eastern edge of the Cloud-Jade Isle. The scenery changed from lush gardens to charred earth and blackened stone. In the center of a scorched clearing stood a building made entirely of cast bronze, shaped exactly like a massive, three-legged alchemy cauldron. Wisps of dark, sulfuric smoke curled from its "lids," and the air vibrated with a dull, subterranean roar.
The heat was oppressive. Even ten yards away, Hanyuan felt the moisture being sucked from his lungs. He walked up to the heavy bronze doors and knocked.
"This junior is here for the mission!" he called out.
"Enter! If you have hands, use them! If you have cold Qi, vent it! Move, move, move!" A voice screamed from inside, sounding like a pile of gravel being shaken in a metal bucket.
Hanyuan pushed the doors open.
A wave of crimson heat rolled over him. Inside, the floor was glowing dull red. In the center stood a man who was shockingly short, with a wild, unkempt beard of iron-gray and skin as dark and wrinkled as a roasted nut. He was currently throwing handfuls of glowing herbs into a central furnace while kicking a bellows.
"Don't just stand there! The Fire is about to breach the third seal!" Elder Huo roared, pointing at a small jade-covered vent at the base of the furnace. "Get to the North Vent! Channel your Qi into the coolant runes! If the temperature rises by one degree, I'll turn you into a medicinal dreg!"
Hanyuan didn't hesitate. He dropped into a cross-legged position before the vent, the heat already making his hair singe. He placed his palms against the runes and released his Qi.
As the icy Qi hit the scorching furnace, a sound like a thunderclap rang out. White steam erupted, filling the room instantly. Hanyuan gritted his teeth, feeling the sheer raw power of the furnace fighting his ice.