NOVEL NEXT Xi Fu Interlude: Unfortunately, my Spear Comprehension was too high!
Transmigrated back into the body of her child self, can the mighty Celestial Bing Meilu survive in a Xianxia world all the while staving off the advances of arrogant young masters and wannabe protagonists alike?
Why is life so hard for the Icy Beauty?
Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Xi Fu Interlude: Unfortunately, my Spear Comprehension was too high!
---
Smiling, Xi Fu hopped onto his freshly regrown feet, testing them out. A brilliant smile lit up his face. It had been three days since Bing Meilu's visit, and he was finally able to walk once more, thanks to the hard efforts of the Medicine Hall. He had never thought about how amazing it was to be healthy and unmaimed until he'd been bedridden from his injuries.
'Feel's good to be back!'
"I sincerely thank Senior," he bowed towards the white-haired old doctor. "This disciple will never forget your aid."
"Yeah, hea," the old man waved dismissively. "If you really want to pay me back, you could convince that boss of yours to join my medical hall. She clearly has the talent to be a Physician."
Bing Meilu as a... doctor? Xi Fu shuddered in horror as a mental image of the girl in a doctor's robe, holding a bloody scalpel and a jagged bone saw. It was like suggesting crossbreeding a ferocious bull and a poisonous snake. Both were already scary enough, no need to combine them!
"I'm not certain that's a wise idea," the spear cultivator muttered.
He stepped out of the hospital room he had been stuck in for days, inhaling fresh air for the first time since he'd lost his feet. God, did it smell better already. It was almost as if everything was back to normal like he hadn't awakened a crazy form of spear cultivation and blown off his own feet-
No, there were bad thoughts. He had just healed up. It was not time to think about serious things, it was time to relax and enjoy himself.
He made his way out of the hall, a smile picking up his face as he caught sight of his dear Fan'er waiting for him with a basket of goodies, idly twirling her perfect raven locks. Though his love bloomed for all women (so long as they were attractive), Fan'er was the closest of any to a 'girlfriend' he had, definitely his main girl.
He had been bedridden for so long, and before that stuck in the ice, and before that stuck in Bing Meilu's back-breaking training sessions. Yes, a night with a lover was what Xi Fu needed to relax from the stresses of the last month.
He raised his hand to wave for her when a male voice called out to him from behind.
"Xi Fu. Come to the faction hall, The Boss needs to speak with you."
Xi Fu could almost cry.
---
"You've managed to impress me."
Those were the first words to leave the Faction Leaders' lips, and already Xi Fu was terrified.
Impressed her how? What did she mean? Drops of sweat gathered on his brow as he kneeled in silence.
"When I gave you that test that I plagiarized- I mean, that was inspired by the Heavenly Spear Gate, I only expected some minor growth. I did not expect you'd awaken something impressive, like that Heaven Defying Spear Intent."
There was something special about that word. It was like the air itself shuddered when she spoke it.
"Heaven... defying spear intent? Is that what that was?" Xi Fu mumbled.
"Yes, indeed. A rare spear intent, a manifestation of your furious, utterly singular goal to shatter my ice, laws of cultivation be damned. Awakening Spear Intent in Qi Condensation is already rare in the Bird Talong Continent- "
'Rare? I've literally never heard of a single case of this happening before now!'
"But something as singular as Heaven Defying Spear Intent... You aren't just a random mortal, you actually have some amount of talent."
'Gee, thanks. I almost thought you were looking down on me,' Xi Fu thought sarcastically.
He then sighed. So, he awakened some fancy cultivation powers. It wasn't unheard of. So long as it didn't lead to another several weeks of harsh training, he wouldn't even mind the whole feet blown-off thing.
"I'd like to see you use it," Bing Meilu motioned with her hands.
Xi Fu froze, eyes widening.
"W-what? In here? N-no way? What if-"
"What if what? You hurt yourself. Don't worry. You won't be aiming at a body part this time- and I am here. So long as I am around you will not be capable of harming yourself without my permission."
'Wow, how reassuring! Good to know I'll only be able to blow off another limb if you let me.'
Xi Fu shakily raised his hand, closing his eyes. He tentatively reached for his Spear Qi, white sparks crackling at his fingertip as his Qi uselessly dispersed into the air.
Bing Meilu frowned.
"You're scared."
Xi Fu paused for a moment, looking down. He wasn't scared... he just didn't want to blow a limb off or something. He was far too much of a suave genius to be scared by something as paltry as this, right?
"You can't muster a will to pierce heaven when terrified," Bing Meilu sighed.
"Boss- It's just- I can't control it at all," Xi Fu admitted, feeling a bit ashamed. "I'm sorry- just when I think of the feeling of that energy, the chaotic, unrelenting power, the way it shredded through rock and my-my feet, and how I couldn't control it, how I kept releasing it even as it was ripping through my own f-flesh, all I can feel is terror and uncertainty and I can't manifest my Spear Intent."
He blinked as he realized he'd admitted more than he had intended, and he felt his cheeks flush. Mercifully, Bing Meilu did not launch into a rant about how he was a 'useless, trifling mortal' or something. Instead, she waved her hands, snow and ice forming in the air, taking the shape of a man with a sword.
"There once was a man by the name of the Swordfather. Some legends say he was the very first cultivator to step onto the Dao of the Sword. he was renowned for his skill with the blade. One day he faced a very powerful enemy, a dragon whose scale his sword could not cut. And so he meditated on his blade until he reached enlightenment. He created a technique capable of cutting through anything, and returned to face the dragon."
The figures of ice and snow danced, playing out the story, until the Swordfather once more stood before the dragon.
"And then, he killed it. But his technique was even stronger than he expected... It cut the dragon in half but continued forward and forward, until hitting a friend of his, killing them instantly. After that, the Swordfather sealed the technique and swore to never use it again. And for a long time, he kept his promise, eons even, as he rose up and up, and eventually became an immortal. Even then, any time he thought about the technique, he shuddered in fear."
"Many times he was tempted to use it again, again various tough enemies, but each time he refused, even if it meant he would lose. One day though, another great dragon attacked his sect. This time, if he did not use the technique, not only would he lose, his sect may be destroyed as well. And so he unsealed his ancient technique."
Bing Meilu paused for a long moment.
"What happened next?" Xi Fu prompted.
"He used it... and it did nothing."
Xi Fu blinked in confusion, so the girl elaborated.
"At this point, the Swordfather is countless realms above where he originally was. That so-called terrifying power... is at the end of the day, just a paltry mortal-realm technique, useless against any immortal, let alone a dragon."
"So, did he lose?" Xi Fu asked.
"No, he did not. When he saw that the sword art that had terrified him for so long was no threat to him, he realized he had been scared of nothing but a ghost for a long time. And with that, there was not a single thing he feared anymore. His realization allowed him to ascend to a higher realm and he squarely defeated the dragon. Many say that was the first time a human being reached the Deathless Realm."
"The Deathless Realm...?"
"Ah, nothing important. But do you get the story?"
"I-I'm not sure."
"Just think about this. You are talented, and I am guiding you. You are guaranteed to reach a much higher level of cultivation. One day you're going to look back at how you were terrified of an attack that even a Core Formation could ignore and laugh."
Bing Meilu stepped up to him from behind, placing her tiny hands on his palm. He gasped as her icy yin Qi flooded through him. As was the nature of Yin, he felt an utter calm cover him.
"Attack forward," she ordered.
This time Xi Fu did not hesitate. His palm raised, and he felt a crystal clear moment of absolute focus. He would not embarrass himself this time, by being unable to unleash his Spear!
A chaotic piercing force ripped forward from his palm, nearly every drop of Qi in his body forcing it through the air, even as it scraped and drilled away at the unnamable barrier, the painting whose ink covered every inch of the world.
It flew straight for only a meter, chaotically veering off course, toward Bing Meilu's throne. He watched in shock as a brilliant blue-white light filled the entire room, the temperature dropping rapidly. It felt as if an entire ocean of Qi flooded from her, filling the entire room with choking liquid Qi that did not even allow him to breathe.
His Spear intent froze mid-air, slowly rumbling and shrinking as blue-white Qi slammed into it. A moment later, it blinked from existence, and her Qi retracted.
'No one in Qi Condensation should have that much Qi!'
It reminded him very heavily of the one time he had felt the Captain of the medicine Hall gets angry at one of his subordinates- Reminded him more of the aura of someone in Core Formation than one of his peers.
"See? As I said, not even Heaven Defying Spear Intent could harm you without my permission," the girl said, turning up her nose imperiously.
'She almost looks like Xi Meng does when she sows a new dress...'
For a moment he could only feel she looked like a little girl bragging to her big brother, despite her incredible power and terrifying personality. Xi Fu suddenly began to laugh, as he collapsed to his feet, hit by the effects of Qi exhaustion. It felt like a great weight had been taken off his shoulders.
----
"Ahh, it's a pity it takes so much out of him," Bing Meilu complained, staring at the unconscious form of Xi Fu. "I had planned to have him practice it until he could send it straight for ten meters instead of one but looks like that won't be possible. There is no way he can sustainably train this until he actually does reach Foundation Establishment."
That didn't mean he couldn't strengthen his Spear Cultivation though. Mastering many different forms of Spear Qi and generally improving his skills with the weapon would help him subtly improve his control of his Spear Intent. She'd have to transcribe a few manuals for him.
---
The next morning Xi Fu groggily awoke, still laying on the floor of Bing Meilu's throneroom. He blinked, looking over to where she sat in meditation upon Jiang Hu's old throne. She was comically undersized for it, and a genuine smile could not help but grace his lips... only to face as he saw what was on the ground. Ten books lay strew out on the ground in front of her, each detailing a type of Spear Qi. An unsettling feeling began to weigh on him. Why did she have those?
"Good morning, Xi Fu, as you may have noticed, I've prepared some training materials for you."
He shuddered at the sentence.
"Um Boss, I have a meet-"
"You likely won't be able to control your Spear Intent until the Foundation Establishment Realm. Strengthening it any further right now would be counterproductive, only making it harder to control. So I recommend you don't practice with it or seek enlightenment on the topic until then." Bing Meilu continued, seemingly ignoring his plea. "That doesn't mean you can't strengthen your Spear Cultivation, however. So in the meantime, I want you to focus on integrating several forms of Spear Qi into your combat style-"
"Um, Boss... I was actually thinking I could take a break you know, try and destress-"
She blinked as if in realization. A wave of relief hit him. Thank god, she understood. He couldn't just do nothing but train-
"Oh, that's actually a good point. Despite all your talent in Spear Cultivation, you are a genius. It would be too stifling to force you into just one field. Instead, let's get you started on some Body Tempering. No point in having a physical body unable to handle the strength of your own attacks. I believe Jiang Hu found a waterfall that will be great for tempering your flesh and muscles. Hey! Jiang Hu, take Xi Fu to the waterfall. Yeah, the one by the registration hall!"
When Xi Fu did not immediately start walking, Jiang Hu straight up grabbed him, and he could only silently gasp as he was dragged away by the hulking form of his former faction leader.
'No! I don't want to go train! I wanna go have drinks with my Fen'er!'
---
Xi Fu sat beneath the waterfall, shivering as his back was battered numb by the crashing rapids. Beside him, Jiang Hu also sat, skin steaming as his boiling hot drake scales were doused in freezing water.
He watched the river before them, noticing how the water just below the waterfall was chaotic and turbulent, smashing into itself, while the slower water downstream smoothly ran between rocks. It almost reminded him of the way his Spear Intent chaotically raged and rippled with turbulence as it moved forward.
'If it could move more like that smooth water, gently moving between obstacles rather than subtly smashing into them, it would cost less Qi and probably move forward more stably-'
Xi Fu blinked in shock as he realized he had subconsciously begun to improve his Spear Intent. Bing Meilu had already told him doing so would only make it harder for him to control, but he hadn't been able to help himself.
After such a massive jump in progress, and so long effectively stagnant, his mind could not help but make use of his new knowledge, improving new uses for his Spear Qi, ways to integrate it into other techniques and more. He tried to clamp down on the thoughts.
"Think of something distinctly un-spearlike! Like, Fan'er delicate curves, the way they subtly bend- like the subtle bend of a spear haft. Perhaps introducing that level of subtle flex could allow my Spear Intent to maintain its structure rather than shatter into brittle turbulence-"
Xi Fu cursed, slapping himself.
"What are you doing?" Jiang Hu asked, yawning.
"Trying not to think of Spears!" Xi Fu raged.
Jiang Hu's brow burrowed. They were both nearly nude in the waterfall. The scale-covered cultivator suddenly yelped, covering his loincloth with his hands and glaring suspiciously at Xi Fu.
"Hey! You never told me you thought of men like that!" Jiang Hu accused. "You rascal, have you been perving on me this whole time?"
"Huh-What? No! I meant spears! Like the weapon-"
"I know. I was joking," Jiang Hu barked with laughter, chuckling as Xi Fu's face turned red.
'Unseriousness and seriousness- One can state something without its full implications being true. Perhaps an 'unserious' form of my spear intent can exist. Form without substance, an implication without a follow through. Like a hollow shell with no weight. Allowing me to wield it without the full chaotic power-'
Xi Fu gasped and shuddered, screaming his throat raw. With him, he could feel his Spear Cultivation rise and bubble from the moment of Enlightenment. His Cultivation Base was forcefully dragged upwards with it, exploding past the barrier into the tenth realm, and then, to his horror, even further- the Foundation Establishment.
He tried to suppress it, but it was no use. There was no bottleneck or even hesitation. Truthfully, he deserved to have reached the Foundation Establishment realm a long time ago, this was merely the result of the buildup, all the comprehension and advancements in his Spear Cultivation he had not taken advantage of to increase his Qi Cultivation base.
As black thunderclouds of Heavenly Tribulation gathered above, Xi Fu looked down at his half-nude, completely unarmoured body, to the gallons of water soaking his body, to the lack of spear by his side. Thunder crackled threateningly above.
'If only my Spear Comprehension wasn't so damn high!'