Soul of the Revered Banner
Chapter 59: Attempt

The black pearl that fell landed directly on Wen Yue’s thigh.

It struck him with such force that he was momentarily dumbfounded.

He hurriedly picked it up for a closer look.

The pearl was round and dark, as if made of cold jade, and about the size of a chicken egg.

Wen Yue was overcome with emotion, his throat trembling as he swallowed nervously.

“It’s real!”

His voice suddenly rose in pitch with excitement.

Just like the letter from Baihu Commander Xiang had said, after pouring in internal energy, a black pearl had appeared.

If everything the secret letter said was true, then he might have a chance to heal his broken leg through the marrow-cleansing and tendon-washing transformation that comes with stepping into the realm of Immortal Masters.

The opportunity to change his fate was right in front of him.

How could he not be moved?

Maybe this black pill pearl in his hand was his destiny.

“If it’s real, no matter the price, I’ll pay it.”

Wen Yue gritted his teeth, making a solemn oath.

He once again picked up the letter, which detailed the method for consuming the pearl and various precautions that would greatly help him avoid going astray.

It also explicitly told him of the risks involved in swallowing the pearl.

And they were significant.

After the initial excitement, Wen Yue’s expression gradually calmed.

His gaze was unwavering, unusually resolute.

Rather than lie here in a half-dead state, he might as well fight with everything he had.

If he succeeded, then so be it. If not, at least he’d have no regrets.

“Chu Jiu, light the kang stove.”

Chu Jiu quickly checked Wen Yue’s pulse. Was his young master delirious from his injuries?

At this season, lighting the heated bed? That could suffocate someone!

“Young Master, have you lost your mind? Lighting the kang in this weather, won’t that steam you alive?”

“Do as I say, light it.”

“I’m going to cultivate. Without my permission, no one is allowed to enter.”

Chu Jiu wanted to object, but when he saw the determined look in Wen Yue’s eyes, he said no more.

Since Wen Yue had clearly made up his mind, he’d carry it out.

Once his young master couldn’t bear it anymore, he’d stop on his own.

In truth, he no longer believed there was any hope for recovery.

This wasn’t a normal injury, it was caused by a ghostly being.

Even the immortal masters of the Offering Pavilion couldn’t heal it. No matter how well it recovered, he’d end up a cripple.

There had never been a crippled marquis in history.

If one of the marquis’ lineages was lost, the clan might adopt a healthy and well-bred child from another branch to become heir.

That just proved, no one was truly indispensable.

Even Wen Yue, the old marquis’s own son, could only be kept alive now, none of the former treatment remained.

So now, Chu Jiu could only go along with Wen Yue’s wishes.

It just felt like, even though Wen Yue hadn’t died yet, the tea in the marquis estate was already cold.

If not for Baihu Xiang making a huge scene, Wen Yue would still be struggling in that broken-down shack in the rear courtyard.

The air was thick with smoke and heat as Chu Jiu finally got the fire going.

The rising steam was particularly conspicuous in this season.

The underfloor heating and the kang stove flared up together.

Wen Yue could feel, plainly and directly, the temperature inside the room rising rapidly.

He endured the pain and sat cross-legged.

His wounds split open, and trickles of blood soaked into the white inner robe and pant legs.

Tu Shanjun saw this clearly, Wen Yue was truly a man of grit. Even as the veins on his forehead throbbed from pain, he calmly began to operate his cultivation technique, breathing steadily, adjusting the flow of internal energy through his meridians.

“If you can’t even endure this level of pain, what great thing could you ever accomplish?”

Though he admired it, Tu Shanjun believed Wen Yue hadn’t even taken the first step yet, he would have to wait and see.

The Yin Soul Pill entered his belly.

The vast spiritual energy it contained turned instantly into a stream of cold air that rushed through his limbs and bones. Even the reopened wounds were quickly covered in a faint layer of frost.

“Huuh!”

A blast of cold air was expelled from his mouth, dispersing the surrounding heat.

The clash between cold and hot stabilized Wen Yue’s body temperature, keeping him from freezing stiff in the intense chill.

Even Qi Refining cultivators needed time to digest a Yin Soul Pill. If taken repeatedly, the yin and deathly energy could corrode them, let alone a mortal without spiritual power.

Internal energy did resemble spiritual power in certain ways, but it was still internal energy. A martial artist was not a cultivator.

Xiang Hu, though a second-rate Bone Tempering expert of the jianghu, had nearly died after his first attempt to swallow a Yin Soul Pill.

Wen Yue’s face became covered in a frosty glaze, and a faint bluish light flickered under his skin.

Chu Jiu remained just outside the door, waiting for his young master’s summons.

Half an hour passed. The stove and floor heating were still going, but there was no call from inside.

An hour passed.

Chu Jiu began to grow anxious. So much time without any sound, it was hard not to imagine the worst. If anything happened, he would be held responsible.

His face grew heavy with worry, but he didn’t dare to barge in.

If he ruined something important his young master was doing, that would be a disaster.

So all he could do was pace back and forth like an ant on a hot pan, silently praying that no one would come bothering Wen Yue at such a critical time.

Whether it was due to his prayers or the current gloom that shrouded the marquis estate, no one came to this cold, abandoned corner.

So the entire afternoon through the evening remained quiet.

This gave Chu Jiu a bit of relief but also a strange sense of emptiness.

It wasn’t until the moon hung over the treetops that sounds came from within the room.

Not daring to delay for a second, he rushed inside only to see Wen Yue still sitting cross-legged. Chu Jiu was stunned, then panicked, hurrying forward to help him: “Young Master, careful, you’ll tear your wound!”

As he spoke, he inspected the leg injury.

The white inner pants were soaked through with blood. The wound had not only split open but had frozen solid, hard as rock.

Chu Jiu fetched a basin of hot water and slowly soaked and softened the fabric. Finally, he took scissors and cut off the entire section.

Only then did Tu Shanjun see the full extent of Wen Yue’s injury.

It had clearly been bitten by something, there were two gaping holes at the top.

No need to think too hard, it had crushed the shin bone.

A penetrating injury through the leg bone, for any ordinary person, it would mean a lifetime disability.

Around both holes, lingering deathly qi still festered.

Chu Jiu changed the medicine, rewrapped the wound, and secured the leg with a bamboo splint.

Wen Yue finally relaxed his taut nerves, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Just now, he had been enduring everything on sheer willpower.

Now he could finally get some real rest.

Thankfully, the reward was immense, his dantian’s internal energy had deepened by about 30%. This one black pearl had been worth two or three years of hard training.

Truly, it was a rare treasure of the mortal world.

Those so-called internal secret pills, or ten-year snow lotuses from the Tianshan Mountains, at most, they gave a few months’ worth of internal energy.

This one black pill pearl was equivalent to several ten-year-old snow lotuses.

Moreover, Wen Yue could feel that he had wasted a large portion of the energy. If he could absorb all of it, he might have gone even further.

But that was unavoidable. His current foundation was what it was, he simply couldn’t fully absorb the pearl’s power.

Xiang Hu’s letter had not said where the pearls came from, only that feeding internal energy into the Soul Banner would produce one. Normally, one pearl per day.

That was the safe intake level. Any more would be harmful.

Regardless of whether it could fully heal his leg, Wen Yue had now seen a path to greater strength.

After Bone Tempering came Organ Refining. After that, Acquired returning to Innate and becoming a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm.

Even if he became a crippled Grandmaster, he’d still be a Grandmaster.

Carrying both anxiety and a strange sense of calm, Wen Yue finally drifted into sleep.

The Soul Banner lay beneath his pillow, pressed together with his dagger.

(Chapter End)