Depthless Hunger

Technically, Zae Zin Nim was guarding her mana pool, but she wasn't sure what would actually happen if she was challenged. The Thundering Scorpion tribe required everything to be done in pairs, due to their strange formation, and she was alone. Of course, she would bet on herself against any two of these inferior cultivators, but they might try to twist the rules against her, and she couldn't fight them all at once.

In theory she had the Bloodcoral sect to support her, and presumably they could grant her a second team member if it was necessary. She preferred not to think about them, so she focused on her training.

The bottom of a narrow pit would be an excellent, if undignified, place to cultivate. Mana training was less sedate, so Zae Zin Nim found herself pacing around the mana pool so much that she practically wore her footsteps into the stone. She regularly absorbed small emanations of mana from the center, just to boost her progress slightly further, then she returned to training.

Omilaena's idea about merging her qi techniques with the Coldfire Corona had set off a new sequence of ideas for her. She moved through the formal positions of the Brightwind martial arts that she had learned from birth, but she made the mana fire roll along with her movements. Even though it was shockingly presumptuous to add new elements to such ancient formations, she felt as though she owned them even more than before.

Once she finished with that, however, her next training was entirely derived from Kai. She walked up to one of the walls at the bottom of the pit, took a deep breath, and then slammed her palm against it.

It was a brute force technique, as used by some hard martial artists, and her techniques all followed soft principles. Yet it felt right, from the way her mana traveled through her arm to the way the force leapt back into her palm. All of her old instructors would have been horrified, saying that she would ruin her flawless hands with calluses, but she trusted that her Physique would protect her.

After one thousand strikes, she walked to the opposite wall and shifted to practicing her Coldfire Palm. The exact movements of qi and mana became easier and easier, until the two automatically formed into the technique. She had practiced most of her other techniques for years, yet this one had become natural in such a short time.

By the time she was done, she had left a handprint in the wall taller than her.

Zae Zin Nim had been so focused on her training that she was shocked to feel herself truly a little stronger than before. Most of the time when she felt stronger it was simply using her body more effectively, putting more of her available strength into the palm strikes. But this was a true difference, meaning that her Coldfire Corona had finally advanced, so she eagerly checked her soul.

Total Power: 999 (limited)

Cultivation: Earth Soul 39% (517)

*Heavenly Sash: Cultivation +10% (51)

Coldfire Corona: 99 (109)

Pure Yin Shroud: Garnet Rank (199)

Blackblood Physique Level: E-9 (107)

Blackblood Shadow (+50)

Soul Level: 8 (64)

>

Most of her essence remained trapped behind the barrier, but she only had eyes for one line: the Coldfire Corona had reached Level 99. According to what Inafay and the Frontier elites had told her, this was the very limit of a basic class. Now all she needed was a sufficiently dense concentration of mana and she could break through into an Advanced Class, which would be unknown territory for her.

She had a sufficient source of mana, because Kai was a dutiful husband, but if she attempted to use it right now, it would all be wasted against the 999 barrier. And so she waited yet longer, hoping that this would all be enough.

"Pardon me." As if summoned by her idleness, Cor Li Xan at the edge of her pit. "Have you reconsidered? Your help would be much appreciated by the Bloodc-"

"Alright." Zae Zin Nim lightly pushed off with her foot and soared back to the surface. Her eyes narrowed in the abrupt sunlight and she reluctantly focused on the man. "You want me to help fight with one of your cultivators?"

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"With me, actually." Cor Li Xan looked surprised that she had accepted, but smiled broadly. "There's a strong source of qi that we want to take from the Thundering Scorpion tribe, which I think would be just as useful to you as to me. Come this way."

He stepped onto a flying sword and gestured for her to join him, but Zae Zin Nim pulled out her own to fly separately. They were just going back the usual arena where the high level duels took place, which was familiar to her by now. The Bloodcoral sect had asked for her help before and she'd accepted when she wasn't too focused on her own training, because they were marginally less annoying than everyone else would be.

Once she stepped into the dueling arena, she resolved to ignore everything, defeat her opponent with a single Coldfire Palm, and leave. Yet as the audience saw her, she couldn't ignore their words.

"It's the Great Palm Maiden!"

"Such incredible skin! How can she maintain that?"

"Why is the Great Palm Maiden fighting again?"

She had to admit that a petty fragment of herself still enjoyed hearing them praise her. Even if she had grown beyond the girl she had once been, she had been hideous and damned for so long, it felt good to be praised again. But "Great Palm Maiden" was a foolish name. At least it meant her new technique was having an impact, and if word of her spread, her father would never in a thousand years imagine she could be associated with such a name.

"It's Cor Li Xan! He hasn't fought in over a month!"

"The Bloodcoral sect has been challenging more aggressively."

"He only fights with the Great Palm Maiden. Are they beloveds?"

Zae Zin Nim's eyes widened and she started to glare at the audience before remembering herself and ignoring them. How dare they make such an assumption about her? Cor Li Xan was moving into position, apparently ignoring her as he focused on their opponents. She remained irritated until the gong sounded and the match began.

And then ended: one step, one palm, one defeated opponent.

She nodded in satisfaction as they were declared the victors and granted access to another pit. No matter that her advancement was stuck, she could still refine herself. Once she finally developed her qi and mana properly, she hoped that her technique would be multiplied by all of this training.

It should have been no surprise that Cor Li Xan flew after her when they went to the qi pit, because he had stated this was his goal from the beginning. She still found herself eyeing him suspiciously along the way. So far he had been only mildly annoying, never improper. Cloudspire could be counted on for a certain degree of propriety, especially compared to the constant lewdness of Rosemount.

"They say this sort of qi is most useful for the middle stage of Earth Soul," Cor Li Xan told her. "I'm still in the early stage, but I have undergone special training to absorb intense qi."

"Did you want to cultivate here?" Zae Zin Nim stepped away from the entrance politely.

"There is enough for two cultivators or more. There is no reason to limit yourself."

Ordinarily Zae Zin Nim would never enter a dark, confined, poorly visible place with a man, but this place was a rough camp. She valued the source of qi more than she worried about any discomfort... and she was very confident that she could kill Cor Li Xan if necessary.

They both floated down into the pit, where the air was thick with qi. Surprisingly pure, for a place like this out in the Western Wilds. Zae Zin Nim sat down on one side of the room and Cor Li Xan sat on the opposite side. That was proper enough, so she would cultivate in peace for a day or so.

She got an hour.

"I'm impressed you could reach the middle stage of Earth Soul." He spoke up unnecessarily, smiling at her from across the room. "It seems you haven't had access to strong sources of qi for some time."

"I have managed." His use of language distracted her. Her father had always said that referring to "early", "middle", and "late" stages of qi was meaningless, preferring hard numbers, but she had read those terms over and over again in the oldest texts. It was an age-old tradition, in any case, just not one that was common in the Brightwind sect.

"You deserve better than the life you've led. A flower such as you should be the beloved daughter of an entire sect."

Zae Zin Nim's eyes cracked open and she regarded him cynically. Her social instincts had been dulled by lax customs on other continents, because it only then occurred to her that someone might see them disappear into the pit and draw conclusions. They wouldn't be logical conclusion, but the cultivators here loved to gossip.

"What exactly are you saying?" Zae Zin Nim asked.

"Well, I..." Cor Li Xan coughed uncomfortably, but continued with an awkward smile. "You have been a valuable member of the Bloodcoral sect, but I know you are not fully committed to us. If you were willing to make a more permanent alliance, we could give you better resources. Perhaps, if you join with our family, we could even help you break through the 999 Power barrier."

"If you have such resources, name your price."

"It isn't a matter of price..." He shifted awkwardly, no longer cultivating at all. "The Cor family is the strongest within the Bloodcoral sect. If you were to join with me, you would be the treasured daughter of the entire sect, and y-"

He cut off when he saw the look in Zae Zin Nim's eyes. For a moment she was furious - no one would ever have dared to ask her such a thing, not when she was the daughter of the Brightwind patriarch. She managed to swallow her anger, reminding herself that she was intentionally avoiding attention.

"I am already married," Zae Zin Nim told him flatly. "Do not say such things again."

"What? To... the barbarian?" Cor Li Xan stared at her as if he couldn't believe it. "How did he coerce you into such a thing? Is it real? I mean, is the relationship... consummated?"

Once that question would have left her blushing and ashamed, but Zae Zin Nim had needed to cope with Omilaena spouting all manner of vulgarity at all times. She still considered killing the man for the implied insult, but settled for glaring at him. Judging from the way he shrank back, it was enough.

"My marriage is not your concern," she said. "Either leave this place or I will."

He actually went, retreating with his metaphorical tail between his legs. Zae Zin Nim realized that, for the first time, she had actually been targeted by a man who meant to use her to climb higher, instead of exploiting her. When she was the chosen Brightwind daughter, no such men had been allowed near her.

No, only her father's chosen predators.

Zae Zin Nim closed her eyes to return to cultivation, but it was difficult to focus. Her husband and wife could not return soon enough.

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