Chương 500: Chapter 493

In an obsidian blur of motion, Blackjack soars through the air in complete and utter silence, diving down from above like the aerial predator that he is. His prey caught firmly between his teeth, his front paws cling tight while his back legs flutter in disembowelling kicks, scratching and scraping until his legs grow tired and jaw sore.

Coming to his feet, the tiny hare raises his head high with pride as he drags the corpse of his defeated foe back for inspection, tripping over its body which is twice as long as he. Unable to jump onto my lap while carrying his prize, he butts his head against my shin and thumps his feet to demand my attention, so I scoop him up along with his prey.

"Who's a dangerous apex predator?" I croon, scratching his head so he'll close his eyes and let go of his hard-fought 'kill', a knotted, triangular bundle which was once a face cloth but is now his new favourite toy.

"You are. Yea, you. So cute." Rewarding him with a kiss and a sliver of smoked meat, I stroke his cheeks while he stuffs his face and try not to giggle too much on account of the guests sitting around me. While Lin doesn't judge me for my love of floofs and is busy cuddling Mama Bun, it's the people on my left who worry me. Fung likes to poke fun from time to time, and the two ladies on the other side of him are veritable strangers I don't feel comfortable around just yet.

Ryo Seoyoon is as icy as ever, her cold glares utterly ineffective after years of weathering Mila's, but it's the older Ryo sister who scares me most. At first glance, Ryo Da'in appears both lovely and demure, a matured, blossomed beauty with a slender, sensuous body and a sultry, self-assured smile which says she doesn't need no man, but is on the prowl for one regardless. Perky and pleasant though her personality might be, there's something about Da'in which I find...

off-putting, though I can't quite describe what it is. It could be her predatory stare which coldly appraises each individual fighting on the various stages, or how her lips purse ever so slightly while studying my Death Corps guards as if categorizing them by skill, strength, and level of threat. Mostly what bothers me is the cold and calculating way she looks at me and my pets, assessing us not only for threat, but also possible value as a hostage or bargaining chip.

Where Seoyoon is outwardly impassive and inwardly an emotional firebrand, Da'in is warm and bubbly while simultaneously a ruthless, bloodthirsty battle-maniac. If she were faking the first part of her personality, then she'd be like most other nobles I've met, but Da'in seems genuinely friendly and sociable now that she's no longer treating me like a prize to be won.

Her callous, cold-blooded nature is simply another facet of her true self which in no way clashes with the rest of her bright and chipper personality, a disparity which I cannot for the life of me figure out. How can she smile and pet Aurie while checking for his blind-spot, or shake hands with Lin while mentally measuring my sweet wifey's reach in case they should ever cross blades, all without meaning offence?

Cordial, but pragmatic, perhaps even to a fault, everything she does is subtly or not-so-subtly laced with killing intent, and I have yet to puzzle out if this is simply her nature or an intended threat. That said, I'd bet my dwindling fortune that this analytical mindset is why Ryo Da'in is still unmarried at twenty-nine years of age. Well, that, and the fact that she is a monster in disguise.

I've never seen anyone who wasn't a Peak Expert defeat Mila so handily, as even Gerel and Tursinai are wary of the fiery redhead's counterattacks, but Da'in dove right in without a care. Some might think her actions rash or ignorant, but I'm guessing she knows exactly how hard Mila can hit and is confident of dealing with her prodigious strength should the need arise.

It didn't, since my beloved betrothed barely had room to breathe much less retaliate, and the match only lasted as long as it did because Da'in was having fun, like a well-fed cat playing with a caught mouse just to slake her murderous urges. Normally, I'd overlook all of this on account of her being Yan's friend, but they haven't been friends for long.

They met a few times before, but it wasn't until Nan Ping when they really hit it off, which is 'coincidentally' also after I earned my title as Number One Talent in the Empire. The whole thing reeks of a deliberately designed friendship with ulterior motives in mind, and normally I'd just warn Yan and watch Da'in carefully, but with the situation as volatile as it is, I'd much rather not have a near Peak Expert with uncertain loyalties moving freely around my defenceless loved ones.

Problem is, as Yan and Du Min Gyu's guest and sister to Fung's current obsession, I have no idea how to diplomatically get rid of this lovely, but thorny rose. Noticing my attentions, Da'in bites her lower lip and flutters her lashes ever so subtly, Sending, "Naughty boy, save those hungry stares for your many lady loves, lest I lose all reason and can no longer restrain myself."

As the blood rushes away from my brain to what my body deems are more important organs, it doesn't escape notice that Da'in's statement could be taken in one of two ways, but maybe I'm overthinking things. Then again, maybe not, and considering Lin and all my vulnerable floofs are between her and my Death Corps guards, I'd rather not antagonize the viperish beauty.

"My apologies for the rude stare," I say, without looking away, because predators tend to see that as a sign of weakness.

"My jealousy got the better of me as I studied a would-be rival."

"You're jealous of me?" Flutter-flutter goes the eye-lashes and thump-thump goes my beating heart, so enraptured by her half-lidded eyes and piercing gaze.

"I don't know what rumours you've heard, but while I'm not above a sordid fling with my female friends, I most definitely prefer the company of men." Why am I so attracted to dangerous women? Unable to hold eye contact any longer, I look down at Blackjack instead, the sweet hare finished with his treat and ready to play again. Tossing the knotted cloth for him to chase, I gesture towards Mila and say, "No, I meant I'm jealous about her."

Standing alone in the corner, my freckled beloved practices her favoured combination of Tiger's Killing Lunge and Wolf's Rending Fang, performing the same attack again and again to try and understand the secrets contained within the movements.

"I used to practise like that too, focusing on one movement or combination of movements at a time, but she always said I was being stupid and should just seek Insight in the Forms. It's been years and I have yet to change her mind, but all it took was a few words from you to accomplish what I couldn't." That said, Mila does look pretty silly repeating the same movement over and over again, which is what I suppose I looked like whenever I practised...

"Ah, then Da'in offers her most heartfelt apologies." Her coy smile and playful tone fail to hide her surprise, and she pauses to think before continuing.

"So you also sought to master the Forms. Most Warriors study and seek Insight within them, but few care to do more than scratch the surface and prefer to focus their attentions on mastering Chi skills. Did you have a specific reason for doing so?" Nudging Fung so he'll stop Sending sweet nothings to Seoyoon and listen, I reply, "The way I see it, Insight is nice, but comprehension is better.

You have no control over when Insight will strike, so it's better to work towards a tangible goal rather than mindlessly demonstrating the Forms and waiting for meat pies to fall from the sky."

"Hardworking and intelligent, a small wonder you achieved as much as you did, unlike a certain toad seeking to eat swan's flesh." Though delivered in the same coy and playful tone as before, her cutting words elicit a visible wince from Fung and a stifled giggle from Lin. Giving me the evil eye before melting into a simpering smile, the aforementioned toad turns to Da'in and says, "Older sister, your words do this humble young Magistrate a grave disservice.

While I admit my skills and renown are no match for Falling Rain's, the same could be said of any man unfortunate enough to be born in our generation. My friend here is a once in a millennia prodigy, so of course mere mortals fall flat in comparison."

"Oh? So you're saying my precious younger sister doesn't deserve a man better than yourself? A rich silk-pants wallowing in mediocrity?" Oof. While I wordlessly apologize to Fung for inadvertently starting this whole mess, the precious younger sister in question speaks up for him.

"Enough Sister. You have no say over my choices."

"That's where you're wrong little sister." Wrapping her arms around the petulant Seoyoon, Da'in kisses her cheek and says, "Mother and Father are strong enough to watch you make your own mistakes, but I cannot bring myself to be so callous. This pompous fool's flowery words are pleasant to the ear, but he is not fit to court the Ryo family's auspicious child."

"And who would be an appropriate match, dear sister?" Cold and cutting, Seoyoon sulks in Da'in's steely embrace while aiming straight at the older woman's weakness.

"Your standards are so high, there is no man alive who can fulfill them. Fung is as strong as Geom-Chi and he makes me smile, so that is enough for now." Shrugging, she adds, "Besides, you're speaking as if the rice is cooked, but he's merely a pleasant distraction and an effective buffer against all the other fools and half-wits who try to court me." Double oof. Say what you will about them, but the Ryo women do not mince words.

Oddly enough, Fung doesn't seem offended by his status as 'pleasant distraction' and even puffs up with pride, which I don't really understand. Then again, even though he's now the weakest member of our group aside from myself, he's still stands head and shoulders above the crowd when it comes to Martial Strength, so it's not like he's mediocre or anything. He might not be leading the pack, but he's top five percent, probably, which is pretty damn good if you ask me.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Thankfully, no one does as the Ryo sisters take their argument private through Sending, nor does Fung hold a grudge over my big mouth as he heads on stage to spar with Rustram. I brought all my promising talents to join in on the fun, including the older ones like Wang Bao and Ulfsaar, or the ones I'm not so sure about like Ral. The latter has promise, but there's no easy way to say this: Ral be dumb. Real dumb.

The big guy has strength in spades, but it still falls short of Mila or Wu Gam's Blessing Enhanced physiques and is easily tricked by even the most obvious of feints, which means his first life-and-death duel will likely also be his last. Chey has promise though, and with the two half-dogs set to be married within the week, perhaps some of her cunning will transfer over to her future hubby, though I doubt it.

Sadly, he doesn't seem to be at his best as he squares off against Bulat, and it's only a few moves before Ral is thrown off the stage, but at least this time Bulat didn't go for the family jewels. Unconcerned by the loss, Ral slinks back to his corner and sits down to pout, no doubt still wondering if his friend will ever return. I hope Jorani makes it back okay. Who would've thought visiting a monastery would be so dangerous.

Since worrying will do me no good, I go back to playing with Blackjack and chatting with Lin. Honestly, it's pretty boring sitting on the sidelines with Lin, and she's a veritable saint for putting up with it for so many years. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bummed out about not joining in on the fun, but moping about it won't help. I spent years obsessing over getting stronger, and the Spectres used my obsession to gain a foothold in my mind, so I'm trying not to make the same mistake again.

I need to take things slow and grow my strength one step at a time, but sadly my foes are not content to sit back and wait. This morning's affair with the Justicar was certainly an eye-opening experience, as was my little chat with Kuang Biao, but on the bright side, I'm up to five-hundred steps taken today and still ready to do more, so there's that. I want more tofu pudding, but the Legate's delicious elixir has forever ruined me. Unless I get more of the same, tofu pudding will never be delicious again...

As the day wears on, more warriors arrive to join in on the fun, including Vichear, Alsantset, and Tursinai arriving to challenge the famed Ryo Da'in. While my sister and Vichear are readily defeated by the fearsome woman, Tursinai puts up a good fight and the two women call it a draw after a mere handful of exchanges, striding off stage arm in arm with matching feral grins following their brief, yet terrifying match.

I didn't catch most of it because they were moving too fast, but even if I were hale and healthy as could be, I doubt I would've fared any better. Even though I've consigned myself to being left behind by all my peers, I've noticed that progress along the Martial Path varies greatly amongst warriors. Some continue to improve at a steady rate like Alsantset and Charok, while others stall and stagnate for no discernible reason, like Fung and Zian.

It doesn't have to do with reaching milestones, because all four of the above have hit all of them short of Domain, but despite my previous meteoric progress, I never did quite close the gap between me and Alsantset while my talented brothers-in-arms have shown no improvement over the past year or so. Granted, a year isn't exactly a long stretch of time and Fung spent most of it idling about, but Zian's circumstances are hardly unique.

The Imperial Army is filled with people like him, former stand-out talents who got stuck at a certain level of strength and just... never moved on. Why? If this were the regular world, I'd say it's because there's an upper limit to each person's talent, but when you throw Insight into the mix, that hardly makes sense anymore. Does the Mother or the Heavens just stop doling out free information once each person reaches their cap? Why is the Martial Path so inconsistent?

Taking a step back, why is the Martial Path limited to only one percent of the population? I used to think it was merely a matter of knowledge, time, and resources, as everyone else was too busy eking out a living to bother with practising the Forms, assuming they even had someone to teach them, but experience has proven otherwise.

I've been keeping up with reports from the north, but even though my schools and orphanages provide lessons in the Forms for free and enough food for all to eat, the number of potential Martial Warriors is still pitifully low. Learning the Forms isn't enough, and no matter how much guidance I provide, most still fail to pass Core Creation, which is the first hurdle along the Martial Path.

In my experience, Core Creation was hardly a difficult task, so I simply don't understand how the overwhelming majority of people fail at it. This is without taking into account that the entire Defiled population easily reaches Core Creation, or at least their version of it, and even accounting for the fact that those who fail are killed and eaten, it doesn't explain the significant disparity in success rates.

Even if ninety percent of Defiled children die before Core Creation, which is an absurd, unsustainable number that would've seen the Defiled go extinct long ago, this would still mean their chances of success in Core Creation are ten times higher than the Empires's, and that's a conservative estimate.

It could be as high as fifty percent, and what's more, the Defiled rate of improvement in the early stages is significantly faster than most Imperial Martial Warriors, while their ratio of Aura users to non-Aura users is also considerably higher. For every hundred Defiled, there is usually one Aura-capable individual, while amongst Imperials, that number is closer to one in a thousand.

The only measurements in which the Defiled are inferior is in the number of Peak Experts and total population, but the former doesn't matter because Demons make up for the lack of Peak Experts while the latter matters even less since the total Defiled population easily outnumbers one percent of the Imperial population, which are the important numbers to look at when talking about warfare.

Interestingly enough, even though Yo Ling's Butchers were all Defiled, the ratio of Aura users in his army was closer to Imperial standards rather than Defiled ones, which means his people were lacking a certain quality that true Defiled share. It's always good to pay attention to the discrepancies, because once you figure out the reason why things are different, then you have a better idea as to how things work.

Take wine and vinegar for example, two distinct liquids which are made through fermentation, yet are different in taste, texture, and a myriad of other ways. The difference? One contains alcohol, and the other doesn't. It's a little more complicated than that, but knowing the how allows you to easily control what comes out of your barrels.

Which means if I can look at the Defiled and figure out how they go from basic human to full out Defiled, then maybe I can apply that to Martial Warriors and streamline the whole process from pleb to Peak Expert. This is a subject I've been sort of obsessed with since shattering my Core. If I can't repair what I've got, why not make a new one?

A far stretch since I'd have to get rid of my broken Core first, but even if this isn't possible and I remain crippled for the rest of my life, if I can pioneer a simple method of training Martial Warriors and increase that one percent to ten percent, then maybe we'll have a chance of defeating the Defiled on open ground and people will stop with the pitying stares. Those are harder to deal with than snide or hurtful remarks, and there will be plenty to go around later on during Du Min Gyu's welcome banquet.

Mom and Dad decided to use tonight's events as a litmus test of Bekhai support and invited anyone who's anyone to join the festivities and show that we are not a third-rate power to be trifled with. Fun, fun, fun. No party is complete without a show of force. Regardless, the idea of a streamlined Martial Path is already halfway done thanks to Dastan and BoShui revealing their whole Natal Soul shtick, which covers the latter two Milestones along the Martial Path in general detail.

Create a Natal Soul (preferably without a personality of its own), park him or her in the Natal Palace, merge with said Natal Soul, and then Develop your Domain. Can't get any more basic than that, and while there's still some testing to be done, this leaves only Core Creation and Aura Condensation to simplify.

The Defiled seem a better place to look for answers regarding those two milestones, so all I have to do is take the best of both Imperial and Defiled practises and put them together in a way that doesn't create murder-happy rage maniacs. Easy peasy, right?

Unfortunately, without Defiled children to observe or really any idea how to move forward, I'm stuck at an impasse, or I was until I remembered someone else tried to do the same thing around eight-hundred years ago, an Imperial Scion, scholar, and monster in human skin by the name of Zhen Shi.

While it might seem crazy, desperate, and downright stupid to take notes from a man named True Corpse, who by all accounts was a psychotic butcher who tortured people until they turned into Demons for 'science', he was also known to keep meticulous records of his so-called experiments, which means his notes may hold the key information I need to move forward or even complete my methodology. While anyone who's ever heard the story knows his research documents exist, not many have a copy to call their own.

It's not illegal or forbidden to read through, but macabre fascination with anything Defiled is not only frowned upon, but generally grounds for suspicion, and suspicion tends to lead to unpleasant things, like death by torture and nine familial extermination.

I couldn't really go around asking if I can borrow Zhen Shi's notes, and since I probably would've remembered reading something like a torture journal while perusing through Taduk's library, it means he either doesn't have a copy or keeps it safely hidden away, but luckily, my instincts were on point, and the first trustworthy person I asked indeed had a copy and was happy to lend it out. Fung's manservant/torturer is one scary S. O. B, but say one thing about Fu Zhu Li, he works quick.

Since I didn't want anyone to overhear, I passed him a written note and watched him toss it into the fire without so much as batting an eye, and the next morning, Red Two (who was formerly Red One until Kuang Biao took his place as top dog) handed me eighteen volumes of Zhen Shi's notes, neatly wrapped and titled 'Traffic logs for Shen Huo's twelfth district' followed by a bunch of nonsensical dates which are too convoluted to figure out.

No idea why anyone would carry these volumes around while touring another province, but I didn't ask and Fu Zhu Li didn't say, so I'm going to leave it at that. I only had time for a brief look through the volumes this morning, but from what I've seen, Zhen Shi's notes are laid out rather well.

Age, gender, physical measurements, appearance, torture methods, and results are merely the tip of the iceberg as he goes into great detail regarding his process and procedure, though he leaves out any and all speculation or definitive conclusions. It's horrific, stomach turning stuff, but with luck, it'll be worth the effort and I won't damn myself and the Bekhai simply by having them in my possession. Had I known a Justicar would come calling today, I probably wouldn't have brought the matter up.

I should probably ask Fu Zhu Li to take the books back and hide them somewhere safe, but even though the notes detail grisly and gruesome events, the information should not be condemned for this. Data is data, and while the methods of collection were undoubtedly immoral, the information itself isn't inherently evil. Worst comes to worst, I'll just say I found it on Yo Ling's island and kept it for shits and giggles, but I can't afford to give up on such a promising lead.

Before the new year, I was happy to take things slow and recover at my own pace, but this is no longer an option. So long as I am weak, people like Yang Jixing will be circling the waters, waiting for an opportunity to strike. While my personal strength might not mean much in the grand scheme of things, if I'm back in the spotlight, then it'll lessen the pressure on the Bekhai and our allies as a whole. Is what I tell myself, but honestly... I mostly want to be strong again.

It wasn't so bad when I could barely keep my eyes open or think straight because of the drugs, but now that I'm clear-headed and mostly pain-free, I'm hungry for more. Human nature sucks, but I can't help it. I need to explore this avenue, or I'll never stop thinking about it, but I'll just have to hope for the best and plan for the worst.

If no one knows about Zhen Shi's notes in my possession, then if things go south, they can honestly swear they had nothing to do with it, and all that's lost is one crippled former talent. No big deal, right? Chapter Meme