Chapter 1228: The mastered, unwanted spell (2)
For lack of a better term, corpse yin qi was considered impure or tainted yin qi, and rightfully so, given the effects it had. To use it was to defile oneself and others.
It had long been hypothesized that corpse yin qi was the amalgamation of all the negative energies of the deceased—their obsessions, frustrations, regrets, bitterness, anger, wrath, hatred, fear, and any other powerful negative emotions they held at the ti of death. To absorb the corpse yin qi they produced was to take in those very emotions.
This was assud to be one of the guiding reasons behind the unstable, bloodthirsty, and irascible nature of cultivators who used corpse qi, and why they were attacked on sight. They were regarded as no different from the toxic miasma produced by concentrated corpse yin qi.
Death yin qi, however, carried no such stigma.
Just as corpse yin qi was believed to be the manifestation of unresolved negativity, death yin qi was considered its opposite— it was an amalgamation of peace and rest. It was thought to be pure soul energy that had been cleansed of all negative attachnts, much like how distilled water was considered purified water.
This was the common belief held by many regarding death yin qi. That being said, while most had positive views about it—and many likely made use of it—few would openly admit to doing so. Despite how pure it was, the bulk of death qi’s origin still lay in corpse yin qi.
That said, death yin qi wasn’t always ford from corpse yin qi. Anything that possessed the breath of life—whether it be humans, cultivators or not, ordinary plants and animals, spiritual beasts and herbs, sentient artifacts, or even awakened spirit veins—as long as it had life, the mont it perished, death yin qi would inevitably arise from it. Over ti, this qi would gradually disintegrate and nourish its surroundings, giving rise to new life from what had been lost.
This was part of what made death yin qi so palatable to the cultivation world—it moved in accordance with the Grand Dao, cycling through destruction and life. However, despite that, not many would openly admit to using it, but at the sa ti, if they co across death qi, not many would resist using it either.
So of the most precious natural treasures were known to grow in areas suffused with death yin qi. One such treasure was the Silver Cloud Soul-Nurturing Gourd, said to not only heal a soul no matter how grave the injury, but it could also help one completely reform their soul from just a wisp. It was for that reason that the gourd was colloquially given the na ‘the Gourd of Rebirth.’
And it wasn’t the only one. There were countless other natural treasures with remarkable attributes known to grow in places rich with pure, dense death yin qi. The White Peony of a Thousand Autumns, an inhabitant of the place, for instance, could induce a state of enlightennt lasting at least a hundred years when consud. Or the Black Lotus, which, when refined, ford a lotus guard around the user’s body that granted immunity to a thousand different kinds of poisons and soul-targeting attacks, while also strengthening the soul. The degree of enhancent depended on the black lotus’s age, potency, and grade.
It wasn’t just natural treasures that benefited from death yin qi. There were docunted cases of cultivators gaining deeper insights into their arts and techniques through the use of death yin qi in their cultivation, or by simply cultivating in an environnt rich in it.
Sadly for Yang Qing, as many benefits as death yin qi offered, and as free-spirited as he was when it ca to trying new things… in this, he wasn’t. Even with no witnesses around, he didn’t dare use it.
Sighing lightly, Yang Qing raised his left hand, and a gentle white fla instantly appeared. Anyone who laid eyes upon it would feel a deep sense of peace, rest, and spiritual harmony.
Although Yang Qing’s gaze remained calm, there was a slight heaviness in it as his moon-shaped irises fell upon the softly burning, peaceful fla in his palm.
Great Moon Harmony White Yang Fla—that was the na of the fla. And every ti Yang Qing used it, he did so with the sa heaviness and solemnity as when he swung the gavel in his courtroom, whether to begin a case or deliver a verdict.
It was a spell Ren Shu had made him learn, and one of the few spells Yang Qing had ever been reluctant to study, despite it being a gold-grade technique. The reason lay in its purpose.
The Great Moon Harmony White Yang Fla was ant for cremating cultivators and accelerating the cycle of death yin qi, from its initial formation down to its final disintegration. Ren Shu had called it “giving true rest to the deceased.”
Despite its gentle and peaceful appearance, the fla was a bane to corpse yin qi. A single wisp of it would instantly swell into a sea of fire when introduced into an area filled with corpse yin qi. In that context, corpse yin qi was like dousing the flas with highly flammable fuel. The fire would not stop burning until every last trace of corpse yin qi had been consud.
Yet, as ferocious as the fla was against corpse yin qi and anything related to it, it had no such effect on anything else, especially not the living. Yang Qing could douse Haishi, Bolin, and even the two sky-rank plants in it for hours, and all they would feel was a deep, soothing relaxation, likely ending with them drifting off into a peaceful slumber.
They wouldn’t be burned, destroyed, or hard in any way. And it wasn’t just them—even the surroundings remained untouched when exposed to those flas.
Yang Qing sighed again and gently blew on the fla in his palm. It drifted away, gliding softly through the air, carried by his breath. As it floated off, it split apart into several smaller portions, each one shrinking further from its original orange-sized form.
But Yang Qing knew… he knew that despite their deceptively small size, within seconds of reaching their targets, those gentle sparks would erupt into flas no smaller than Haishi’s body.
As he watched the embers drift away, their glow reflected in his eyes. A bitter smile tugged at his lips.
He had never wanted to learn that spell. Never liked it. Because it ant dealing with the dead, so of whom he had known. Not personally, but still, they were people from the Order. Colleagues. Familiar nas. Faces he had seen around.
The first ti he used it on one of them, a chilling thought took root in his heart. A thought he tried to smother, but it stubbornly clung to him.
What if one day, he ended up using this spell on soone he truly knew—soone close? A classmate, a friend, whether it be a regular one or soone he thought of as family… or even actual family? Would such a day co when he’d be forced to burn them with this spell, too?
It was a thought he could never fully escape. It always ca back, slithering out from the corners of his mind every ti he summoned the flas.
Even now… it wasn’t any different.
That mortifying thought had made him reluctant to learn or practice the spell, despite its high grade. Yet, even though he had no desire to master it, life had played a cruel joke on him.
The one spell he didn’t want anything to do with… was the one he had the highest mastery over.
His command of the Great Moon Harmony White Yang Flas had already reached perfection, despite it being a gold-grade art, and despite him dragging his feet every step of the way.
From the mont he laid eyes on it, he had been dood. The essence of the spell aligned with his own perfectly. His bond with it was no different from that of a spiritual plant or a spirit beast with their innate abilities.
He may not have wanted to learn it, but the instant he looked upon it, his body, soul, spirit, and essence all responded at once. They harmonized with it so completely that the spell imprinted itself onto him from that very first glance. His body understood it. His soul recognized it. His spirit resonated with it. His essence rged with it.
Him trying not to learn it was like trying to forget how to breathe.
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