11: Chapter 11 Fading

Three days after Qin Wu left, Lu Chen's memories began to fade.

It wasn't all at once; it was a slow, gradual dilution. Like a painting soaked in water, the colors began to bleed from the edges, slowly seeping toward the center. He could feel things in his mind becoming blurry, but he couldn't name them—because only when they were completely gone would he know what he had lost.

This feeling was strange.

You know you've lost something, but you can't remember what it is.

It's like knowing you once kept something important in your pocket, reaching in, and finding it empty. You don't remember what the object looked like, what it was called, or where it came from—but you know, it was important.

Lu Chen sat in the Ruined Temple, holding the bone fragment in his hand.

The color of the bone fragment had changed again.

It had been deep grey before, but now it was even darker, as if it had been soaked in ink. There were more cracks, too, spreading from the center outward, dense like a spiderweb.

"The Spiritual Root is growing."

Growing a Spiritual Root requires a price.

The price is memory.

Wang Qishan had written in the bamboo slips: "The essence of Cultivate is exchange. You trade time for cultivation, memory for Realm, and lifespan for power. The Heavenly Dao is fair—whatever you gain, you must lose something in return."

Lu Chen hadn't understood it at the time.

Now, he understood.

What he gained was the growth of his Grey Spirit Root.

What he lost was memory.

He didn't know what the first memory he lost was. Perhaps it was some insignificant afternoon in his childhood, or perhaps some face he had seen but hadn't remembered. But Wang Qishan had said—what is lost will never return.

The fourth day.

When Lu Chen woke up, he discovered he had forgotten a passage on Wang Qishan's bamboo slips.

Not just a few sentences, but an entire paragraph.

He remembered the general meaning—the warning about the price. But the specific words, he couldn't recall no matter what. It was as if someone had taken a knife and carved that piece out of his brain, leaving behind a clean, empty hole.

He picked up the bamboo slips and found the passage.

"Qi Refining Level 3 is the first hurdle. Once you reach Level 3, the price will find you. It might take your memories, it might take your cultivation, or it might take your... I don't know. It's different for everyone. But one thing is the same—what it takes is always what you care about the most."

Lu Chen stared at this passage for a long time.

What you care about the most.

What did he care about the most?

Immortality.

He knew. He had known from the very beginning. When the Gray-robed Man told him he had no Spiritual Root, he had only one thought in his heart—I want to fly. When Mo Wen told him the price, he had only one thought in his heart—I will not look back.

Immortality was what he cared about the most.

So, what would the price take?

He didn't know.

But he knew that no matter what it took, he would not stop.

The fifth day.

Lu Chen began to try the "Cultivate faster" method Qin Wu had mentioned.

Before leaving, Qin Wu told him that the way to Cultivate the Grey Spirit Root was different from a normal Spiritual Root. A normal Spiritual Root absorbs Spiritual Qi to store in the Dantian, while the Grey Spirit Root "eats."

"Eat what?"

"Eat everything that contains Spiritual Qi." Qin Wu said, "Herbs, Spirit Stone, Medicinal Pill, even the spiritual power of other Cultivator. Your Spiritual Root doesn't touch the Five Elements; it can eat anything, but it can never be full."

"What do you mean it can never be full?"

"It means you will never have the feeling of being 'full'." Qin Wu said, "Normal Cultivator can achieve a Breakthrough once their Dantian is full of Spiritual Qi. You won't. You need to keep filling it, filling it until the Dantian can't take it anymore, cracks open, and then restructures itself. Every time it restructures, your Dantian will grow a size larger."

"Then what about the price?"

"The price is—" Qin Wu paused, "You will become less and less human."

Lu Chen hadn't pressed for details then.

Now, he began to understand.

He sat cross-legged in the Ruined Temple, holding a piece of polygonatum in his hand. Mo Wen had taught him to identify polygonatum; it was for replenishing Qi and had to be at least ten years old to be used. This one he had dug up on the mountain; it wasn't old enough, but it would barely suffice.

He placed the polygonatum in his palm, closed his eyes, and tried to "absorb" it with his Grey Spirit Root.

Not Guiding Qi into the Body, but absorbing.

It was like inserting a tube into the polygonatum and drawing out the Spiritual Qi inside.

The polygonatum began to dry up.

Starting from the root, the color changed from yellow to brown, from brown to black, and finally turned into a pile of ash.

Spiritual Qi surged from his palm, moved up his arm, and poured into the Dantian.

It was different from Guiding Qi into the Body.

The Spiritual Qi from Guiding Qi into the Body came from the outside; it was clean and carried nothing. Absorbing the Spiritual Qi of herbs carried the nature of the herb itself—warm, with a hint of sweetness, like drinking sugar water.

The Dantian absorbed this surge of Spiritual Qi and trembled slightly.

Lu Chen felt the Dantian grow a little bit larger.

Not much.

But it had indeed grown.

He opened his eyes and looked at the pile of ash in his palm.

"A ten-year-old polygonatum, and it only grew this much?"

At this rate, how many herbs would he need to absorb to reach Qi Refining Stage 2?

He didn't know.

But he had no other choice.

The sixth day.

Lu Chen spent the whole day wandering in the mountains and only found three herbs.

One was a polygonatum, not old enough. One was a glossy ganoderma, just sprouted, not even the size of a palm. One was a fleeceflower root, gnawed in half by a wild beast, with only half a root left.

He absorbed all three.

The Dantian grew by about one percent.

At this rate, to reach Qi Refining Stage 2, he would need at least three hundred herbs.

Three hundred.

Were there even three hundred herbs in this mountain?

Lu Chen didn't know.

But he knew one thing—Qin Wu was right; he needed resources. Without resources, he would never reach Qi Refining Stage 2 even if he Cultivate until he died.

The seventh day.

Lu Chen found a package at the entrance of the Ruined Temple.

It wasn't a paper package, but a cloth one, tied with hemp rope and placed on the threshold. The cloth was black, the same as the clothes Qin Wu wore.

He opened it.

Inside were three things.

A stone—a Spirit Stone, the size of a fingernail, grey-white, with a faint layer of light on the surface.

A porcelain bottle—containing three Medicinal Pill, red, smelling of blood.

A note—"Use the Medicinal Pill first, then the Spirit Stone. One Medicinal Pill every three days, and keep the Spirit Stone by your pillow while you sleep. Don't ask where it came from; just use it."

Lu Chen folded the note and tucked it into his clothes.

He didn't ask.

Qin Wu had said he was going to find "things that can make you Cultivate faster." He had found them, and he had delivered them.

As for how he found them—Lu Chen didn't care.

He poured out a Medicinal Pill and looked at it.

It was red, round, and had a thin layer of wax on the surface. He took a bite; the wax broke, and the inside was bitter, ten times more bitter than medicinal soup.

He swallowed it.

The moment the Medicinal Pill went down his throat, the Dantian exploded.

It didn't literally explode, but it felt like it did. A wave of heat rushed out from his stomach and poured into the Dantian, like a bucket of water poured into a small cup, overflowing.

Lu Chen gritted his teeth and guided the heat to flow through his Meridians.

Wherever the heat flowed, the Meridians expanded a little.

Wrists, elbows, shoulders, ankles, knees—these Meridians that were already open were stretched wider by the heat.

Wider meant more Spiritual Qi could pass through.

Before, when Spiritual Qi flowed through his wrist, it was like a thread passing through the eye of a needle. Now, it was like a rope.

Lu Chen opened his eyes and looked down at his hands.

His palms were red.

Unnaturally red, as if burned by fire.

But the Dantian was not injured.

Instead, it was even larger.

"One Medicinal Pill is worth thirty polygonatum."

He capped the porcelain bottle and tucked it into his clothes.

Then he placed the Spirit Stone by his pillow, lay down on the hay, and closed his eyes.

The light of the Spirit Stone was very weak, but he could feel it. It was like someone had placed a small lamp next to him; the light wasn't dazzling, but it was warm.

Spiritual Qi seeped out of the Spirit Stone and was automatically absorbed by his body.

It was very slow, but it was absorbing constantly.

The eighth day.

When Lu Chen woke up, he felt the pillow was a bit hard.

He reached out to touch it, and the Spirit Stone had shattered.

It had turned into a pile of grey-white powder that scattered when touched.

"Absorbed it all in one night?"

He blew the powder away and sat up.

The Dantian had grown a little more.

Adding yesterday's Medicinal Pill, the Dantian was already about ten percent larger than when he had first started at Level 1 Qi Refining.

"Ten percent."

He was still ninety percent away from Qi Refining Stage 2.

Lu Chen did the math.

Three Medicinal Pill, one every three days. He didn't know if Qin Wu would send more after he finished them. The Spirit Stone was gone once used.

He needed to find resources himself.

But how?

He didn't know.

Wang Qishan's bamboo slips hadn't written about how to earn Spirit Stone or how to trade for Medicinal Pill. Mo Wen hadn't said either.

Lu Chen stood up and walked to the entrance of the temple.

It was snowing outside.

Not a heavy snow, but a light one, drifting down in flakes and melting as soon as it hit the ground.

He stood at the entrance, looking into the distance.

Below Qingniu Ridge was Qingniu Town. There were people in the town, blacksmith shops, cloth shops, restaurants, and inns.

There were also Cultivator.

The Gray-robed Man had come from outside the town.

"The town might have Cultivator."

But Lu Chen's current appearance—wearing a ragged cotton jacket, with a firewood knife tucked into his waist—made him look just like a woodcutter.

Cultivator wouldn't trade with him.

"Then I'll just have to Cultivate to Qi Refining Stage 2 first. Once I reach Stage 2, I can at least prove I'm not a Mortal."

He turned back into the temple, sat down, and continued to Cultivate.

The ninth day.

The bone fragment began to absorb again.

This time it was intense, like a wild beast that had been hungry for a long time, opening its mouth and swallowing in large gulps.

Lu Chen felt something in his mind being pulled away.

It wasn't painful; it was empty.

It was like someone had dug a hole in his brain, the hole getting bigger and the edges getting blurrier.

He tried to grab the things that were disappearing, but he couldn't. Every time he reached out, his fingers passed through those images, like grabbing a reflection in the water.

After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the bone fragment stopped.

Lu Chen looked down.

The characters on the bone fragment had changed.

Before, they were crooked, unintelligible ancient characters. Now, a portion had turned into characters he could recognize—not all of them, just a small part, about a third.

"Using blood as a guide, using life as a bridge..."

He still couldn't understand the rest.

But this small section, he could already read.

"Using blood as a guide, using life as a bridge."

What did it mean?

Lu Chen thought for a few seconds, but couldn't figure it out.

He stuffed the bone fragment back into his clothes, pressing it against his chest.

The chill was still there.

But now there was a hint of warmth in the chill—like someone had poured a little hot water into ice water; it wasn't hot, but he could feel the temperature difference.

The tenth day.

Lu Chen used the second Medicinal Pill.

The Dantian grew another ten percent.

Adding the previous ten percent, the Dantian was now twenty percent larger than when he had started.

The speed at which Spiritual Qi flowed through his Meridians was faster.

He tried concentrating the Spiritual Qi in his fist.

His fist felt slightly hot.

He smashed his fist against the temple wall.

A chunk of dirt fell off the wall.

Before, when he smashed the wall, his hand would hurt. Now, it didn't hurt.

"Is this Spiritual Qi?"

Mo Wen had said that once all the Meridians in the body were open, one punch could kill an ox.

Lu Chen couldn't do that yet. But his fist was already harder than a normal person's.

The eleventh day.

While Lu Chen was digging for herbs on the mountain, he met someone.

Not Qin Wu.

It was a woman.

Wearing a grey robe, standing at the edge of the woods, watching him.

A grey robe.

Lu Chen stopped what he was doing, slowly stood up, and gripped the firewood knife in his hand.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The woman didn't speak, just watched him.

She wasn't old, looking to be in her early twenties, her face very fair, her features not exactly beautiful, but very clean. Her eyes were brown, not big, but very bright.

Hanging from her waist was a jade plaque with a character engraved on it—[Dan].

"Are you from the Hehuan Sect?" Lu Chen asked.

He remembered Mo Wen saying that people from the Hehuan Sect wore grey robes.

The woman shook her head.

"Danding Sect." She said. Her voice was very soft, as if she were talking to a kitten, "You don't need to be afraid; I'm not here to cause you trouble."

"Then what are you here for?"

"To find you." The woman said, "Someone told me that there is a Cultivator on Qingniu Ridge with no Spiritual Root who is Cultivate a Grey Spirit Root."

"Who told you?"

"You wouldn't know them."

Lu Chen stared at her for a few seconds.

The woman didn't dodge, nor did she step forward.

"What do you want?" Lu Chen asked.

"I want to make a deal with you." The woman said, "You show me your bone fragment, and I'll give you three qi gathering pill."

Lu Chen's hand tightened on the firewood knife.

"How do you know about the bone fragment?"

"You don't need to worry about that." The woman said, "You just need to answer—will you trade, or not?"

Lu Chen was silent for a few seconds.

"Give me the Medicinal Pill first."

The woman took a small porcelain bottle from her clothes and threw it over.

Lu Chen caught it, opened it, and sniffed.

The smell of the Medicinal Pill was different from the ones Qin Wu had given him. The ones Qin Wu gave him smelled of blood, while this one smelled of herbs.

"qi gathering pill. Used in the Qi Refining stage, a bit worse than the blood essence pill Qin Wu gave you, but it has the advantage of having no side effects."

Lu Chen looked up.

"You know Qin Wu?"

"I do." The woman said, "He stole three blood essence pill from our sect, and the deacon of the Danding Sect is hunting him down. You'd better use those two in your hand as soon as possible. If it's discovered, you'll be in trouble too."

Lu Chen tucked the porcelain bottle into his clothes.

"The bone fragment."

He unbuttoned his collar, revealing the bone fragment on his chest.

The woman walked over, squatted in front of him, and looked closely.

She looked very carefully, her eyes almost touching the bone fragment, her eyelashes nearly brushing his skin.

Lu Chen didn't move.

After looking for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the woman stood up.

"It really is Wang Qishan's remains." She said, "How much of the text on it can you understand?"

"One-third."

"That's enough." The woman said, "Three months from now, the Danding Sect will send someone to retrieve the content on it. You write down everything you can understand and hand it to them. They will give you a reward."

"How much?"

"Fifty Spirit Stone."

Lu Chen thought about it.

Fifty Spirit Stone. He had never seen so many, but Wang Qishan's bamboo slips had written—the annual Cultivate expenses for a Qi Refining stage Cultivator were about ten Spirit Stone.

Fifty Spirit Stone, enough for him to Cultivate for five years.

"Okay."

"It's a deal." The woman said, and turned to leave.

"What is your name?" Lu Chen asked.

She stopped, without looking back.

"Su Qing."

Then she left.

Disappearing into the woods, as fast as Qin Wu.

Lu Chen stood in place, holding the porcelain bottle in his hand.

Su Qing.

Danding Sect.

qi gathering pill.

Three months.

Another three months.

Qin Wu said he would be back in three months.

Su Qing said the Danding Sect would come to retrieve the text in three months.

"Both are waiting for three months."

Lu Chen tucked the porcelain bottle into his clothes and bent down to continue digging for herbs.

No matter what happens in three months, he needed to reach Qi Refining Stage 2 first.

The bone fragment was absorbing his memories.

The price was approaching.

But he didn't care.

All he wanted was Immortality.

Nothing else mattered.