Stranger Danger

“Do you know what Stranger resides within that sarcophagus, my lord?” Ye Qing asked with genuine curiosity.

Chu Nianjiu took a deep gulp from his drinking gourd before declaring proudly, “I’ve got no idea!”

“...” I don’t think that’s the right tone for such an answer.

As if he could hear Ye Qing’s thoughts, Chu Nianjiu said indifferently, “The Jade Dragon Lake is so dangerous that even that bull Stranger is afraid to get close. Is it really that strange that I couldn’t find out what’s hiding inside the sarcophagus?”

“No, you’re totally right!” Ye Qing raised his eyebrows before nodding seriously.

This time though, it was Chu Nianjiu’s turn to shoot Ye Qing a meaningful look. His eyes were mirthful almost as if he had figured out something.

“My lord, my lord!” It was at this moment Zheng Tao and Wu Biao stepped out of the forest. They reported, “Our deepest apologies, my lord, but we couldn’t find the Strange Artifact you asked us to find anywhere!”

Chu Nianjiu shook his head. “It’s fine. Who knows where it might have gone after that bull Stranger blasted it into the air?” 𝒃𝙚𝙙𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝒍．𝒏𝒆𝒕

It was at this moment Zheng Tao noticed Ye Qing. “Ye Qing! You’re still alive! Where is Captain Chen?”

Chu Nianjiu said before Ye Qing could answer, “He’s dead. He was eaten by that bull Stranger we ran into earlier!”

“What!?” The two watchmen immediately turned as pale as a sheet. It wasn’t until a long time later that they finally recovered and stuttered, “W-what should we do then, my lord?”

“What else? We go home and drink our woes away!” Chu Nianjiu declared.

The Strange Artifact that was creating the human skin Strangers had been taken out by the bull Stranger, and he couldn’t get close enough to the Jade Dragon Lake to perform any sort of investigation. What was the point of staying then?

“Come on!” Chu Nianjiu beckoned them to follow him before turning to leave. The three watchmen exchanged glances with each other before following him in a hurry.

Thump… thump…

Just a minute after the group of four left, the sarcophagus at the center of the Jade Dragon Lake suddenly rang twice like someone was knocking on its stone lid. Then, it abruptly creaked an inch to the side. A pale, unblemished hand slowly reached out of the sarcophagus.

At that moment, the Jade Dragon Lake turned as dark as the night!

……

Pitter patter…

Inside Ye Qing’s dantian, a black cloud so thick it was practically solid hung heavily in the air. It looked like it unleashed a downpour, no, a world-ending flood at any moment!

Suddenly, a breeze appeared out of nowhere and blew against the cloud. The cloud wobbled once before it began to drizzle. The rain kept growing stronger and stronger as if someone had cut a hole in its underbelly. Eventually, what looked like an entire river fell to the ground below and filled it with water.

As the downpour continued, the water on the ground grew from puzzles into a stream, then from a stream into a river, and finally from a river to a lake.

The dark cloud in the air would continue raining until it had shed the last drop of water. When the deed was done, the “sky” looked as blue as the sea, and his dantian glowed as bright and vibrant as spring!

On the floor, Ye Qing abruptly opened his eyes and muttered happily, “My true qi had finally turned into ‘rain’. I’m finally at the late-stage of the Qi Invocation stage!”

It had been three days since he returned from Little August Hill. After applying for a three-day sick leave from Lin Hu, he had locked himself in his house and cultivated for three days straight. Thanks to this, he was able to advance from the middle-stage to the late-stage of the Qi Invocation stage.

Chu Nianjiu had left on the second day after he returned to the August Hill Village. Chen Zheng’s death had everyone—especially Granny Xia and Lin Hu—worried because it was entirely possible for Chen Cang to blame Chen Zheng’s death on August Hill Village. Thankfully, Chu Nianjiu had promised them that he would take full responsibility for Chen Zheng’s death, and that he would make sure that Chen Cang would not lay a hand on August Hill Village no matter how angry he was. It was only then they were able to breathe a sigh of relief.

There was no denying that everyone was feeling a little disappointed though. For a moment, they had believed that August Hill Village would be elevated to greater heights through Cheng Zheng and Chen Cang. Now, they were back to square one. It was only natural that they were disappointed with this outcome.

Ye Qing did not care about any of this though. Right now, the one thing that concerned him was Chen Cang’s revenge!

The day they had returned to August Hill Village, he had subtly pried some information out of Chu Nianjiu’s mouth. According to the Wine Gentleman, Chen Cang was an obsessed man who cared for nothing but the sword. He was also exceptionally narrow-minded and stubborn. However, these were all good traits for a swordsman. Only by being obsessed with the sword could they become a sword that could cut through anything.

Unfortunately, this was bad news for Ye Qing because it meant that Chen Cang wasn’t going to let this go. Once a stubborn, obsessed man like him had set his mind to something, he would not relent until they had achieved his goal.

Although his crime was perfect, and no one could possibly pin anything on him, it was a coin toss whether Chen Cang would decide to come after him. After all, he was the last person to see Chen Zheng alive, and it was well known that he and Chen Zheng were at odds with one another. Today, Chen Zheng was dead, and he was alive. Even he had to admit that he was a prime suspect.

If Chen Cang really did come after him, and if he, through certain means, was able to uncover his secrets, then he was going to be in big trouble!

He had witnessed Chu Nianjiu’s strength with his own eyes, and Chen Cang was his equal. He could only imagine that Chen Cang was as strong as Chu Nianjiu, if not stronger!

That was why he needed to increase his own power as soon as possible. He was certain he would be glad when the time came that he needed it.

“Now that I’m in the late-stage of the Qi Invocation stage, it’s time to consider the next level!”

The next level after the Qi Invocation stage was the Vessel Augmentation stage. The warrior would use his true qi to augment his blood vessels and transform it into a furnace that could support even more true qi and enhance his qi circulation. Finally, he would be able to extend his true qi beyond his body.

The biggest difference between the Qi Invocation stage and the Vessel Augmentation stage was the ability to extend one’s true qi beyond the body. A Qi Invoker could only imbue their body or their weapons with true qi, while a Vessel Augmentor could maintain their true qi even after it was cut off from the body.

It was here Ye Qing encountered another problem. He had absolutely no idea what to do to enter the Vessel Augmentation stage.

Okay, maybe claiming that he was clueless was a bit of an exaggeration. He did have an inkling on how he could get there, but there were certainly a lot of uncertainties!

“Screw it, I’m just gonna ask the Annon Sutra!” When in doubt, just ask the Annon Sutra!

“How can I ascend to the Vessel Augmentation stage?” Ye Qing asked while cutting open his palm and pouring his blood on the vellum. It took a long time before the familiar red text finally came into view.

“I feel like a bull in a china shop trying to navigate through the unknown dangers ahead of me. The only thing I can do is to grow my strength as much as possible and prepare for the worst.”

“I have reached a bottleneck, however. How can I continue growing my strength? Perhaps I should try ascending to the Vessel Augmentation stage!”

“To ascend to the Vessel Augmentation stage, I would need a Vessel Augmentation stage cultivation art. It can’t just be any cultivation art either. The better cultivation art is, the more vessels I’d be able to augment, and the stronger I would become. This is something that directly affects my future potential. I must treat this with the utmost care!”

“A Vessel Augmentation cultivation art, eh? I knew that would be the case.” It had taken a Qi Invocation mental art to enter the Qi Invocation stage. Naturally, he would need a Vessel Augmentation cultivation art to enter the Vessel Augmentation stage.

Moreover, the Annon Sutra was saying that the better the quality of the Vessel Augmentation cultivation art he chose, the greater the amount of blood vessels he would be able to augment, and the better his future potential would become. That was why he couldn’t just cultivate the most available Vessel Augmentation cultivation art he could find. He must treat this with the utmost care!

“What are some of the best Vessel Augmentation cultivation arts out there?”

Ye Qing hovered his palm over the vellum once more, but this time the Annon Sutra did not manifest his answer as quickly as it usually did. Eight whole minutes later, when his face was deathly pale, and he had bled nearly every drop of blood in his body, the Annon Sutra finally answered his question:

“The quality of a Vessel Augmentation cultivation art directly affects my future potential, so I ask the Annon Sutra: what are some of the best Vessel Augmentation cultivation arts out there?”

“Well, there’s the ‘Orthodox Method of Heavenly Astral Five Thunders’ by the Dragon Tiger Mountain, the ‘Eighteen Impetus of Taichi’ by the True Martial Sect, the ‘Flowerfall Sword Sutra’ by the Swordsgrave, the ‘Flying Clouds and Flowers Order’ by the Unique Villa, the ‘Imperishable True Arts’ by the Demon Mountain, the ‘Nine Song Riddles of the Innocent’ by the Academy of the Gate of Chi, the ‘Autumn Book of the Son of Heaven’ by the Chu Dynasty, the ‘Nine Cauldrons Dragonfall Art’ by the Wei Dynasty, the ‘Heavenly Tablet of the Seven Slaughters’ by the Yan Dynasty and so on…”

“Unfortunately, these first-class Vessel Augmentation cultivation arts are never taught beyond their inner circles, and I may never get the chance to obtain them. I should cease my wishful thinking and consider more realistic options instead!”

Ye Qing let out a couple of weak coughs and nearly slumped to the ground when the red text finally reached the end. There was a moment there where he was truly terrified for his life. He had wanted to interrupt the ritual as soon as he realized that the question was going to cost him far more blood than he was ready for, but he was unable to do so. A mysterious force had trapped him in place and forced him to continuously pour his blood onto the Annon Sutra! There was absolutely nothing he could’ve done to resist it!

It’s probably because my question is far beyond the reach of someone at my current level! I must be much more careful in the future! Ye Qing chided himself.

In fact, he already had a feeling that this was the case not long after he obtained the Annon Sutra. The harder and trickier the question, the more blood he had to spill to get his answer. He just wasn’t sure until this latest question.

When he had asked the Annon Sutra for a list of some of the best Vessel Augmentation cultivation arts out there, he had intended to follow it up with a question on how to obtain them. Of course, that was no longer an option. It was very possible that the question would literally suck him dry, not to mention that the Annon Sutra itself had warned him to cease his wishful thinking. It would be a bad idea to ignore its advice.

That said, the question hadn’t been a complete waste of blood. For one, he had discovered one of the Annon Sutra’s limitations. Two, he had uncovered some very important names. The Dragon Tiger Mountain, the True Martial Sect, the Chu Dynasty, the Wei Dynasty—it was clear that they were some of the major forces in this world. The question had shown him a glimpse of this vast, mysterious world and the forces who stood at its peak!

After recovering his blood using a gray dragon-serpent rune, Ye Qing asked his next question, “How can I obtain the most suitable Vessel Augmentation cultivation art for me?”

He believed that this was a much better question than the previous one because the scope was a lot narrower, and it took his circumstances into consideration. He was right. This time, it only cost him two bowls of blood before the Annon Sutra gave him an answer:

“Having nearly lost my life to unrealistic fantasies, I decided to take a more pragmatic approach.”

“I should travel to the Jade Dragon Lake. The opportunity I’m looking for may be there!”

“The Jade Dragon Lake?” This wasn’t what he expected at all. He had just returned from that forbidden area, and he hadn’t found anything besides the mysterious sarcophagus while he was there. So where could this “opportunity” be?

It couldn’t possibly be referring to the mysterious Stranger in the sarcophagus, right?

“No… no, that can’t be it!” Cold sweat broke out of his forehead as soon as he recalled the terrifying existence. “The Annon Sutra won’t send me to my death… I hope!”

He did not try to sacrifice more blood to obtain more details because he already knew that it was futile. For questions like this, the most the Annon Sutra would provide was a general direction. It would never give him a clear, detailed answer. It was wilful like that.

For example, he once asked the Annon Sutra when Chen Zheng would try to kill him. It had not deigned to give him an answer. Before taking off to Little August Hill, he also asked if the expedition would be a dangerous one. Again, the Annon Sutra did not tell him anything.

In conclusion, the Annon Sutra was potent, but not omnipotent. He could utilize it to his advantage, but he must never become reliant on it!