NOVEL FROG Chapter 64: Don't mind if I buy a little something?
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 64: Don't mind if I buy a little something?
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Essence Blood resided in the Ancestral Cavity, an Aperture point located between the eyes. It was the place where the uncultivated Soul naturally resided. Thus the blood of the Ancestral Cavity, being near the soul, developed a strong spirituality and was deeply connected to the fundamentals of your being.
For those with the knowledge or tools, Essence Blood could be sacrificed or 'burnt' to provide a burst of temporary power far beyond what one could normally manage. This was often used as a last resort life-saving measure, or as a resource for extremely important situations.
However, burning Essence Blood had extreme consequences, ones that only become worse the more was lost. At the lowest level, one would permanently harm their future talent and cultivation. Their vitality decreased, and they would struggle to cultivate further the more was lost. If a large amount was sacrificed, one's cultivation base could regress or even end up crippled. If enough was burnt, you would die.
Medicines that restored Essence Blood were extremely rare, even rarer than Meridian healing treasures, and the higher your cultivation, the harder it was to restore. Even if you were incredibly wealthy and managed to heal your Essence blood, it could never progress past the amount you had when you burnt it, a deep blow to one's future potential, even in the best of cases.
Therefore, those watching were extremely shocked as Commodore Black Heartflame began to glow with a bloody red light. Waves of chaotic qi rolled off of him, growing stronger and stronger even as they grew more chaotic. He had clearly sacrificed a large amount of Essence Blood to unleash power far beyond what he was normally capable of.
"Has Black Heartflame gone insane? He's burning his Essence Blood to fight five juniors a full Realm below him?" A lieutenant in Tang Squadron asked in shock. "Isn't he losing face for all Nascent Souls?"
"The Commodore is no fool. If he wins the service of Bing Meilu's faction, he will by far outstrip his rivals in terms of the power of his followers, According to the leaks, that will be the main criterion in determining the successor to the Division Commander. That's a massive rise in access to resources, in other words, his pathway to the Transcending Impurtity Realm!" the man's superior explained. "Compared to that, even half dying would be worth it. While he's strong, everyone has known of Black Heartflame's struggle to progress his cultivation further. He has to win this contest, even at the cost of his Essence Blood!"
Meanwhile, in the forest, the Elemental Five stood silent, staring up at the blazing light above with calm expressions, as they cycled the energy of the five phases between them. Rather than cowed, their cultivations actually seemed to be steadily rising, their freshly broken-through First Stage cultivation sliding forward to the second.
The floating Commodore raised his blood-red hands, muttering under his breath. A black fire that seemed to extinguish all light appeared atop his palms, pouring outwards like water pouring from a jug, only towards the heavens, rather than the earth. Soon, a lake of ebony fire covered the sky, rippling and churning like real water.
These were the 'Black Heartflames' the man's Daoist title was named after. They were actually the result of an extremely mysterious legacy tome h had stumbled onto by complete chance. The man had complete faith in the power of his Heartflames. Today, he would crush those before him and finally win the competition that had consumed decades of his life.
The Commodore's cultivation base regressed. From the seventh stage of Nascent Soul to the sixth, then the fifth, then the fourth. Nearly a century of bitter progress lost in an instant. Yet the power of the flames above only grew more and more extreme, to the point its pressure could be easily felt even by the distant spectator's countless miles away.
A brilliant rainbow light exploded from the Commodore as more and more Qi spilled from his Nascent Soul and into the burning black fire. An audible chanting filled the air, in an ancient, unrecognizable language.
At least, to the people of the Bird Talon Continent, it was unknown. Bing Meilu recognized it.
"Great Black Bodhissatva! My eyes are black with ignorance, my heart is burning with pure faith! Lead me from the day of sorrow and vicissitudes, into a night of emptiness and certainty! Lead me to the depths of bitterness, to the foothold of Sovereignty!"
As the sombre ancient chanting rose in volume, the Commodore visibly withered, his skin turning gaunt and yellow, yet the power of his attack only rising and rising.
'So he cultivates a simplified version of the Black Heretical Buddha's Heart Flame Sutra?' she realized, vaguely recognizing the chant.
The Black Heretical Buddha Cult, or as they referred to themselves as, the Faithful of the Black Certainty Buddha, was an unorthodox sect of Buddhist cultivators who harvested the faith of numerous mortal planes to power their own cultivation. Simplified versions of their techniques were often used to gain the loyalty of mortals, who would then gather followers for their masters.
Somehow or other, fragments of their inheritance made their way to the Bird Talon Continent during the Classical Era, only to be suppressed by the Great Minghong Dynasty, the ancestors of the modern Eastern Enlightenment Hall, who were from a separate lineage of Buddhism, and detested what the saw heretical deviations. In the end, no Black heretical Buddhist ever gained prominence or power, but every now and again, someone would find a fragment of their legacy and cultivate it.
It also explained why the Commodore was so dead set on a promotion, even to the point of sacrificing his Essence Blood. Becoming a Division Commander would increase his authority and control of others and would allow him access to a far greater amount of the intangible faith energy he needed to cultivate.
The chanting grew louder, and the sky turned above the Commodore turned completely black, consumed by the dark fire, until no blue sky could be seen for miles. This was an attack that even one at the utter peak of the Nascent Soul realm would not be able to casually unleash. It even seemed that the spatial laws of the Bird Talon Continent were shuddering from the pressure, subtle distortions twisting through the air.
This was the full power of a Nascent Soul cultivator, someone who could reshape the landscape. When the fire descended, let alone the forest, the whole region would be utterly incinerated.
"Bitter Lake, Burn all sight! Bitter Fate, overturn the light! Bitter hate, bring the night! Drowning-In-Fire Palm!"
A crushing pressure exploded, ripping open the world. Black lines danced through the air, like cracks in a rock. Even Space would break before the spiritual power of a Nascent Soul. The lake of fire shrunk into an enormous floating palm, each finger the size of a mountain. Before it, the Elemental Five were like ants, utterly insignificant. A vague Buddha figure appeared as an outline as if prepared to crush the mortal dust beneath its divine hand.
The other three Commodores, Rampage-Sword, Tang and Liyang, let a rare expression of shock grace their countenance. None of them had known that Commodore Blackflame had such a terrifying attack up his sleeve. While some of them could perhaps just barely survive the attack, assuming each used their trump cards, five people barely in the first stage of Core Formation should be utterly doomed.
They even entertained thoughts of intervention to save the five captains. After all, if decades of rivalry were ended just like this, it would be a bit too laughable. By no means could they allow Commodore Black Heartflame to win the bet with Bing Meilu and gain her services for free. At least if he was forced to compete in an auction, they all had a fair chance of victory.
However, it was too late for such thoughts. The massive palm descended, leaving a trail of empty blackness as it travelled downwards. Weighty and imposing, it seemed to scrape away space.
A massive formation appeared around the five men. Golden symbols poured from them to create an enormous floating diagram. It appeared like a humble chart of the five phases found on the wall of an old medicine man, only the size of an entire field. The enormous diagram rose to meet the descending palm. Then, to the shock of everyone watching, the palm froze in place, chains of symbols growing from the diagram to wrap around it like bindings.
Commodore Black Heartflame's jaw dropped in complete shock. What he was seeing was not possible! He knew that out in the wide world were geniuses whose combat power was far beyond the norm... but this was a bit ridiculous. Even someone a half step into Transcending Impurity would have to take this attack seriously.
'This can't be fucking real- I'm dreaming? Are they all Chosen of Heaven or something?'
Below, the formation began to glow. The Elemental Five all closed their eyes in concentration.
"Burning creates ashen soil!" Daoist Flameheart shouted.
Black flame poured from the palm, a whole finger of fire draining into the formation. A massive yellow character appeared in the air, reading Earth.
"Metal conducts heat away from the flame." Daoist Goldsnake smiled.
The Earth character rippled, now reading Metal. A brilliant white light ripped the second finger to pieces, The glowing character grew even larger as it devoured the attack.
"Rain extinguishes all blazes." Daoist Seagreen continued.
The metal character became Water. The third finger was smothered.
"I don't actually have a fancy line, I hope brothers can forgive me!" Daoist Broadforest admitted, bowing his head in apology.
He waved his hand, and the water character once more became a chart of the whole five phases. Wood produced flame, flame produced earth, earth produced metal, metal produced water, and water produced wood. The cycle grew larger and larger, swallowing flame energy until the fourth finger disappear.
"Per the draining cycle, Earth smothers Fire," Daoist Eartheart finished, making a dramatic crushing motion with his hand.
The flame palm, which earlier had seemed so utterly unstoppable,e obediently crumbled into motes of light that poured into the formation, becoming earth energy.
"We'll have to have a talk about your ability to represent the Elemental Five's reputation, Broadforest! Wouldn't it have been better to stay silent, than to say aloud you were stumped?"
"...Sorry boss."
"Whatever. Right now, we have to cultivate!"
The group fell silent, preparing to refine the incredible amount of energy and advance their cultivation base. They actually had not expected to receive such an amazing gift from the Commodore, even to the point he had burned his own Essence Blood just to give them more power.
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Everyone watching the exchange on the spiritual projection fell completely silent. Only one thought came to mind.
"Geniuses!"
It wasn't that long ago, the Chosen of Heaven Ji Longyi slaughtered multiple Nascent Soul demonic cultivators while barely in the first stage of Core Formation. But that was comprehensible. Chosen of Heaven were special existences who defied the norms.
If it weren't for his personal matters, an incredible talent like Ji Longyi would have long since gone beyond their meagre Seventh Port Snake and into the sacred lands of the Armada out on the sea. Several Fleet Admirals had offered to take him as a direct disciple, but the man always said no. He was the pride and celebrity of the whole port, so if it had been Ji Longyi blocked the attack, it would not be that surprising.
But the Elemental Five? They were completely obscure, but those who had known them understood they had been low-level, modestly skilled juniors in Qi Condensation, practicing a Formation of the five phases, with only four members. In other words, they were ordinary, people doomed to never make waves in the world.
Yet now they had all risen to the level of Core Formation and become so incredibly powerful even a Nascent Soul could not hurt them.
That was not even mentioning the other captains of the faction, a sabre fighter with an incredibly domineering bloodline, and a spear genius who had awakened martial intent in the third realm, plus all the talented lieutenants who no doubt had high potential as well.
"Bing Meilu's faction is going to go far beyond our Port," one Captain realized, shaking his head. "Isn't it a shame this is the second shocking genius born in our home, destined to leave it far behind?"
"That's fine," his comrade smiled. "Amongst all the backwater ports, how many can brag to have produced two crops of shocking geniuses? Heaven is smiling on us, to let us witness the birth of future legends."
"That's assuming they survive. Dead geniuses are not geniuses. Many people like them will die long before ever achieving their potential."
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With a crack of displaced air, Commodore Black Heartflame returned to Port Snake. His face was ashen and filled with utter despair. Not only had he failed to gain anything, he had actually irreparably damaged his own personal power. At this point, let alone the clear strongest of the four, he might have actually become the weakest.
'How did they do that? How they could stop my attack? How is any of this possible? Has my whole life and all my cultivation has been a joke?'
He could barely think, his entire mind blank in disbelief.
A Nascent Soul, who upon unleashing his ultimate move, failed to kill five early Core Formation juniors. He suddenly had the feeling his name would become a laughingstock for centuries to come.
"Sir..." his right-hand Captain looked at him with worry. "Was that truly wise?"
"So long as I could have become a Commander and attain the loyalty and reverence of a whole Division, it would have been worth it! " the Commodore shook his head. "Where else am I supposed to find the path to Saint, if not in this promotion? I had to go all out..."
He sighed in despair. What ifs were useless now. It would have been worth it had he succeeded, but at this point, he was like the saying 'To try to steal the chicken only to end up losing the rice'. He had only harmed his own efforts. Before he looked like a vigorous, youthful man. Now he appeared much more his true age, doddering and old, as he took a seat overlooking the auction stage.
"What an astonishing show of ingenuity and talent! Even in all the nine heavens and ten earths, such skillful Formation Cultivators are rare! Let's all give it up for the Elemental Five and the Bing Meilu's faithful slaves faction." Bing Meilu shouted. "...clap!"
Behind her, all of the BMFS members began to cheer and clap as if their lives depended on it. One even pulled out a drum and began to loudly beat it.
"Also, our faction will be recruiting after the auction ends, so even those who do not plan to buy anything should stay if they're interested in such a thing. Now, let's not waste any more time. If anyone had doubts about the value of this purchase, I'm sure they are settled now. As for rules, you must take out whatever you plan to bid with, so its existence can be verified. The highest bidder wins. Now begin!"
"I'll start us off then. A deed to a large vein of Cold Gorge Silver!" Commodore Tang shouted, pulling out a large piece of paper. "It's estimated that there are several entire mountains worth of metal in this untapped mine. You could use it to create a treasure trove of weapons and armour and as material for your faction's ships."
"Bah, is that supposed to be impressive?" Commodore Rampage-Sword shouted. "The still-beating heart of an evergreen tree demon at the peak of the Fourth Realm is more valuable."
An enormous green heart appeared in the air, beating and pouring a powerful woody life Qi.
Commodore Black Heartrflame's spatial ring flashed, and he pulled out a long obsidian spear that crackled and sizzled with flames. Its aura seemed to pulse, pushing and pulling as if under the influence of an unseen tide. However, the rhythm was disrupted by constant flares of fiery energy.
"A World-Merging Treasure?"
"Not quite... Its aura is chaotic and disordered. It must be defective or broken somehow. A true World-Merging Item flawlessly syncs with the natural world."
"This is the Dharma Incerinating Heavyspear. I found it deep in an ancient tomb. I hope we can all agree this is something of incredible value. While it can no longer function as a proper combat weapon in its broken state, studying it will be very beneficial to one attempting to understand the mysteries of Sainthood."
World-Merging Treasures were magical items capable of syncing with the pulse of the world, borrowing the power of nature to unleash massive power. They were normally intended to be wielded by those in the Saint-Realm.
However, this spear seemed to have a chaotic aura that prevented it from properly unleashing the power of nature. Even still, by studying, one might gain clues on the breakthrough to the Saint realm. While it was not directly relevant to Bing Meilu, who was in the second realm, she could sell or exchange it for a massive amount of wealth, far more than either of the other bids.
All eyes turned to Commodore Liyang, who had yet to put forward his own bid. The man stood, projecting his voice to the whole audience.
"Long ago lived the incredibly renowned formation master of our Bird Talon Continent, the Ancient Sage, Senior Nine Martial Truth. He left behind a secret legacy I've managed to uncover-"
"All by yourself I'm sure," Commodore Rampage-Sword interrupted, smirking sardonically.
"As such, I can only humbly present this Nine Revolutions Secret Tome, a treasure trove of rare and powerful formations, reaching all the way to the Ancient Sage Realm."
At that, Commodore Liyang smirked. The obvious benefit of his bid was that knowledge was not something that could be lost. Regardless of the value of the Tome, he would never hand it over without having made either a copy or memorized everything within. He was planning on winning this auction without losing any wealth.
"Hah! How about this?" Commodore Rampage-Sword shouted.
A jade-green slip of paper appeared in his hand. It emanated a pristine aura of pure yin metal that engulfed the whole port.
"How about a ticket to the fabled Jade-Heart Palace?" he smirked. "I found this in the stomach of a Peak Fourth Realm sea demon. With it, one can enter the world's most mysterious secret realm when it opens, attaining countless good fortunes! This is something all geniuses dream of attaining. Worthy of a faction, if I do say so myself."
Huge exclamations of shock filled the whole audience, but Bing Meilu remained calm, eyes flashing to the other commodores.
Bing Meilu herself had no interest in trash-level mortal arrays and formations. Nor did she need a ticket to the Jade Heart Palace. When it descended, one could openly snatch tickets from the weak. However, both were obviously of extreme value. She could sell them for resources more immediately useful to her ascent.
"An auction? How interesting. it's been years since I've gone shopping. Say little fellow, you don't mind if this old man participates?"
Flying down from the sky, stroking a long white beard, was the Commander Third Division of the Private Subduing Strike Force, master of the Seventh Port Snake, Grand Elder of the Ji Clan, Ji Tianfang!