Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Multi-interlude 1

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Copper Shell Breathing Method

...The breath is the heart and soul. It is the origin of the life of numerous mortals. Without breath, one cannot move, work or even think.

Such an important aspect is the one thing we do not train to become better at. The farmer child is taught the secrets of farming, the blacksmith child is taught the secrets of metalworking, then why not the breathing child taught how to breathe?

Your lungs are but Copper Shells and greatness dwells within. In for three paces, then out for two, then in for five, then out for five- all things in accordance with the Liangyi.

The breath of the universe shall gather in the sea of spirit within...

---

Zhang Yi blinked, rubbing his eyes as he attempted to parse the text in the low moonlight. He did not understand most of it, to be honest. But there was a clear set of instructions.

He breathed in for three paces, out for two, in for five, out for five. Slowly but surely the black-haired boy followed the instructions. After a long moment, he began to feel silly. Nothing seemed to be happening.

However, Zhang Yi had seen firsthand the magical powers of the kidnapper. This method had to work. So he continued, sitting cross-legged under the tree, breathing. In for three, out for two, in for five, out for five.

A welling sense of disappointment continued to rise within him. He felt no mystical power gathering within him or any sudden enlightenment. Perhaps he had misunderstood how long this process would take? He redoubled and resolve. Even if it took him a hundred years of breathing, he would become immortal eventually!

What Zhang Yi did not notice was a slight blue haze gathering around the Copper Coin keepsake he always kept around his neck, left to him by his grandfather before the old man was mysteriously killed.

---

Xia Xuefeng leapt backwards, narrowly dodging the charge of the two seventh-stage enemies. She dashed leftwards, flinging herself to the wall of the cave, where the impaled childlike corpse of 'Lili' lay. Fresh blood dripped from the stab wounds to her vision, nearly glowing with blood-Qi. After all, Lili was a sixth-stage cultivator, and his blood was rich with thrumming power ripe to be swallowed.

A rich bloody scent suffused the air, and the world seemed to slow as she inhaled. She shuddered. The scent was rich and bloody and metallic and oh-so-wonderful and perfect. From within her Datian, the thirty-six blood-crosses trembled with intense hunger. The Qi-rich blood of a cultivator would be filled with incredible power.

Xia Xuefeng bit her lip, conflicted and guilt-ridden.

'This is horrible. This is disgusting,' she admitted. 'But I have no choice. Surely the Heavens will understand, right?'

She flexed her cultivation, the blood around Lili's body swirled, pouring into her body through her skin. Xia Xuefeng moaned aloud as an intense ecstasy rippled through every cell of her body. The qi-rich blood poured through her meridians, pumping her with intense vitality.

The blood seemed to shudder and pull away from her, as if terrified. Unlike the beast-blood she had previously used, it seemed to have some kind of will and conscience, enough to resist her devouring. Xia Xuefeng smiled deliriously, as her Qi crushed whatever remnant of Lili's soul was resisting her devouring.

Without any resistance, the blood eagerly poured into her. It swirled within her, forming blood cross after blood cross.

Yet, beyond that, there was something else. A burning, tingling energy filled her, pouring through every meridian of her body. A strange Qi that Xia Xuefeng did not recognize.

"Stop her!" Lord Revenant shouted angrily.

He leaped through the air at Xia Xuefeng, palms stretched out in a vicious claw formation as spectral black and white mist formed skeletal claws around his hands.

Xia Xuefeng, nearly drunk from the ecstatic pleasure melting through her, barely reacted. Thirty-Nine blood crosses, forty blood crosses...

Lord Revenant Claw smashed into her side with a crack. Her body twisted as it was slammed backwards, into the gray rock of the cave. A Yin-chill lingered around her left wing, and the girl gasped, the pain forcing her back into clarity.

Battle Art - Impaling Nail of the Crucifix

A nail of blood extended from her hand, twisting into the shape of a spear. Eerily, the young girl seemed to float towards Lord Revenant as she thrust. The eight-stage cultivator sneered in disdain, smashing his spectral claws forward to block her spear.

Shrcchhh!

Instead of the clang of weapon against weapon- the ripping sound of a spear tearing through flesh resounded through the cave. Xia Xuefeng's Nail of the Crucifix ripped forward of its own volition, ramming through the air directly into his eye and impaling his brain into the stone cave behind.

The attack was of such speed and force no one in Qi Condensation should have been capable of unleashing it. A battle skill of this strength would normally be reserved for one in Foundation Establishment. The sad truth was that despite decades of combat experience and intense training, Lord Revenant was simply far weaker than Xia Xuefeng.

How could he not be when she cultivated the Blood Moon Spectral God's Anthem of the Crucified, an ancient tome of divine power taken from a shattered battlefield lined with the corpses of ancient felled gods? It was his misfortune to meet such an unreasonable occurrence.

Xia Xuefeng had been lucky enough to meet Bing Meilu, lucky enough to recognize swearing her loyalty to the girl would be a good idea, and lucky enough to be compatible with the cultivation manual of a mighty God from the distant past. Lord Revenant struggled for only a moment more, as blood and eye fluid bits dripped from his impaled socket. Then he fell still.

The whole clash lasted barely a few seconds. Xia Xuefeng did not allow her victory to distract her, as she ducked under the bone-white sword of the seventh stage man.

She could see his expression break into terrified fear as he caught sight of his master dead and hanging from the cave wall, held up only by the spear in his eye. A dozen feet away, his comrade, the knife-wielding woman, began to run to the exit of the large cave they were in with a frantic speed.

Powerful Qi hummed through her legs and the young girl leapt through the air as a blur, rocks cracking from the force of her jump. Her foot smashed into the knife-wielders back with a horrific cracking sound, as the woman's spine was folded in half and her flesh pulped. She could not even scream, only gasp uselessly as her lungs were eviscerated by the force of the kick.

Xia Xuefeng slowly turned to stare at the one remaining foe, the sword-wielding man. A grim, bitter smile split his face.

"I guess it was going to happen inevitablyyy-arrghhh~"

With a crack, the man fell to the ground dead and Xia Xufeng began to feed.

Blood swirled through the entire cave as the four corpses were completely exsanguinated, rivers of red light swirling and pouring into the girl. Cross after cross of blood appeared within her Dantian. At the same time, once more that same strange burning Qi poured through her alongside the blood of the four demonic cultivators, increasing in density and power.

Forty-one, forty-two, forty-three, forty-four, forty-five.

Ninth Stage of Qi Condensation. The sound of screaming souls filled the air as Xia Xuefeng broke through the next realm. But she was not done yet. More and more of the rich, bloody energy poured into her.

Forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight.

Finally, the cave fell silent, and four desiccated corpses fell to the ground. The black-haired girl inhaled deeply, body thrumming with power. Seven more crosses and she would reach the peak of Qi Condensation.

---

Xia Xuefeng sat silently on the cold cave floor, staring at the glowing moss with empty eyes. Today had- today she had killed a person. A human being.

Today she had eaten someone.

Someone with hopes and dreams and a soul. Just like her. She didn't know how to think or how to react. All she could feel was gnawing, horrifying guilt and shame.

How would her old friends react if they knew she had drained every last drop of blood from a human corpse and drank it and that she'd liked it too much-

She felt dirty and sick and unclean. There was no blood staining her skin because she had devoured all of it. In a sense, it was almost worse. At least if bloodstains physically covered her she could wash them off. Instead, the red stain of her crime was locked away within her Dantian, pumping away through her meridian system, a defilement she could not wash away.

"Xia Xuefeng!"

The girl blinked, looking up in confusion. A hazy image of Bing Meilu stared down at her imperiously, formed from a cloud of glowing jade dust.

Was that real or had she started to go insane?

"This is a pre-recorded message I've sent you so don't bother talking back. I've just found out about your imprisonment and am supremely displeased. I assure you I will secure your return with the utmost haste and that whoever is behind the false imprisonment will be punished in due time. I have full confidence that you will be able to keep safe until such a time, given the strength of your cultivation method. The Shadow Pit segregates between the first and second realms, so you should be fine so long as you don't push yourself to Foundation Establishment and get taken to the next level of the prison. "

Xia Xuefeng scoffed, feeling a worm of resentment bite at her. Wasn't she here because of the cultivation technique Bing Meilu had given her? What the hell was going on with that?

"Besides that, this is in fact a perfect location for you to cultivate. Demonic Cultivators are perfect resources to be devoured by you and I'm sure you'll quickly reach the peak of Qi Condensation!"

Xia Xuefeng angrily threw a rock through the jade-green cloud. Had Bing Meilu seriously just encouraged her to kill and eat people for power? What the fuck was wrong with her? Did she seriously not understand how horrible this was?

'Not to mention giving me a demonic cultivation method in the first place. This is all her damn fault!'

"Now, since I know you're a bit less educated on the world of cultivation, allow me to assure you that the Anthem of the Crucifed is not a Demonic Cultivation Manual and you've not committed any crimes. Though it seems the fools who run the court system of this sect don't understand that. Once everything is properly investigated, you should be free shortly."

"How the fuck is it not a demonic cultivation method? I just drank four people, Bing Meilu!" the girl uselessly shouted at the recording.

"A demonic cultivation method is a cursed technique that allows one to quickly acquire power at the cost of karmic sin and the displeasure of Heaven, often by the devouring of mortals or other such rituals of defilement that purposely violate natural law for power. However, the Anthem of the Crucified is the technique left behind by a God. That is to say, the measly Heavens of the Jade Sparrow World would not dare give you karmic sin just for using it. That would be akin to a local mayor giving the Crown Prince a fine. So long as you do not devour human beings with it you will not accrue Karmic Sin and thus are not a demonic cultivator!"

"That would have been good to know before I ate those people!" Xia Xuefeng scoffed. "Am I just fucked no-"

"Now, be sure to remember Demonic Cultivators do not count as 'humans' so far as the Heavens are concerned. In fact, killing them and using them as a resource is the obligation of all orthodox Cultivators. If you devour or kill any Demonic Cultivators, you will actually receive karmic merit from the Heavens, a potent thing that has countless uses. It is the reward from Natural Law for purging the world of such parasites."

'Karmic Merit? Is that what that burning energy was?' the girl thought, bewildered at the whiplash revelations.

"However, you must be very careful. While Karmic Merit is very useful, it is ultimately a shackle, like all karma. Every drop of it you use is a debt you will have to repay Heaven if you wish to transcend karma and ascend to a higher realm. I would recommend only using it if absolutely necessary."

With that, the pre-recorded message faded, leaving the bewildered girl alone on the cold cave floor.