Volume 2, Chapter 46 – Breakthrough

Late at night, after replying to Bai Shengju’s call, Bai Xiang was dropped off at the foot of the dojo by Huang Qian’s car.

Huang Qian hadn’t said a word the whole way. Now, at last unable to hold it in, he asked, “You joined the Demon Suppression Office?”

“Yes.” Bai Xiang nodded.

Saying the Demon Suppression Office’s ideals suited her would’ve been a lie.

She didn’t know enough about Great Yu yet; she didn’t have the face to claim she wanted to “save the people from fire and water and prop up a collapsing sky.”

Her willingness to join the Demon Suppression Office was purely because the Emperor’s word didn’t count for everything there. Even deposing or appointing someone required several—sometimes more than a dozen—rounds of debate in court before a verdict.

And the Demon Suppression Office had an inherent resistance to imperial authority. That was what made her feel it was a place she could accept.

“Ah!” Huang Qian sighed.

He’d originally hoped that with someone as talented as Bai Xiang, he could eventually find a chance to recommend her to the Northern Frontier. Even if she never became a marquis or prime minister, getting her a general’s post or some official position shouldn’t have been a problem.

Even if she’d joined the Inspectorate or similar institutions first, as long as she was willing to switch tracks, all it would take was a single word from the right person. It wouldn’t be troublesome at all.

But her joining the Demon Suppression Office was a different story.

He at least had the Dingbei Huang Clan as a connection, so he knew the current Imperial House was “not very broad-minded and rather holds grudges.” Those who chose to make their career in the Demon Suppression Offices across the land rarely saw real promotion or important appointments afterward.

“But maybe that’s fine too.” He changed his mind as he remembered that Bai Xiang was someone with a fanatic love for combat. He nodded to her. “Maybe this really is the path most suited to your growth.”

“From the Commandant’s tone, joining the Demon Suppression Office means promotion is a dead end?” Bai Xiang was a bit curious about his attitude.

“Can’t quite put it that bluntly.” Huang Qian thought for a bit, then phrased it as gently as he could. “Take Qizhou… who’s in charge of the Demon Suppression Office in Qizhou?”

Bai Xiang answered immediately. “Lord Fang, of course.”

“And what’s Lord Fang’s office?”

“State Governor of Qizhou.”

“Lord Fang is a civil official.” Huang Qian bit down on those last two words. “Before he became State Governor, he was purely a civil official. All the Demon Suppression Offices across the provinces are led by civil officials. All of them are directly appointed from Yujing and parachuted in.”

Bai Xiang understood.

In other words: no matter how many merits you earned in the local Demon Suppression Office, it was impossible for you to be promoted to head that same office.

The Demon Suppression Office’s head could only be the State Governor serving concurrently, and State Governors could only be civil officials directly appointed from Yujing.

This was probably also the result of a power struggle between the Imperial House and the ministers— the Imperial House agreed to preserve the Demon Suppression Office’s independent nature, but the ministers had to compromise too, yielding some leadership posts to imperial appointment.

And it wasn’t just in name, because those who were appointed would, by nature, be more loyal to imperial power than to local civil administration.

Fang Xiaochun didn’t fall into that “lapdog” category.

Filial piety was the highest political correctness in Great Yu. He was famous for his filial conduct and had naturally higher moral expectations of himself. Even if he was close to the imperial power, he wouldn’t help the Emperor suppress the Demon Suppression Office; instead, he’d used his network to help expand it. Tao Shuohua coming to serve under him was proof enough.

A strong Demon Suppression Office could protect the region from demon disasters. That was a good deed. When the time came, the ministers close to Fang Xiaochun would flatter him in court, saying it was all thanks to the Imperial House’s wise appointments, that the people of Qizhou were full of gratitude to the throne. Even if the Emperor had to pinch his nose, he could only accept it.

But Fang Xiaochun was still a civil official.

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That was the Imperial House’s red line.

It meant that joining the Demon Suppression Office, you could only ever be the blade.

You would never be the hand holding the blade.

“You might think it’s all the same, that as long as your cultivation rises, you can change something.”

“I won’t say too much on that.” Huang Qian hinted. “Once you’re back, think about why the Nine Great Sword Daos all obediently listen to Yujing.”

Then he drove off.

Bai Xiang stood there for a moment, then started up the stairs with the guitar case on her back.

It was almost midnight. Most of the junior brothers and sisters were asleep. Bai Xiang went to find Bai Shengju first to report how the commission had gone, keeping it as light as possible and skimming over the dangerous parts.

Worried about her safety, Bai Shengju had said he’d sleep early, but he hadn’t been able to. Only after seeing her safe and sound did he relax— then he stared blankly at what she was wearing.

“This.” Bai Xiang lowered her head to glance at her “trendy outfit” and calmly explained, “It was… a mall event giveaway.”

Bai Shengju clearly didn’t believe that, but he didn’t want to press the issue.

He was a textbook old-fashioned type, strict about juniors’ dress and manners. If Bai Zhuqing or Bai Leying had dressed like this, they’d never escape a beating. But since it was Bai Xiang, he decided she looked quite lively dressed that way.

After placating the old man, Bai Xiang returned to her own courtyard. Now that she was relaxing, she also felt a bit worn out.

From morning till noon, she’d been teaching her little sister swordsmanship.

Afternoon and evening had all been combat and killing.

She’d meant to shower and then sleep, but as soon as she opened the door, she saw Bai Zhuqing slumped over the table, head tilted to the side.

“Xiang’er-jie… Auntie?”

Bai Zhuqing jumped up at the sound, and when she saw Bai Xiang, her eyes lit up.

That— that T-shirt pulling tight across her chest!

Those denim hot pants showing black-stockinged legs!

So stylish? Auntie’s changing her whole look?

“Work reasons.”

Bai Xiang answered in a flat tone.

She really didn’t like clothes like this.

If the coat didn’t hang low enough to cover most of her thighs, she never would’ve worn the shorts.

“Don’t— I mean, it looks great too!”

Bai Zhuqing hurried over to take the guitar case from her, opened it, and handed Feixiang Heaven back to Bai Xiang.

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When she turned around, she saw Bai Xiang already sitting on the bed, half reclining against the wooden frame, uncharacteristically showing a bit of weariness and fatigue.

Bai Zhuqing’s eyes lit up again. She bent down and took hold of Bai Xiang’s ankles, helping her take off her shoes.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Bai Xiang didn’t pull away, just opened her eyes calmly to look at her sister.

“I…” Bai Zhuqing swallowed, nervous. “Well… Auntie just taught me today, right~”

“I was thinking I could use the Vibration Art to… massage the acupoints on Auntie’s soles…”

Bai Xiang didn’t speak, just kept looking at her.

Bai Zhuqing’s eyelids twitched as she forced herself to meet that gaze.

If I keep dodging her, doesn’t that make it look like I’m the one feeling guilty…?

That flutter in my chest from last time— will it happen again if we repeat it…?

“Let’s try it.”

With that in mind, Bai Xiang closed her eyes and agreed to her little sister’s request to massage her.

“Remember, don’t do anything out of line.”

Bai Zhuqing froze, then felt a rush of joy.

She agreed.

She actually agreed!

It was like receiving an imperial edict. She carefully crouched down and first took off the extra cotton socks wrapped around Bai Xiang’s feet.

Wearing stockings with sneakers was a bad combination— not just because of the smell, but because the lack of friction between stockings and insole made it hard to use force, so Bai Xiang had put on cotton socks over them.

The cotton helped absorb sweat, so even after a night of fighting, Bai Xiang’s feet didn’t smell much.

Bai Zhuqing’s face flushed red as she held the upper part of Bai Xiang’s two black-stockinged feet. The moment she touched them, all she felt was warm, smooth softness. She couldn’t help pressing a little harder, kneading and pressing the soles and insteps.

“Hm?”

Bai Xiang frowned and looked over.

“Oh! I’m sorry!” Bai Zhuqing panicked and apologized, but in her head she was replaying how Bai Xiang had massaged her soles before. She stood up still holding that pair of black-stockinged feet.

Hm!?

This time Bai Xiang’s eyes truly widened.

When Bai Zhuqing stood, she lifted both her feet into the air. Bai Xiang slid further down onto the bed, both legs spreading out a bit to either side.

“Uhh…”

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Seeing the displeasure in her eyes, Bai Zhuqing knew she’d done something wrong again. She stammered, “But if I’m going to see Auntie’s soles clearly, this is the only position… only this position lets me…”

“You mean angle.” Bai Xiang corrected her wording, then pulled her legs back from her hands, sat up to take off the black coat, flipped over to lie on her side, bent her legs with ankles together, and extended both feet slightly over the edge of the bed.

“Massage them like this.”

Bai Zhuqing had thought she’d ruined everything and lost her chance. She hadn’t expected Bai Xiang to still give her one.

She didn’t dare overstep again. Perched at the side of the bed, she gathered her sister’s feet into her arms, one in each hand, and began pressing along the remembered acupoints with her thumbs, trying to transmit vibration through as she worked.

It really does feel a bit strange…!

When the vibrational force first entered, Bai Xiang almost cried out.

It was a sharp, tingling sensation, like an electric current, running from her soles straight up into her mind and chest, forcibly plucking at her heartstrings.

Her brows tightened slightly, eyes shut. She did her best to maintain a calm expression, silently reciting sutras in her mind.

Thankfully, Bai Zhuqing’s vibration couldn’t really shake her toughened heart meridians. Once she adjusted to the initial shock, the later pulses truly felt like a massage.

Actually pretty comfortable.

As the odd flutter settled down, Bai Xiang finally relaxed.

So that feeling really was just an illusion— my feet are just sensitive. Anyone massaging them would probably make me react like that.

To be fair, Bai Zhuqing’s technique was pretty competent. She had the sole acupoints down pat, and soon had Bai Xiang so relaxed her thoughts drifted off.

The first thing to catch her eye was Feixiang Heaven.

Her personally crafted life-bound sword was lying beside her on the bed.

She reached out and gripped the hilt, immediately feeling a surge of pure blood-qi flowing back in, drilling from her palm into her body.

Stimulation from palm and sole at the same time was a bit intense. Bai Xiang’s breath quickened slightly, and her pale cheeks took on a faint red.

So, killing really does come with returns.

And not just from killing human cultivators— even when she’d killed those employees with guns, there had been a trace of it.

It was just too weak— nearly impossible to notice.

The tiger demon man, the sleazy man, the stocky man, the tall man.

Today she’d cut down four Condensing the Aspect enemies, and with the ghost-shadow Demon Pool killed on commission, that made five pure blood-qi feedbacks, greatly pushing her cultivation forward.

Add in the last month or so of slaughtering demons around the outskirts of the jungle, and her heart-flow qi sea was now more than twice the size it had been when she first reached Transforming Qi. Today had brought another small qualitative shift on top of that, granting her a new ability: Turn Qi into Form .

Unlike that fake cicada illusion she’d cobbled together to trick people, this ability let her condense formless qi-sha into form, even shaping it into solid, tough structures within a small range.

Like when she’d caught the tall man’s sword barehanded— she’d relied on the Turn Qi into Form she’d just comprehended. She could then immediately blast it back out as a “qi wave,” with control even higher than before.

Sword-qi wrapped around the blade was already extremely sharp. Add the Vibration Art to it, and as long as she caught a Purple Qi–level Condensing the Aspect off guard, it really was a one-sword matter.

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Reviewing the day’s battles in her mind, Bai Xiang gave herself a rough evaluation.

Early Condensing the Aspect, she could kill in an instant.

Purple Qi Condensing the Aspect— at close range, also kill in an instant. If they managed to keep their distance, it got trickier, like with that tiger demon man, who kept avoiding a direct fight before he lifted his seals and purified the pollution; they had dragged it out a bit longer.

As for Purple Blood Condensing the Aspect, she wasn’t sure yet. She guessed that even with their purer demonic power, it probably hadn’t reached a “major qualitative change” either. It might not withstand the combined cutting of qi-sha and vibration.

So I’m basically at peak Condensing the Aspect?

Late stage— just a step away from Purple Core?

She hadn’t run into that kind of enemy yet, so she didn’t dare say for certain.

After some thought, Bai Xiang placed herself somewhere slightly above Purple Blood level.

The Sword Dao’s cultivation system still looked very strict and precise.

Each step had clear requirements: how to cultivate, what the markers were— all rigidly defined.

It was “illusory” only because it was built on heart-aspect, which was essentially the same as a Dao heart.

At first, she’d found that hard to grasp, but thinking about it more, it was actually a lot like the “heart demons” in xianxia novels.

So there was no need to worry about that. Bai Xiang still planned to use the Sword Dao system as a reference to create her own path.

Transforming Qi would be a major realm, corresponding to Sword Dao’s Condensing the Aspect.

Then “Condensing Form” could be a minor realm, corresponding to the minor stages within Condensing the Aspect, Purple Qi and Purple Blood.

With her path now defined, Bai Xiang felt very satisfied— and completely failed to notice how her little sister’s gaze on her feet was growing more and more unfocused.

Sister Xiang’s feet are really beautiful…

The more Bai Zhuqing held and examined those black-stockinged feet, the more perfect their shape seemed to her.

The curved arch under the stockings formed a smooth line, and beneath the taut black weave were ten bead-like toes, curling and stretching from time to time under her pressure…

The sight was so striking that Bai Zhuqing slowly forgot Bai Xiang’s warning. Without realizing it, she shifted from pressing to just rubbing, and even scraped her fingernail lightly across the soft center of the sole.

“Mm…!”

Bai Xiang had been immersed in the sense of her advancing cultivation. Caught off guard by that little move, her body trembled, and she couldn’t hold back a soft sound.

Oh no.

Hearing that, Bai Zhuqing’s mind went blank for a second, then her heart plummeted.

Bit by bit, she turned her head— and sure enough, she met Bai Xiang’s narrowed, strangely golden, demon-like eyes.