Soul of the Revered Banner
Chapter 45: On the Verge

“Who did it?”

As Shizhu stood up, he quietly wiped the tears from the corner of his eye.

He had come from the refugee camp. All alone.

In his entire life, the one who treated him the best was Old Xiang.

He had come to eat at their home more than once or twice, and treated Xiang’s wife like his own mother.

Even the martial arts he taught Xiang Wen, he passed on without reservation.

Yet now, after just a few days apart, they were separated by death.

Old Xiang lifted his heavy eyelids and glanced at the two corpses laid out in the inner hall. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke:

“The Wild Dog Gang. I’ve already wiped them out.”

“Who was behind it?” Shizhu shot up, hair bristling in rage, slamming the table.

His internal energy surged, reddening his face.

But Old Xiang didn’t answer. He simply said, “Burn incense.”

They drank afterward, and Shizhu reeked of alcohol.

During the meal, he didn’t press further, nor did he offer empty comfort. He only told Old Xiang, if there was revenge to be taken, he must be counted in.

No need for words. Just call, he'd come.

The two drank until lightly tipsy.

Shizhu lit incense, bowed, and left the courtyard.

Night fell, the dark sky veiled the moon behind the clouds, and the desolate land dimmed even further.

Old Xiang drank alone beneath the moonlight, his wife and child lying quietly on the plank bed.

The Soul Banner rested on the table.

He raised his cup, toasting to his wife, his child, and himself under the dim moonlight and boundless sky beyond the window.

His eyes were bright, like burning deadwood, giving off light.

“Magical treasures… Sometimes I really don’t know what's scarier, people or ghosts?”

“I heard that demonic cultivator after his whole family was slaughtered broke into the county governor’s residence and killed him on the spot.”

“That’s what a man should be! So unrestrained, so righteous!”

“Even the immortal master of the Offering Pavilion couldn’t stop him.”

“Was he really a demonic cultivator?”

“To be honest…”

“I envy him.”

“Could I ever do the same?”

It wasn’t clear if he was speaking to the Soul Banner or to himself.

Tu Shanjun chuckled coldly.

Everyone longs for unrestrained vengeance, but few can truly live it.

Tu Shanjun himself couldn’t.

What use is envy? He had already given the cultivation technique and the Yin Soul Pill.

The path lay beneath his feet, he only needed to walk it.

If even a few steps made him shrink back…

If he only lamented fate and wallowed in hardship, he would forever drown in his own despair.

That would be his whole life.

Tu Shanjun stood inside the Soul Banner, watching Old Xiang.

He said nothing.

Just watched.

Would Old Xiang collapse here in drunkenness, or rise to overcome?

The choice was in his own hands.

Tu Shanjun couldn’t decide for him.

Old Xiang swayed drunkenly, nearly falling at any moment.

But just as he was about to topple over his internal energy surged, evaporating the alcohol completely.

He sobered up.

He couldn’t be drunk. Especially not here.

He could feel despair, but he could not drown in it.

He rekindled the fire bed stove, shut the courtyard gates, and swallowed a black bead.

The night passed in silence.

By dawn, a month went by in a flash.

Liang City remained unchanged, though news of defeats in the north kept coming.

One loss after another.

It had been a long time since they’d had a single victory.

This month was agonizing for the officials of the court and no less so for Old Xiang.

His internal energy had reached its limit.

He had reached the peak of the Organ-Refining Stage. His internal circulation was seamless and ceaseless.

To prevent the bodies from rotting, he had hammered crude planks into coffins and buried them in the backyard cellar.

He didn’t want to… but he had no choice.

After the burial, he collapsed before the grave and wept.

Wept bitterly.

As if something stuck in his throat.

After that, he became even more silent.

Each day, he either stood guard as a prison warden or returned home to swallow a black pill.

Diligence pays off.

Finally, his internal energy was perfected, he stood on the edge of a breakthrough.

For becoming a first-rate expert, there were examples to follow.

But to break from acquired cultivation to innate stage, this was unprecedented.

Those who succeeded in becoming innate martial artists through sheer hard work were extremely rare in the mundane martial world.

Those who reached the innate stage had already set foot on the path to immortality and would not remain among mortals.

Who didn’t want to become immortal?

Reaching the innate stage allowed one to transition to Qi Refining, though it was not like ordinary Qi Refining.

Tu Shanjun had no great advice. Most people achieved Qi Sensing through spiritual roots, then used spiritual power to refine their bodies and meridians to reach the first layer of Qi Refining.

But to return to innate from acquired, this was done through sheer abundance of internal energy and slow grinding.

Once the dantian was full to the brim, it would convert into spiritual power.

Old Xiang felt he was on the verge of a breakthrough.

His dantian was filled to its limit, and his body had been honed to the peak of mortal limits.

He only needed one final push to enter the innate realm.

His internal energy surged through his meridians, organs brimming with vitality.

Tiger Roar Technique circulated, opening the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, channeling dantian energy.

Tu Shanjun, watching from within the Soul Banner, had a burning gaze fixed on Old Xiang seated cross-legged.

This was the moment of truth.

But Tu Shanjun knew, the odds were less than 30%.

The missing arm had damaged the meridian cycle, preventing proper energy circulation, what martial artists called the "Great Cycle."

Without a complete Great Cycle, the remaining blocked pathways in the body couldn’t be opened.

Others could maintain perpetual circulation through the Great Cycle, but due to his missing arm, Old Xiang’s cycle was broken.

When internal energy clogged the meridians, it could overstrain them, leading to cracks and fissures.

Once the meridians failed, the quality of internal energy dropped, making it impossible to break through the blockages.

These might seem minor, but at a critical moment like this, they could be fatal.

If the meridians collapsed, the runaway energy would severely injure the body, causing internal trauma.

Severe cases might even lead to fatal internal bleeding.

Even a top-tier expert at the Organ-Refining stage couldn’t survive that.

But if he forcibly expelled the internal energy, the incomplete cycle would leave him without enough momentum to break through.

Still a failure.

So he couldn’t rush it.

The more crucial the moment, the more he had to stay calm.

Tu Shanjun feared Old Xiang didn’t understand this, if he grew impatient and forced it with all his strength…

“He mustn’t rush,” Tu Shanjun muttered under his breath, taking a deep breath.

He stared nervously at Old Xiang, who was circulating his energy.

He desperately wanted him to succeed.

Only if Old Xiang succeeded could he wield the Soul Banner.

The Tiger Roar Technique could no longer contain the immense energy. It erupted from his dantian.

The widened meridians couldn’t withstand the flood.

Unable to complete the Great Cycle, the meridians gave in, blood trickled from the corner of Old Xiang’s lips.

Seeing his pale face and bleeding mouth, Tu Shanjun knew something had gone wrong.

“Damn, it’s too much. The excessive energy is backfiring on his breakthrough.”

“Just a bit more, and his meridians will rupture.”

Tu Shanjun frowned, anxiously weighing his options.

“Should we risk it all in one go?”

At this point, the only options were to either dissipate the energy or complete the cycle.

But to complete the cycle, the blockage had to be cleared.

“What if I give him another Yin Soul Pill?”

Tu Shanjun considered the feasibility.

The blood from Old Xiang’s lips had turned into a steady stream. His entire body glowed red like burning iron.

White steam wafted from his skin.

“Ai- I forgot!”

Tu Shanjun suddenly remembered.

And realized how stupid he’d been.

He had thought through countless plans, but none matched the flash of insight he had now.

(Chapter End)