Mortal Saint

Chapter 65: Chapter 64: Mourning on the Old Street, Honing Sword Skill, the Jade Deer Treads the Medicine Hall, and Old Huang’s Fury

The autumn wind sighed, and withered trees stood bare.

Another year was drawing to a close. The frigid winds and snows of the north were not far off.

This winter, who knew how many poor families would be trapped in alleys overflowing with sewage? With drafty bedding and no firewood or charcoal, they would struggle just to survive.

In the past, his own family had been in no better state.

But Zhang Qing tightened the thick uniform of the Wind and Cloud Association, a sharp martial outfit. He lifted his head high, his eyes shining as he looked down the dilapidated alley:

’Yesterday at the Medicine Hall, Pharmacist Huang was scared of his own shadow for some reason. He sent me on an errand to the Inner Street to personally fetch Instructor Wang of the Overlord Spear. We were busy the entire day, right until nightfall.’

’The delay meant I could only collect my silver coins this morning to go home and see my dad and my sisters.’

He patted his bulging waist pouch, an irrepressible smile spreading across his face:

’Life really has gotten so much better since I started following Brother Ji. Heh...’

’But he’s so powerful. I wonder if I’ll ever be even a tenth as capable in this lifetime, enough to actually help him.’

Zhang Qing scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

When your childhood friend suddenly skyrockets to become a major figure, it’s impossible to get used to it in just two short months.

Still, everything he had now came from two people—half from Brother Ji, and the other half from ’Master Han’.

’Now that I’ve learned Martial Arts and made something of myself, I have to find a way to repay them.’

With that thought, he straightened his back, rested a hand on his saber, and strode purposefully into the alley.

His dad had told him not long ago.

’If you’ve been poor your whole life and finally make something of yourself, you have to stand tall.’

’Don’t be like me,’ he’d said, ’and get so used to stooping that you can’t stand straight even when you want to.’

However, just as he was about to reach his front door, a sudden gust of cold wind swept past.

It was followed by a swirling flurry of white ’snow’ that grazed Zhang Qing’s cheek, making him stare in blank confusion:

"Is this... snow?"

He looked up at the sky and scratched his head.

’The sky isn’t even white.’

He wiped a hand across his cheek and sniffed his fingers. His expression suddenly hardened:

’Ash from burnt paper...’

His gaze followed the wind’s path back to its source.

When he saw the familiar courtyard of his home, where a mourning tent had been erected and everything was draped in white...

The color drained from his face, leaving it a ghastly white.

...

「Meanwhile.」

The Fire Kiln. A courtyard paved with bluestone bricks.

[Swinging the saber while visualizing the ’Sword Mountain and Fire Sea Stance’. Successfully captured its essential form. Progress +1!]

[Sword Mountain and Fire Sea Stance: (7/1000)]

’Just as I predicted. The more advanced the technique, the harder it is to master.’

Ji Xiu panted, out of breath. He swung the Fine Willow Saber, a gift from Wei Zhi engraved with the words, ’I would follow the flowing moonlight to shine upon you.’ Again and again, he practiced the forms, visualizing the Sword Mountain and Fire Sea Stance.

He had just been practicing for a full two hours straight!

He had poured all his effort into it, holding his breath and focusing his mind. He visualized its Divine Charm as his saber strictly followed the prescribed forms...

Yet, for every few dozen strikes, only a single one would advance his progress.

Looking at the Primordial Daoist Talisman, Ji Xiu knew he had a long and arduous road ahead to master this saber art.

’Now that the level of this ’Sword Stance’ is higher, it’s definitely harder to advance than the Celestial River Saber was.’

’Then how much more intense would those so-called ’Secret Martial Daos’ be? Are the requirements even more stringent?’

’If only this ’Primordial Daoist Talisman’ could advance a few more things at once. There’s so much to learn and practice, and it’s just not enough!’

’But Master Duan said this saber art is a Fighting Technique. Its stance must be honed in battle, not something that can be mastered through bitter training alone. And he mentioned the ’Three Great Gangs’ and ’Four Great Halls’... He must want me to go and test my blade on them.’

’Hmm, after I finish refining pills for Old Huang today, I’ll give it a shot.’

He pumped his fist.

Ji Xiu looked over at the Spirit Deer in his little bluestone courtyard. Its hide was the color of cyan and it had antlers of green jade. His little sister, Ji Wei, was circling it, her eyes full of curiosity, but she didn’t dare get any closer.

He chuckled at the sight.

"Come here!"

CLIP-CLOP-CLIP!

Upon hearing his voice, the Jade Deer, which had been sprawling on the ground yawning, jolted upright. It trotted over at once, a fawning look in its eyes.

Seeing this, Ji Xiu casually flicked a Ninth-Grade Tiger and Leopard Pill between his thumb and forefinger and tossed it into the air.

He then watched as the Jade Deer leaped, snatched it from the air, and swallowed it in a single gulp, a humanlike look of ’satisfaction’ on its face.

Ji Xiu was left speechless.

"I’m telling you, you’re a horse, a horse!"

He grumbled as he pulled out a handful of beans and urged it on:

"Eat, hurry up and eat!"

"Even other horses don’t get feed this good!"

In response, the Jade Deer flopped down, turned its head away, and ignored him completely.

Ji Xiu’s expression darkened.

Back when he was a groom, he’d thought it was a waste for horses to eat polished rice, soybeans, and eggs. He and Old Yao had secretly pocketed all the good feed for themselves.

And now, here he was, offering this excellent feed, and this damn deer wouldn’t even give it a second glance...

’Ah, forget it. If it wasn’t a much better mount than an ordinary horse, and besides...’

A glint flashed in Ji Xiu’s eyes, and a ’benevolent’ smile appeared on his face.

"Fine, if you don’t want to eat, then don’t."

"Then just eat more Pills. Get stronger as quickly as possible. When the time comes, we can ’swear a blood oath’ and become the best of comrades, true brothers-in-arms..."

The Jade Deer’s eyes darted about at his words. It nodded vigorously and even lowered its antlers, letting the nearby Ji Wei give them a pat.

Meanwhile, it was thinking gleefully:

’This stuff is way tastier than the grass in the mountains!’

’It might not be as nutritious, but how can roughing it in the wild compare to this? A comfortable life where I just have to let someone ride me and stretch my legs a little to get these tasty morsels?’

’Nope, I’m not leaving. Not ever.’

Ji Xiu’s eyes narrowed as he mounted the deer. Activating ’Waist and Horse Unity’, he controlled the deer as if it were a horse—a literal case of calling a deer a horse—while thinking to himself:

’Master Duan said this Jade Deer has been nurtured by nature itself. It’s never been tainted by the scent of blood, making it a true Spirit Monster. If it can learn to ’absorb the essence of the moon and cultivate Spiritual Qi’ in the future, it will become something extraordinary.’

’Its blood is also a Great Treasure. When I reach the Bone Tempering stage and need to constantly replace my blood, its blood will be on par with that of a hundred-year-old sentient Great Demon. That’s a being far more formidable than even a Skin Refining master!’

’And what is drawing a bit of your blood if not a form of ’swearing a blood oath’...? ’

’Little Deer, I need you to help me with my Cultivation!’

...

Wind and Cloud Association, Medicine Hall.

The sky grew darker; it was already late afternoon.

Huang Xuan had dark circles under his eyes. Beside him, a gaunt, gray-haired middle-aged man with a large spear strapped to his back sat cross-legged.

"Mr. Huang, is this person you spoke of ever going to show up?"

Wang Jun, the ’Overlord Spear’, sighed.

"We may have had some dealings back in Jiangyin Prefecture, but I can’t just wait around day after day. I have a large school to run and disciples who need instruction. I can’t be here forever..."

"I’ll pay more!"

Huang Xuan’s eyes blazed; he felt his very life was under threat. At the offer, Wang Jun’s eyes lit up, and he swallowed the words he was about to say.

’A furnace of Seventh-Grade Pills refined for me daily, free of charge. Where else am I going to find a deal this good?’

’Even if I can’t use the Hundred Herbs Pills and Cold-Relieving Pills to get Old Huang under my thumb, having him refine pills for me for free is more than enough.’

’If I venture a few hundred more li along the Mountain Dao, get closer to the ’Earth Dragon Cave’ and find all the herbs I need... maybe in three to five years, I can actually break through the ’Immortal Robe’ bottleneck at the Peak of Skin Refining!’

’Once that happens, I’ll be able to establish a firm foothold in the Prefecture City. Why would I need to struggle to make a living here!’

The two sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

CLIP-CLOP-CLIP!

Just then, a Jade Deer with a coat unblemished by a single stray hair in the twilight glow, trotted gracefully up to the Medicine Hall.

Huang Xuan’s eyes were instantly glued to it:

"This deer..."

"A prime ’Great Medicine’!"

Before Wang Jun beside him could even assess its worth, Huang Xuan had already shot to his feet. His eyes burned with a sudden heat as he watched the black-clad youth drop the reins and dismount the deer, his greatcloak whipping in the wind like a cape. Huang Xuan rubbed his fingers together:

"Ji the kid, where did you get this deer?"

"I’ll let it slide that you were late this morning. But this deer... could you give it to this old man...?"

He had barely finished speaking. The youth swung himself off the deer’s back. One moment, the deer was obediently lowering its head to lie down quietly; the next, it spotted two bamboo racks laden with drying herbs.

Two puffs of white air instantly shot from the deer’s nostrils, its eyes going wide:

’Here...’

’Is this heaven!’

WHOOSH!

It shot forward like an arrow released from its bow!

It snatched a dried Spirit Grass and began munching on it, CHOMP CHOMP. It moved so fast that in the blink of an eye, the herb was gone.

For a long moment, the air was filled with Huang Xuan’s furious curses and Ji Xiu’s shouts for it to stop, before the commotion finally died down...

This left only Instructor Wang Jun, one of the masters of ’Fist, Spear, Saber, and Sword’. He watched Ji Xiu, a keen light flickering in his eyes:

’So this is the disciple Old Liao failed to take on?’

’Hsss... Now I’m getting interested too. Who in the world is backing him, to make that old fellow return in defeat and yet remain completely tight-lipped about it?’

’I can’t let this go. I have to ask around some other day.’

...

「Four hours later, as dusk fell.」

Ji Xiu let out a breath. The process now felt like second nature to him. Looking at the ever-improving quality of the Hundred Herbs Pills and Cold-Relieving Pills, he thought to himself:

’I need to find time to master the ’Eighth Grade Alchemy Skill’ too.’

’Eighth and Seventh Grade... those are Old Huang’s real secret skills.’

He then took the finished Pills and handed them to Huang Xuan, who was outside having a staring contest with the deer.

"Elder Huang, I’ve reached the Bone Tempering realm."

"Could you set aside some Bone Tempering Pills for me? And it’d be great if you still had that medicine bath for Bone Marrow..."

Ji Xiu licked his lips, seizing the chance to ask for a few perks.

To his surprise, however, Huang Xuan became indignant and resentful at his words, so angry he stopped glaring at the Jade Deer he was holding by a lead:

"You mentioning that just gets me riled up!"

"I would have had some, but..."

"Some robber showed up late at night! The ingredients he brought were short, but he still insisted that I prepare the standard Jiangyin Prefecture ’Bone Spirit Soup’ for him. He even kidnapped me in the middle of the night!"

"I’m just a weak old man, how could I fight back? He nearly cleaned out my entire stock! I was so furious I couldn’t stand it, so I paid a fortune to hire the Overlord Spear, one of the ’Four Great Instructors’!"

"Damn it all... he better hope I don’t get my hands on him..."

he grumbled.

Ji Xiu froze for a second. He couldn’t help but think of Duan Chenzhou’s nonchalant expression that day, and his own face took on a strange look.

’It can’t be that much of a coincidence, can it?’

But then, Old Huang’s eyes narrowed, and he abruptly changed the subject.

"But this deer you brought, Ji the kid, is quite something. Its blood can also be refined into a potful—and for an ’Essence Blood Medicine Bath’ at that..."

"Now *that* is this old man’s true trump card."

"That oaf has no idea. Hmph!"

"For the sake of our friendship, I’ll give you a list later on. Once you’ve gathered everything, this old man will consider refining a batch for you."

"The Wind and Cloud Association doesn’t provide those ingredients, after all, and an old man has to eat... I can sponsor you a little bit, at most."

With that, he lifted his chin proudly, puffing out his chest a little.

Ji Xiu nodded along, secretly thinking to himself:

’If that’s the case...’

’It looks like I’ll need Master Duan to step in after all.’

’Essence Blood Medicine Bath?’

’Excellent. Old Huang, I’m counting on you for what comes next!’

A smile spread across his face at the thought.

The courtyard gate was suddenly pushed open. It was Hong Jiang, sweating profusely. He had lost his job as groom after Ji Xiu acquired the Spirit Deer, and was now reduced to running errands.

"Master Ji... something’s happened to Zhang the Sixth!"

At these words, Ji Xiu’s gaze hardened, and the smile vanished from his face.

He couldn’t help but...

grip the hilt of the fine saber at his waist.