~~~

“You?!”

The same word is spoken at the same time by two very different people. One says it with outrage, the other with surprise. One is a rising star, the other a forgotten tool.

Well, not completely forgotten.

“Pan Qiu?” Liu Jin says incredulously.

Pan Qiu, the disciple who tried to impress Lu Mei by fighting him. The disciple who took part in the plot to steal the herbs Liu Jin and Huang Shing were transporting to Ember City. The disciple who fought them in the Summer Forest and was punished in the Medical Pavilion.

Looking back on it, it is hard to believe one person can be so closely tied to so many events.

“You have been hiding in the Apothecary all this time?”

Liu Jin had been on his way to the isolation chamber prepared for him when he found Pan Qiu deep in the bowels of the Apothecary, wandering around like a restless spirit. It has been weeks since they last saw each other. Though such a short amount of time is not enough to alter the body of a cultivator in the Spirit Realm, Pan Qiu has definitely changed.

When they first met, Pan Qiu walked with his head held high. Arrogance bordering on confidence marked his every step. Now, Pan Qiu’s shoulders are hunched, and his muscles are taut, ready to flee at the first sign of trouble. No longer a predator but prey.

“Where else could I have gone?” Pan Qiu yells. His voice echoes across the empty, narrow corridors of the Apothecary. “I am no longer of any use to Lord Feng Gui’s faction, yet there is no way I’d ever be welcomed by Lord Feng Shang’s faction. What else is there for me to do but hide?”

Pan Qiu’s existence had been crucial for taking control of the Medical Pavilion. However, that uniqueness hadn’t lasted long. As they discovered more disciples who had been experimented on, Pan Qiu became less and less special.

Now that the trial is over and done with, Lord Feng Gui’s faction doesn’t need Pan Qiu anymore. There is no merit in protecting him. That they went out of their way to restore Pan Qiu’s dantian and saved him from becoming a pill is more than enough recompense for his services.

In other words, nothing is stopping Lord Feng Shang’s faction from killing Pan Qiu should they get their hands on him.

In that regard, staying inside the Apothecary is probably the most sensible thing he can do.

However...

“Can you even enter most of the rooms here?” Liu Jin asks, knowing full well most rooms in the Apothecary are locked for those without the proper permissions.

The glare Pan Qiu shoots at him is venomous and, as most venoms are against Liu Jin, futile.

“Of course, I can’t!” Pan Qiu shouts, throwing one arm to the side. “I walk and walk and walk, yet most of these doors won’t open for me! Sometimes, I’ll switch floors without even realizing it, and I’m certain there are wild beasts kept somewhere around here!”

Carnivorous plants, actually. Though with how animated some of them can be, the difference is merely academic.

“However, it’s too late for me to pretend to be neutral. If I try to leave the compound on a long-term mission, I’m certain someone will try to kill me out of spite. Shameful though it may be, I’d rather keep wandering this dark place than face the harsh judgment of the outside world.”

“Ho, that is rather wise of you.” Seeing Pan Qiu’s nostrils flare up, Liu Jin quickly raises his hands and adds, “I mean no jest. I truly do believe Brother Pan is being prudent right now. The Eternal Flame Clan would be far more peaceful if everyone could follow your example.”

Of course, if Elder Xue didn’t want Pan Qiu here, he’d probably have been thrown out a long time ago.

Liu Jin supposes this is her way of showing sympathy.

“So, I was right?” Pan Qiu asks with obvious eagerness, almost taking a step towards Liu Jin before he catches himself. “Is the outside as horrible as I imagine it to be?”

“Most of the violence is happening under the guise of guaranteed challenges,” Liu Jin says. “It still hasn’t reached the point of open warfare.”

It would be good if things stay like this, but that’s probably just wishful thinking on his part.

“Those fools.” Pan Qiu clicks his tongue and spits on the floor. “To think Bei Duyi kept pestering us to join Lord Feng Gui’s cause.”

Liu Jin blinks thrice as his mind supplies a face for the name.

Just like Pan Qiu, Bei Duyi was one of the disciples who had not been happy with their quick rise to Inner Disciples. He also did not seem to get along with Bei Hong for reasons Liu Jin had never inquired about.

However, if Bei Duyi wished them to join Lord Feng Gui’s faction...

“If Bei Duyi wished that, why did you steal from the Apothecary?”

The plan may have been for Liu Jin and Huang Shing to be blamed for it, but they should have realized what would happen if they failed.

Right?

“Bei Duyi was not part of that plan,” Pan Qiu replies, making both of Liu Jin’s eyebrows rise on his forehead.

“Is that so?” Liu Jin asks with no small amount of doubt. “I thought he simply wasn’t directly involved with the theft?”

Pan Qiu shakes his head. “No, Bei Duyi kept discouraging us from using those sorts of tactics. He wanted things kept firmly within the rules. That, combined with the way he would not challenge his cousin, made us doubtful of his leadership, which led to our poor attempt to incriminate you.” Pan Qiu smiles bitterly. “Looking back on it, he probably just wanted to keep out of trouble to make a good impression on Elder Ju. It seems even back then everything revolved around this foolish feud.”

Liu Jin hums and crosses his arms.

“I’d advise against that sort of talk.”

It is not as if he doesn’t understand Pan Qiu’s frustration, but there are some things one shouldn’t say so brazenly.

“What else is there for me to do but talk? Who will care enough about me to be offended by my words? Do you know you are the first one to stop and talk to me in all this time?” Pan Qiu laughs with his head hung low. “How pitiable of me.”

“Then stop being pitiable.”

“What?”

“Stop being pitiable,” Liu Jin repeats. “If you wish to hide, then hide. However, if you cannot bear your condition, do something about it.”

“Have you not listened to me?” Pan Qiu yells, trembling with rage. “If I leave this place, I’ll be killed.”

“True, you have quite thoroughly burned your bridges with Lord Feng Shang’s faction,” Liu Jin admits. Before Pan Qiu can say more, he adds, “However, the same cannot be said for your relationship with Lord Feng Gui’s faction. If you have been left forgotten here, it is because you have chosen to be. If you were to make yourself useful, that would change.”

“You… you are trying to recruit me?” Pan Qiu backs away several steps, trying to retreat into the shadows. “Are you telling me to take a side in this?”

“I am simply making a suggestion.” Liu Jin shrugs. “Whether you choose to heed it or not is up to you and no one else. If you wish to stay as you are, by all means, do so. I will not blame you, though perhaps you might blame yourself.”

Pan Qiu has nothing to say to that. Soon enough, Liu Jin’s footsteps echo across the corridors.

Pan Qiu is left in the shadows.

Liu Jin heads deeper into the depths.

~~~

The isolation chamber prepared for Liu Jin is rich in ambient Qi, so much that someone lesser would have found it suffocating. As soon as the doors close, all outside sounds fade away. Liu Jin cannot even sense anyone’s Qi other than his own. He has truly been shut off from the outside world, completely removed from all distractions.

Good.

Liu Jin sits down cross-legged and places a small yellow pill in front of him. It is a cultivation pill he made last night. However, it is not yet the time to use it. Before raising his cultivation level, Liu Jin needs to focus on the task his Master left for him.

He needs to find out where Old Jiang’s manual is.

Master had given him a clue. The book is in the same place where Nine-Headed Snake God left his gift. If Liu Jin thinks about it carefully, there is really only one place where the two things can be, worrying as the possibility may be.

Entering the Spirit Realm has allowed Liu Jin to more keenly sense how his soul moves beneath his skin, though perhaps that is not the best way to describe it. His soul occupies the same space as his body but exists on a different plane. It grows and expands yet never exceeds the boundaries of his flesh.

Breathe.

Many years ago, Xiao Nan had demonstrated the ability to cut off a small piece of his soul and use it as a scout.

Has Liu Jin reached the point where recreating the technique is possible?

Before, his soul would only twitch despite his hardest efforts, but things are different now. The fight against Wong Shou has shown him as much.

When he wills it to go left, it goes left.

When he wills it to go right, it goes right.

A single finger is raised, a small clump of his soul gathers around it. It is still connected to the rest of his greater soul, but what would happen if Liu Jin were to cut it off?

It is tempting to find out. Too tempting.

Breathe.

Liu Jin lowers his finger. His soul stills as all his focus goes to his middle dantian.

Through the lower dantian, the foundation is built.

Though the middle dantian, the body and soul are connected.

Breathe.

Liu Jin dives in.

It is like squeezing through a narrow cave. It is dark and almost painful as if the depths were trying to reject him, yet Liu Jin keeps pushing.

An ocean waits for him on the other side.

Clear blue water all around and endless light filtering in from above. The seafloor is made of white sand that looks soft to touch interspersed with large, jagged rocks surrounded by greenery. A closer look reveals the vegetation is made of medicinal herbs, some of which Liu Jin has only seen in books.

Liu Jin floats in a daze, staring at the blue horizon that stretches forever.

This is his soul.

After so many years as a cultivator, Liu Jin has reached his soul.

His physical body is now but a faint sensation, one Liu Jin might even forget if he doesn’t pay attention to it. To get lost within your soul? Is something like that possible?

The ocean does not give him any answer other than its infinite vastness.

That is enough.

Liu Jin starts swimming, picking a direction at random. Though the ocean’s depths surround him, the idea of not being able to breathe never once enters his mind. This is his soul, and so, he belongs here. There is nothing more natural than that.

The snakes, however, come as a surprise.

Liu Jin comes across them multiple times, swimming lazily through the waters. Sometimes it is just one. Sometimes it is groups of them. Snakes of all sizes and colors keep appearing in his path, swimming through his soul as though they belonged in it. Some are even sleeping on the warm seafloor.

It is inevitable he’d bump into one eventually.

At first, Liu Jin does not realize why he has stopped. His hands reach out and find the water in front of him has become solid.

Solid and scaly.

A massive blue eye larger than Liu Jin’s entire body opens, and as it does, Liu Jin realizes he has bumped into the body of a gigantic snake. The enormous beast draws its head back, allowing Liu Jin to better appreciate how thoroughly dwarfed in size he is. Compared to this snake, he is like an ant before an elephant.

The snake’s body is a vivid blue without markings of any kind. It is why Liu Jin did not see it in time. Despite its size, it perfectly blends in with the sea around him.

This is his soul, Liu Jin reminds himself.

Nothing can hurt him here. Nothing will hurt him here.

He hopes.

“I am looking for something important,” Liu Jin says, his voice carrying despite being submerged in water. “I don’t suppose you can help me?”

The snake stays still for a moment before floating away, leaving Liu Jin torn between disappointment and relief. Those, however, quickly turn to panic when the giant snake suddenly swivels back. Liu Jin tries to back away, but he is nowhere near fast enough to outspeed the beast. The snake swims under him and picks Liu Jin up on the back of its head.

“... Okay,” Liu Jin says, sitting down on the snake’s head, realizing he has little choice in the matter. “I suppose you want to show me something.”

After a day passes, the plant life in the seafloor grows poisonous and even vicious, and more and more snakes appear in their path. Some are so massive their fangs are the size of Liu Jin’s body.

Of course, none are as big as the one carrying him.

The clear blue waters grow poisonous, eventually turning into a thick purple miasma, one so dense most people would struggle to even see two feet ahead. Still, Liu Jin does not panic or try to flee from the giant snake.

On the third day, they reach their destination.

It lies unguarded, buried deep in the seafloor.

A beautiful blade with a jeweled hilt.

~~~