Qiao Ruohe never expected that, paralyzed and unable to move, he would acquire two secret manuals of immortality.
Whether the Man in Black had left them behind intentionally or dropped them by accident, if he wanted to stay alive now, if he wanted to seek out alchemy and medicine to return to his village and save his family, the path of immortality was his only way out.
Opening the cover, a visible mist of spiritual energy gathered on the first page. As the spiritual energy drifted away into the night sky, Qiao Ruohe withdrew his gaze and began to read the words in the *Notes on Spirit Controlling*:
"Gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, channel it through the roots of the bones."
"Condense the breath in the heart, gather the spirit at the crown."
Then he roughly flipped through the other manual, the *Manual of Fire Casting*. It detailed how to use spiritual energy to fuel flame spells. Qiao Ruohe knew that the Divine Wood Palace primarily used wood-attribute spells among the Five Elements. To practice spells of other attributes without authorization was a violation of sect rules, punishable by severe penalties.
Yet Elder Fengyu refused to teach him cultivation. Although disciples from other valleys and forests who came to pay respects to Elder Fengyu had seen him and often regarded him as a disciple of Fengyu Forest, frequently asking him, "Junior Brother, where is Elder Feng?"—the sect had never formally accepted him as a disciple. What kind of Divine Wood Palace member was he, anyway?
That being the case, who cared whether the spell belonged to the wood element or the fire element? Right now, he could only rely on himself.
Pricking up his ears, he heard the wind chimes fall silent, knowing that Elder Fengyu had traveled far and had not yet returned to the forest. That meant no one would save him. What if the Man in Black had lost his secret manuals and come back to look for him? Or what if Lin Qingxuan changed her mind and returned? He didn't know if he would even keep his life.
Realizing this, he hesitated no longer. He decided to begin his cultivation right there by the green mud pond.
Qiao Ruohe closed his eyes and pressed his uninjured right hand against his heart, trying to gradually relax his body lying on the ground. He felt the sound of the flowing water, the rustling of fallen leaves, the chirping of insects in the forest, along with his own heartbeat and breathing.
Silvery moonlight pierced his eyelids. He felt the boundless starry sky floating over his eyes, and the chill in his spine gradually transformed into a warm current. The warmth traveled up to his forehead and his facial orifices, then rushed to his ten fingers and four limbs, before entering his viscera and finally plunging into a surging, crimson river.
How much time had passed, he could not tell. But as the insect sounds faded and bird songs arose, he knew the dark night had passed and dawn had broken.
Qiao Ruohe opened his eyes, feeling a steady stream of spiritual power surging within his body. This spiritual power came from the trees, the green leaves, the flowing water, and the blue stones. He stood up, the wounds on his hands and legs surrounded by spiritual energy. Though painful, he could move.
Gathering the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within his body felt incomparably refreshing and exhilarating. Was this the way of Spirit Controlling?
Feeling hungry in his belly, he started to run. Leaping toward a tree to pluck wild fruit, with a single bound, he reached the branches. Looking down, he saw that he was a full zhang high above the grassy ground. But not knowing how to channel spiritual energy into the soles of his feet, he stood unsteadily and tumbled down headfirst. *Oh no,* he thought, *I'm about to ruin my face and disfigure myself right now.*
Suddenly, a dark shadow hidden in the shadows flew over and kicked him right in the backside, sending him spinning twice through mid-air as spiritual energy spontaneously gathered at the soles of his feet. Like a monkey doing a somersault, he landed steadily on the grass.
"It's you." Qiao Ruohe subconsciously touched the two manuals tucked behind his back.
"The two manuals belong to you now; they are yours." The Man in Black paced back and forth before him, his gaze never leaving his body, as if sizing him up.
"Who on earth are you?" Qiao Ruohe asked.
"That question should be mine to ask you." The Man in Black retorted.
Filled with doubt, Qiao Ruohe watched as the Man in Black fell silent and said no more. After a brief pause, their eyes locked, and Qiao Ruohe could not hold back and asked again: "Why did you pass this way of Spirit Controlling on to me?"
As he spoke, he took out the *Notes on Spirit Controlling* and the *Manual of Fire Casting*, holding them out toward him.
"Without a bit of skill to protect yourself, I doubt you'll survive." With that, the Man in Black stepped onto the wood, leapt into the branches, and headed north, leaving behind a single sentence: "If you want the immortal pill to save your father, follow me."
Qiao Ruohe channeled spiritual power into the soles of his feet and began to run through Fengyu Forest like a rabbit or a monkey. A single leap carried him a zhang, and three bounds covered nine zhang. Before he knew it, he had traveled ten miles without feeling the slightest fatigue.
The Man in Black stood motionless at the edge of the cliff in Fengyu Forest. A thousand zhang below the cliff lay a valley in full bloom. Although Qiao Ruohe had preliminarily learned this spirit-controlling technique overnight, the man's pace was so fast that how could he possibly keep up? Yet he noticed that the man sped up and slowed down intermittently, clearly waiting for him on purpose.
When he approached within seven feet behind him, the Man in Black said: "In Blooming Flowers Valley at the Divine Wood Palace, inside Qianjing Lake at Qihua Abode, you will find the Soul-Returning Immortal Pill you need."
"Why are you helping me?"
The Man in Black channeled spiritual energy to his fingertips, and instantly a long sword flew out from the gourd at his waist. The flying sword grew from small to large, hovering in mid-air. The Man in Black leaped onto the sword and turned his head back: "A valley a thousand zhang deep cannot be climbed down. If you want to go, step onto the sword."
Seeing that he gave an irrelevant answer, Qiao Ruohe knew he would get no result by asking. Looking back, he saw no wind chimes ringing; and even if they did ring and Elder Fengyu returned, he might not be willing to help. With no other way, if he wanted to reach the bottom of Blooming Flowers Valley, he had no choice but to board this shady vessel. Besides, had this man not left behind the two secret manuals, the wounds left on his body by Lin Qingxuan would have left him either dead or crippled.
After a brief hesitation, he jumped onto the flying sword and stood behind him.
"Hold on tight." The Man in Black rode the sword forward.
Ascending into the heavens for the first time, Qiao Ruohe was buffeted by the biting wind whistling past his face, making it hard to stand steady. Swaying from side to side, had he not tightly gripped the red gourd at the front man's waist, he would surely have plunged a thousand zhang down and been smashed to pieces.
High up in the sky of a thousand zhang, the flying sword traveled for only the time it took to burn a stick of incense before carrying Qiao Ruohe to the valley floor, where flowers bloomed everywhere.
The bottom of the valley was planted with five-colored flowers, bursting in nine brilliant styles. Waves of floral fragrance assailed his nostrils, causing the Man in Black to sneeze repeatedly. Whether he suffered from a pollen allergy was unknown, but he raised his hand and released a fireball from his palm, setting fire to the flowers all around.
Qiao Ruohe watched in stunned shock as the Man in Black shoved a stack of red paper talismans into his hands.
"What is this?" He took them, seeing messy, ghost-like drawings scrawled on the paper talismans.
Answering off the point, the Man in Black said: "Gather the spiritual energy within your body at your fingertips and throw them out; the talismans will automatically burst into flames." He pointed to a solitary cluster of yellow flowers by the stream to his left and said: "Try it out over there."
Stirred by curiosity, Qiao Ruohe followed his instructions and used his spiritual power to activate and throw a talisman.
"Bang." The fire talisman struck the flower cluster, turning into a three-zhang fireball. The flames instantly burst forth, and the patch of yellow flowers was abruptly scorched into ashes. The fireball within this talisman was three to five times larger than the one the Man in Black had conjured from his palm. The raging fire leaped across the stream, rushing straight toward the countless flowers.
Qiao Ruohe stared in blank dismay; he never expected the fire talisman to be so fierce. Seeing the sparks ignite, a prairie fire threatened to break out. Three zhang, thirty zhang, in the blink of an eye, the fire spread to over a hundred zhang. The boundless flowers in this valley would likely be burned down to nothing by this single blaze.
"Senior, please put out this fire!" Qiao Ruohe shouted to the Man in Black.
No reply came, only the thunderous vibration of the flying sword leaping into the sky. The Man in Black had handed him a stack of fire talismans and promptly taken his leave without a word, flying dozens of zhang away and vanishing into the azure blue.
Qiao Ruohe could neither put out the fire nor fly into the sky. For a moment, he was anxious to the point of burning up, not knowing what to do.
Just then, three figures of Taoist priests in green robes flew in from the horizon, and one of them shouted at the top of his lungs: "There's a fire!"
Realizing he had stirred up disaster, Qiao Ruohe could only crouch down and hide among the flower clusters. If these three discovered him, his little life would surely be forfeit.
The three of them wore the same attire as Lin Qingxuan, so they were undoubtedly disciples of Blooming Flowers Valley. Moreover, one of them had a remarkably familiar face.