Of Hunters and Immortals

Jiang blinked slowly, still processing Mistress Bai's words when the door slid open again, admitting two familiar figures.

"Well, well," Wei drawled, lingering in the doorway as if sizing Jiang up. "If it isn't Jiang Tian, the esteemed cultivator himself. I have to admit, you're the last person I expected to see slumming it in Qinghe with the rest of us failures."

Jiang didn't immediately respond, studying the pair carefully. It had been months, but Wei had clearly grown bitter, the edge in his voice speaking volumes about the grudge he still carried from failing the entrance exams. Shen, at least, appeared composed, nodding politely as their eyes met. Jiang returned the gesture.

"I'm just passing through," Jiang finally responded. Honestly, he was more than a little taken aback at seeing his two ex-roommates from the entrance exams. Judging by how Mistress Bai was observing him quietly, that was probably the point.

Wei snorted, leaning against the wall with exaggerated casualness. "Sure you are. Just like you were just passing through the exams, I suppose. Tell me, Jiang – I've been curious for months now – exactly how did someone like you scrape through? You weren't exactly swimming in contribution points last we saw you."

Shen cleared his throat gently, glancing between the two of them. "Wei, perhaps—"

"No," Jiang interrupted, meeting Wei's challenging stare directly. "It's fine. He's right – I didn't have the points. I broke through the day before the Elders made their decisions, and apparently that gave me enough points to qualify."

He didn't mention how that had been the plan all along, or that he suspected Elder Lu may have put his thumb on the scale a little. There wasn't any point, and he doubted Wei would take it well.

Wei's smirk twisted, bitterness creeping openly into his expression. "You broke through? Convenient timing. You always did seem to have an incredible talent for getting lucky."

Shen's thoughtful gaze narrowed slightly as he scrutinised Jiang more carefully, a flicker of genuine surprise crossing his features. "Luck or not," he interjected softly, "the Sect must have treated you well. You've broken through again already, haven't you? Your Qi feels significantly denser than before."

Jiang hesitated, wary of revealing too much, but he saw no point in denying what Shen clearly sensed. From what he remembered, the man had been more perceptive than the other aspirants, but had simply kept to himself. Honestly, just the fact that he tended to be quiet was enough to make Jiang like him more than the other roommates he'd been assigned in the exams.

"Yes," Jiang admitted after a moment. "I advanced again, after the exams."

Mistress Bai's quiet but powerful presence abruptly sharpened at his admission. She leaned forward slightly, her calm voice carrying an edge of genuine curiosity. "Interesting. And what stage were you when you initially arrived at the Azure Sky Sect, Jiang?"

"First stage," Jiang replied after a moment's hesitation. It hadn't exactly been a secret, even at the time – he just obviously hadn't advertised it.

Mistress Bai raised an eyebrow, the faintest trace of disbelief flickering across her carefully maintained composure. Wei's jaw tightened, bitterness seeping further into his tone.

"You were only at the first stage?" Wei practically spat the words, visibly agitated now. "You barely qualified to be a cultivator at all, let alone deserving of a place in the Sect. Yet somehow, you advanced so quickly while the rest of us were discarded like trash. Must be nice."

Shen sighed quietly, shooting Wei a pointed look of mild disapproval. "Wei, the Sect had their standards. Jiang clearly met them, regardless of how we feel about it. Perhaps envy isn't the most useful reaction."

Wei scoffed, folding his arms defensively. "Envy? Hardly. Just pointing out the blatant unfairness. We spent weeks working together, only for Lian to abandon us at the first sign of a better opportunity, and this guy," he jabbed a finger at Jiang, "who did nothing but brood in the corner, somehow gets all the benefits."

"I also got beat up quite a bit, if you recall", Jiang pointed out dryly.

The corner of Shen's mouth twitched, but Wei clearly didn't see the humour as he opened his mouth to reply, anger clearly building on his face. He didn't get the chance as Mistress Bai raised a hand, her quiet authority immediately settling over the room like a heavy blanket.

"Enough," she said softly, her voice firm yet oddly gentle. "You all chose your paths, and no amount of bitterness will change that. I'm more interested," she turned her intent gaze back to Jiang, "in your current advancement. If you were at the first stage when you arrived at the Azure Sky Sect, where exactly do you stand now?"

Jiang hesitated for longer this time. Telling someone that he used to be at the first stage didn't really mean anything – every other cultivator in the world had started at the same point, after all – but telling people what his current stage was felt uncomfortably like revealing a weakness. Unfortunately, judging by the steadily increasing pressure from Mistress Bai's Qi, this wasn't the kind of question he had a choice in answering.

In the end, it was the fact that the information wouldn't make any difference that decided things for him. It wasn't like Mistress Bai knowing how strong he was would stop her from crushing him in an instant, and if for whatever reason some other cultivators came after him, he didn't have any reason to stick around and fight. He would just run, no matter how strong or weak they were.

"I'm currently at the fourth stage of the first realm," he finally said.

Wei's face twisted with incredulity, a visible effort needed to keep his mouth shut. Shen's brows rose sharply, his expression openly impressed now. Mistress Bai, however, regarded Jiang intently, eyes narrowed with a suspicion he didn't understand.

"The fourth stage?" she echoed slowly, her voice carefully neutral. "That is... remarkably swift progress. Perhaps suspiciously so."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Jiang felt the air in the room subtly change, the pressure of Mistress Bai's Qi pressing down more firmly as her presence sharpened, her eyes piercing him with unsettling intensity.

How wonderful. Seemed he was screwed either way.

"Such rapid advancement is exceedingly rare," she said softly, voice edged with a cold suspicion. "You'll understand if I'm sceptical."

Jiang tensed instinctively. "Believe what you want," he replied flatly. "It doesn't change the facts."

Her lips tightened slightly, and the invisible pressure of her Intent deepened, pressing upon Jiang's shoulders like physical weights. He clenched his jaw, refusing to buckle under her silent command.

"Then you should have no objection to submitting to an examination," she said, withdrawing a small jade amulet from… somewhere.

Jiang's eyes narrowed warily, a sudden, powerful instinct screaming at him to stay away from the strange artifact. "I don't know what that is, but I'm not interested."

"This isn't a request," Mistress Bai stated coldly, her gentle tone vanishing instantly. "Rapid advancement can indicate certain methods of cultivation that are not tolerated here. I must be certain."

Jiang opened his mouth to refuse again, but before he could speak, her Intent slammed down on him, powerful and suffocating. His legs buckled beneath him, driving him forcefully to his knees. He gasped, struggling futilely against the invisible force pinning him in place. It wasn't just the raw strength of her Qi – it was the effortless way she wielded it that terrified him. He couldn't move a muscle.

Wei took a cautious step back, while Shen's eyes widened in quiet alarm, though neither said anything. Jiang couldn't blame them.

Mistress Bai stepped forward, pressing the jade amulet firmly against Jiang's forehead. He flinched at the cold, foreign touch, expecting pain or invasive pressure—but there was nothing. No sensation at all. The amulet sat against his skin, silent and inert. Mistress Bai's eyebrow raised fractionally, confusion flickering briefly across her otherwise calm face.

She withdrew the amulet slowly, regarding Jiang with a mixture of surprise and the faintest hint of embarrassment. The oppressive weight of her Intent vanished as abruptly as it had appeared, leaving him slumped and breathless on the floor.

"I... apologise," Mistress Bai said quietly, her composure returning swiftly as she tucked the artifact away. "It appears I was mistaken. You must understand, such progress usually indicates certain... prohibited practices. I had to verify."

Jiang pushed himself shakily to his feet, anger simmering quietly beneath the lingering fear. "What exactly were you testing for?" he demanded roughly, brushing off his robes with as much dignity as he could muster.

"Unorthodox cultivation," Mistress Bai answered bluntly, clearly deciding there was no point dancing around the subject now.

Jiang was getting a little sick of not knowing things about cultivation that everybody else seemed to. "And that is…?"

"Usually not revealed to cultivators below a certain threshold," Mistress Bai said smoothly. "But, I suppose I have been a little rude, and I don't doubt you lot will get yourselves in trouble trying to find it out for yourselves. Hmm. Very well. A brief explanation."

She paused for a moment, putting her thoughts in order. Jiang took the opportunity to glance at Wei and Shen, who both seemed to be in the dark. Well, that made him feel a little better – at least he wasn't the only one who didn't know things.

"First of all, the term 'unorthodox cultivation' is a very broad one. It can involve many different practices, some of which are perfectly acceptable, if a little… odd. Others, however, are universally banned by every Sect, great or small, in the world. Despite that, the lure of power is too great for some, and they are blind to the consequences or otherwise believe they can 'handle it'."

Mistress Bai scowled. "They cannot. Ever."

Jiang's brow furrowed deeply. "What sort of practices are we talking about, exactly?"

Mistress Bai's gaze flicked briefly to Wei and Shen, noting their silent curiosity, before returning to Jiang. "For millennia, cultivators have refined the cores, bones, and blood of spirit beasts into pills and elixirs. This is common knowledge. But inevitably, someone wondered – if refining spirit beasts accelerates cultivation, why not refine fellow cultivators as well? After all, from the perspective of what you can extract from them, what truly separates humans from spirit beasts? Humans are not born with cores, certainly, but we can develop them. Our bodies can be infused with Qi, just like those of spirit beasts."

Wei shifted uneasily at her words, eyes locked on Mistress Bai with intense fascination, but he wisely kept quiet.

She continued, her voice calm yet hard. "Unfortunately, the difference is profound. The Qi of humans resonates far too closely with our own. Initially, that resonance was thought beneficial, as it drastically speeds cultivation progress. But it comes at a dire cost – absorbing the refined Qi of another human slowly warps the cultivator's own Qi, corrupting their meridians and twisting their minds. Madness is inevitable. Some believed they could resist the corruption, thinking themselves stronger or more disciplined. They were wrong. They are always wrong."

Jiang suppressed a shiver. The mere thought of refining another person's Qi felt fundamentally wrong to him, unnatural in a way he couldn't quite articulate.

"Then the artifact you used," he said slowly, "was to detect that kind of cultivation?"

"Precisely," Mistress Bai confirmed, her expression carefully neutral once again. "It resonates with the tainted Qi of cultivators who have refined humans. Had you engaged in such practices, it would have revealed you immediately."

Jiang crossed his arms, irritation seeping back into his voice. "And you decided to test me just because I advanced quickly?"

Mistress Bai met his gaze without wavering. "Yes. Absolutely. Rapid advancement is one of the strongest indicators. I won't apologise for being thorough. There are few sins greater in our world than using fellow cultivators as mere cultivation resources. Those who do are swiftly dealt with, and permanently."

The quiet menace in her tone made it clear she wasn't making idle threats.

Wei finally spoke up, his voice cautious but tinged with curiosity. "You said there are acceptable forms of unorthodox cultivation. How do you know the difference?"

Mistress Bai glanced at Wei with narrowed eyes. "The line between acceptable and forbidden generally lies in whether the practice inflicts irreversible harm upon another cultivator. There are plenty of unconventional methods that harm no one but oneself. Such practices, while discouraged, are tolerated."

Wei nodded slowly, clearly absorbing every word.

"But cultivators fight each other all the time," Shen pointed out. "Surely killing someone in a duel is considered inflicting irreversible harm on them? What is the difference between that and unorthodox cultivation?"

Mistress Bai sighed, clearly starting to run low on patience. "The difference is that when you advance your cultivation by consuming others, you forever taint your path. Duelling other cultivators to the death can get out of hand, but is generally only done for a reason – revenge, sect conflicts, things like that. Those that practice this form of unorthodox cultivation don't need a reason for wanton slaughter – and tend to target those weaker than themselves. A single unorthodox cultivator can be responsible for hundreds of deaths before they are found and executed, especially if they are subtle about it."

Mistress Bai turned back to Jiang. "Be cautious, Jiang Tian. I won't demand more answers about your path. As long as you don't cross the line, it's none of my business – but remember, the line you walk can become dangerously thin. Cross it, and your end will be swift."

The implied threat hung heavily in the air. Jiang gave a sharp nod of understanding. He didn't trust himself to say anything further without his annoyance spilling out into something that might actually anger the powerful cultivator.

Mistress Bai's expression softened marginally, the weight of her Intent lifting entirely. "You may leave."

Jiang didn't hesitate. Without a backward glance at Wei or Shen, he stepped quickly through the door, eager to leave the oppressive atmosphere behind him.