Luòchén sat alone in his gazebo again. It has been three days since the mortal fell from the sky and he killed him. Not deliberately of course. But karma doesn’t care about such things. Only the consequences. He guesses this is also part of his karma. From before he dedicated himself as a healer. Before he lost the ability to–

  He let out a sigh to cut the reminiscence short. There’s no need to dwell too long in the past, instead, he thinks on what went wrong again. The elixir worked. That much he can confirm after checking the mortal after he consumed the elixir and expelling all the corruption within the mortal’s body. He has seen the effect of his elixir expelling impurities from cultivators but nothing is as much and as vile as what the mortals have that it becomes a corruption. It's like the mortal is forced to consume all manner of poison for decades. His disciple Zhāoxiá confirmed as such. She is talented in poisons and how to cure them and she at least has recognized two. One is some kind of embalming fluid, an excessive amount of toxic oil, and the rest is various other chemicals she doesn’t even recognize. That is certainly not a natural case, either he is forced to consume so many or he did so himself. No wonder she is appalled when the mortal expels that from his body, it is astonishing that he has lived without a symptom for so long. But he digressed.

  What matters is if by expelling so much corruption, it has made the mortal too weak to consume the efficacy of the elixir. But this usually results in the body exploding. Like when the Yang energy of the body is so concentrated that the body cannot handle it anymore or a cultivator forcing themselves to consume elixir meant for higher leveled cultivators. But instead, the mortal’s body is liquified. The elixir that he made is a healing one. So after expelling the corruption, the effect of the elixir should be to help the mortal regenerate his body. Then is it the mortal’s body that cannot handle the excessive healing energy thus liquified? Again, this is not what he has seen and recorded to happen. Should an excessive amount of healing energy be applied, it should result in cancerous growth. This has been recorded to happen like the cultivators that consume elixir not meant to their level and captured doctors forced to heal demonic cultivators and give them cancer in retaliation. The latter only happens in extreme circumstances but it does happen.

  “Master is sulking again. What's the matter this time?” Luòchén heard the voice of his other disciples. Trying to whisper in hiding but can easily be heard by higher level Cultivator like him

  “He gave a mortal an elixir and then the mortal died?” Zhāoxiá explains

  “Wha-we. Why would he do that?”

  Hearing this, Luòchén also began thinking. Indeed, why did he do such a thing? This might not even happen should he just treat the mortals like mortals and send him off after he is healed. But he chose another path instead. He thought it was a heaven sent opportunity instead of just very unlikely accidents. To this, he finally made peace in one thing, the mortal died because of him. No need for further thinking on ifs and what went wrong. What matters now is how to resolve this karma. But first, he needs to resolve his bickering disciples.

  “You bunch of brats! Get over here!” Luòchén shouts and his two disciples stumble to him.

  Zhāoxiá and Qīngfēng presented themselves to him. Both wearing the Tiānhé Sect’s (Celestial Harmony Sect) daoist robes of black and white, symbolizing Yin and Yang. Zhāoxiá immaculate as always and Qīngfēng disheveled as usual. Without further ado, Luòchén picks Qīngfēng's ears and twists them.

  “What do I say when speaking about a higher cultivator behind their backs?” Luòchén said through Qīngfēng painful sounds.

  “Use voice transmission so that they can’t hear.”

  “Good.” He then let go of Qīngfēng who immediately nurse his ear

  Voice transmission is a spell that allows direct communication between cultivators. It is not foolproof but at least the conversation will be private, they will know if someone attempts to breach the spell to listen in, and it is considered very rude to do so. Not to mention the shameful stain that follows if an elder breaches in a junior's private conversation. He has counted too many cultivators who died simply because they can’t keep their mouths shut and he has been trying to hammer this to his disciples.

  “So, what are you both doing here?” Luòchén asks his disciples.

  “Master, I heard Sect Leader is hosting a Soul Transformation Elder from Tiānjī Sect (Heavenly Secrets Sect). Didn’t their seers see the past and the future—”

  Qīngfēng hadn't finished his words before Luòchén immediately leapt to the sect leader’s palace. Destroying his gazebo again and throwing his two disciples off their feet from the force of his speed. Everyone knows of Tiānjī Sect and this is an unprecedented opportunity to correct his wrong and even properly complete the elixir that he and his friend wants to make.

  —

  The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the young cultivator hums as he butcher the alpha of the Ashen Wolf for parts. Like the white deer, the flesh of its head is burnt clean, leaving only the charred skull. He hums as he skins the wolf, picking off its claws and fangs as different from the white deer, he can harvest everything of value from the corpse.

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  The fight with the ashen wolf alpha and its pack went easier than expected. Not to mention it's too easy. The Alpha is already wounded and poisoned from a previous fight with another spiritual beast. The rest of the pack is not too much trouble for his level. That’s why the ashen wolves also after the fire lotus as it can heal the alpha even when its not fully ripe yet. He can’t use the lotus as material for his ascension but he can use the wolf’s heart that is filled with fire Qi. The only thing he needs left are metal Qi and if what his system said is correct, the alpha is poisoned after a brutal fight with a golden scaled serpent which of course has metal Qi. It is practically a heaven sent fortune to obtain three out of five Qi material needed for Ascension in one trip but he guess he is always the handsome one and heaven favored him for that.

  After collecting all he can from the alpha’s corpse he prepares to leave towards the direction of the golden serpent. Should he be very lucky, the fight has wounded the golden serpent too. This time, he needs to prepare for the fight properly. The Ashen Wolf’s alpha is at the peak of Foundation Establishment and it almost has its humanoid form as the serpent attacks when the wolf is attempting a breakthrough. Before he flies however he caught the sight of two ashen wolf pups. Shaking in fear but still looking at him with hostility. The two pups have slightly different coloration. Much darker that somehow made it harder to see in its hiding place. He stops and approaches the two pups which immediately barks in an attempt to intimidate the cultivator who kills its parent. The young cultivator opens his hands to the side of the two pups. Then a flash erupts from its open hands. Incinerating the two pups in an instant into skull and bones.

  “I hate it when animals look at me like that.” The young cultivator said before finally flying to his destination.

  Time passes, and a few scavengers come to pick on what's left from the pack. The scavengers hope to become more powerful and rise from the food chain by becoming spiritual beasts. Until they scatter as night comes. The Not Deer finally arrives. In its charred eyes are various colors of red. Splattered all over and have become muddy brown. What’s the difference of this red from the previous red then what’s the difference they have with the gaseous red. The Not Deer have not recovered the facility for complex thought but it can differentiate them at least. It moves slowly, checking on the reds until he finds a very good purple color. The Not Deer approaches the skull and bones from the ashen wolf’s alpha. The voice said purple is good so he tried to take it.

  Tendrils of viscous red erupt from the Not Deer’s mouth. Taking in the wolf’s skull and bones. Bone cracking sounds emerge from the Not Deer. Its spine cracking as the Not Deer slowly rises up to two legs. Hunched as if in mockery of man. The skull of the wolf alters the deer skull, becoming more angular with a new pair of eye sockets, filled with charred wolf eyes. The hooves on its forelegs crack into the shape of what could be a human arm. Ending with four clawless elongated digits that barely qualifies as fingers.

  Oooh, this feels nice

  I told you, now come

  Still more?

  Yes

  Aww

  The Not Deer and Not Wolf, the Thing reason that it is already comfortable enough as it is now and can just lie down. But the glow is still enticing enough and maybe the promise of an even more comfortable feeling.

  Wait

  The voice suddenly said before the Thing chases the glow. It waits for the voice.

  Over Here

  The Thing followed the voice into two very small colors of purple.

  Almost miss these two

  The Thing absorbs the skull and bones of the two pups too. Not enough to make enough change, but it replaces the claws on its clawless digits and becomes the skull head’s new set of fangs. After that, the Thing chases after the glow again on all fours. Cloven hooves hindlegs along with its clawed hands. It still can’t see very far and only outlines so it's still crashing through everything in its path.

  —

  “PArTS?” The demon speaks at the destroyed remains on her soon to be husband

  “NoT GoOD!?” The demon speaks again before it lifts its neck, assessing the surrounding with its purple eyes

  Her maid closely held her mouth shut and her own in an attempt to not let the demon know its location. But the demon simply looks away and leaves. The maid let out a sigh of relief after the demon left. And that is all that it needs.

  PAAAAAAAAAARTS! The Demon found her and opened its skull head wide.

  The princess screams awake. Then she began to sob as she had been experiencing the same recurring nightmare. The royal physician that checks on her simply said that she is still in shock and that it will disappear in time. Her maids entered the room soon after, hearing her screams. Trying to console her in any way they can. But the oldest among them simply tells the princess that she must prepare. The other maids deride her but the oldest one simply points out that the princess told her to remind her that she must at least give the general a send off. The princess finally remembers what day it is. Three days after the demon killed the general and as a virtuous general who has defended the kingdom’s west and protected the princess' life, her father will have his funeral procession in all honors.

  The princess told her maids to help her prepare. No more dissenting voices after that. Only silence as the maids prepare the princess for the final send off and funeral of what should be her future husband. The funeral procession is grim to say the least. His soldiers mourning and carrying his casket. The casket that houses whatever is left of the general’s body after the demon tramples his body. Some officials that are jealous of the general’s achievement have even spoken that maybe not every part secured in the casket is all the generals or maybe mixed up with other common soldiers. Some ambitious noble clans are already eyeing the princess as she is now single again. No such talks as of yet as the king favors the general and such talk before the funeral even over can get their heads rolling. Others are words of pity towards the princess. Not yet married but has become a widow. Those that can keep their mouth shut or dutiful enough have pressed the King to do something about the demon that has killed the general. But as Jin is a mortal kingdom, there’s nothing they can do other than make a request to the surrounding sects and promise a reward for the subjugation of the demon.

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