Chapter 17 Thunder Demon Cliff
As soon as the Heavenly Eye focused, Zhen saw that every object radiated its own inner light. The image was sharp, despite the darkness and regardless of distance. He could see a beetle on the bark of a distant tree as clearly as the branches beneath his feet. The Qi of living beings and objects moved. Everything was in motion. He could focus the Eye on different layers of a tree—see the flow of sap, the movement of Heaven and Earth Qi, the scurrying of ants. And from his own body, threads of light extended…
"What is this?" Zhen looked with curiosity at the threads emerging from his body and disappearing into the unknown. The strangest of them was a blood-red bundle stretching into the distance. He instinctively felt it best not to touch them, but curiosity won out. Focusing on one of the threads in the bundle, he felt his guts twist. A faint whisper began to form in his mind.
Three glowing dots appeared in the sky above the mountains.
"Oh no…" Zhen realized the demons had sensed that he had damaged the implant.
He quickly threw on his backpack, grabbed the sword leaning against the tree, and sprinted for the cave, struggling to shut the Eye. But focusing while running was difficult. Zhen poured True Jing into his muscles and channels and began moving at supernatural speed.
Suddenly, he noticed shadows moving between the trees on both sides.
"Shit…"
They rushed at him, blocking his path and trying to knock him down. Zhen jumped up using qinggong and soared onto a branch, leaping with inhuman agility and speed from tree to tree. The shadows froze—and then simply flew after him, not falling behind.
In Zhen's mind, the voice of Elder Ge rang out:
"Use the sword! Direct your De!"
De, as the elder had explained during their training in the Hidden Yang Fire technique, was the manifestation of the Dao within beings. A magical force that increased through cultivation. Unlike Qi and Jing, it could influence reality itself beyond natural laws and appeared as a special kind of light in one's aura. But to consciously control one's De, one first had to open the Heavenly Eye.
Zhen drew his sword in one motion, and a golden bright light—made of millions of threads, visible only through the Heavenly Eye—flooded the surroundings. Zhen pointed the blade at the shadow and instinctively poured something into the sword. The sword seemed to draw that force out of him. A beam of light, like a liquid, poured from the blade in a concentrated stream toward the shadows. They shrieked silently and trembled, clearly suffering from contact with that light. The shadows stopped and abruptly changed direction—fleeing.
Zhen continued leaping between trees and reached the path. The three points in the sky had grown into massive fiery spheres circling the mountain. Zhen reached the cave entrance and recited the mantra silently, placing his hand on the stone.
Once inside, he returned the sword to its scabbard and looked at the elder through the Heavenly Eye.
Around the elder's head was a bright, gold-tinged halo—like a nearly transparent golden liquid, or tongues of unknown flame writhing around his head.
"Is that his De?" Zhen stared, mesmerized by the shining nimbus.
The opening of the Heavenly Eye glowed with white light in the elder's brain. In his lower abdomen, a golden sphere about an inch wide was visible. Most of the internal meridians were nearly extinguished or faintly glowing. Only one side channel was filled with golden Qi moving from the sphere toward the head, bypassing a dark spot of poison in the neck where the dagger had struck. The room itself glowed with a web of multicolored Qi threads and strange symbols resembling geometric shapes.
"There's no time. Take the ring from my index finger and put it on," the elder's voice sounded in Zhen's mind.
Zhen hurried to the elder and quickly removed the ring from the index finger of his right hand, slipping it onto the same finger of his own right hand.
"Now go to the wall and press the ring to the symbol that matches the one on the ring. Recite the mantra to open the cave."
Zhen easily found the matching symbol with the Heavenly Eye and pressed the ring to it.
"Om La Sa Ra Mi Ma Da Ra Hong."
The wall dissolved just like the cave entrance had and revealed a small chamber beyond it.
Inside the room were seven sturdy chests bound in iron. Through the Heavenly Eye, it was clear they were also covered in symbols and a Qi network.
"This ring is a spatial pocket. You can store items in it. You need to sense the boundary of the chest using the Heavenly Eye and the ring. You must direct your De through the Eye and align it with the ring while reciting the mantra 'Ha Ni Li Ha Song.' First recite the mantra and feel the power of the ring—for practice. After that, you'll understand. Just do as you did with the sword…"
"Ha Ni Li Ha Song," Zhen Xu pronounced, directing the Heavenly Eye toward the ring. The ring began to absorb the surrounding space, and by guiding that power, he could feel the outlines of objects.
"Now focus the power of the ring on a chest and say 'Ha Capture Song'."
"Ha Capture Song," said Zhen Xu, directing the ring's power at one of the chests, watching in amazement as it vanished—collapsing into a single point.
Zhen repeated the trick with the remaining chests, grinning like a child, and stepped out of the room, standing next to Elder Ge.
"Elder... I don't understand. Then what are the backpack and the box for?" Zhen asked, studying the intricate pattern on the ring.
"For my head, of course," Elder Ge answered with a smirk. "But first, I must fulfill the promise."
***
Meanwhile, after receiving a report about Su Zhen's escape from the city, Commander Dong Li went that evening to confront Bai Xiao.
Doctor Bai wasn't surprised that Zhen had run off into the forest and told Commander Dong Li not to jump to conclusions. Over a cup of tea, he explained to the centurion that the boy had a power spot in the forest which supported his health and combat abilities—and that there was no hostile intent or espionage involved.
"The boy is just foolish and prone to reckless adventures."
"Or maybe to spying?" the commander retorted.
"Commander Dong, the boy is under my responsibility, and you of all people should know—I am certainly no spy for Southern Hou, and there's nothing to worry about."
Commander Dong Li twitched his mustache, a nervous tic making his fingers tighten on the hilt of his saber.
"Bai Xiao, how do you know the boy didn't just gain your trust... and is actually spying on us?"
"I've known him since childhood. And I have... hmm... mystical insight into him."
"Mystical insight? Since when are you a shaman?"
"The healing arts require a bit of shamanism in their own way."
From outside came sounds of commotion.
"Commander, something's happening out there," reported the guard at the door with a knock.
Dong Li rose from the bench and stepped outside. Bai Xiao followed him.
In the sky above the mountains, three glowing points were swiftly approaching one of the cliffs. Then they stopped and began circling above it.
"Are those gods?"
"No, they're mountain spirits!"
"What do you know, you old fart? Maybe they're demons!"
shouted voices from the street.
Suddenly, Bai Xiao heard a familiar voice in his head.
"Bai Xiao!"
He staggered slightly and leaned on the doorframe.
"I promised to reward you for faithful service. Sit in meditation and close your eyes."
Bai Xiao quickly sat down right there on the ground and closed his eyes. Commander Dong Li turned and cried out in alarm:
"Doctor Bai! Are you alright?"
"Don't touch me for a while," Bai Xiao replied, focusing on a point of light that had appeared in the inner space of his mind.
The light began to pour forth, and from it emerged a page of characters and drawings.
Bai Xiao examined it carefully, and then, just like before, the characters began to burn themselves into his brain one by one, making his body tremble. Streams of sweat poured down his entire body.
Commander Dong Li watched anxiously as Bai Xiao trembled like someone in a fever, sweat pouring down his face in torrents.
Suddenly, Doctor Bai convulsed more violently and then collapsed limply, slumping forward onto his crossed legs.
"My lord! Are you alright?" shouted Commander Dong, catching him.
"I'm alright, Commander… perfectly alright." Bai Xiao whispered faintly.
"Look!" cried a soldier.
Commander Dong turned back toward the mountains and saw—out of the dark sky—appeared the contours of an enormous circular shield above the cliff, where the three glowing orbs still hovered.
The shield hung over the cliff for several minutes, and then a cone of blue light emerged from its underside, shining down onto the rocks like a searchlight, moving as if it were scanning for something—or someone. Then the blue light vanished, and from the shield burst a thick beam of orange light, writhing as if made of countless liquid threads.
Even centuries later, the stories and legends of the local people would speak of that night. They said the roar was louder than a thousand thunderclaps, the wind that rose broke nearby trees, tore paper windows in some houses, and blew tiles off the roofs. A cloud that rose over the cliff spread over the whole region and left behind a layer of dust.
From that day forward, the place was known as Thunder Demon Cliff.