“Great! I can’t wait to get started. I’m going to enjoy him thoroughly.”
Wei Chen grimaced in disgust when he heard this, but he didn’t leave, lest his merchandise be sullied.
All this time, Cha Ming had remained silent. He knew that his words would change nothing, and he didn’t want to give them the satisfaction. He only glared at the both of them, burning their images into his memory. One day, he would have his vengeance.
He looked on as the man took out his pen once more, tracing out a sigil that seemed ten times more complicated. It wasn’t any larger, but the fine details it contained were much more extensive. The single character contained twenty to fifty sub-characters that he couldn’t comprehend. He also noticed that, unlike the previous effortless exercise in penmanship, the man was panting and sweating profusely.
The process continued for eight hours, until finally the Lesser Slave Sigil and its master components were fully completed. Cha Ming braced himself for the inevitable fight against the sigil, but to his surprise, the man held it in his hand and sat cross-legged in front of him. He stabilized his condition for four hours before opening his eyes once more.
Wei Chen had not left the tent. He merely sat down and cultivated in peace, occasionally sending out his spiritual force to probe. Time flowed differently for those in the Foundation Establishment realm. They could go for weeks without eating or sleeping, using the energy of heaven and earth to sustain them.
Guo Jia, who had just awoken, stood up and looked down at Cha Ming, who was still firmly restrained. He should have been exhausted, but the strength of his body and soul enabled him to be fully lucid throughout the whole experience.
“You don’t like to talk a lot, do you?” the pale man said. “Well, that won’t change much by the time I’m through with you.” He then took out the complicated Lesser Slave Sigil and pressed it onto Cha Ming’s forehead. He immediately began screaming.
It felt like a burning hot iron had been pressed on his forehead, branding into his flesh, his bones, and his very soul. He tried to fight back, but the barrier surrounding his mind was quickly torn open by the sigil.
Suddenly, he found himself standing in a white space that expanded in all directions. Looking down at his hand, he saw that it was slightly transparent. He walked, and his footsteps echoed through the space as though he were wearing dance shoes on a wooden dance floor. The space reminded him of the Clear Sky World, where anything could be shaped according to his imagination.
“Nice mental space you have here,” a voice said from behind him. He turned around to see the pale man with shoulder-length black hair. His black robes rustled as though a wind was blowing, despite its clear absence. He held his hands behind his back, and he walked slowly with an aloof expression.
“White is such a pure color, a blank slate,” the man continued. “With such a powerful soul, no doubt you would have achieved very much in this life. Unfortunately, you met me. And I very much enjoy destroying such budding geniuses.
“Now, I don’t have to do this, but I’m going to explain what’s going to happen. I do this solely for my own enjoyment. I will use this piece of my soul to invade yours and force you to submit. The sigil is my weapon. To make things interesting, I’ll let you make the first move.”
Guo Jia then took out his hands from behind him. In his right hand, he held a writhing black sigil, the one he had drawn earlier. In the outside world, it had seemed tame and docile. Here, in his mental space, nothing could be further from the truth. To make matters worse, Cha Ming could sense that his own soul was very ethereal, while the other man’s soul seemed almost palpable.
Cha Ming didn’t need to be told twice. It was clearly a hopeless battle, but even if it gave the other man pleasure, he would fight to his last breath. He looked around at the white space and reached out with his spiritual force to see if it behaved in the same way as the Clear Sky World. He imagined four metal walls, and they instantly appeared and enclosed the pale man. Then he imagined a spiked stone, sending it down toward the man to crush him.
However, he didn’t relax after this. Sensing an impending threat, he dodged out of the way just in time, and he saw several chains shatter the white “floor” of his mental space. The black chains dragged out Guo Jia, who was still holding the black sigil.
“Interesting,” Guo Jia said, smiling and cracking his neck. “It seems you’re already a little experienced in the world of mental spaces. Unfortunately, you’re far too weak. You don’t truly know what a mental battle entails.”
The sigil in Guo Jia’s hand glowed, and several chains sprouted out of it, forming itself into what resembled a chain devil. It creaked as it moved. Cha Ming, knowing that fire was the enemy of metal, summoned a sea of flames, bathing the intruder and the devil inside it. To his surprise, the chain devil was unaffected, and it walked out with two more companions. The surface of each chain devil was covered in frost.
What sort of metal is this that it can resist such hot flames?
He didn’t think for long and willed his Clear Sky Staff to appear. It felt much more solid than his previous manifestations, and the familiar feeling it emanated proved that it was the Clear Sky Staff itself that had been summoned, and not just a representation.
I can win this, he thought. It looks like Guo Jia has no ability to manipulate my mental space and can only draw power from the sigil he’s holding. If I can outlast its power, I’ll stand half a chance. Maybe I can even take him down with me. He held no illusions of living past the battle.
He wielded the Clear Sky Staff as he would normally, drawing imaginary qi through his spiritual body. Fortunately, in his mental space, his cultivation was intact. In fact, it was much more powerful than usual. He remembered the feeling of half-step foundation establishment that Huxian had granted him before, and that was all he needed. Here, his memories mattered more than his actual power.
Not wanting to remain passive, he rushed toward the chain devils with his Swift Staff Art, striking them many times successively. They wailed as the staff struck them, as though they had met their mortal enemy. Guo Jia frowned when he saw this, and his disposition swiftly changed from that of a cat chasing a mouse to that of a tiger using all its power to catch a rabbit.
The sigil erupted with fierce power, and soon Cha Ming found himself surrounded in thick black chains. Seeing this, he willed a set of soul pearls into existence, which instantly surrounded him, glowing red.
Cataclysm Manifestation!
This was the highest manifestation possible, using 108 different pearls. Although they were brought together into a basic flame formation, several pearls flew around violently, incinerating everything they touched.
This time, the flames were hot enough to restrain the chains, and they began to melt. Guo Jia roared angrily as he poured even more power into the chains, manifesting hundreds more from above and below. His soul dimmed noticeably as he activated this function, and so did the sigil.
“You can’t run from me!” he yelled. “Even if this is your mental space, there’s no way you can resist the overwhelming difference in power.”
Cha Ming continued dodging chain after chain, but he soon began weakening. His soul was also thinning, just like Guo Jia’s. Unfortunately, his power was also finite in this mental space, even though he had more tools at his disposal.
Still, he didn’t give up. He smashed chain after chain thrown at him. They kept breaking apart and reforming in a split second, continuing their dogged pursuit. Soon he was no longer able to dodge them all, and black wounds appeared on his soul. He gritted his teeth and detonated another Cataclysm Manifestation, destroying one tenth of the chains in the process.
Unfortunately, this was the last of his energy. The chains finally caught up and wrapped themselves around his arms and legs until he was no longer able to move, just like in the outside world.
“I told you resistance was futile,” Guo Jia said. “But you didn’t listen. No one ever listens. Then again,
that’s what makes it fun.” He then pressed the writhing black sigil onto Cha Ming’s forehead, and several chains dug into his soul’s “brain.”
The world went black, and when he recovered, he was sitting in front of Guo Jia. This was the real world, and they were still in the tent. Guo Jia was even paler than he was before, and sweat covered his forehead. However, he wore a euphoric expression as he reveled in his latest conquest.
Cha Ming noticed that the chains that had held him back had been removed, so he instinctively attempted to lash out and smash Guo Jia’s face in. Guo Jia did nothing to stop him, and he soon realized that he hadn’t moved, despite his intent to do so. It was as though thick invisible chains restrained his motions as he tried to fight against them. The thought that this person was his “master” surfaced, and that attempting to harm the master was forbidden.
Confused, he walked several steps. Before he could get very far, Guo Jia’s voice sounded out.
“Stop!” The chains appeared once more, this time preventing him from walking and moving in general. “Breathe,” the man said.
Cha Ming was forced to breathe once more.
Chapter 16: The Mines
“You’ll have to be careful when controlling him,” Guo Jia said to Wei Chen. “He is enslaved, but his soul is still quite powerful. He still has the power to interpret every order given within reason.”
Wei Chen nodded understandingly when he heard this.
“Do you mind if I give him some basic instructions to prevent any mishaps?” Guo Jia asked the vice leader, who waved his hand to grant permission. Guo Jia turned to Cha Ming.
“Cha Ming, you are prohibited from harming any Serpentine Sword bandits. You are prohibited from harming the people of this village. You are prohibited from harming yourself. You are forbidden from cultivating. You must sustain your life…” The list continued until Guo Jia was satisfied with the set of instructions.
“Why the prohibition on cultivation?” Wei Chen asked. “He’s a cripple, so it’s not like he can do anything with the qi.”
“Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue,” Guo Jia replied. “However, you need to realize that cultivating the soul is different from cultivating the body or qi. This sigil is sufficient to control someone at foundation establishment. But the development of a soul varies between cultivators and is based on their innate soul force. For this man to have such a high soul force with his current cultivation base, he must have had many fortuitous encounters, in addition to full innate soul force.
“His soul is currently at half-step foundation establishment. Everyone who reaches foundation establishment finds themselves able to use soul force, but you might be wondering, if that’s the case, then what is the benefit of full innate soul force, or any talent in soul force?
“The truth of the matter is that once a soul breaks through to the next realm, it will immediately grow by leaps and bounds. Depending on talent, fortuitous encounters, and practice in manipulating soul force, the soul will quickly grow to an appropriate level. My dear Wei Chen, you didn’t practice soul force, so as soon as you broke through, your soul only broke through to the foundation-establishment equivalent. Therefore, you only had the barest incandescent soul.
“However, when I broke through with an innate soul force of eight, I had a mid-grade incandescent soul. This doesn’t mean a lot to you, since you don’t practice a profession. However, the ability of every professional is dependent on their soul force. Furthermore, one’s future development will forever be determined by their soul force, or so my teacher says.”
Guo Jia sighed. “Now back to the initial topic. If he breaks through, his soul will likely jump straight to the late incandescent phase and tear through the control of the Lesser Slave Sigil. Then he might be a substantial risk to your operations.”
Wei Chen nodded. “That makes sense. Thank you very much for your consideration and instruction, Sigil Master Guo Jia. We’ll be sure to do business with you in the future.”
“It’s always a pleasure,” Guo Jia said, smiling. “By the way Cha Ming—catch.” Guo Jia tossed Cha Ming a bottle of pills. “You must first take the healing pill, then after you have recovered, take one of these pills once per day for the next three days. Grow stronger so that you can be useful to your master. Don’t forget to be a good dog while I’m gone.”
“Yes, Master,” Cha Ming replied through gritted teeth.
Guo Jia then left with a smirk on his face. Wei Chen did not treat Cha Ming like the other cultivators and had him escorted back to his cell. He no longer bore any physical chains, but his mental chains were far harsher.
Once they reached the cell, the guard held one of the command medallions and issued his first order: He was not allowed to speak to others unless it was specifically required for performing his duties. After obtaining Cha Ming’s nod, the guard pulled up a chair and lazily guarded his “prisoner.”
Just as Cha Ming was about to take the healing pill, he heard a voice from behind him.
“Cha Ming, my boy. Are you all right?” It was the doctor’s voice. Although he yearned to reply, he felt as though his mouth were sewn shut. He was forced to ignore the doctor and pull the stopper on the bottle of medicinal pills.
“Cha Ming, what’s wrong?” Li Yin said a little louder, prompting the ire of Cha Ming’s guard. He smirked before walking up to the large cage.
“He’s not the one you know anymore,” the guard said. “He’s not your friend, either. Cha Ming, tell the man he’s not your friend. Look him in the eyes when you say it.”
Cha Ming struggled for the fraction of a moment before slowly standing up as though he were a puppet dancing at someone else’s whim. He turned around, exposing his cold face with dead eyes to the doctor. A large black character for “slave” burned on his forehead.
“I’m not your friend,” his body said to the doctor. Inside, his heart was breaking. Using the last vestiges of his willpower, he wrested a slight amount of control from the sigil and shed a single tear. When the doctor saw it, he sighed in relief. Cha Ming could still see the sorrow that filled his eyes.
“Get back to recovering and strengthening yourself,” the guard said harshly. “And you are no longer allowed to speak to this man unless authorized in the future.”
“Yes, Master,” Cha Ming’s body said obediently. Then he sat down and consumed the first pill that would heal the injuries his body had sustained from the tribulation lightning. As the pill entered his lips, he felt a stream of warmth enter his body that rapidly healed his arms and legs while pushing out the debris that had accumulated. It took him a day to recover.
Immediately after his recovery, he took the first body-refining pill. A violent, metallic force flowed through his body and sliced away at the wood energy that had accumulated. Little by little, he felt the wood energy growing purer and purer, like a forest whose old wood was being removed to make way for new life. A half day later, the force of the pill was completely expended. However, Cha Ming felt the strength of his body increase as the purified wood essence recovered to its original volume.
Ka-cha!
His bones crackled as the strength of his body increased to the eighth level of body refinement. After completing his recovery, he looked at his skin and noticed it was full of impurities. He then looked at the guard, who wrinkled his nose but did not say anything.
Well, if he doesn’t instruct me to wash, I won’t.
It was the first bit of freedom he had exercised since his enslavement, and he found that even wallowing in his own filth would be a wonderful experience as a free man.
Seeing that the guard would not interfere, he ingested the next pill in the sequence. An icy cold sensation raced through his body as destructive water energy rampaged through his veins. The natural heat that was generated from the fire energy accumulated in his body rapidly decreased, to the point where he felt like a block of ice. Not all heat was lost, however. A much more concentrated fire still remained, and he felt his st
rength increase greatly as the fire qi in his body recovered. Soon enough, he was able to move once more.
Finally, he popped the last pill, which was full of destructive wood energy. It bored through his body, attacking the frail defenses set up by the original earth qi that strengthened his skin and bones. His skin and bones cracked, but in the process, their structures changed. They were no longer smooth like before. These localized fractures caused the earth qi in his bones to change on a fundamental level. It became more crystalline, and as a result it became far firmer than before.
As he recovered from this last treatment, he felt power welling up in him as his physical strength broke through to the next level, the ninth level of body cultivation. His work complete, he stood up and stretched his joints, which had stiffened over the past three days of cultivation.
“All done?” the new guard on duty asked.
“Yes, my body refinement is complete, and I am currently at the ninth level of body cultivation,” Cha Ming replied mechanically. He was then escorted to Wei Chen’s tent. Wei Chen was a powerful foundation-establishment cultivator and could see the changes in Cha Ming’s body almost instantly.
“Good,” Wei Chen said. “Guo Jia didn’t lie to us. This man will be a solid addition to our workforce. He’ll be able to do the work of five men, but he will be able to continue around the clock. And he won’t take up as much space as five men, freeing up four additional slots in the mine. Take him up to the mine and put him to work right way.”
The guard saluted, but just as they were leaving, he heard Wei Chen’s rebuking voice. “And get him to take a bath, for heaven’s sake. Just because you’re a pig doesn’t mean everyone else can tolerate that stench.”
The journey to the mines was far less dreadful than Cha Ming imagined. On the way there, they encountered several worn-out and dirty villagers, but no one on the verge of death. It seemed that the bandits cared about their productivity, so everyone was moderately well fed. As they walked, Cha Ming saw parts of the forest he never knew existed. After all, when he was weak and recovering, he didn’t dare to venture out into the woods. Later, he had been far too busy to bother.
Light in the Darkness Page 16
