110(2) : The Middle Finger

Kong Ye turned to look at Xuhan, seemingly puzzled .

"Yes . Is there a problem ?"

"....Why...why do you expect us to memorize it ? Are we lacking in paper and ink, master ?"

"Suit yourself . But I highly discourage this habit of yours, disciple . You can't carry your manuals everywhere, can you ? Ultimately, keeping everything memorized is a better option . Besides, the price of paper skyrocketed last week . Don't you keep track of your expenses ?"

Xiao Wu, Mu Ran and Yuen Zhou snorted simultaneously while Han Xuhan cocked his head upward trying to hide an insufferable smirk, knowing that he wasn't the worst disciple when it came to that field .

Kong Ye shook his head and ended the meeting right there . Xuhan pulled out a magical scroll that could be enlarged at will and a qi fuelled quill (another two of his extravagant purchases ) from his pocket to copy the technique down . Xiao Wu tentatively asked for one as well . Xuhan was half tempted to make the guy sign an IOU as the payment for the paper, but then he decided that would be a bit too antagonistic, considering Xiao Wu's potential .

While Mu Ran and Yuen Zhou solemnly memorized the manual, Han Xuhan and Xiao Wu took their turns copying it . Then they left for their own new huts in the new mountain peak .

Xuhan found his residence pretty soon . It was a huge improvement from the previous mouldy one, made almost entirely out of wood and divided into three considerably large rooms . The furniture looked polished and impressive . The roof wasn't the sort that would leak during rain . All in all, Han Xuhan felt satisfied . He'd have given it five stars if there was a rating system for mountain peaks-

Wait a minute...

Xuhan's eyes narrowed as his nose picked up the imaginary scent of spirit stones to be pocketed . Rating the mountain peaks ? His brain cells insisted there was a niche for business here .

That noon, instead of trying to comprehend his new cultivation manual, Xuhan spent the time doing some rough calculations . It was impossible to predict where destiny would drag him to in the upcoming days . But money is something he'd always need . He would have to prepare several disaster inclusive plans in order to springboard his new money making scheme....

As the sun leaned westward on the horizon, the familiar evil laughter leaked out from Xuhan's hut, making Zhanxian and Tun Shi Tian tremble . Both minions had come out to cultivate, as usual . Sitting amidst a pile of precious resources like children playing with lego, both minions exchanged nervous looks .

"Oi, Zhanxian ! Why do I feel like master is about to do some crazy shit again ?"

"Indeed . Now that we're about to become cultivators at the first layer of physique transformation realm, he's definitely going to make us do risky stuff..." Zhanxian nodded solemnly .

"Hey, maybe we should slack off . After all, if we're weak, he won't make us do anything too risky ."

". . . You disgust me even more than master , Zhanxian ."

Han Xuhan wanted to say that he could hear them speaking ill of their boss from where he was sitting . After all, Xuhan was a cultivator at the peak of third layer, with his only restriction being the official soul selection process for the rattlesnake skeleton . His body and senses had been enhanced twice so far by the small breakthroughs at each layer .

But he decided to pretend he couldn't hear them and continued to stare at the calculations spread out on the table in front of him . Maybe his lack of reactions would lead his minions to slip up sometimes and reveal some hints of their rising rebellious streak .


"An idiot like you who can't cherish his own life-"

"What life ?"

"Well, excuse my lacking vocabulary, little Tian . An idiot like you who can't cherish his new state of existence as an undead wouldn't understand why I deem it unwise to treat myself as a cannon fodder when my master is sneaky enough to find a way out of most dire situations without doing risky shit ."

"...Damn, that's a good point there . But how can we, as proud cultivators opposing the heavens, bow down in the face of danger ? Only by constantly going against impossible odds can we break past all limits and transcend our destiny-"

"So says the skeleton of a bird as it tries to break through to the FIRST layer of physique transformation realm, which if I might add, is the FIRST official layer of cultivation ; all the while being entirely dependent on a crazy fellow who runs street scams for money ," Zhanxian retorted viciously .

The quill in Xuhan's hand cracked in the middle . Sighing despondently, he stopped trying to eavesdrop on their conversation and set aside his money making plans for the day . His minions simply had no respect for him other than acknowledging that he was better than them in terms of strength and wit . Eavesdropping on them would be bad for his health .

"What are you two whispering about so energetically ? Go back to cycling qi !" He roared at the two minions and went back to his calculations .

The minions fell silent and dragged another stack of resources toward themselves . Both of them would hit the first layer anytime, having reached a bottleneck by cultivating the Spiritual Bones technique . Under the careful guidance of their master, they did as they were told .

Making sure that everything was operating smoothly, Xuhan took out the new cultivation manual from Kong Ye and started going through its contents .

As the sun hid and moon appeared, lamps lit up automatically inside his home . The fragrant smoke of mind freshening incense wafted out lazily . Nature was never quite at night . Accompanied by the cacophony of countless insects in the mountains, Xuhan went through the same manual again and again, each time learning a more indirect detail, noticing hints of esoteric knowledge buried beneath the unfamiliar methods . The rational part of his brain continuously challenged the magical portions of the manual, trying to find the logic behind them, thus giving him a somewhat different perspective of cultivation compared to his peers, not that the different perspective helped him much in any way . It just convoluted the entire concept in his head even further .

Just as he was beginning to feel drowsy, a pulse of qi behind him jolted his senses awake .

Turning around, Xuhan saw Tun Shi Tian whizzing away from Zhanxian's body like a javelin .

The formations around Zhanxian glowed, massive influx of qi being channelled through them and squeezing into the artificial grooves of Zhanxian's bones .

BOOM !

An inaudible explosion of qi burst out from Zhanxian's body, pushing Xuhan back a few steps and throwing Tun Shi Tian on the wall . The shockwave crushed the burning incense and drowned the whole room under a thick wave of smoke .

As the smoke cleared and the qi inside the room returned to normal, Zhanxian's skeletal form revealed itself .

Long, thin lines of bright purple qi running all over his crimson bones, Zhanxian stood up and admired his improved form . The purple qi sizzled and created tiny, bright sparks inside the grooves as he moved his limbs . His bones now looked sturdier and impressive, having adopted a slick, polished look after the breakthrough . Several small cracks on them also seemed to have been repaired seamlessly . But the most important change was not any of these improvements .

All three occupants of the room were staring at Zhanxian's right hand silently .
The distal phalanx of the middle finger of his right hand had undergone an extra layer of improvement . A transparent layer of unknown substance had enveloped the tiny bone at some point . It was bright blue in colour, almost like a tinted armour of glass .

The first bone enveloped by spirit qi...the first 'spiritual bone' .

"Welcome to the world of cultivation, minion ," Han Xuhan said in a deep voice .
"And stop trying to show me your middle finger . Do you think I wouldn't notice ? It'll take me but a second to rip it off ."

"Ahaha...I was just trying to lighten the atmosphere up ." Zhanxian bashfully laughed .