107 Eyes of Pure Jade

Cha Ming was surrounded by an endless ocean. He floated there, seemingly helpless. He knew what lurked beneath the sea. The tentacled monstrosity's maw was wide open and ready to tear into his incandescent soul. That is, if it could get its tentacles on him in the first place.

This was a dream. To be more precise, it was a forced mental projection, a hybrid of his mind and another. The skies were white, unnaturally so. He wasn't worried, however. The white sky was his domain, and it shone much brighter than the ocean below. He harnessed the power of the sky and sunk down into the ocean, breathing it in as he would air. The pupils of the large creature below dilated as it saw his fearless approach. It struck at him with its large tentacles.

He could tell instinctively that these two worlds were a representation of their souls. His soul was much stronger. He imagined his surroundings covered in a black mist, and it was so. The water around him evaporated to nothing as it contacted the barrier of pure destruction that surrounded him. As the tentacles whipped toward him, they too were burned and disintegrated after striking the impenetrable shield.

The creature below roared in anger. He smirked at the evil monster, summoning the Clear Sky Brush and hefting it with two hands like a spear. He focused the power of his soul into it, elongating it forward a full mile and piercing the ocean-dwelling creature in the eye. It let out an aggrieved howl before the reality around him shimmered, then collapsed into nothingness.

***

Cha Ming woke to a woman's scream. He looked around himself calmly, only to see that the mercenaries in the wagon had all fainted. This was normal, of course. They were foolish in thinking that their cultivations, which were only at the peak of qi condensation, could allow them to withstand these "thieves."

As he walked out, he saw several women huddled around their beautiful leader, who had fallen from her horse. She glared at Cha Ming venomously, her right eye bleeding profusely. This development was intriguing to Cha Ming. After all, he hadn't expected the results of their mental battle to transfer so well to the physical world.

Seeing his nonchalant expression, she stood up and glared at him. "Surely there is a misunderstanding," she said in a high-pitched voice like that of a songbird. He swooned slightly when he heard it. "If sir would take the time to discuss, I'm sure we can come to an agreement."

His blood raced as he heard her voice. His heartbeat quickened. The thought of doing anything possible to please her flirted with his mind.

"No," Cha Ming said, thoroughly suppressing his urges. "I don't believe this is a misunderstanding. I know who I came to find." Then he materialized his Clear Sky Staff and pounced toward them. He headed toward the injured one, who was coincidentally the biggest source of trouble.

"Kill him!" the woman yelled.

As he closed in on her, his movements faltered as his mind was assaulted by ten others simultaneously. They were all top-class beauties, and the movements they made while approaching him with daggers drawn entranced him. Each step was seductive, and even the way they wielded their daggers seemed to have certain unwholesome implications. He almost didn't notice a tomboyish-looking figure that snuck behind him, threatening to tear him apart from behind. Almost.

His staff swung backward, smashing against the tender girl who thought she had caught him unaware. A soft ping sounded as a large amount of recoil shot up his arm. Dodging to the side, he saw that the girl's skin had turned golden, just like the Merchant in Fairweather. Her feet sunk into the soft ground below her.

"Support me!" she yelled. The ten others nodded, focusing their attention on Cha Ming as the girl rushed toward him with fists bared.

He clicked his tongue but didn't fight her head on. Instead, he bashed her with his lengthened staff from the side and used his Soft Staff Art to dive behind her toward his initial target, the mastermind behind the thefts. The beauty's face turned pale as a sheet as a quake staff crashed down and shattered her skull and spine. As soon as he struck her down, however, a searing pain blinded him, causing him to take a blow from behind his head.

The world was a blur. He couldn't see, and he could barely stand. The pain faded quickly, just in time for him to block a kick to his face that surely would have killed him. As he stood up, still dizzy from the trauma to his head, he saw an entirely different world.

All around him, he could only see various shades of gray. Curious, he looked at his own hand. It was covered in a slight shade of green.

An aged voice whispered through the wind. Can you see what I see with these eyes of pure jade?

Cha Ming saw ten yellow silhouettes and one shining with a malevolent ochre glow. It was the girl with the golden body.

Is she different from the others in some way aside from her golden body? he wondered. The ten others had similar abilities to the one he had just killed. No, that isn't true. Their combined assault isn't even a fifth of her initial assault. It was as though their technique was an empty shell, a piece of glass posing as precious porcelain.

Their pressure was still present, so he resolved to rid himself of it as soon as possible. After exchanging six rapid but jarring blows with the gold-bodied girl, he broke away from the ochre figure and instantly killed one of her bewitching assistants, who had clearly not broken through to foundation establishment or its equivalent.

She paused her assault, so he continued mowing them down one by one. But when he finally turned around to meet her in combat, he was horrified by what he saw. The pretty, tomboyish girl from before was now missing her entire hand. Golden blood oozed from the bones where the hand had been previously. She held the severed appendage as she chewed on its golden finger bones. Her aura climbed at a frightening pace as she devoured the golden flesh.

Cha Ming wasn't so foolish as to let her increase her fighting strength, so he rushed toward her with his staff, attacking her remaining arm with the strongest blows possible. Despite being made of metal, it bent unnaturally with every blow.

At this moment, he wished that he had a reliable fire technique. Fire was the nemesis of gold, so he suspected it would have a pronounced effect against her. Even water would have some effect, since metal fed water. Her resistance to physical blows was astonishing. Only his sword staff and plain physical attacks had much of an effect on her. Barely.

They continued fighting blow for blow, but despite his best efforts, Cha Ming was unable to obtain an advantage in their confrontation. His energy reserves were dwindling, and he had difficulty evaluating his opponent. She clearly didn't have the same limitations as a human. He began panicking, unsure if he could sustain his continuous assault. His clothes were drenched in sweat, his arms burned, and his hands were numb from the continuous recoil of his constant attacks.

The golden creature's speed and strength increased drastically. He smelled burning metal as its arm burnt away to its elbow.

Shit, Cha Ming thought. He quickly pasted one of his trump cards, the Hardening Talisman, to his chest. His skin turned hard and brittle, and his muscles and bones did the same. Just in time for him to receive a kick to the stomach that sent him tumbling backward. If it weren't for the talisman, he would have died from that blow.

Fine, I may as well go all out. Three talismans flew out at once and struck the golden monstrosity simultaneously. Her movements faltered as if unable to overcome her resistance. He could see the struggle in her eyes as she feebly raised her arm to deflect his staff as it bore down on her head.

Her arm barely deflected the strength of his heavy blow before shattering. Her body was now brittle due to the strength of the Crumbling Talisman. She screamed as what was left of her arms burned up to her shoulder, increasing her strength by another level. This time, she didn't attack. She darted off with greatly increased speed, and he was barely able to keep up with both his movement technique and Stormchaser Boots. To his dismay, he saw her inching away. His energy reserves were insufficient to keep chasing her.

Shit, it's now or never, he thought. If I want to stop her, I need to use it. He didn't think twice before throwing out the final talisman in his possession, Ode to Mr. Mao Mao. Like the non-poetic talisman from his fight with the bandits, it transformed into the stable phantom of a demon bobcat. This time, it was only a single foot long, just like the original Mr. Mao Mao he had met in Elder Ling's shack. He nearly puked blood after seeing the phantom's appearance.

What the hell? he thought. You wanted to highlight the might of your feelings for Mr. Mao Mao, and you gave me this? What use is a kitten?

To his surprise, however, the girl shivered and stopped escaping. A look of incredulity spread across her face as she began shaking and quivering. Cha Ming felt a mounting presence in front of him. He identified with the presence as "cuteness," but unbeknownst to him, the girl was experiencing something entirely different: suppression.

She backed away from the projection fearfully as the cat advanced in a lofty, imperial manner. The small bobcat was an incredibly cute sovereign that looked upon the world with disdain. Seeing his chance, Cha Ming rushed to the petrified golden girl, who now lacked two arms.

As he struck down, the phantom kitten let out a cute "meow" and set himself upon the helpless girl, who screamed as its claws tore through her golden flesh. Golden blood poured out only to be absorbed by the vicious kitten. At the same time, Cha Ming's staff came crashing down on her skull. Golden blood and brain matter sprayed about. That, too, was devoured by Mr. Mao Mao's phantom. It continued to eat away at the golden girl, and once the grisly task was accomplished, it let out a pleased mewl and disappeared. Nothing was left behind.

So this is the power of emotions you wanted to show me, Cha Ming thought. The talisman was significantly stronger than the last. If he hadn't been told they used the same amount of qi and ink, he wouldn't have believed it.

He was also pleased with the power of his four poetic talismans. One had protected him while the other three had rendered her helpless, unable to defend herself. The tough arms that he couldn't affect with his strongest blows easily shattered after she was affected by the Crumbling Talisman.

If only I could make them again, he thought.

Sighing, he sat beside the wagon to meditate as he waited for the mercenaries and the merchant to recover. When they came to, they ran off to the next village at Cha Ming's insistence. He wasn't sure if they had been inflicted with lasting damage, as he knew precious little about matters of the soul. He could only pray for their recovery.

The battle just now had also reminded him that he was still weak. He required better talismans and battle techniques to fight effectively. In addition, his cultivation was far too low. He also resolved to find out more about these monstrosities. If an eye technique from the Devil Sealing Scripture identified these creatures with a malevolent ochre glow, they must surely be devils.

Cha Ming left shortly after they departed. Unbeknownst to him, his eyes had transformed. His irises were now green like the purest jade. And on his irises, two runes had also appeared—one golden and one blue.

***

Intense pain shot through Huxian's eyes as he trotted through a forested mountain valley. After moments of debilitating pain, he opened his eyes to discover a world tinged in gray. It only lasted for a short moment, but he knew what it was.

Eyes of pure jade, huh? Huxian thought. It looks like Cha Ming is getting closer and ran into a good bit of fortune. I'll need to find something for him as well.

Their bond may have had its advantages, but there were a few disadvantages as well. Now he needed to watch out for how much sin he accumulated, otherwise they'd both lose their wonderful eyes. Demon beasts like himself usually didn't have to care about merit and sin. The moral obligations for demons differed greatly from that of humans.

After recovering his eyesight, Huxian carefully observed local fauna. He wanted something small, but it needed to be sufficiently nutritious as well. As he roamed, he emanated the pressure of his bloodline and forced the beings on the mountain to show themselves.

Too small. Too big. Too bony. He looked through the swarm of beasts like he would produce at a grocery store. Finally, his eyes settled on a grouse. It was a tier-two beast, a tier above most of the beasts on the mountain. Further, it was a seventh-grade spirit beast. Most importantly, it was small. Barely two feet in length. Perfect.

He exerted a tiny bit of his bloodline pressure, and the beast instantly committed suicide, leaving not a single trace of fear in its marbled flesh. He picked it up in his mouth and sprinted toward the peak of the neighboring mountain.

This mountain was strange compared to his. The woods ended a full mile from the peak. In addition, a spire jutted from the mountain, forming an obelisklike structure that overlooked the adjacent peaks. If he could choose any of the mountains, he would choose that one without a doubt. The overbearingly tall tower pleased him. Unfortunately, it was taken.

Before long, Huxian arrived at the base of the spire. A sharp screech sounded out from nearby as Silverwing flew out from his cave on the cliffside. His small body landed near Huxian, and he looked at the prey curiously.

"Is this for me?" he asked in beast language.

"I happened to encounter it while I was eating breakfast and thought you would appreciate it," Huxian said with his honeyed tongue. "Besides, I have a larger appetite than a taotie , and such a small, cute, delicious grouse would barely fill a small corner in my stomach."

"Quite right," Silvering said, salivating. "Such small delicacies should be reserved for little old me." The falcon immediately devoured the tiny beast. This decisive behavior caused Huxian to roll his eyes.

Like feeding candy to a baby, he thought. Convincing him to become my general is going to be much easier than expected.

The falcon finished his appetizer quickly and let out a loud burp that made the mountain tremble. "What are we doing for fun today?" he asked the small fox, who shrugged.

"We explored my mountain last time," Huxian said. "How about we see yours?"

The falcon's feathers ruffled in excitement. The small bird clearly liked showing off. "I have something great to show you, and it only appeared recently," the bird said excitedly. Huxian lazily followed him down to the base of the mountain and into a network of tunnels. As they dove deeper, a multicolored glow appeared. They were soon surrounded by glistening crystals.

"Truly pretty," Huxian commented, "but useless. I sure hope this isn't what you brought me here to see."

"Of course not!" the falcon said indignantly. "My friend the badger used to live here, but one day he was killed by a human. I never found him, but in the process of looking for him, I found this multicolored stone wall."

They rounded the corner and arrived at a partially excavated wall. A small chunk was missing from it, but otherwise it was a perfectly smooth multicolored mosaic. Further, he recognized the substance. "Isn't this immortal jade?" he wondered aloud. "How can there be such a large amount here?"

The falcon bounced excitedly. "Did I do good? Did I do good?"

"Yes," Huxian said, frowning. "You did good, but I'm worried. This was clearly excavated by a human. Immortal jade means nothing to us, but it is very valuable to them. If they come back, it will cause us endless problems."

"Can't we just kill them as they come?" the falcon questioned.

The fox shook his head. "This is much too valuable. We might be able to defeat them a few times, but you underestimate their need for it. It will only be a matter of time until core-formation cultivators arrive." Then he sighed. "What a headache. I sure hope they don't come for a few more years. Though that's likely wishful thinking on my part."

"What do we do, then?" the falcon asked.

Huxian was pleased with the bird's increasing dependence on him. "We wait," Huxian replied. "We get stronger. While we can't use this immortal jade, it might be useful depending on who comes to claim it. This can either be a calamity or an opportunity. Only time will tell."

A tense silence followed.

"Have I introduced you to my follower, Lei Jiang?" Huxian asked.

"Follower?" the falcon asked, perplexed. "You have a follower?" His eyes bulged out when he saw the small mid-purification mouse appear atop Huxian. "So cute! Can I pet him?"

Huxian rolled his eyes. "How could you pet such a noble spirit beast? Lei Jiang might be my follower, but he's still a fifth-tier variation beast. His talent is even a step above yours. Of course, it's partially because I gave him a technique when he became my follower, but he's pleasant company."

"I'm Lei Jiang. Pleased to meet you!" the little mouse said. "Are you a friend of the boss too?" His glittering eyes would melt the hearts of most women, and his purple fur was equally adorable.

"Yes, of course I'm your boss's friend," the falcon replied. "A good friend, in fact. May I touch you?"

"This…" The mouse hesitated. "You promise you won't eat me, right? I'm a very important member of the boss's team, and he's taught me many things and fed me many precious herbs. He even taught me a technique to increase the purity of my bloodline. Therefore, I don't want to get hurt. I owe him everything."

The falcon's eyes narrowed, and his feathers ruffled in excitement when he heard those words. "Of course not. I wouldn't dare hurt Huxian's follower. But you mentioned bloodline purification?"

"It's boss's secret ability," the mouse said. "He has countless techniques at his disposal. Of course, the best ones are only available for his generals."

"Stop tempting him," Huxian said. "He is my friend. I can share a lesser refinement technique with him. Alas, I can only share the best techniques with my generals, but that is a heavy oath, and I can't make that decision for him."

The little mouse seemed aggrieved at the rebuke but nodded nonetheless. "My apologies, boss. I'll let him pet me to atone." Then he rapidly appeared beside the falcon's talon. The falcon pet the mouse's purple fur slowly. He was clearly deep in thought.

"Where are my manners?" Huxian said. "Since I've offered, I can't take it back. Here is a minor technique for you to use. I can't promise it will help you break through to the next realm, but you can still try."

A small black-and-white sphere came out from Huxian's glabella and floated up to the falcon's beak. The bird of prey chomped down on it and instantly became enlightened.

"How convenient!" Silverwing exclaimed. "And you even gave me a few combat techniques! I don't know how I'll ever repay you."

"No thanks needed," Huxian said. "You're my friend, so I'll naturally do my best to help you. I hope you'll understand that I'm helpless for other matters."

"Of course," Silverwing replied. A pondering expression remained on his face. Huxian observed him intently. The bait had been set, and it was only a matter of time until this proud bird submitted and became his general.