Stranger Danger

Chapter 119: Astral Refinement

“Almost there, almost there!”

A glint flickered through Ye Qing’s eyes as he stared at the dark red, barren valley in front of him. Right now, his eyes were cloudy, his face was rotting, and his body was shriveled up. A deathly aura clung to him like a cloud of pestilence. Add to the fact that he was wearing a grayish yellow burial shirt, and he looked like a zombie who had crawled out of the earth after being buried for decades.

Ye Qing was wearing the Burial Shirt of the Dead. While fighting against Evergreen Ivy earlier, he discovered that her pollen could grow on earth, wood, flesh and blood, but not lifeless objects such as rocks, metal, clothes and so on. It was what inspired him to use the Burial Shirt Of The Dead, a Strange Artifact that he had, frankly, almost forgotten existed.

The Burial Shirt of the Dead filled him with deathly energy. It was nothing like rock or metal, but it was still the antithesis of life, meaning that Evergreen Ivy’s pollen could not absorb it to sprout its flowers. Not only that, the Burial Shirt Of The Dead functioned as an excellent replacement for his true qi, at least until he got to his destination. This was how he was able to surpass Evergreen Ivy and Xiao Yang’s expectations and stay ahead of them.

Of course, the cost of using the Burial Shirt of the Dead was significant. If his physique wasn’t as powerful as it was, if he didn’t have a rich stock of gray dragon-serpent runes, the Strange Artifact would have consumed all of his vitality and turned him into an actual corpse.

Evergreen Ivy was half-right and half-wrong. Ye Qing was heading toward Firewind Valley, but it wasn’t because he was planning to commit triple suicide with his favorite pursuers. He knew from the start that running back to Anyang was impossible. As his true qi was basically sealed right now, the chances he might make it back even with the Burial Shirt of the Dead was less than zero.

He supposed he could escape to more advantageous terrain, but he was unfamiliar with the geography surrounding Jade Spring Village. If he chose the wrong location and ran into a deadly Stranger or something, then he would be stuck between a rock and a hard place. That was why Firewind Valley was the only place he could escape to.

One, the “Nirvana Sutra of Burning Wind” was an astral refinement cultivation art that was specifically designed to refine Burning Wind. Therefore, he wasn’t afraid of the astral qi.

Two, once he entered the Astral Refinement stage and successfully eliminated the pollen inside of him, it would be Evergreen Ivy and Xiao Yang’s turn to run away like the bitches they were! It was the perfect plan!

“You’re quite the runner, brother!”

Ye Qing couldn’t help but break into a smile when he recognized that Firewind Valley was just ahead of him. Alas, he wasn’t able to make it there before he heard a familiar voice. The voice meant to provoke him, but the traces of anger that slipped into it more or less ruined the taunt.

It’s Xiao Yang. Evergreen Ivy cannot be far behind as well, Ye Qing thought.

“Heavens above! What happened to you, brother? You look like a rotten corpse!” Xiao Yang called out again. At first, his voice came from far, far away. However, it closed the distance in just the blink of an eye.

“Just give up already, brother. Why put yourself through all this torment if you’re going to die either way?”

“How can I die after all the ‘kindness’ you’ve done unto me, brother? Don’t worry! I swear I’ll live until I can pay it all back!” Ye Qing retorted and ran even faster toward the Firewind Valley.

“But I’m an impatient man, brother. How about you repay me now with your life?”

When Xiao Yang was about ten meters away from Ye Qing, he threw a punch with the intent of crippling the young man. From his perspective, Ye Qing’s aura was as weak as a candle most likely because he had expended too much energy, so the punch should be enough to end the chase. However, Ye Qing didn’t even bother to turn around and block the attack. He let it hit him in the back—the Burial Shirt of the Dead unleashing a thick gust of deathly energy and the last moment to block the punch—and flew even faster toward Firewind Valley.

“Thanks for the assist, brother!”

Ye Qing was still in the air when he put away the Burial Shirt of the Dead and restored his vigor using two gray dragon-serpent runes. Then, he executed Blood Sea Fragrance and flew toward Firewind Valley at his top speed. He was almost at Firewind Valley anyway, so it shouldn’t matter if he used his true qi for a bit.

“Fuck!”

It sounded complicated, but Ye Qing had really changed his tactics in just the span of one breath. By the time Xiao Yang realized he had screwed up, the young man was already a flower sprouting dot in the distance. Another second passed, and the young man was inside the valley.

“Dammit, dammit!” Xiao Yang’s expression was beyond ugly, but before he could throw a tantrum a thought suddenly occurred to him. “Wait…”

By now, Ye Qing should have figured out that he was pursuing him to obtain the “Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method”. However, the young man never used the painting to try and throw him off even when he was on his last legs. Sure, there was a small chance Ye Qing still didn’t know what his goal was, but it just seemed very unlikely. So, why didn’t Ye Qing use everything in his disposal to increase his chances of survival? Something wasn’t right. Maybe…

… Maybe Ye Qing knew he could survive Firewind Valley? He didn’t sound like a guy who was making his last stand either. In any case, there was no way he was giving up on the “Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method”, so he must enter this Firewind Valley no matter how dangerous it was!

His mind made up, Xiao Yang gritted his teeth and dashed into Firewind Valley as well.

Xiao Yang had just disappeared when Evergreen Ivy finally arrived at the entrance on her vines. Underneath her cloak, a sneer crossed her lips as she stared at Xiao Yang’s back.

“Birds die for food, and men die for greed. And mankind is so, so greedy!” Evergreen Ivy said in her true voice, “It’s clear that none of you know that the so-called Fire Wind of Firewind Valley is the Burning Wind. It is said that the Burning Wind can scorch mountains, boil seas, and extinguish mind and spirit. No one below the Spirit Purification stage can possibly survive it!”

“Pathetic humans. Laughable humans!”

……

No life existed inside Firewind Valley. There were no trees, no flowers, not even a single blade of grass. The earth and the rocks were red hot with heat, and the valley itself felt like one giant furnace.

From time to time, gusts of wind would blow through the area and summon blasts of fire. Everything the wind touched was scorched black.

“Holy crap this place is hot!” Ye Qing commented. He was currently hiding behind a giant rock looking as red as a lobster and steaming from every pore of his body. He was also staring at the “fire dragons” swirling inside the valley with deep wariness.

Just now, he accidentally allowed a gust of wind to brush against him and saw his flesh turning black in an instant. Not only that, the few strands that made it into his blood vessels literally boiled his blood and made him feel like he was being cooked alive. As if that wasn’t enough the wind ignited even his mind and set off a terrible headache.

If he hadn’t practiced the “Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method” and strengthened his mind and spirit, if he hadn’t visualized the painting immediately after the fact, the wind would have extinguished his mind with insulting ease.

“The Burning Wind. It’s definitely the Burning Wind!”

“There exists a strange wind in our world. It is vast and majestic, terrible and scorching, invisible and reclusive. It is capable of turning grass and wood into ash, blackening rock and earth, drying rivers and lakes, and extinguishing minds and souls. At its greatest, it can scorch mountains and boil oceans into wastelands. At its lowest, it can still extinguish minds and burn almost everything.” ~ excerpt from the “Yellow Court Sutra”.

As far as he could tell, the fiery wind of the valley was almost identical to the Burning Wind described in the “Nirvana Sutra of Burning Wind”!

“Now that I know for sure it’s the Burning Wind, it’s time I start entering the Astral Refinement stage!”

Ye Qing immediately sat down and started practicing the cultivation art. He couldn’t say he had memorized every last word in the manual, but he had memorized all the steps, key points and caveats so well that he could read them backward. Therefore, he encountered no problems whatsoever when practicing the cultivation art.

A single strand of Burning Wind were pulled through his blood vessels and into his dantian. It was only a strand, but it was still enough to boil every sliver of Blood Shadow true qi in his dantian like a drop of water added into a pot of oil. Steam rose from his dantian, and his true qi diminished rapidly like dry sticks that were beset by a blazing inferno. From the outside, his dantian probably looked just like a furnace.

Speaking of outside, his skin was cracked and bright red, and white steam was seeping out of his pores. One could vaguely see his boiling hot blood vessels through the cracks.

“Hmph!” The sensation was so uncomfortable that a muffled groan escaped Ye Qing’s lips. He could feel his consciousness flickering in and out like he was about to black out. He did not give up, however. After all, he had to start all over again if he did.

Ye Qing used the “Emperor Fuxi Visualization Method” to prevent his mind from collapsing and preserve his clarity of mind. For a moment, he felt like his soul had been separated from his body. Neither physical nor mental pain could affect him no matter how bad it was.

This first step was easily the most critical step of his cultivation, the step where he combined his true qi and astral qi into one. To give an example, it was like building the foundation of a house. Without a solid base, the house would always be in danger of collapsing. That was why he couldn’t give up or slip up even a little.

As he continued to cycle the “Nirvana Sutra of Burning Wind”, the feral wind in his dantian slowly but surely became tamer. The Blood Shadow true qi also stopped rejecting the Burning Wind wholly as it did before. Then, the two started merging.

The Blood Shadow true qi was originally bright red in color, but now there was a hue of dark red in it. It was like a dragon that was slumbering in the depths of a blood red sea. It was like every true qi in his dantian was protecting it and waiting for the day it would awaken and soar to the heavens.

“It’s done! Phew…”

A dark red breath escaped Ye Qing’s lips. It was surprisingly hot and seemingly unending until Ye Qing clamped his mouth shut.

Now that he had absorbed the strand of Burning wind, the temperature of the valley was much, much more manageable. It was still scorching hot, but he didn’t feel like he might drop dead at any moment anymore!

Despite his success, he still wasn’t an Astral Refiner yet. He had one foot over the threshold, but he wouldn’t truly enter the Astral Refinement stage until every wisp of true qi had combined with the astral qi.

Bathump!

It was at this moment Ye Qing’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, and every hair on his body stood on end. Someone’s gaze was boring into him like a knife. He did not hesitate to jump forward. As if on cue, the giant rock he was hiding behind abruptly shattered into a million pieces. Some of the pieces flew past Ye Qing and cut his face.

“Xiao Yang? You actually came into Firewind Valley? Are you suicidal?” Ye Qing wiped away his blood and ridiculed the Astral Refiner.

Having learned that villain monologues usually ended poorly for said villain, Xiao Yang had attacked Ye Qing as soon as he found him. Unfortunately, Ye Qing still noticed him at the last second and escaped!