Chapter 30
Chapter 30: Bone-Shedding Jade Fruit
The arrow nailed Blood Shadow to the trunk. Shao Heng watched him convulse, his shadowy outline buckling and collapsing until the disguise peeled away, leaving a bloody, mangled human form pinned in place.
Black qi crept from the arrowhead like ink poured into water. In the space of a few breaths—beneath the wet hiss of corrosion and Tang Dong’s strangled screams—the body went rigid, then still.
Shao Heng didn’t lower the bow.
She held the string at full draw, breath steady, eyes unblinking. Only after she sank three more arrows into the corpse—and saw not the slightest twitch—did she finally exhale and release.
“Finally,” she murmured. “Dead.”
Her reserves were a little over 300 furnaces of spiritual power. It was plenty for most early First Realm cultivators, but compared to someone like Tang Dong—someone who’d survived long enough to earn the title Blood Shadow—it still felt thin.
If he’d been any harder to kill, the moment her spiritual power dipped too low, the one forced to run would’ve been her.
Keeping her distance, she drew the fallen storage pouch toward her with a thread of spiritual power. Then she reached into her ring and unfurled a burial shroud, snapping it open with a flick of the wrist. The cloth rolled across the snow like a pale wave and wrapped both corpses—Tang Dong’s and the wolf demon’s—tight.
Sealing spells followed, one after another, pressed down until the air itself felt locked. Only then did she tuck the bundle away into an empty storage ring.
They were the lowest-grade rings, the kind that could hold only dead objects. If it accepted Tang Dong without resistance, then there was no doubt left to entertain.
Shao Heng’s shoulders loosened at last.
“Chasing an evil cultivator for almost a full day,” she muttered, voice flat. “What a waste.”
Blood stank thick here, the kind of smell that would draw hungry demon beasts from miles away. She cast Dust-Cleansing Technique over herself, wiped away the last trace of gore, and left immediately.
When she found a narrow mountain cave hidden behind wind-crooked pines, she swept the snow from the floor, set down a cushion, and sat.
Only then did she look at herself properly.
The chase and clash had left her with more wounds than she’d admitted while moving—thin cuts, bruising beneath skin, and the worst of it: blood-red traces of foreign spiritual power threaded through her meridians, remnants of Blood Refining Art. She’d suppressed them with Tai Yin cold qi during the fight, freezing them in place like thorns caught in ice.
Now, she swallowed a First Grade Rejuvenation Pill and began to refine the intruding power, strand by strand, until it finally loosened and dispersed.
By the time her breathing smoothed and the ache in her ribs dulled, she took out her sheepskin map and checked the markings.
“I’m at the border between Star-Inquiry Sect and True One Yuan Sect territory… Jian Xi Mountain Range.”
If she doubled back the way she’d come, it would take about half a day to return.
But Shao Heng had never been the type to leave profit on the table.
Besides the devil cultivator hunt, she’d accepted four herb-gathering tasks, and all of them could be completed in Jian Xi. If she collected the herbs on her way back, she could squeeze out another 38 contribution points without wasting the trip.
A clean, efficient plan.
Then thunder cracked.
The clouds had been heavy all evening, dark-bellied and low. After that first violent flash, rain began to fall—first a hesitant drizzle, then a sudden hard patter that thickened until the air itself seemed full of needles.
Shao Heng stared out from the cave mouth, brows tightening.
If it were only rain, she could use a Water-Avoidance Charm and walk through it. But winter cold turned most of the drops to ice the instant they struck earth, and the clatter of freezing rain on stone was sharp enough to bite.
She could shield herself with spiritual power, but holding a barrier against endless ice would drain her quickly. If anything happened afterward, she’d be slow to respond.
After a moment, she stepped back into the cave.
Half an hour. She would wait half an hour, restore her spiritual power to its peak, and leave when the sleet eased.
She hadn’t even reached the end of the first quarter-hour when she snapped her eyes open.
A refined magical tool could be hidden within the qi sea and summoned with a thought. Three Jade Bee Needles slid into place between her fingers, weightless and cold, ready to fire.
Footsteps—hurried, careless. Grass being shoved aside with no attempt at concealment.
Shao Heng’s gaze sharpened. “Who’s there?”
“Oh!” The voice was young, startled. “Someone’s in here too?”
A face appeared through the withered grass at the entrance—an adolescent girl, perhaps 15 or 16, cheeks flushed from the cold. Her round eyes held a mischievous glint even as she raised her hands quickly in surrender.
“Fellow Cultivator, don’t blame me,” she said at once. “I’m a disciple of Star-Inquiry Sect. I’m out here on a sect mission, and that icy rain came out of nowhere. I only came in to take shelter.”
Shao Heng gathered spiritual power into her eyes, trying to read the girl’s cultivation.
She couldn’t see through it.
That alone was enough to keep Shao Heng’s guard high, even as she eased her expression into something mild.
“Come in,” she said, tone polite. “I’m a disciple of True One Yuan Sect as well. I’m here on a mission in Jian Xi.”
The girl’s shoulders relaxed. She stepped inside and chose a spot a short distance away, sitting on her own cushion without trying to crowd the space.
For a moment she studied Shao Heng, then smiled as if pleased by what she saw. “Meeting like this must be fate. My name is Zhu Wu Shuang.”
She tilted her head. “And you, Fellow Cultivator?”
Shao Heng pulled a small lambskin over her shoulders, the movement soft, almost shy. “You flatter me. My name is Yan Ning.”
Her voice lowered a little, the way timid disciples spoke when they didn’t want attention. “I’ve been in the sect nearly 10 years, but I only just worked up the courage to take missions outside.”
As she spoke, she quietly guided the hidden Jade Bee Needles into positions at the corners of her sleeves. More were already nestled deeper, all 36 poised like teeth in a smile. If anything felt wrong, they would strike at once.
Zhu Wu Shuang laughed, bright and easy. “Everyone has a first time. Sister Yan Ning, if you’ve cultivated less than 10 years and still dare to train outside, then your path to immortality is bound to shine.”
Shao Heng smiled back, careful. “Fellow Cultivator Zhu, you look about my age. Aren’t you training outside too?”
Zhu Wu Shuang grinned without the slightest embarrassment. “Because we’re both destined for a bright immortal path.”
The sleet continued to hammer the rocks. The cave held the cold in its bones.
Meditation required absolute focus, and outside interference could send spiritual power spiraling out of control. The mood between them was calm, but neither woman closed her eyes to cultivate. They spoke only now and then, trading a few harmless words while waiting for the storm to pass.
At last, the sharp clatter softened. The icy rain dwindled, then stopped.
Shao Heng rose first. “I’ll take my leave.”
Zhu Wu Shuang’s arm shot out, blocking her path with casual familiarity. “Sister Yan Ning,” she said, voice light, “from what I can tell, your spiritual aura is already close to 300 furnaces. Do you want to break into mid-stage faster?”
Shao Heng kept her displayed aura at just over 200 furnaces when traveling outside. It wasn’t unusually low—just enough to make others assume she was a disciple who’d trained seven or eight years and was only now stepping into the world.
At Zhu Wu Shuang’s words, hunger flashed across Shao Heng’s eyes before she forced it down.
“What do you mean, Fellow Cultivator Zhu?”
Zhu Wu Shuang’s smile widened. “A Second Grade treasure herb—Bone-Shedding Jade Fruit.”
She didn’t drag it out, as if savoring the effect. “I came to this mountain range to hunt a Snake Demon and take its gallbladder, but I stumbled on something better. Deep in its den, there’s a Bone-Shedding Scarlet Flower that’s almost ripe.”
Shao Heng’s breath hitched despite herself.
“Bone-Shedding Scarlet Flower is a First Grade treasure herb,” Zhu Wu Shuang continued, voice quick with excitement. “It blooms once every 10 years. After it blooms and withers three times, it fruits once.”
Her eyes gleamed. “The fruit is Bone-Shedding Jade Fruit. It washes impurities from tendons and bones, tempers the body, and raises cultivation.”
Zhu Wu Shuang rubbed her hands together as if she could already feel it. “But that white Snake Demon has absorbed what the flower shed in its first three blooms. It’s already close to breaking into late First Realm.”
Shao Heng let her face go pale. “Fellow Cultivator Zhu… with my shallow cultivation, I can’t possibly handle a Snake Demon like that.”
“Don’t worry.” Zhu Wu Shuang’s tone softened, almost coaxing. “I haven’t reached late stage either, but when the jade fruit ripens, I can still keep it busy and draw it away for a while. You take the chance to grab the Bone-Shedding Jade Fruit, then we meet up again.”
“One plant bears six jade fruits,” she said, as if offering generosity were natural. “I’ll give you one. With the power of a Second Grade treasure herb, it’ll be enough for you to try breaking through.”