Chapter 13: Steps

Chapter 13: Steps

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Every step is pain.

Every breath is agony.

Every second a new torture.

Liu Jin is barely aware of where he is. Is he still in Poison Fang Canyon? Is he close to Eastern Port City? He does not know. The only thing he knows right now is his masters back. As long as he follows that back, he should be fine. The alternative is death, and death is not acceptable. Liu Jin has only seen nine springs in this world, and hed rather see many more. Thus, he follows his master.

Step by step. Breath by breath. Second by second.

As he does, the rest of his being focuses on a much more critical task. Keeping the poison under control.

Liu Jin cannot explain what Nine-Headed Snake God did to his body. Regardless, the result is clear. His body now produces a deadly poison, seemingly without end. The poison flows through his body using his Qi, his own lifeforce. In a way, it is a betrayal of the highest order. His own energy has been turned against him.

Without the dragon bone needles his master gifted him, Liu Jin would surely be dead. If he hadnt figured out he needed to divert the flow of his Qi to isolate the poison and expel it from his body, the poison would have undoubtedly left his body a rotten husk by now.

The poison would have rotted his body and his master would have let it happen, Liu Jin realizes. His father warned him. Old Jiang is a harsh teacher. Even Old Jiang warned him and gave him many opportunities to turn back.

Back then, Liu Jin thought he understood all those warnings. He thought he understood what he was getting himself into, the danger he agreed to face. He really thought he understood.

Only now, as the poison tortures his body, does Liu Jin realize how nave he was.

The realization causes him to lose control for an instant. The poison spreads, introducing new kinds of pain to Liu Jins body. He bites his tongue. The taste of copper fills his mouth, but its nothing compared to what the rest of his body is feeling. Liu Jin would like to say his body feels as though it is burning from the inside, but there is no way fire could ever be this cruel.

Before a full second passes, Liu Jin forces the poison back to its proper flow. The dragon bone needles vibrate inside of him, but he wills them to stay inside his body.

We are almost there. Keep going.

His master says something. Liu Jin vaguely hears the words. His mind is in no state to process them. Just walking after his master is taxing enough. The bulk of his mental faculties is dedicated to keeping the delicate balance that is preventing him from dying on the spot.

There can be no more miscalculations, no mistakes. Liu Jin needs to keep doing this again and again perfectly for three years. He needs to repeat the process until it becomes as natural as breathing. Until Liu Jin reaches that point, he cannot eat. He cannot sleep. He cannot rest.

How long will that take?

Weeks, Liu Jin realizes. At a bare minimum, it will take weeks for his body to get used to repeating the process, weeks until he can do anything else. Can his Qi sustain his body until then? People who have reached high levels of cultivation can go without food or rest for long periods of time. Xiao Nan once told him he could go for over a year without eating if he wished to.

However, Liu Jin is not Xiao Nan. Liu Jin is but a child in the Inner Realm, the second realm of cultivation. Even calling him a proper cultivator is too much at this point. Can his Qi really keep his body alive until he is able to eat on his own?

Liu Jin is not sure.

The realization opens a pit in his stomach, but he does not let it destabilize him. Either way, the path forward is clear. His Qi will have to last. That is all there is to it. The alternative is death, and that is something he does not want to dwell on.

We are here.

The words barely manage to pierce his consciousness. Where is here? Is he home at last? Has he walked all the way back from Poison Fang Canyon? Liu Jin barely feels his body being pushed down into a bed. There is something in his neck.

It is called Elixir of the 400-Day Journey, his father explains. The one who created it named it as such because he boasted that whoever drank it would be able to go without food or rest for 400 days. His claims were highly overrated. Still, it did keep your body healthy while you were inert.

Liu Jin stays silent, digesting the information. It takes a while for him to pick his next words. If father had not given me that would I have survived?

His father raises an eyebrow. Liu Jin feels like hiding his face. Pride ill suits you, son. Liu Jianguo sighs. No, you would not have died. At least, I do not believe so. However, without it, you would not be moving your body so freely. The elixir stimulated your muscles and kept them within acceptable parameters for the past month.

So that is why his body does not feel as bad as expected. If his father had not made him drink that, he wouldnt be able to get up right now. It would have taken days for Liu Jin to regain full range of motion. As it is, Liu Jin is sure it will take about an hour for him to get used to moving his body again.

Thank you, Liu Jin says as hewith great effortmanages to sit up on his bed. His back creaks a little, but that is to be expected.

Liu Jianguo closes his eyes. It was the least I could do, he says. There is no trace of false modesty in his fathers voice. Liu Jin understands what he means.

It was really the bare minimum.

Had his father wanted to, he could have probably prepared something that would have helped counteract the poison, making his burden lighter. Had his master wished it, he could have shown him how to perfectly purge the poison from his body instead of letting him figure it out over the course of one month. Both could have done countless things to help him. They had not.

It was his test.

Liu Jin made a choice, and they allowed him to experience its consequences fully. They took him at his word and let him prove himself.

Thank you, father, Liu Jin says once more, bowing his head. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

His father looks like he wants to say something, but Liu Jin continues. You warned me. Master warned me too. I thought I understood what you both meant, but I did not. I understand now how hopelessly ignorant I was. Still, you both took my words seriously, and I thank you for it.

Raise your head, son. There is no way you could have known what was expecting you there. Even I did not think master would make you stand before a fallen god. I learned under him for five years before he tried anything like that. That he did speaks of his impatience to pass on all he can before he runs out of time.

Liu Jin raises his head. ThatIt said something about that too, Liu Jin says softly. Is master really-

That is something you should ask him yourself, his father cleanly cuts off his question. It is all the confirmation Liu Jin needs. Still, his father is right. He must talk with Old Jiang.

Where is he? Liu Jin asks, looking around.

He sensed you would wake up today, his father says. He told me to tell you he expects you at the port. Should you be unable to make your way there, he will consider your discipleship null and void.

Silence falls over the room as Liu Jin processes the new information.

Master is someone who is harsh in order to be kind. That is something that took me a long time to learn, Liu Jianguo says. This is his way to give you one last chance to give up. When you became his disciple, you could not comprehend the dangers involved. You were not wrong in that. However, that is not the case now. What will your choice be, son?

Liu Jianguo gazes at his son.

Liu Jin stares back with eyes that brim with determination.

Liu Jianguo sighs. Of course. I told master it would be this way.

I apologize, father, Liu Jin says. It seems I will keep making you worry.

There is no need to apologize. His father waves his words away. When it comes to being a father, I have found pride and worry to be inexplicably linked. Now, you best reacquaint yourself with your legs. The port is a long way from here.

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