[QiB3] 10 — Secret Lab

I  walked through the village of Taizhou, which was now a lot emptier. Not  every villager had moved to the city; some still remained, looking  after their homes and working. But most of those who remained were  people who were under my sect, or had work related to it and could get  the necessary security all the way out here. Almost everyone else had  moved to the city, in fear of the demonic beasts, leaving the village  silent and still.

It had snowed  last night, covering the village in a sheen of white. I could sense the  life throughout this place, trying to preserve whatever warmth it could,  snuggled underneath the embrace of the earth.

Spirit animals  roamed around, some noticing my presence and walking closer. Many had  gone into hibernation, knowing the threat the demonic beasts that winter  represented.

There was a  strange kind of beauty in this landscape, even within harsh winters. I  was more aware now than ever before of how life persevered, how it  maintained, and how it kept going, no matter what, biding its time,  waiting for the snow to melt, the warmth to return alongside spring, and  then from a sleeping embrace within the earth, life would return once  more, taking roots, and the cycle of life and death would begin anew.  Quite poetic, certainly, but in a world like this, more meaningful than  just the beauty, with a prophetic nature to it as well.

The winter had  come, the demonic beasts had not; something had clearly altered their  movements, and I did not like the possibilities that I foresaw.

My stroll took  me to the cave, where I immediately sensed the miasma swirling inside,  feeling my presence. Ash rushed out, jumping and pushing me to the  ground as the giant wolf began to lick my face and ground with a  powerful rumble, excited to see me.

I laughed,  brushing Ash's fur as I slowly rose back onto my feet. "I missed you  too, friend," I said, making sure to give some well-deserved scratches  and belly rubs to my giant demon wolf.

At the edge of  my senses, I felt the presence of some others as well, fear and worry  in their form, looking at me or Ash from a distance, their Gu swirling  within their bodies, ready to prepare for the threat of an attack.

I glanced towards Ash in surprise. "Your friends?" I asked.

Strays. Lost. Needed home. Ash replied.

I walked  closer and saw two wolf pups growling, their guards up. The pups stepped  back fearfully at my approach and I simply looked at them in  fascination. I stopped as Ash moved closer, and with a growl brought the  two pups to me.

They looked up  at me in both fear and respect, cowering themselves to the ground, to  act subservient, and to show that they did not pose any threat to me.

I smiled,  bending down on my knees, and I gently caressed one of the pups. The  creature was confused at first but soon began to enjoy the sensation. I  made sure to give his brother the same amount of affection as well, and  soon, the two pups were climbing up onto me, asking for more.

The commotion  drew attention, as Yin felt not just my presence and walked out to the  entrance. "Elder Jie, you should have informed me that you were going to  visit, so I could have come to greet you."

"You really  don't need to. And I have talked to you about calling me an elder  before; it makes me sound like some kind of old man," I replied to him  as I pulled my attention away from the pups and began to head inside.

This was my  big secret. The demonic spirit herb garden that I had formed somewhat by  accident, which had now become a lab for developing and researching  miasma, Gu and more about the demonic creatures as a whole.

After Yin had  learned and helped with the development of the process of creating  Alchemy, she had been one of the few people I could trust and believed  had the ability to make something of this place. She could use it to  understand our opponents better, and perhaps find better ways to create  more Gu nukes or other weapons using these herbs.

"So, how has  your research been going? I hope Qiao Ying has been providing you with  all the texts that you require and have asked of him," I asked

"Yes, I've  received the materials. So far, we have been working on learning more  about these demonic spirit herbs and how they can survive miasma when it  is intense as it stifles life itself, and we are also trying to improve  our understanding and capabilities of forming alchemical pills with  these," Yin said, glancing back at me as she led me into the little  chamber that we had created.

A third of the  room was a counter with all sorts of little devices and facilities: a  burner, some glassware that had been rather difficult to source, and  other items set within the cave itself next to rows of bookshelves  filled with all kinds of information and research that previously had  been on demons and demonic beasts, all of which had been marked as  classified texts and burned away by the empire, but clearly some had  remained, which had been rather difficult to find and get my hands on.

I walked up to  what looked like some kind of prototype, with porcelain utensils, all  containing certain demonic spirit herbs, alongside regular plants and  growths. The Gu seemed to corrupt whatever it touched; any soil it  filled became transparent, unable to sustain life. It could also  escalate and increase the aging process. But curiously enough, it did  not always kill what it touched.

"I'd like to  show you this experiment, one that I learned from watching something you  did," Yin said. She walked up to the bowl of demonic herbs and  carefully picked one up with metal tongs and placed it on an empty  plate.

Afterwards,  she took another plant, a regular one, and set it next to the demonic  before adding a little bit of water onto the plate and some soil. I  watched, waiting for something to happen. As a few seconds passed  without much change, I asked, "Is something the matter?"

Yin shook her  head. "Just watch; it's starting," she said. I saw the plants begin to  move first, withering as if turning sick. But then the demonic herb  began to change the color of the earth that it sat on, slowly seeping  into the regular plant. Its leaves began to gain bright red spots,  purple veins running up its body, and within moments, the plant had  turned into a demonic-looking herb as well.

“Does that always happen?” I asked.

"Not always.  Some plants die, but it happens often enough that out of every 10,  roughly 4 change, becoming something entirely new. Suitable to an  environment filled with miasma," Yin replied.

"We've been  looking at the demonic beasts as well. Besides the wolves, there have  been other creatures coming up from further within the cave, seeking the  Gu present. It has taken us some time to get used to their presence,  but Ash keeps them in check, and we eventually managed to do some tests.  These creatures all have gained the ability to channel miasma in  contained manners, so that it does not corrupt their bodies and does not  kill them, as we see with most creatures. There is an entirely new kind  of life that seems to thrive and exist in these environments. Learning  to grow in an atmosphere filled with death," Yin said, showing me a  bundle of mushrooms growing within the cave.

"It's  fascinating, but it's also been teaching us a little about how these  creatures control miasma within them. The biggest factor seems to be the  altered pathways. Unlike normal Qi pathways, they are reinforced, a  form of dark mark that prevents the flow from escaping into other parts  of the body. And Ash's breed has also learned how to contain miasma  within their bodies, which proves vital in these demonic beasts'  abilities to control it. To totally understand how it works, I have  brought the topic up with Qiao Ying before, but we do know that  something within the Gu itself changes them. These beasts had to adapt  to miasma-filled environments, and Qiao Ying suggested that perhaps  they'd simply developed new techniques to be able to survive with miasma  within their bodies, eventually turning them into demonic beasts. The  difference seems to be in whether the creatures have been corrupted by  the miasma or not. The beasts use it in a controlled manner. All the  demons from the books I have learned are creatures of death and Gu, that  are not truly living, more just corpses that can walk and cause decay,"  Yin said, her expression darkening.

I frowned, remembering the deathless. But another word came to my mind as well. “undead,” I said, looking at her.

"Undead… That  would be an apt way to describe creatures that are not alive yet not  dead, since they’re a defiance of nature itself,” she nodded, as if  pleased at the existence of the word. “I certainly felt curious and  wanted to try something of my own, but I'm afraid I don't quite have the  courage to experiment on a demon,” Yin added.

I laughed. The  idea itself was a little funny, especially coming from someone as  esteemed as Yin, with her gentle nature. Yet more than anyone else, she  seemed to have taken to what I taught. Having spent hours and hours  reading through my notes. Perhaps it made her feel more connected to her  grandfather. Perhaps it was simply her upbringing that she was better  able to understand all these concepts.

"But there's  one more thing…" Yin said, glancing sideways. "It seems that, if these  creatures go a long time without having sufficient miasma or Gu in the  environment, they start to lose the ability to contain it at all, and  eventually revert to regular beasts. Their body still rejects Qi, but  neither are they able to conduct Gu anymore."

"So, they revert to a modified state? Is that what you're saying?" I asked.

"As far as I  know, but it seems like it. We found one creature who was in that state,  and rather than being able to reabsorb Gu and become normal again, it  instead suffered from exposure to miasma as it could no longer control  it and eventually perished," Yin said, a sad expression on her face. "We  tried giving it Qi, but that only seemed to hurt the creature more."

"That's a  pity," I said, thinking over her words. Perhaps that was part of the  reason why the demons did not attack unless it was winter. It could be  one of the reasons, and certainly a big part of why the empire's war  existed. Currently, demons surely outnumbered cultivators by one to ten.

"We are also  trying to work on the aforementioned weapon and have tried to merge all  kinds of different Qi and Gu using herbs and different methods. We did  gain some insight into how we could make the reaction more violent and  get more energy for the weapon that you have described, but any attempts  at the formation of Chi have failed, as the Qi and Gu simply  annihilated each other and fizzled out of existence. It seems to be some  other missing component that is required for the formation of Chi, or  perhaps it can only occur within a living spirit, though I have doubts  about that idea because Chi exists here in this world. And yet, it  refused to form when I brought Qi and Gu together and tried to make  more," she said, her voice a mix of frustration and curiosity.

That makes me  feel that there's a part of the flow that I'm missing. I understood the  duality of early Chi. It was the very first law I discovered of  cultivation itself. Yet that law simply broke Chi into Qi and Gu, it did  not create it but something else had instead. Back when my spirit had  merged with Lu Jie's, when our souls had become one again, something  else had also been at play.

I put my hand  on her shoulder, as the feeling of pride filled my heart. Perhaps this  was what the old man felt while teaching me. Although I'd never been a  very fervent disciple, unlike Yin.

I gave Yin a smile, "Great work so far.”

Yin gave me a  bow, and I nodded, before turning my attention to Ash. An idea began to  form in my mind. There was something I wanted to test out.