76. Resolution

There was an unnatural silence around them, and through her domain, Yoshika could sense that Elder Qin had created some kind of barrier that prevented anything from getting in or out. It even stopped her domain from reaching beyond it. Qin Zhao glanced at Lee Jia’s body, still breathing weakly.

“How is Miss Lee’s condition?”

Yoshika had not stopped healing Jia’s body, but the damage was extensive and the healing was a slow process. She closed her eyes for a moment and focused on Jia’s condition.

“Not great. Her lung has been punctured, and her heartbeat is weak so she’s not circulating enough blood. Her ki should be helping to keep her alive, but her meridians have been completely torn to shreds, and the last lightning bolt spell I—she cast definitely didn’t help matters. I don’t think she’d live for more than a minute if I stopped healing her, and she’s definitely not in any condition to talk.”

Elder Qin returned his gaze to Yoshika and hummed thoughtfully.

“Hmm. She should be dead regardless of your efforts. Those are not injuries that a novice of the Tranquility of the Verdant Marsh should be capable of handling with qi alone. Frankly, without advanced medicines and elixirs, I myself would struggle to save her—though healing is not my specialty.”

Yoshika felt the blood drain from her face, but she knew that she was keeping Jia’s body stable.

“Of course, that only holds true for healing another—self-healing is another matter entirely. Normally a cultivator so severely injured would be unable to control their qi, but it is theoretically possible—or perhaps not so theoretically, now.”

Elder Qin gave her a knowing look, and Yoshika sighed.

“So you did know. How long have you known? That was you peeping on us before, wasn’t it?”

He looked affronted at the accusation.

“I did no such thing. While it is true that I have been monitoring your progress, there was no salacious intent behind my actions. As I told you before, there is no place within the academy grounds that is beyond my perception should I turn my attention to it.”

Yoshika crossed her arms and grimaced at the gross violation of her privacy. Elder Qin ignored her and went on.

“As for your first question, I have always been aware of your practice of dual cultivation, and naturally I also knew of the union you achieved after your breakthrough. Did you believe I would be unaware of the cultivation of my own disciples?”

“We kind of thought that you didn’t really consider us to be disciples—much less personal disciples. Actually, what was that about anyway? What happened to ‘worthless degenerates you wouldn’t waste your time on’?”

Elder Qin raised his chin and looked down his nose at her.

“What I said was that you had failed as cultivators, and that you had insulted the ancient traditions of Qin. I did not speak falsely. I did allow you to maintain your own assumptions about the meaning of my words, which you carried in your retelling of them. Such was necessary to maintain the ruse.”

Yoshika blinked in confusion.

“What ruse?”

“In order to expose Yan Hao’s machinations, I needed him to believe that there was no connection between us. Had he known you were my disciples, he would have been much more wary of me—perhaps even assumed that I had a hand in Yan Zhihao’s death myself. Instead, he gave his disciples free reign, despite Yan Yue’s rebellious tendencies, and revealed himself in order to correct their failure. As such, I was able to act in a way that removed his authority and severely limited any future actions he might take.”

Yoshika stared at Elder Qin in slack-jawed awe. Had he really planned all that in advance?

“Wait, but that was months ago. Before they even arrived here—probably before they even left their sect!”

Elder Qin nodded matter-of-factly.

“Indeed. I knew what to expect from the moment I heard of Zhihao’s death. Yan De is rather quick to anger, and would naturally send someone to take vengeance, but he’s not a particularly cautious man, and would likely be satisfied with only a bare minimum of verification. It’s just as well that Yan Hao was the one he sent—Yan Ren would have been much more problematic.”

Yoshika shook her head, this was starting to go way beyond a scope she could comprehend.

“So you set all of that up—refusing to train us, letting us get kidnapped by Yue, letting her violate us with that horrible technique of hers, letting this whole fight happen, just to catch Yan Hao in some kind of political trap? Then, what, declaring us as your personal disciples is some kind of compensation?”

For the first time since she’d met Qin Zhao, he seemed a bit uncertain.

“Admittedly, I did not consider the impact that Yan Yue’s technique would have on your cultivation—rather, I could not have predicted it. The rest is accurate, although I declared you as my personal disciples as a means to further limit Yan Hao’s ability to act. A master has first say on the discipline of their disciples—which is why I offered Yan Hao a chance to punish his own.”

Yoshika clenched her teeth in frustration.

“Oh! So we’re not actually your disciples, you just said that so that Yan Hao couldn’t punish us. Great! Fantastic! So glad that our trauma let you win your stupid political game.”

Qin Zhao scowled down at her.

“Do not take that tone with me! My word is my bond, you are my disciples, and I will have you show the appropriate respect! This is not simply a matter of politics—there are forces involved greater than you can understand, not the least of which is that demon you foolishly unleashed on the world!”

“Well excuse us for not just laying down and letting that elemental kill us, ‘master’. We’ll be more careful next time. Is that why you gave us the ring, too? Were you planning so far ahead that you knew all this was going to happen even then? Is Yan Zhihao’s fate the kind of thing we can expect as a disciple of Qin Zhao!?”

Elder Qin’s expression twisted into a furious snarl, and he raised a hand as if to slap her before clenching his fist and lowering it slowly. He took a deep breath before speaking calmly.

“You need not remind me of my failures—I assure you that I wear each one as a chain around my heart. The ring was meant to serve as a lesson to each of you. To him a lesson in upholding his word, and not giving it lightly. To you, a caution against excessive greed. I assume Miss Lee has adequately learned her lesson, at least.”

Yoshika glared venomously as Elder Qin indicated Jia’s prone form, weakly struggling to stay alive.

“Yeah, I have.”

He regarded her archly for a moment before nodding.

“Very well. Then I suppose we must now discuss the matter of your discipline.”

Yoshika frowned hesitantly.

“Wait, what?”

“Your dual cultivation technique may be irreversible, so I will not force you to abandon it and begin anew, but that doesn’t mean you are free of consequence. Furthermore, while you might have fooled the likes of Zheng Long, I am not so easily misled. The damage to Miss Lee’s meridians was not caused by overstrain, but the forceful removal of her soul. Miss An, while you did well to return the soul to her body, the fact remains that you were only able to manipulate it at such a low level of cultivation for one reason—you are a demon.”

Yoshika took a step back from Elder Qin nervously.

“T-that’s—we just—we didn’t mean to—”

He cut her off with a wave of his hand.

“I don’t care. I can guess how the demonic core was formed, but the fact remains that it exists. There is no way to remove it without killing you—which is, in fact, the doctrine of Qin. However, we are not in Qin, and you are still my disciple. I will teach you to control it, to seal it away so that you never fall to its power.

“Understand, however, that I truly meant what I said—you have both failed as cultivators. You have strayed so far from the path that it is no longer possible to return to it. Instead, you must attempt to forge your own path. I will guide you to the best of my abilities, but know that you are doomed to fail. You will be given a punishment of suitable gravity that you might reflect on what you have done.”

Yoshika scowled and crossed her arms defiantly.

“But we never did anything wrong! Half the reason we discovered joint cultivation was a side effect from Eui’s awakening, which is something you taught us how to do! We formed the core because I was dying from a ki deviation and we didn’t know how to stop it! Why should we be punished for just trying to survive!?”

Qin Zhao’s cold gaze didn’t falter as he patiently waited for her to finish shouting.

“Did I not warn you that your ill fate would drag down the potential of Lee Jia? You may have discovered a method of dual cultivation as a result of my instructions, but I don’t recall telling you to commit yourselves to practicing it—in fact, you were explicitly warned against it by my counterpart, Miss Ienaga.”

Yoshikia blushed as she recalled the conversation with Master Ienaga.

“Furthermore, Miss An, your deviation occurred because you desperately tried to race ahead on a dangerous path in order to keep pace with your peers. Your haste should have been your end, but instead, thanks to Lee Jia’s intervention, you survived—at great cost to both of you.

“Make no mistake, An Eui—your demonic core is no blessing. It is a curse far more grave than the destructive element it protects you from. The path you have chosen is one far more difficult and dangerous than before, and you have dragged Lee Jia down it with you. So you will be punished. You will be made to understand the hardship that you have brought on yourselves now, so that you will know what to expect later.”

Yoshika clenched her fists and stared down at the ground to hide the tears welling up in her eyes. Her mind was at war with itself. Eui agreed with everything Elder Qin was saying, while Jia wanted to fight back and argue. She could feel herself slipping away as her minds went further out of sync, but focused on staying together—Jia’s life depended on it.

Elder Qin continued, either ignorant or uncaring of Yoshika’s internal struggle.

“You must understand that failure on this path does not mean only your death, but the deaths of countless others. When a demon loses control and falls to their hunger, the damage they can wreak is unimaginable, and no demon in history has ever succeeded on the path you now walk. They all fall eventually. This is why demons are hunted so ruthlessly in Qin, it is why I should kill you now.”

Yoshika fidgeted nervously, now listening very closely to what Elder Qin was saying. She had felt the hunger that he spoke of, and it frightened her. Qin Zhao took a deep breath, and sighed.

“I will give you a chance. One opportunity to succeed where none has before. While I have no confidence in your success, I will hold back no effort in giving you the greatest possible chance. Then, when you fail, I will hold back no effort in destroying you myself before you can cause any damage.”

She shuddered at the way he dropped the threat without a hint of emotion. She had no doubt that if he felt it necessary, he would kill her without so much as blinking. Yoshika bit her lip as she hesitated to speak, but something was bothering her.

“Why? Why do all this for us? I thought you hated—us. Rika said you didn’t train any half-spirits.”

“I’ll admit that in your case, it’s not the decision I would have made, but the choice was not entirely mine. I am bound by a myriad of oaths and agreements, and there are unusual circumstances surrounding this place which I will not concern you with.”

“So that’s it? You’re just doing it out of some vague obligation?”

Elder Qin raised an eyebrow at Yoshika and frowned.

“I believe you have misunderstood me, Miss An, and I know that Lee Jia speaks through you as well, so let me clarify for both of you. You are my disciples, and I am your master—it is my duty, and my honor to fulfill that role to the best of my ability. I genuinely believe that the best way to do so would be to kill you both now and spare you the tragedy that awaits a nascent demon.

“However, there are bonds more important than that of master and student—few though they may be. Because of one such bond, I am limited, but I will act in my capacity as your master to the fullest extent that I can within those limitations. So I swear on my nation, my Emperor, and my pride as a cultivator.”

Yoshika felt an odd shift in the mana around her, and she realized that it was Elder Qin’s domain.

“What was that? I just sensed something weird happen to your domain.”

Elder Qin raised his eyebrows.

“Impressive. Your ability to control and sense domains at your level is quite remarkable. What you sensed was my oath becoming a part of my domain. To break my oath would be to go against the very fabric of my own being. It would cause deviations or worse.”

“Is...is that why you weren’t able to kill us?”

Qin sighed and shook his head.

“It’s not as simple as that, child. My word is my bond—it is an intrinsic part of myself as much as your mutual bond, and the nature of shadow is a part of you—but such bonds can conflict. As long as I strive to maintain my ideal, it is my own choice how to resolve such conflicts.”

“Then why—”

He raised a hand to stop her.

“We’re speaking in circles. I have made my choice, and as much as the result matters to you, the reason, I assure you, does not. You may think of me as prejudiced, but I harbor no hatred for you or your people. Our nations have been enemies since the foundation of yours, but I hold no grudge against the people of Goryeo.”

Yoshika furrowed her brows in confusion.

“Then why have you refused to teach any?”

Elder Qin scoffed.

“The number of spiritually awakened half-spirits, ironically, is countable on one hand. That’s across your race’s entire population. Of them, two—you—are already my disciples, one carries an extreme political stigma, and the last simply never thought to ask. I personally have no qualms with teaching Miss Seong—in fact, I suspect she rather desperately needs my guidance—however, it would have to be done in secret for a variety of reasons. Hyeong Daesung is free to attend my lessons at his leisure.”

Yoshika stared flabbergasted at Qin’s stern tone and perpetual scowl. Her impression of him was getting flipped on its head, and she was realizing that she really knew precious little about him or any of her other instructors.

“Now then, no more distractions. It’s time to discuss your punishment.”

Yoshika’s face fell—she’d almost forgotten about that part.

“The path you walk will require extreme discipline. It is normally the doctrine of the Great Sects to give disciples the freedom to determine their own futures, and learn from their mistakes. This will not suffice for you. You must train yourselves to have discipline so fierce that if a mountain were to block your path, you would sooner dig through it than leave your path to go over or around it.

“The first of your punishments has already been given—you are to continue living with Yan Yue under house arrest. You may think that what she did to you was unforgivable, and perhaps it was. Nonetheless, you are to put aside that difference, learn from her, and let her learn from you in turn. Lee Jia in particular can learn a great deal from her.”

“I’d rather die than learn such a horrific technique!”

Yoshika spoke without thinking, and realized as her mind caught up to what she’d said that she’d spoken for Jia through Eui’s body. Qin Zhao raised an eyebrow at her.

“Interesting. Miss Lee, since I assume that was you, I assure you that Yan Yue has more than a single technique at her disposal. You may find that learning from her will be a much more suitable option than trying to force yourself into the Awakening Dragon style.”

Yoshika grimaced—she was already dreading the idea of having to share a space with Yan Yue, but now she had to actually cooperate with her proactively? She’d need the kind of discipline Elder Qin was talking about just to keep from murdering her.

“The next is for An Eui, in particular. You have no doubt been using your demonic core to make up for shoddy mastery of your destruction element. You must stop. For your punishment, you are to stop all practice of that technique until you have learned to prevent your demonic core from absorbing even the tiniest fraction of the energy you produce. It should go without saying, but you’re not to allow your core to absorb any other source of qi, either.”

Yoshika nodded gravely. That was going to be difficult, but she’d already been concerned about what the demonic core meant, and while Qin Zhao seemed disinclined to actually explain what would happen, he painted a grim picture.

“The last punishment is a simple one—and perhaps the most true punishment of them all, for all I still present it as a form of training.”

Yoshika cocked her head in confusion before she felt Elder Qin’s domain begin to press down on hers, and she panicked as she realized that he was suppressing her domain.

“Wait! Wait! We’re using our domain to heal Jia, if you suppress it—”

“Your lack of understanding is only further proof that what I now do is necessary.”

He shook his head.

“A true domain in the hands of a pair of children—you are like toddlers with spears. You do not comprehend the power you wield, and until you do, I will no longer allow you to wield it.”

Yoshika felt sweat running in rivulets down her neck as she tried desperately to fight against the power suppressing her, but it was like trying to stop a flood with her bare hands. Her domain shrank inexorably, unable to withstand the pressure. Panicking, Yoshika ran over to make sure she was touching Jia, in order to continue the healing.

When her domain was finally restricted to only Jia and Eui’s bodies, Elder Qin walked over calmly and touched each of their foreheads. Yoshika didn’t feel anything change, but no matter how she tried to extend her domain and sense the world around her, the pressure prevented her from sensing so much as a single millimeter away from her own skin.

“I have sealed your domain—an act which would normally be impossible against even the most novice of xiantian cultivators. When you are able to break the seal, you will be ready to properly wield your domain. Until then, I recommend you meditate on it every day. That is all, for now. I hope you have enjoyed your little break, because our regular lessons will begin again as soon as Lee Jia is recovered.”

Before Yoshika could respond, he turned and stepped away, seeming to vanish completely as if he had stepped through some invisible threshold. Yoshika tested the seal again now that he was gone and found that it was still as strong as it had been a moment ago. It was an oppressive feeling—reminding her of the trial she had faced as Jianmo’s ‘gift’ so long ago.

Yoshika lifted Jia’s body gingerly in her arms and stared down at her face. It was odd seeing herself like this—though she was slowly getting used to it. Yoshika had never imagined that she would spend so much time in her combined state like this, but she wasn’t confident in her ability to keep Jia alive otherwise. She was going to have to get accustomed to it—she estimated that it would take her at least a day before Jia’s condition was truly stable.

Slowly, Yoshika began to carry herself down the mountain as she thought about everything that had happened. She was free—sort of—from the machinations of the Yan clan. At least, it didn’t seem like anyone was about to try killing her again. The cost had been enormous, though. Her greatest secrets had been revealed—she had no doubt that the entire academy would have heard some version or another by tomorrow—and she had consigned herself to becoming a vassal of Hayakawa.

Hayakawa seemed—alright. She could do worse, she knew, but the idea still chafed at her. Wasn’t the entire point of all this to gain the strength to earn her freedom? It felt like she was less free with every passing day. She almost missed her old lives—stealing scraps and hunting careless traders had been so much simpler than the world of cultivation. She sighed heavily as she stared up at the sky.

Could she really blame Yan Yue for what she had done? How many of her own victims had she wronged for the sake of her future? She’d stolen, killed, abandoned a child to slavery—was she really that much different from Yan Yue? Maybe. Maybe not. She didn’t think she’d expect any of the people she’d wronged to forgive her either, much less live together in peace.

Yoshika shook her head and groaned. It was going to be a long year.