Direct Disciple

When I looked at the sky, the sun had begun to tilt. I entered the mountains to test it before it got dark. Then I drew my black steel dagger and stood in front of a tree about twenty centimeters in diameter. It was known as a sturdy tree, but it was still young.

First, I slashed the young tree with the black steel dagger at full strength. Even with the sharp black steel blade, all I could do was leave a wound about five centimeters deep in the trunk.

“So this is about it. Next is…”

I flowed qi into the black steel dagger according to the principles of Spiritual Cherry-Orchid Sword, then wrapped the black steel blade in that qi. In that state, I slashed the young tree once more. Then the young tree was split cleanly in two.

“Oh, what is this? Its sharpness is beyond what I expected. Is there a difference from simply flowing qi into it?”

Thinking that, I ignored the principles of Spiritual Cherry-Orchid Sword and slashed another young tree with the black steel dagger after merely flowing qi into it. That young tree received a wound about seven centimeters deep.

“Spiritual Cherry-Orchid Sword… The principles contained in this sword art are wonderful.”

There were more than ten principles in this sword art, and using only one of them produced this much power. And I had only used that principle roughly.

Satisfied after confirming the power of Spiritual Cherry-Orchid Sword, I hurried to the bathing area near the place where spring water came out. There were small huts separated for men and women, and people bathed there. It felt good in summer, but it was painful in winter.

After washing away my sweat, I went to the dining hall feeling refreshed. When I finished my meal and returned to my room, I lit the oil lantern. Then I took out the Qi Bullet Gun and gazed at it.

Its shape resembled a revolver, but it was a completely different weapon. And I was once again surprised that I, who had not trained in smithing, had been able to make something this complex. Qi-refining forging was a technique that changed the shape of metal through qi and mental imagery, so smithing training was unrelated.

It was processed by striking heated metal with a hammer, but the vibration from the hammer strike was only the trigger. Incidentally, when I asked Elder Min why white steel, a qi insulator, could be processed with qi-refining forging, she said that heated white steel apparently stopped being an insulator.

There were various things I noticed while making the Qi Bullet Gun this time. One of them was that Heavy Yin Qi and demonic qi were similar. When I used Heavy Yin Qi, it produced power like when the Black Wind Tiger used demonic qi. That meant Heavy Yin Qi and demonic qi likely had something in common.

The next day, I worked on changing the grip of the Qi Bullet Gun. I continued making adjustments until I was satisfied, and when it was complete, it was already past noon.

“It is nice and cool here.”

Shunlin came to the Old Immortal Cave while I was resting and said that. She had apparently decided to become the direct disciple of Senior Sister Falin, a high disciple. She had actually wanted to become Elder Mon’s direct disciple, but after hearing that Elder Mon would not increase her disciples for the time being, she decided to study under Senior Sister Falin, who was skilled in immortal elixir arts.

“I heard from Seiran that you decided to study under Elder Min.”

“I am interested in treasure tool crafting.”

“I suppose you would not build your own forge otherwise, but what are you making?”

I had told Seiran and the others to keep the Qi Bullet Gun a secret, so it seemed they had not told Shunlin either.

“I intend to become Elder Min’s direct disciple, but Elder Min apparently has people make a work and checks their talent with it.”

“I understand. So you were making that work. What kind of thing is it?”

I took out the Qi Bullet Gun and showed it to her.

“This is a weapon.”

“A weapon? It has a strange shape.”

Shunlin looked at the Qi Bullet Gun curiously. She did not seem to have any idea how to use it.

“I am going to Elder Min’s place now to show this to her, and I will test-fire it then. Do you want to watch?”

“That sounds interesting.”

Shunlin ended up going to Elder Min’s place as well. The two of us headed to the Treasure Tool Workshop. Until before, Shunlin had been taller than me, but now I had surpassed her.

In front of the workshop, I saw Elder Min and Elder Shanshi talking.

“Kou, do you need me?”

“I finished the work for the test, so I brought it.”

Elder Shanshi had a look that seemed to say, “What is this about?” Shunlin explained it to Elder Shanshi.

“If it is finished, show me.”

“This is it.”

When I handed the Qi Bullet Gun to Elder Min, Elder Shanshi also looked at it with interest.

“What is this?”

Elder Shanshi asked me.

“It is a weapon.”

“This is a weapon? How do you fight with this?”

“Elder Shanshi, have you ever fought a Black Wind Tiger?”

“Only once.”

“At that time, did it not attack by firing demonic qi fangs?”

Elder Shanshi made a bitter face and nodded.

“Yes, it made that kind of attack. One of my companions was killed by it.”

“This Qi Bullet Gun imitates that.”

“This white part uses white steel, does it not? Why did you use white steel?”

Elder Min asked me.

“Because if everything were made of black steel, when qi mistakenly flowed into the Qi Bullet Gun, it could accidentally fire a qi bullet.”

When Elder Min heard that, she nodded. Then Elder Shanshi cut in.

“I want to see how powerful it is.”

“Understood. I will test it out back.”

Behind the workshop was a small garden. At the back of it was a firewood shed, so I brought several pieces of firewood from there and stood them up in the garden.

“Are you planning to use that firewood as targets?”

I nodded at Elder Shanshi’s words. Then I readied the Qi Bullet Gun, aimed at one piece of firewood, and pulled the trigger while flowing ordinary qi into it. At that instant, a qi bullet fired, struck the firewood, and knocked it away.

“Oh, it hit. But it has no power.”

Elder Shanshi gave his honest impression.

“That used ordinary qi, so next I will use Heavy Yin Qi.”

“Which means its power differs when using ordinary qi and Heavy Yin Qi?”

“That is right.”

I fired the Qi Bullet Gun using Heavy Yin Qi. The moment the qi bullet struck the firewood, that piece of firewood shattered into pieces and scattered around. Elder Min, Elder Shanshi, and Shunlin all had their eyes wide open.

“No way. It is the same as the Black Wind Tiger.”

Elder Shanshi said that as if groaning.

“To think it is a weapon with this much power… Kou, you pass.”

When Shunlin heard that, she smiled happily.

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“That is good. By the way, let me try it too.”

“Huh? Sure.”

I handed the Qi Bullet Gun to Elder Shanshi. The elder imitated my movements, aimed at the firewood, and flowed Heavy Yin Qi into it. The qi bullet did not fire.

“Why?”

“Unless you pull the trigger, the qi bullet will not fire.”

Elder Shanshi nodded and pulled the trigger. The qi bullet fired, hit the ground near the firewood, and made the ground burst and get dug up. It seemed that qi bullets had slightly different effects depending on what they hit.

“This is difficult.”

As he said that and fired several shots, he began hitting where he aimed. As expected of Elder Shanshi.

“Elder Shanshi. That is enough. Please let me try it too.”

When Elder Min said that to him, he reluctantly handed over the Qi Bullet Gun. Elder Min fired the Qi Bullet Gun until she was satisfied, then returned it to me.

I felt a little relieved. Elder Min looked so happy while firing the Qi Bullet Gun that I had become worried whether it would come back to me.