NOVEL FROG Chapter 34: Gathering
Transmigrated back into the body of her child self, can the mighty Celestial Bing Meilu survive in a Xianxia world all the while staving off the advances of arrogant young masters and wannabe protagonists alike?
Why is life so hard for the Icy Beauty?
Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Chapter 34: Gathering
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Li Gongtian gasped and heaved as he slammed his hands forward, qi pouring out. Even at the sixth stage of Qi Condensation, The Manyhearts Shield Formation that Senior Zhang was instructing them in was extremely difficult for him to maintain.
A rock blitzed through the air, slamming into his stomach. For a single moment, a glowing golden barrier seemed to appear, keeping the rock at bay. Then, it immediately shattered.
"Try again." the gravelly voice man ordered.
To properly manifest the Manyhearts Sheilds required the ten BMFS cultivators to externalize and vibrate their Qi in sync. Even a slight deviation would cause destructive interference and destabilize the barrier. However, when it was properly active, it allowed them to automatically block nearly any attack by sharing Qi. That way no enemy could pick off weaker members one by one. They either all lived, or all died. It was an impressive formation, but Li Gongtian was keen enough to understand its obvious flaw.
It would only take one cowardly member deciding to run away and preserve their own life to destabilize the barrier and potentially screw over the rest.
"Hey, brother Gongtian!"
The man in question turned from his practice, seeing Daoist Earthheart running towards him, waving. The older expert's extremely long curly black beard bobbed as he ran. Gongtian silently disengaged from the drill, jogging to meet the man.
"Have you been considering my offer?" Earthheart asked brow furrowed, as they stood side by side. "The Boss has instructed me to find a wood cultivator very soon. If you don't agree now, I'll have to ask someone from outside the Faction."
Li nodded, biting his lip as he thought. It was an interesting offer. The Elemental Four were among the stronger members of the former Crimson Dragon Faction, and joining them could prove to be a boon. However, Li was not a Wood Cultivator. He was a River cultivator. Converting one's Qi and cultivation method to another one could be a disastrous process. If a mistake was made, best case scenario, he would disperse his cultivation base and become a mortal. Worst case he may have his meridians permanently crippled, or even die.
It was not as risky for him, however. According to the Five Phases, Water generated Wood. If Li converted the River Qi he had cultivated, according to the Churning River Diver's Wisdom, into Water Qi, and then to Wood Qi, as Daoist Eartheart had offered, he would likely only drop as far as the fourth stage of Qi Condensation. That was in fact the reason Daoist Eartheart had given him the offer.
"I'm not sure about it..." Li sighed. "I know that you'd treat me well if I became a member, but two whole stages-"
"If you join my Elemental Four, and become a member of Bing Meilu's inner circle... I can guarantee you that you will reach Foundation Establishment within the year!" The black-haired man interrupted.
"...What the hell do you mean by that?" Li asked, confused.
Was Daoist Earthheart pulling his leg? He had never associated the stoic and serious man with such pranks.
"Look, if you do not agree to join, I can't tell you anything. But... I swear on our decade together as members of the Crimson Dragon Faction, that I am not lying to you."
Losing two stages of hard-earned cultivation and giving his Essence blood to the vaguely suspicious Bing Meilu... It was a huge thing to ask. Li Gongtian was not very trusting, even of his old comrade... But that was a huge promise. Earthheart was not the kind of man to lie about something like that. It could just very well be worth it.
"Uh, fine. I-I'll do it!" he took the plunge.
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After placing his Essence Blood into the chalice and swearing himself to Bing Meilu, Daoist Eatheart led Li Gongtian to a freshly built earthen chamber just outside the main base of the BMFS Faction. He opened the door, smiling as Li Gongtian gasped.
The younger sixth-stage cultivator stared down at the floor in complete marvel. Those incredible lines, the sheer complexity of the geometry...
"Eartheart... This has to be at least a Four Star Formation, maybe higher!"
"Bing Meilu called it 'The Five Bones Of the Origin God," The Daoist said, still smiling. "I hope you understand why I was so confident in my claim?"
The formation was the size of a large carpet, carved onto a stone foundation slab. Most of it was taken up by five symbols, one for each of the five phases, connected with geometric lines. Thousands of tiny symbols were carved around them in a bizarre script.
Wood generates Fire
Fire generates Earth
Earth generates Metal
Metal generates Water
Water generates Wood.
Li Gongtian studied the Wood aspect of the formation. A complex cultivation mnemonic was inscribed into it. He enhanced his eyes with Qi, unable to make out the tiny words with his unaided vision. Li Gongtian gulped. he could tell that what he was staring at was a cultivation method far more advanced than his current one. The first and most obvious clue was how it reached all the way to the transcending impurity realm, the fifth of the Qi Cultivation Realms.
He sat atop the Wood aspect of the formation and began to gently cultivate the new Wood method he had just read. The symbols for 'Water' and 'Wood' lit up, and he felt a gentle energy enter his Dantian, slowly aiding in the conversion of his Qi.
The Private had expected the process to take weeks of bitter cultivation and cause him to drop two or three stages of Qi Condensation. Instead, only an hour later, he stepped into the seventh stage of Qi Condensation, his aura bursting with the vibrant power of Wood Qi. Daoist Earthheart nodded silently in approval.
"Now that you have become a Wood cultivator, it's time you take on a Daoist name as a member of the Elemental Four- I Mean the Elemental Five."
The newly christened wood cultivation paused, conserving the Daoist names of his four compatriates. There was Daoist Earthheart, Daoist Flamesworn, Daoist Seagreen and Daoist Goldsnake.
"Then I think I will be... Daoist Broadforest," he replied.
It did not take long for the aforementioned cultivators to arrive. After some short congratulations, the five members sat down upon the formation and began to cultivate it in tandem. It would be a long time until they stood up again.
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Bing Meilu sat upon a bed of ice, a serene, empty expression gracing her perfectly carved jade-like face. With how little she moved, and how free she seemed of imperfection, one would be hard-pressed to tell she was not an expensive porcelain doll, save for the subtle beating of her heart.
Around her a vortex of Qi swirled, so thick and condensed a blue glow visible even to the naked eye emanated from it. With her level of talent, she was more limited by the amount of Qi in the air than anything else. Still, she dared not use any pills or supplements. Pills produced by the unskilled alchemists of the lower stages of cultivation were filled with impurities and honestly more a hindrance than a help. Despite that roadblock... Bing Meilu smiled as she felt her entire meridian system shake and expand. A breakthrough!
Within each aperture of her seventy-two apertures was now a fully formed meridian system, each housing roughly the same amount of Qi as the average cultivator. This was proof that she had finally reached the peak of Qi Condensation, the tenth stage. If she wished, she could likely immediately take on the Foundation Establishment Tribulation and step into the Second of the Ten Mortal Realms.
However, now was not the time. She would need to temper herself further before she continued her cultivation further, lest she develop a weak foundation. Power needed to be used to be properly realized, after all. Bing Meilu stood, striding out of her sealed room and into her throne chamber.
"Oh, I forgot about you," she remarked.
Aiwa Satsushi, still covered in ice, glared at her with his crimson-red eyes. The serpent had been left alone, in a dark corner of her throneroom for nearly two weeks by now.
"Ready to give in?" she asked. "You may answer me."
'Eat a thousand horse phalluses you loose woman-' the snake immediately began upon being allowed to speak, only to freeze again as she removed his speaking permissions once more.
"You'll break eventually," she commented. "Until then, I have business to deal with. Perhaps I'll see you in a month."
The ice cultivator continued out of her throneroom, entering Li Ji's office. The Yin metal cultivator was in a meditative position eyes closed, as he slowly chanted the Manyfold Good Fortune Dao-Enshrining Scripture. Around him, nearly invisible lines of karmic wealth twisted and churned, carrying with them faint traces of the Yin-metal Qi the man needed for his cultivation. As opposed to Yang Metal, which was sword and spear and the harsh unyielding steel of the weapons of war, Yin Metal was the manifestation of gold and coins and jewelled necklaces. It was no wonder that the element was so common amongst merchants, traders, bankers and the like.
Based on the faint aura issuing from him, Li Ji had already stepped into the ninth stage of Qi Condensation in the time since she'd taught him the scripture. For the Bird Talon Continent, this was excellent progress. However, it slightly disappointed Bing Meilu. This was, after all, a sacred scripture of the merchants of the Immortal Worlds, said to be the fragment of the Gospel of an ancient God of Wealth. Was him breaking into Foundation Establishment not a valid expectation? It seemed that in the end, a mortal was a mortal no matter how mighty a technique was taught to them.
"Li ji," her authoritative voice broke the man out of his meditation. "Call a meeting of my faithful slaves. I have an important announcement."
She left without hearing his response. Li Ji was diligent and creative, and she felt little need to micromanage him. An hour later, she was standing in the field outside the faction headquarters, watching various members arrive.
Zhang stood in front of the nine members who has refused to join her inner circle. While their cultivation bases had not advanced, they had still clearly grown much stronger. She could sense the ever-present power of a Manyheart Sheild blossoming around them, and overall their auras were much sharper and more condensed, reflecting their increase in combat power. Weeks of harsh boot camp under a veteran core formation would do that to the degenerate layabout loan sharks of the former Crimson Dragon Faction.
Besides Li Ji, who sat patiently by her side, she could see Jiang Hu, whose transformation was far more noticeable. His Qi had been changed from that of a fiery flame cultivator to something far more bestial and mighty, yet still burning with flame. While still far from anything resembling an actual Drake, it was an impressive increase in strength.
The more noticeable change was in his physical form. His body cultivation had advanced from the third to the sixth stage of Lung Vitalization. Where once, he was covered in seemingly bronzed metallic skin, now his skin was a fleshy red, much more organic in nature that now writhed with moving patches of razor-sharp red scales that pushed in and out of his skin uncontrollably. He would need to correctly cultivate with Drake's blood to stabile his physical body.
Ji Hui arrived too. Despite Having completely restored his cultivation, he had already reached the fourth stage. He could sense two distinct auras, a human one, and one belonging to a Spiritual Beast, presumably a Spirit-Dog. This was an early manifestation of the Beast-Man Becoming Art.
'At least, his cultivation base is no longer disgustingly offensive to my eyes.' she sighed.
Then there was the Elemental Five. Their auras seemed completely united, Qi of the five phases continually cycling between them, even as they stood in a loose formation by Jiang Hu's side. The power that could be unleashed by four cooperative cultivators in a formation was already explosive, but with fifth members to complete the circuit, and a manual and formation as mighty as the Five Bones of the Origin God, their strength was exponentially higher, to the point they were likely invincible to anyone but a Peak Foundation Establishment enemy.
"Where is Xi Fu?" Bing Meilu asked Li Ji without turning her head.
"Um, he is in the Medicine Hall, your ladyship."
"...Why?"
"He-um, well, he blew off his feet during your test."
"I know, I heard him do so. Why is he not out of the Hall yet? It's been two weeks. I'm sure we can afford a regeneration pill."
"Actually, the healers are stumped. Apparently, there is an issue preventing them from simply using a normal regenerative method."
Bing Meilu frowned, already getting an inkling of what the issue may be. If it was what she thought...
"All of you stay here, I need to go check on Private Xi. I will be back with haste."
A flex of her incredible Qi pool was all it took for the icy cultivator to blur across the open field of 70th Port Snake towards her destination.