The man and the tiger excitedly returned to the bottom of Hu Fang's mountain peak before taking out their spoils with an air of glee practically radiating off of each of them. They quickly transferred both the corpse of the spider, and the three medicinal jade boxes to the ground.
"Hu Meng the box on the right is the non-poisonous fruit for you to use. The other two seem potent enough to fully refine my liver with no issues... The glow they give off is the second highest I've ever seen behind the blooddrop shaped fruits from that devilish tree." Yin Xiu's expression then became a little pensive he observed the glow once again, "Hopefully they aren't too painful to refine..." he muttered
Hu Meng had already snatched his box with an excited expression before turning his attention to the White Dahlia Spider's corpse, "Yin Xiu I need you to point out where its venom sac is for me and I'll remove it for you. I can't eat it without potentially dying before that's gone anyway." Yin Xiu nodded back naturally while pointing out the areas for Hu Meng to remove. Hu Mengs sharp claws glinted as they blurred in Yin Xiu's vision. An extremely gruesome looking grayish-blue sac that gave off a faint miasma was removed almost surgically by Hu Meng's skillful movements. After Hu Meng was done Yin Xiu picked up his unappetizing spoils of war with a touch of disgust, "I'm going to absorb this with the cauldron for sure." He shuddered at the thought of directly consuming the contents of the venom sac orally.
Ignoring the disgusting texture of the venom sac in his hand he turned his attention to inspecting the sharp appendages of the spider critically. They were pale white and slender, reminiscent of ivory with extremely sharp tips, obviously designed to impale prey. Small serrations appeared sporadically along the edges, making the wounds even more gruesome were a victim to find themselves impaled. A cold sweat broke out on Yin Xiu's forehead as the picture of what he would look like if he hadn't managed to deflect the attack earlier this morning flashed in his mind.
Hu Meng also scrutinized the appendages before turning to Yin Xiu "I'll make sure to leave those parts intact. You can probably just use those without even having to refine them for a while, but use the lowest quality ones, and have a weapon refiner use the bette along with the snow glazed iron we found earlier to make a Qi refining weapon. That should last you for a long time. " Hu Meng suggested before using his massive head to push Yin Xiu away, "You go refine your poisons I've got to get eating." He grinned evilly while sizing up the corpse of the spider before leaping in, ready to make an advancement as soon as possible.
Yin Xiu chuckled before walking over to the cauldron that was placed in the same place that it was when he last used it. He opened the venom sack of the White Dahlia Spider before carefully pouring the grayish-blue liquid in carefully, the fumes that rose off of the venom still seemed slightly spiritual as they formed vague flowers before quickly dissipating, almost as if they were withering away.
Yin Xiu marveled at the unique phenomenon inwardly before then dumping in the remaining poisons he had on hand. The five different flowers quickly dissolving into the concoction with various hissing noises, their colors seeping into the cauldron. Abruptly breaking up the monotonous coloring from before, into a strange concoction of gray-blue, red, purple, yellow, orange, and green. The colors never fully integrating with each other as they swirled together beautifully while giving off an extremely pleasant aroma, a mix of floral scents escaping into the air.
Yin Xiu steadied his mind once more as he slowly sank his body into the toxins. Black lines spread almost instantly throughout his body, as the white Dahlia spiders venom infiltrated his meridians slowly breaking them down. Yin Xiu hissed in pain as the other toxins also began coursing through his body, his muscles convulsed, his eyes went dark, and he even lost his hearing.
Hu Meng briefly stopped gorging on the spider, and observed Yin Xiu's changes briefly before once again continuing to eat. 'He'll be fine, watching any more will just ruin my appetite... this spider has plenty Qi, but its taste leaves much to be desired. I'll just have to power through it though.' With newfound determination, Hu Meng resolutely feasted.
Yin Xiu felt the agonizing pain seem to stretch on infinitely, blind and deaf to the world while trying his utmost not to descend into panic. As he suffered in this purgatory, imaginary whispers began appearing in his mind as he endured tenaciously through the pain. The whispers and murmurs turning slowly into roars that began shaking his mind and Dao heart. Intent on thoroughly destroying his resolve to persevere.
'Why must you torture yourself this way? There are easier ways to cultivate Yin Xiu, the Dao has many paths not just this one.' The voices became increasingly incessant, and stabbed into his psyche like a dull knife. 'This is the path Dao has opened to me, there is no reason to doubt it.' He refuted their assertions determinedly. As Yin Xiu continually ignored their platitudes, tenaciously fighting away the doubts that they tried to implant in his mind. They changed tactics 'You're just a mere mortal stuck in a forest with only ignorant beasts as companions how could you walk the immortal path? What makes you worthy to stand above others and reach for the top of the Nine Heavens?' 'I have never thought of myself as above other, let alone those "Ignorant beasts" they have shown me grace that I will repay no matter what.'
As he struggled through the mentally demanding trial that besieged him his Dao Heart became more and more solid, the path beneath his feet became broader, and the pain seemed to lessen as the poison reacted less violently within Yin Xiu's body. Through the pain and sacrifice of the body his mind cleared. The vague goal he had set when he was just a young boy, listening to a village storyteller became more and more solid. Yin Xiu once more steadily improved his aptitude in the Dao.
Just as he felt the trial was almost over, images began replacing the voices. He saw himself lying dead at the feet of a handsome cultivator in green robes, blood pooling around his body. He saw Hu Meng's head placed on a stake as it was paraded around a sect of cultivators like a grotesque trophy. He saw the Forest of the Four Seasons alight with flames as Hu Fang was surrounded and hunted down. As his will came dangerously close to faltering he managed to steady himself just before it collapsed beyond repair. Yelling internally. 'I WILL NEVER ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN!!'
Yin Xiu seemed to find himself craving only one thing. Strength. An unshakeable strength that won't yield or bow to anyone or anything. As his resolution solidified completely, a new vision appeared in his mind, a tall willowy figure in white robes with his back turned to Yin Xiu appeared. He had deep purple hair cascading down his back while on both sides of the man, other shadowy figures were vaguely outlined. They all seemed to be walking alongside the man in white, but he couldn't quite make them out through the mist.
Seemingly sensing something, the figure turned his head backwards, when Yin Xiu saw his face time seemed to stand still. He was wearing an ornate white jade mask adorned with serpents, scorpions, flowers, and plants. Each one so lifelike, they seemed almost alive. His only visible feature being his eyes. One shining with a flaming flower that seemed to call out to his soul, the other held a black lotus that was slowly withering, exuding a decadent aura of death and decay. The vague form of a familiar tree seemed to appear behind him as it towered into the heavens, its unique beauty unmistakable as an illusory field of collasal bones stretched into the distance.
With a gasp, Yin Xiu awakened. His mind aflame with a veritable deluge of thoughts as he tried to process everything he had seen. 'Was that me?' The shock was enormous as he seemed to have directly seen what he was cultivating towards. He stared blankly into the distance, his thoughts gradually calming. 'Even if that's me in the future I just have to take steps toward it calmly. Who knows if what I've seen is true or not.' He shook his head in chagrin as he finally felt the changes his body had undergone while he was unconsciously enduring the sudden visions. His body pulsed with power as he determined he only had around five percent of his bones unrefined, the last few concentrated in his head.
He felt wonderful, as his mind cleared, and he noticed that something about him besides his bone refinement had also changed that he couldn't quite put his finger on. His musings quickly interrupted by the arrival of a hulking White tiger which gave off a feeling so sharp it was difficult to directly look at her.
"Your aura has experienced quite a few changes over the past four days." Hu Fang looked down at Yin Xiu with a perplexed expression "Could you tell me what you experienced during your cultivation?"
Yin Xiu not daring to neglect in the slightest quickly explained the various voices and visions he had seen. Unbeknownst to Yin Xiu, Hu Fang's eyes became sharp when he mentioned the visions of her and Hu Meng. Her expression unreadable as she listened to Yin Xiu explain to the end. Yin Xiu waited nervously as he wished to hopefully get some answers to his questions.
After a few minutes, Hu Fang finally replied "If I were to make a guess, it should be a test directly from the Heavenly Dao. The visions you saw could be a glimpse of a possible future, or it could be just conjured up to test your will. Either way, if the Heavenly Dao has already noticed you at this stage it must place a lot of importance on your growth. You must have accomplished something important in one of the futures it observed. Whether its attention on you will be a good or bad thing... that will be determined in the future."
Yin Xiu quickly stood up and bowed "Thank you for clearing some of my doubts senior." Hu Fang waved her enormous paw nonchalantly before saying "You had better finish refining those two fruits soon. Hu Meng has already advanced to the second stage while you were undergoing your test. You still have a ways to go before you catch up with his strength. You don't wish ti remain the weakest forever do you?" She said with a hint of teasing in her magnetic voice.
"Really?!" Yin Xiu exclaimed in pleasant surprise, "I had better go and congratulate him then." After hurriedly bowing goodbye, he quickly walked towards the clearing that he and Hu Meng used for practice with excitement
As soon as Yin Xiu had disappeared from her sight Hu Fang slowly turned her gaze forlornly towards the sky 'I had a feeling that things wouldn't remain peaceful here too much longer, I need to have Hu Meng go outside and find his own path soon. If he can travel with Yin Xiu his journey won't be so lonely... I can't shackle him with me here forever.' A vague shimmer clouded her eyes before returning to normal.
'I must pay my penance, but my child is innocent.' The same sentence she had repeated inwardly for years once again stabbed deeply into her heart like a knife. She turned around towards the cave. Her back lacking the fierceness she typically carried, only exuding a faint loneliness as she ascended the mountain alone.