Lady yin sighed and asked " what will you do now ?? "
--------
" I don't know " ....the last thing he said before curling like a dying animal.
The weight of his shattered potential crashed down upon him like a collapsing sky—he was broken in every way that mattered.
His meridians, reduced to useless scars, denied him the path of Dou Qi. Now, even his soul, his last desperate refuge, was rotted through with poison , the Ghostfire Needles having seared his spiritual foundation beyond repair.
The truth gnawed at him like a starving beast: he was nothing. No, worse than nothing—a cripple, a failed vessel, a boy who couldn't even die properly because his enemies had made sure his soul would dissolve before it could reach the underworld.
His fists clenched, nails biting into his palms, but the pain was meaningless. What did flesh matter when his very existence had been deemed unworthy of vengeance? The cave's crystals pulsed around him, their light too bright, their hum too loud—mocking him.
He wanted to scream, but his throat was too tight. He wanted to fight, but his body was too weak. And so, for the first time since the massacre, he let the numbness take him, curling into himself like a dying animal, wondering if the heavens had ever created something as pitiful as him before.
" You sure are a helpless lamb , aren't you ? ,
Abandoned by the world " ha , well you are losing your hope too early, little lamb , don't you ?."
Well I know something about body cultivate,
You interested ?
The boy's hollow gaze flickered up at Lady Yin's words, his golden eyes dull with despair—until, like the faintest ember stirred by a passing wind, a spark of realization ignited. Body cultivation.
He had been so consumed by the loss of Dou Qi and the ruin of his soul that he hadn't considered it.
His fingers twitched, brushing against the *Soul Refinement Sutra* he'd dropped in his anguish. The manual had nearly destroyed him... but what if there was another way?
Lady Yin smirked, twirling one of the Ghostfire Needles between her fingers.
"The path of flesh is brutal," she mused, "but it doesn't care about broken meridians or poisoned souls. It only asks for pain... and you, little cripple, seem to have plenty of that to spare."
The boy's breath hitched. His body was already a ruin of scars—what were a few more? He thought of the treasury in his ring, the mountains of resources, the ancient texts. Among them, there had to be *forgotten arts of body refinement*, techniques that could turn his very bones into weapons.
Slowly, he uncurled from his despair, his voice rough but steadier than before. *"Tell me where to start."*
Lady Yin's smile widened, her eyes glinting like a blade in moonlight. "Oh, you won't like it,"she purred. "But then again... you don't have to like it. You just have to survive it."
" I don't have a body cultivation technique, you will have find it yourself , I will just guide you , and i accept the offer of you being my pitiful servant " said lady yin .
"That is not valid now , you didn't gave me food and water , it was in my ring " he spoke.
" Oh , you forgot how I saved your little ass when you came in the cave being cooked to crisp! You also forgot who reminded you of your soul called ring , and when you were curled up like a little lamb waiting to be slaughter, who reminded you of body cultivation and that is not the way a servant should speak to his master " bickered lady yin.
" Yo...you... Ok fine!!" He grudgingly spoke.
" At least you have some manner , now give me some of those fruits that you were eating"
He grabbed few fruits and threw at her ,she grabbed them and started to eat with relish .
"Go to hell " he spoke and With a nose grunt he sat up on the crystal slab and started to search for a body cultivation technique, she just laughed at him .
For 21 days , the boy's life fell into a grueling rhythm.
At dawn, he would wake, his body stiff from sleeping on the cold crystal slab, and immediately dive back into the ring's endless treasury, his fingers flipping through ancient scrolls, his eyes scanning every character for even a hint of body refinement techniques. Stacks of manuals towered around him— sword arts, alchemy recipes, forbidden soul skills —but the one thing he needed remained elusive.
Lady Yin, ever the opportunistic "master," lounged nearby, lazily plucking choice fruits from his supplies and popping them into her mouth with infuriating relish.
"That's the third spirit peach you've eaten today," the boy grumbled, not looking up from a crumbling scroll.
"And?" Lady Yin smirked, licking juice from her fingers. "You're the one who needs to toughen up. I'm just enjoying the benefits of having a dutiful disciple."
He shot her a glare, but she only laughed, tossing a peach pit at his head.
Still, despite their bickering, there was an unspoken understanding. She didn't interfere with his search, and he didn't complain when she helped herself to his food. A strange, grudging companionship formed—one built on mutual annoyance and the shared silence of two people who had nowhere else to go.
Then, on the 22nd morning , as he unrolled yet another dust-covered scroll, his breath caught.
"Found it."
"Violet Lightning Bone-Carving Sutra"
"The heavens strike down the arrogant—so we carve their lightning into our bones and rise again."
" What an arrogant statement " I like it , the boy said .
Created by "Thunder Judgment Dou Di" , the last emperor of the Violet Lightning Dynasty, this technique was born from defiance. After reaching the pinnacle of cultivation, he realized a terrifying truth:
The heavens deliberately limit mortal bodies.
Furious, he spent 1,000 years capturing and dissecting lightning tribulations , studying how celestial punishment reforged the flesh of survivors. His breakthrough came when he discovered that bones could be made to remember lightning —not just endure it, but weaponize it .
Using his Dou Di power, he carved the first runes into his own skeleton with concentrated heavenly lightning, creating a foundation that allowed even crippled cultivators to wield thunder as their flesh.
When the heavens finally struck him down, they erased all records of the technique —except for one jade slip, hidden in the void and later recovered by the boy's ancestors.
"This technique was made for those who spit in the face of fate. Fitting for a child like you." Said lady yin .
The moment he wanted to open the scroll further to read the technique, he saw a violet rune that seems to embody a lightning strike, suddenly from the rune a violet lightning knocked him down .
Lady yin caught him and fed him some herbs " A reckless boy you indeed are , at least you could have some caution against foreign things " she mocked .
But there was a genuine concern on her face , it seems she is quite affected by the boy .
She took the scroll but beside the introduction there was nothing written on it .
"What a scam " she started to check his body as expected it was a ruin as it was before in the pond .
Soon the violet lightning that knocked the boy came outside from the boy with a drop of blood essence and went back to the scroll.
The boy also gained consciousness , lady yin asked in concern " Are you feeling pain somewhere?" No, he replied .
What happened to you , she again asked.
The lightning was searching something inside my body , it was terrible , my body is fully electrode I can't even move a muscle.
" Don't exaggerate you are speaking well , it just burned here and there " she joked .
I don't know what the lightning was doing , I feel extremely weak as if something very important from my body is taken out . He spoke with a tired voice .
Lady yin showed him the scroll :
1. Bone-Searing Initiation (Dou Zhe- Fighter)
- Process: The cultivator must absorb natural lightning (or be struck by it) while chanting the sutra. The bolt's energy is forced into the bones.
- Effect:
- Bones gain violet cracks , increasing density by *200%*.
- Punches release minor shockwaves.
- Risk:
- 40% chance of death if unprepared.
- Bones may shatter if struck too hard.
But there was nothing when I opened the scroll ,he spoke bewilderedly.
"I think the lightning was examining your strength,it took your blood essence to the scroll and revealed the first stage of the technique , it is has consciousness somehow" she said .
"So somehow I am ended with a technique that is alive " he spoke with amusement but there was some fear in his voice .
"Fear not it is a technique that is made by , A Dou Di , do you understand what Dou Di stands for , you little lamb, A technique made by a Dou Di to defy heaven have to be extraordinary. " She said in exhilaration .
"You sure are not telling me your name and background , your ancestors even got a technique of a Dou Di." She said with a low voice that ringed with some sadness.
" Even I am thinking of taking it from you and killing you , who would know about it , here in this corner of the world " she joked to lighten up her voice .
The boy hesitated, his fingers tightening around the half-eaten spirit fruit as Lady Yin's question hung in the air between them. For a month, he had clung to his silence like armor, fearing that speaking his past aloud would make the wounds too real to bear.
But now, hearing the rare, almost imperceptible tremor in her voice—something softer than mockery, something that sounded almost like loneliness—something inside him cracked.
"My Name is ....."
The End .