Chapter 11: Those with Different Paths Cannot Plan Together – Section 10: The Marrow Cleansing Classic

Bu Jingxian put away the letter and found the Soul Spirit Sect Master’s token in the wooden chest.

The token was indeed useful to him. If circumstances required him, in the future, to assume the identity of the Soul Spirit Sect’s heir and rally all those in the world who pursued the Soul Spirit ideal, this token would serve as irrefutable proof.

“Even when facing annihilation, Patriarch still did not forget the great cause of the Soul Spirit ideal. I, his son, dare not show the slightest negligence. In this life, I shall devote everything I have to realizing that ideal. May Patriarch rest in peace. May the souls of the hundreds of thousands buried here rest in peace as well!”

The following morning, Lady Li once again flew down to the bottom of the ravine.

She found that all the piled-up bones had been properly buried. Bu Jingxian sat cross-legged upon the ground, with two boxes before him, one long and one square.

“Could it be…”

“Lady Li’s guess is correct. These are the treasures of the Soul Spirit Sect, which countless people have sought in vain. Among them is also a letter that Patriarch hastily left before his departure. He repeatedly urged that the documents in the square box must be given to you.”

“There truly is a will of Heaven at work. The treasure countless people searched the entire Soul Spirit Mountain for, yet could not find, was actually cast down here by the Soul Spirit Sect Master all those years ago. And only someone like you, who was willing to painstakingly bury these remains, could have discovered this great chest beneath the bones of hundreds of thousands.”

“Lady Li, the manuals in the chest are written in the language of mankind, of which I know very little. I must ask for your assistance.”

“The Marrow-Cleansing Scripture can indeed alter one’s innate aptitude and talents. However, you already possess the Hundred Battles talent. If you cultivate the Marrow-Cleansing Scripture, you may lose it. Of course, if fortune favors you, not only might you retain the Hundred Battles talent, you may even gain a second one. The risk is immense. If your Soul Spirit Art were to replace it with an Essence Within talent, your life could be considered ruined.”

Bu Jingxian was truly unable to decide. He asked instead, “Is the Marrow-Cleansing Scripture difficult to cultivate?”

“Not at all. Yet aside from its miraculous ability to cleanse the marrow, it has no particularly wondrous effects. A person has only one chance in a lifetime to alter their innate aptitude.”

After considering the matter again and again, Bu Jingxian still decided to cultivate it.

“In that case, I wish to cultivate here. If Patriarch and the heroic spirits of Soul Spirit Mountain are watching from beyond this world, they will surely protect me.”

Lady Li immediately opened the Marrow-Cleansing Scripture and explained its meaning, word by word and sentence by sentence.

In less than half an hour, Bu Jingxian had committed it all to memory.

Lord Li could not endure the miasma at the bottom of the ravine, so Bu Jingxian hurriedly asked her to return above first.

“Please make two copies of the manual. Keep one for yourself, and give the other to Zhao Ji for her cultivation. Once she has mastered it, if I have not yet succeeded, have her carry the copy back to Northern Yin City, the capital of Zhou, and personally deliver the translation to Consort Moon. If she encounters any danger along the way, order her to destroy the translation rather than allow it to fall into anyone else’s hands.”

“You want me to keep one?” Lady Li was rather surprised.

Bu Jingxian thought that with Lady Li’s memory, she would certainly be able to memorize the entire text. Once above, she could easily transcribe another copy while looking at the original. Since he could not possibly silence her, he might as well be generous.

“I have no way to repay the kindness you have shown me. I know you have no interest in ancient manuals, but perhaps by keeping it, you may one day give it to someone you deem worthy.”

“Then I shall accept it without ceremony. But I cannot simply owe you a favor without repayment, so I will tell you your master’s name. The Northern Spirit Elder’s true name is Li Kuang—Kuang as in arrogance.”

With that, Lady Li spread her wings and soared into the sky.

“Thank you for telling me, Lady Li!” Bu Jingxian called hurriedly.

He did not know how this had settled their obligations, but he had always wondered why Lady Li had consistently addressed his master as the Northern Spirit Elder without ever mentioning his name. There had to be a reason behind it; clearly, she had originally been unwilling for him to know. Though he did not understand the matter for the moment, he believed that one day he would uncover the truth.

He immediately focused on cultivating the Marrow-Cleansing Scripture.

The scripture was indeed as easy to cultivate as Lady Li had said. In barely an hour, he had completed nine-tenths of the process. Yet when it came to the final circulation, Bu Jingxian no longer dared proceed. He knew that once he completed it, he might descend into hell—or ascend to the heavens in a single step. Success or failure depended entirely upon fate, something he could neither predict nor control.

He calculated the hour and considered waiting until midnight.

He paced back and forth, yet his mind could not grow calm. If his Hundred Battles talent truly transformed into an Essence Within body, he would have no future at all; he would become nothing more than an ordinary mediocrity. However, his time on Northern Spirit Mountain had made him fully understand the importance of talent. At this moment, an opportunity to gain a second talent lay before him. If he lacked the courage to attempt it, he believed he would regret it for the rest of his life.

Thus, he waited anxiously until midnight. Then he placed the Seven-Star Dragon Abyss before him and sat down cross-legged.

“Master always says that there is a will of Heaven at work. The danger of the choice before me today is even greater than that of choosing a cultivation art on Northern Spirit Mountain. If fate decrees that this practice will turn me into a cripple, then I, Bu Jingxian, will have no future at all. Better to use this sword to end my own life and accompany the hundreds of thousands of heroic spirits of Soul Spirit Mountain in eternal sleep.”

Once he had made up his mind, Bu Jingxian cast aside all hesitation. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he followed the manual and continued circulating his inner force through the meridians throughout his body.

As the Marrow-Cleansing Scripture coursed through his meridians and stirred the latent potential within his body, waves of golden light began to shine around him. He felt as though his entire body, inside and out, were being consumed by raging flames. Just as his consciousness began to falter beneath the scorching heat, the black mark of a soaring dragon on his forehead suddenly became distinct.

The black dragon abruptly enlarged. In an instant, it covered his entire body, winding through his meridians as though they were being seared by fire.

At the same time, Bu Jingxian’s consciousness suddenly became clear, while his perception of the surrounding world vanished in an instant.

He felt as though he were no longer sitting cross-legged at the bottom of the abyss. He did not know whether the transformation of his talent had been completed. When he slowly opened his eyes, he found himself in a strange place.

A fine rain fell across the vast heavens.

The Seven-Star Dragon Abyss hung from his waist. Behind him stood several hundred soldiers in black armor, every face unfamiliar.

Behind them stretched a sloping mountain road fifty meters long, leading directly into a fortress. The fortress was built with walls of blue stone, and its battlements were crowded with black-armored soldiers. Rows of repeating crossbows stood along the top of the walls.

Before them stood an unbroken sea of soldiers in red armor, covering the earth as far as the eye could see. Long sabers hung at their waists, spears gripped in their hands, and they advanced in orderly ranks, shouting in unison:

“Kill! Kill! Kill, kill, kill!”

“General, return to the camp at once. We swear to defend this pass to the death!”

The black-armored officer beside Bu Jingxian clasped his fists and requested his command.

Bu Jingxian surveyed the scene around him. Although he did not know where he was, nor whether this was dream or illusion, he thought that if not for the rain, they could surely set fire to the grasslands and drive back the enemy. The situation was clearly unfavorable. Their only advantage lay in the long-range weapons within the camp. The mountain road was narrow, and these five hundred men could delay the enemy for quite some time, but they could never hold back the opposing army indefinitely.

“How many bows and crossbows remain in the camp?”

“Have you forgotten, General? For today’s battle, you prepared five hundred thousand bows and crossbows.”

“Return to the camp at once and equip yourselves with longbows. Form up outside the gate and fire upon the enemy. I alone will defend the entrance to the mountain road. Strengthen the defenses within the camp and do everything possible to reduce casualties from the enemy’s bows and crossbows.”

The situation was clear. There might still be additional troops within the camp, but as long as he could hold the mountain road, the enemy had no other route forward. This battle might not be impossible to win.