Chapter 66: A Disciple’s Job

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    Liu Jin looks at his master with great care and great worry. It does not take long for the feelings so clearly reflected on his face to be vocalized.

    Master, are you sure you are okay?

    For about the tenth time that morning.

    Disciple, what do your eyes tell you?

    I

    You are a doctor, are you not? You have learned from your father, and you have learned from this Old Jiang. So tell me, what do your eyes tell you? Or are you perhaps implying your teachers have been substandard?

    Never! Liu Jin immediately replies. Master, Id never be so disrespectful!

    If respectfulness is your intent, youll have no problem doing what I tell you.

    Liu Jins frown deepens, but he does as ordered.

    Masters skin has a healthier color than usual. Which isnt to say his master looks well. His skin is still pale, just less so than during previous days. Master is also moving with greater ease today. This disciple has yet to see a single faltering movement from Master even though we have been walking for an hour.

    Of course, that might just as easily be his master stubbornly hiding his weakness, but if he is good enough to do that, that too can be considered a sign of health.

    And my breathing and heartbeat?

    Within normal parameters.

    Which, considering how much they have walked, is yet another sign of his Masters health. That isnt to say hes on his way to recovery or anything like that. Such a thought is too naive.

    It merely means today is a good day.

    All sick people have them until they dont.

    And going by your findings, what would you say is your diagnosis, disciple?

    Liu Jin looks away and grumbles something.

    What was that?

    I said that Masters condition is good enough to go for a walk, Liu Jin says, resigned.

    If you knew that from the start, then why bother being so difficult? Old Jiang reprimands him. You are a doctor. Do not doubt your diagnosis out of petty sentimentality. Emotions have their time and place. Your concern for my person, however touching, is simply a hindrance to the both of us right now.

    As expected, his master is harsh.

    Not wrong, though.

    Even so, Liu Jin says, crossing his arms, his face showing no small amount of petulance. Master, I still dont think it is necessary for us to go to Poison Fang Canyon.

    Old Jiang had surprised Liu Jin by waking him up early in the morning and announcing they were to go to Poison Fang Canyon. Liu Jin had, of course, raised several objections to this, all of them related to his masters health, but Old Jiang easily brushed them aside.

    Whether it is the art of words, medicine, or cultivation, Old Jiang is Liu Jins superior by far.

    You do not think, because there are still many things you do not know. All understanding begins from ignorance.

    Poison Fang Canyon and its poisonous mists are already in sight, yet Liu Jin and Old Jiang show no fear. For them, the canyon has no mysteries.

    You are the disciple, and I, your master. It is up to me to make you less ignorant so that you may gain understanding, daunting though the task may be.

    Without a doubt, Masters tongue is as sharp as ever. That part of him is not sick in the slightest.

    It is the rest of him that Liu Jin worries about.

    It is true that his master is healthy enough to go to Poison Fang Canyon. Old Jiang is, after all, a cultivator in the Emperor Realm. Now that Nine-Headed Snake God is gone, nothing there represents a threat to him.

    However, that is all there is.

    Liu Jin doesnt miss that it takes them twice as long as usual to reach the canyon.

    He also doesnt miss the slight quiver that runs through his masters body once they enter the poisonous mists. Managing the poison, a task that should have been as easy as breathing for his master, almost interfered with his sense of balance.

    Are we collecting ingredients, Master?

    Liu Jin doesnt think they are. Back home, he had been about to get the basket when Old Jiang told him to leave it behind. They wouldnt need it this time.

    Nothing of the sort, Old Jiang says as they walk deeper into the canyon. He does not use his Qi to scare away the creatures living in the area as he has done in the past. That tells Liu Jin that his master probably plans to make him fight something.

    Either that or hes too weakened to flare his Qi, but that possibility is not one Liu Jin wants to consider right now.

    For now, you are merely to defend me as we walk.

    It does not take long for Liu Jin to find himself doing just that. A Red-Scaled Centipede is the first of the canyons inhabitants to attack. It is not the first time Liu Jin has to fight one, and now, he is faster and stronger than the last time he did so.

    But you wish to hear my perspective, Old Jiang finishes for him.

    Liu Jin nods.

    What are you hoping to hear me say, disciple? That your father lied? That he wasnt as terrible as he said he was?

    No, nothing of the sort. Liu Jin shakes his head. I just want to better understand the sort of person my honored father was. That is all.

    He was an idiot, his master says bluntly and without a shred of doubt. He still is, but back then, he was an even bigger idiot. After he lost everything to his brother, he followed me around for years, begging me to make him my disciple. It was like watching a lamb offering itself to a tiger.

    Even though Old Jiangs words are harsh, there is no denying the smile on his face.

    He was not completely without talent, which made him better than most of the fools who sought my knowledge. However, he was no good. Rage can be a powerful thing if properly harnessed. Properly tamed, anger becomes passion, but such a thing was impossible for your father.

    Yet, Master took him as his disciple.

    I allowed petty sentimentality to interfere with my diagnosis, Old Jiang admits, stroking his long beard. I made him swear not to use the arts I taught him for anything other than their intended purpose as a precaution. I told him I would kill him with my own hands if he did.

    Yet he hadnt.

    I was busy attending other matters while your father tore the Storm Dragon Empire apart. By the time I hunted him down, the disciple I had come to punish was long dead. Old Jiang frowns. No, perhaps that was just an excuse I used to avoid having to kill him. Back then, I was angrier at what he had done to himself rather than at what he had done to his country. How laughable.

    It is done, Liu Jin says. The blood is in the jar, and the core of the tiger is now in his hands.

    Good. Now burn the body using this.

    Old Jiang gives him another talisman. With it, the corpse catches fire and turns into ashes in a matter of seconds.

    You have performed well enough. I guess we can consider this a success.

    I still cannot say I understand the point of the exercise, Master.

    Old Jiang sighs.

    I have three months.

    For Liu Jin, it is as if the entire world has gone silent. It is as if his masters words have left behind a void through which no sound can travel.

    Two at worst. Three at best. No more than that, his master continues. When the day comes, I will call you. You will take me here, just as we have done today, and you will do as you have just done. You will drain my blood, harvest my core, and burn my body and organs.

    T-Thats

    Preposterous.

    Unthinkable.

    Vile!

    Even though Old Jiang calls it a core, it is not as if he is speaking about a Spirit Beasts core. Though sometimes called the same, the core of a cultivator is fundamentally different. Spirit Beasts are creatures born with a core that allows them to cultivate. Humans have no such thing in their bodies. Instead, humans move Qi through their dantian and meridians to refine their bodies. As one grows in cultivation, they become able to, through internal alchemy, create a special elixir inside their dantian.

    This elixir, often called elixir of immortality, is what extends the life of a cultivator. As a cultivator keeps growing, he becomes able to further refine this elixir, which increases his lifespan even more.

    That is a humans core.

    To take it. To harvest it.

    There is no higher taboo. No greater disrespect.

    How can you ask me to do something like that? Liu Jin asks, horrified.

    I expect you to do it because of what will happen if you fail, Old Jiang tells him. You already know why I am dying. Right now, it is my skill that keeps the poison inside of me at bay. What do you think will happen once I lack the ability to do so?

    Liu Jins mind goes back to the first time he met Old Jiang, his body burning in the middle of nowhere. Back then, he had no idea how much of a danger it represented, but if that fire had gone out of control...

    Poison strong enough to kill someone in the Emperor Realm

    If such a power were allowed to run wild, then the city No, it wouldnt be just the city. Even if Old Jiang left and travelled hundreds of miles away, it wouldnt make a difference.

    Make no mistake, the worst of the poison will vanish when my soul does, Old Jiang continues. However, what is left will still be enough to cause untold damage. That is why you must do this. As your master, it shames me that I must ask this of you, yet no one other than you can do this.

    No one else could?

    Liu Jin wants to deny it. He opens his mouth, his brain scrambling to think of someone who could do this other than him! Anyone at all!

    There is no one.

    There is also no point wondering if his master is telling the truth or not. There is no way he would ever lie about something like this.

    That means... that means...

    As your disciple As your disciple this Liu Jin will fulfill your will, Master.

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