A Five-Day Countdown

Ran Qingmo could hardly be considered a good teacher. Her method of instructing Xu Yuan was just like her quiet, aloof nature—tepid and dispassionate. Fortunately, her formidable strength still allowed her to guide Xu Yuan, a novice to cultivation, explaining the profound in simple terms. From the most fundamental identification of acupoints and meridians to sensing the Source Qi hidden in this world under Ran Qingmo's guidance, everything fell into place naturally. And it was precisely this process of sensing Source Qi that made Xu Yuan understand the function of the intent-soul. The more condensed and powerful a person's intent-soul was, the greater the reserves of Source Qi existing between heaven and earth they could sense. Thanks to the pool of spiritual spring and the Spirit-Locking Array, in Ran Qingmo's perception, the Source Qi within this cave abode had condensed almost to a liquid state; yet in Xu Yuan's perception, he could detect only a scattering of faint "qi clusters." The disparity in their intent-souls was suffocatingly vast. Of course, Ran Qingmo's overwhelming strength compared to Xu Yuan was also a factor in this. An intent-soul could also be continuously condensed and strengthened as one's cultivation rose. Meridians determined the speed at which one absorbed and converted heaven-and-earth Source Qi for their own use, while the intent-soul determined the quantity of heaven-and-earth Source Qi one could sense. The two complemented each other in cultivation. If a person possessed only an Innate Body with fully cleared meridians while their intent-soul remained loose and hazy, then no matter how fast their body converted Source Qi, the Source Qi they could absorb would amount only to those few scattered "qi clusters" they could sense. Conversely, the same held true if one possessed only an innate soul body. As Ran Qingmo imparted the cultivation knowledge of this world bit by bit, Xu Yuan came to appreciate ever more keenly the terror of the *Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art* in his hands. A cultivation method capable of artificially forging an Innate Dao Body... If unleashed upon the outside world, it would be no exaggeration to say this art could ignite an all-out war. Xu Yuan did not know how many times he had opened his eyes upon the jade bed, but what greeted his vision was still the dim stone ceiling of the cave abode. Rising, he glanced sideways at the stone wall by the head of the bed. There, a neat row of tally marks—the character *zheng*—caught his eye. Unable to see the sky or distinguish day from night, Xu Yuan could only roughly estimate the passage of time by tallying the number of times he slept. By this awakening, a full six *zheng* characters were carved into the stone wall. He had already spent roughly a month alone in this cave abode with the black-clad girl. Through his tireless study over these days, he had largely covered the foundational knowledge regarding cultivation in this world. Now, Xu Yuan had fully mastered using his intent-soul to sense the Source Qi between heaven and earth. Furthermore, two weeks ago, Ran Qingmo had taught him an inner-sect cultivation method of the Sword Sect called the *Lotus Sword Art*, giving Xu Yuan a brief taste of the sensation of drawing qi into the body. Now, two weeks later, Xu Yuan was entirely capable of cultivating on his own without Ran Qingmo's guidance. With that thought, Xu Yuan subconsciously glanced toward the corner where she sat cross-legged. After gazing at her for a couple of seconds, Xu Yuan gave a light chuckle, shook his head, and withdrew his gaze. Even though he had grown accustomed to her appearance without the black veil covering her face, that flawless countenance still struck him with breathtaking beauty from time to time. Unfortunately, despite sharing hardships in this cave abode for so long, this big ice block surnamed Ran still had not changed her attitude toward him much. Heh. Fairy tales and novels really were all lies... Casting all these stray thoughts to the back of his mind, Xu Yuan settled his spirit and once again opened the *Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art*. The obscure terms in the technique that had once left his head spinning had now become crystal clear; he could comprehend and integrate every single one. Over this past month, he had already committed the entire text of the art to memory backwards and forwards, yet Xu Yuan still read it every day, poring over it again and again. His life was on the line. With cultivation arts, a discrepancy of even a single word during the circulation of Source Qi could prove fatal. Don't ask—or if you must, chalk it up to personal experience. The circulation pathways of the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art were countless times more intricate than those of the Lotus Sword Art Ran Qingmo had given him. To avoid being caught unprepared when he truly began cultivating, Xu Yuan had started trying a week ago to guide the faint Source Qi within him along the meridian routes detailed in the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art. At the start of this attempt, everything went smoothly; Xu Yuan's faint Source Qi circulated methodically along the technique's route. Unfortunately, when he was one-third of the way through, a momentary lapse in focus caused the guided Source Qi to deviate by half a step from the manual's description, and he suffered qi deviation on the spot. Experiencing qi deviation was far from pleasant. A single errant thought caused all the Source Qi in his body to instantly rampage out of control, thrashing wildly through his fragile meridians. Had the Source Qi Xu Yuan accumulated not been so exceedingly faint, he could easily imagine that chaotic energy shattering his meridians to pieces. Fortunately, Xu Yuan had Ran Qingmo, a supreme expert, standing right by him. Before his meridians could sustain damage, she intervened immediately and stabilized his violent Source Qi. Even though it was a false alarm, Xu Yuan still recognized the sheer difficulty of practicing the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art. After all, when practicing an intermediate-difficulty technique like the Lotus Sword Art, he had mastered it in a single try without the slightest sign of qi deviation; yet with the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art, he had succumbed to qi deviation after completing barely a third of the circulation. Yet this setback did not demoralize Xu Yuan; instead, it stirred a faint excitement within him. Because he realized that even if he suffered qi deviation during practice, the big ice block surnamed Ran beside him could stabilize his condition before he was harmed. In other words, he could attempt it indefinitely until he was completely familiar with the technique's circulation routes! No sooner had the thought occurred than Xu Yuan acted on it. Ran Qingmo could tell Xu Yuan was practicing some exceptionally difficult cultivation art, but perhaps due to her disposition, she did not pry. She merely rescued him in silence every time he fell into qi deviation, again and again... Reading through the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art once more, Xu Yuan silently placed it on the jade bed, rose slowly, and walked toward her in the corner. Right then, Ran Qingmo's crisp voice drifted over from the corner before he could speak. Very soft, yet distinctly audible. "The array outside is about to break." "..." An array? Hearing Ran Qingmo's abrupt words, Xu Yuan's footsteps paused slightly. In a flash, however, he realized what she meant by "array." It seemed his deduction when he first entered this cave abode had been correct: the cave indeed possessed an array that blocked external perception. Yet this array was now on the verge of breaking. This news caused Xu Yuan's heart to sink. He was not yet fully prepared to begin cultivating the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art. Through Ran Qingmo's repeated rescues, he was indeed capable of circulating Source Qi perfectly along the meridian pathways of the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art. But that was in a lucid state. If he sought to circulate it flawlessly while on the brink of death, the difficulty would inevitably multiply exponentially. Composing himself, Xu Yuan asked softly in a flat tone, "How much time is left, roughly?" Ran Qingmo closed her eyes to sense for a moment, then murmured, "Around five days." Xu Yuan took a deep breath and murmured, "Can they... find this cave abode?" This cave abode was clearly deep within the mountain; perhaps... "Yes." Ran Qingmo's crisp reply shattered Xu Yuan's wishful thinking. "..." In that instant, Xu Yuan's mind became a tangled storm of thoughts. The button for a five-day death countdown had been quietly pressed at this very moment. He stood there in silence for a long time. Amidst the stillness, she suddenly whispered: "You don't need to worry." Hearing this, he slowly gathered his wits and looked toward her. Her clear eyes gazed at him with utter seriousness. "I will take you and escape." Looking into her earnest eyes, Xu Yuan remained silent for two seconds before offering her a faint smile. Amused, yet mostly helpless. If he nodded and agreed to her proposal, Xu Yuan could already foresee what would happen five days from now: this stunning, black-clad woman lying decapitated, corpse and head separated. There were far too many strong cultivators in this world. If Ji Qingyue could be killed, Ran Qingmo naturally could be killed as well... In the end, Xu Yuan gave no answer to Ran Qingmo's words. He slowly sat down beside her. After a long silence, he suddenly asked in a low voice: "Mr. Ran, can you put me into a near-death state?" A flicker of confusion appeared in Ran Qingmo's eyes. "What?" Xu Yuan repeated softly: "I asked... can you put me into a near-death state?"