Chapter 8: 8 Stalks: Growth, prosperity in wealth, joy and life.

The twenty-six Hallmasters of Qing Jing were sat in a lecture hall around long-cooled tea in stunned silence, blinking in the aftermath of... that.

Hallmaster Yun Lan closed his mouth and opened it again. He repeated this action several times before words emerged. "What-? The audacity!"

Looking thoroughly bewildered, Hallmaster Ming Hua nodded, "...Though that is hardly new. Still, this..." She shook her head slowly, "Will it not be detrimental to the disciples though? To the Peak reputation? We are scholars. It cannot be beneficial to divert from our focus so extremely."

Head Hallmaster Zhang Yawen pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed with soul deep bereavement. "The focus is still with the scholarly arts. The issue is that our Peak Lord has taken the scholarly arts and weaponized them in a manner similar to the wartime training against the Heavenly Demons. Yet more."

"What heralded this change? Has the Peak Lord received news through his 'correspondents'?"

"It cannot simply be due to their poor performance on their latest mission. Peak Lord Shen rarely leaves the Sect, never without reason, but now he proposes to personally lead repeated excursions? With the juniors, with intention to increase the duration of these? Are we certain our Lord is not under an influence?"

"Perhaps the Qi Deviation? I heard on the wind it was much worse than his usual. Mu Qingfang stayed the whole night and called for the Sect Leader almost upon arrival. And we all know how Sect Leader gets about the Peak Lord."

" Hush, before your tongue leads you to trouble!"

"Words of truth will not estrange me from the righteous path Chu Ling. This Yin Yanfen knows of a sum of spirit stones shijie herself placed on the subject of their relation-"

"We are scholars" Yun repeated. "The worst combat ours are expected to face are ghosts, spirits and minor demons on investigations! Once identified, standing orders are to request aid from Bai Zhan for monsters and strong demon or Fa Bao for artefacts and curses!"

"And even during the War, with all the righteous Sects united we did not teach outer Sect disciples our techniques! Especially juniors! That Lan girl is surely not going to keep the Cang Qiong techniques to herself when asked to share her progression in musical cultivation."

Hallmaster Xu Liang spoke from one side, voice quiet yet compelling, lilting in a gentle tune. "As the single flower skims the wind and flies a thousand li from home, the Autumn Lord of reddened leaves shall share these skills alone." Xu Liang was Hallmaster to the senior musical cultivators and musicians, renowned for cultivating in alternatively silence and song.

Hallmaster Shu covered a chuckle behind his sleeve. "Yes, quite right, quite right. Lord Shen Qingqiu must teach the little sprouts himself. Let us see how well they progress under his training alterations. For he will receive no aid from me ."

A murmur of agreement arose in the air and the Hallmaster of Qing Jing began departing back to their duties, leisure activities or other Peaks to gossip, depending on schedules this spontaneous midday meeting had disrupted.

They left, some blank-faced, some frowning with irritation or confusion, some more worried than others.

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Shen Qingqiu entered his Bamboo House to find his Ning Yingying, Ming Fan, Luo Binghe and his head senior disciples Liu Xinxi and Wu Shuang all huddled in different corners surrounded by Peak paperwork, drudging through it with deadened eyes. From the way he was shifting scrolls and bound paper stacks into a messenger bag with one hand while pouring Ming Fan tea in the other, Zhang Hao had apparently also been indentured as a retriever of snacks, maker of tea and designated errand-runner.

The tall boy noticed him first, subtle surprise quickly hidden in his stoicism but voice carrying a note of relief as he greeted Shen Qingqiu, prompting a chorus of "Shifu!" from the rest and a quieter "Shizun" from the little problem child.

While Ning Yingying chirped about preparing tea, he drew a simple bamboo fan from his sleeve and dismissed his senior disciples with a small nod of gratitude. Shen Qingqiu turned to Ming Fan, Zhang Hao and Lou Binghe and dismissed them similarly back to their classes, halting the youngest when he made to leave with his shixiong. "Luo Binghe, remain."

Ming Fan paused in the doorway in confusion, "Shifu...?"

Stilling the motion of his fan, Shen Qingqiu cast him a sharp look, "Does Ming Fan disobey? Ming Fan is dismissed to his classes. This master has a matter to discuss with his disciple." His eyes narrowed, fan masking the bitter twist to his mouth, "If this pleases Ming Fan, of course."

The boy flushed ashamedly and bowed his head, "This disciple overstepped. Asking Shifu punishment."

He scoffed and flicked his fan dismissively.

And so it begins.

He may have stopped himself from killing Liu Qingge, but he was not so foolish as to believe himself saved.

The Old Palace Master had evidently been preparing for his damnation for a long time. Unsurprising, given his knowledge of matters such as Su Xiyan, the more unscrupulous dealing of the righteous golden Sect and how exactly Old Master Chen achieved the Nascent Soul Stage.

The crimes of his past were always going to come back and burn him, despite the lies he told himself.

Luo Binghe may have made himself the sword to strike the blow, but the Palace Master wielded the blade with simpering calculation, much like his daughter.

Ming Fan no longer followed his every instruction blindly. Did not trust him to. This was...good. it was good, no matter the heaviness that dragged at his eyes and lungs.

At least his new ties to Luo Binghe would spare him that... that end. The Peak would be secure. Functional. With the implementation of his newly devised training schedule, the disciples will be capable by the time he as revealed and the regime long enough established to make any new disciples strong too.

He blinked and registered dark eyes glinting with a wary light.

He was still a boy. Su Xiyan's child from her pet Heavenly Demon Lord. He was naïve. Disgustingly innocent. Stupidly trusting.

He was not the sharp, jaded creature Shen Jiu was at the same age.

He was not the broken, savage beast Shen Qingqiu had made him in adulthood.

Shen Qingqiu had been jealous. Envious of his potential. Hateful of his lack of drive, of his belief that the world is anything but the cold, cruel place it is, where the weak are enslaved and slaughtered and only the strong know safety.

He had been scared. Terrified of being usurped. Of having his hard won, crumbling power ripped away, of losing the only stable safety he'd known. Of being replaced and discarded.

Now, he knew his days were numbered, Immortal body notwithstanding. He needed that power, that brightly burning potential to defend the Sect where he could no longer. Shen Qingqiu needed his Peak strong, Ning Yingying, Ming Fan and Luo Binghe needed to be strong so he could entrust the Sect to them, because Yue Qingyuan may handle the politics with the mortal realm and between Sects but the Tactician's Peak gave Qiong Ding that information and sometimes...they dealt with the issue directly.

Shen Qingqiu seated himself at the low table and started shifting paper baskets and piles off of it, absently noting Luo Binghe slowly draw nearer and kneel down on the opposite side to do the same.

Shen Qingqiu needed a successor.

Ming Fan could handle the position of Peak Lord, whether he was given the title or not he would fulfil the duties required.

Ning Yingying was a superb information gatherer, Zhang Yawen was getting tired of his position, having held it since before Shen Jiu joined the Sect and had stated offhand a desire to join the Hua Shan Sect, so Shen Qingqiu could see her to Hallmaster and onto the path of Head by the time his own ran out.

His senior disciples and Hallmasters were settled on their paths already, though he could still make them stronger in their time in Qing Jing.

Luo Binghe... would be strong. He had a Hunter's blood in his veins and a Predator species' instincts buried under those curls. He would be an invaluable asset and once he gained a reputation, the threat of him would protect the Sect just as Liu Qingge's titles of War God and White Tiger did (do. Still do).

His demon blood was an issue. Not of itself -he was not the only one in the Sect, Shen Qingqiu knew Huang Ye had several minor demons, mixed blood humans and spirits with a newly cultivated human form in their ranks- but his blood was of a Heavenly demon. Once it became known, there would be uproar from the Sects that had lost so many to the War and Huan Hua who would be fanning the flames like they did before, this time directing aggression against Cang Qiong.

The thought that there might be Heavenly Demons still living freely, still alive... it might herald another War, this one on all demons. It would be catastrophic for every side.

So Luo Binghe needed to be able to hide himself, to defend himself. He needed instruction to gain the control that was so desperately necessary to the survival of Cang Qiong. Xia Qingfeng drew attention away from her atypical disciples by putting them on roaming training teams and ensuring subtle disguise talismans were incorporated into their travel clothes.

The small beast would likely find a place on a team outside the Sect, Hunting like the Bai Zhan packs and Liu Qingge, as a cartographer, intelligence agent and qi source with a Jing Shen group, as a curse investigator with Fa Bao or acting as an outer Sect spymaster to complement Yingying as an official roaming investigator for Qing Jing.

In the meantime, Luo Binghe needed training and Shen Qingqiu didn't...didn't trust his fellow Peak Lord to ask for a mentor in the demonic arts, didn't trust that Su Xiyan's half Heavenly Demon son wouldn't be killed just to prevent the fallout of his existence if and when it was revealed. So Shen Qingqiu would have to train him himself, which would ruin his reputation worse than the murder of his martial brother if the righteous Sects knew. Especially with his history with demonic cultivation.

Ning Yingying appeared with the tea, evidently having stalled the process in hopes of eavesdropping on the discussion with her regrettable friend. Good girl.

"Shifu! This disciple has brought tea! Is there anything Yingying can do for Shifu and A-Luo? Yingying can prepare more snacks if Shifu and A-Luo will be a long time!" She said, guilelessly. Yes, she had already learned some tricks from Xuan Shu, she just needed her blade sharpened to a deadly edge and polished for her deadly steel to shine like pretty silver.

He felt the corners of his eyes curve in amusement, "This master does not require such. Yingying is dismissed but Luo Binghe will fetch her for her own discussion with this master once he is finished with his current engagement."

Foiled in her information gathering but assured that the sprout would not be harmed if he was to fetch her, she smiled brightly, saluted and left with a bouncing step and a cheerful farewell.

Once Shen Qingqiu sensed the shining metal of her qi retreat, he gestured for Binghe to pour tea, watching his shoulders grow tense as he obeyed.

He moved his fan gently and retrieved a manual from he qiankun space of an inner sleeve layer, placing in on the table between them. "Formation Steps on the Twofold Path of Five Phases. An incomplete manual given to Luo Binghe and the root of the nature of the topic of this discussion."

Green eyes looked over the fan with an inscrutable intensity. "This master once knew a strong cultivator of Huan Hua who fell into the fallacy of love with a Heavenly Demon known as Tianglang-Jun."

Luo Binghe's eyes widened in recognition. He was diligent in his historical studies apparently, which may cause issue- opponents are never presented in a favourable light by the scriptures of their enemies after all.

"The cultivator was this master's friend and equal in strength at the time, so when she disappeared without sending word of her reasons he was concerned and investigated, learning of the situation as the Sect answered Huan Hua's call to War on all Heavenly Demons, who defended with force headed by Tianglang-Jun of the demon race. When her face appeared a decade later on a boy child with eyes that he knew only from description in letters, with notable tiger teeth and wild hair that failed to hide unusually pointed ears, he took the child onto his Peak." Shen Qingqiu kept contact with dark bright eyes churning with dawning understanding, denial, confusion and conflict, "Luo Binghe is the child of Daoist Su Xiyan and Heavenly Demon Tianglang-Jun and will be killed for it if it is known to the Cultivation world. This master will teach you how to survive."

Luo Binghe shook his head, curls flying every which way chaotically. "No!" he denied, "This Luo Binghe is the son of a washerwoman! This- I- I'm not a demon!"

Shen Qingqiu's eyes cooled and narrowed into slits with mounting rage. His fan creaked as his grip tightened. "Is this master accused of lies? Luo Binghe is the son of Su Xiyan and it is her sacrifice by which Luo Binghe lives free and undetected or even lives at all!"

The volume and the venom startled the small beast into silence. His eyes were glistening with damp and he looked...childishly confused and uncertain. Lost.

Taking a breath and releasing his grip on the fan, noting a crack in the wood, Shen Qingqiu gathered the composure befitting a Peak Lord. "Luo Binghe carries a seal on his demonic bloodline imbued with the strength of Su Xiyan's golden core, detectable to this Shen Qingqiu through familiarity. It conceals his heritage from detection but will not last his lifetime. Once the seal weakens, Luo Binghe will gain access to demonic qi, which he must gain control of and conceal through his own ability else he will be hunted and killed by the human Cultivation Sects, who will then turn their blades on Cang Qiong for association."

Shen Qingqiu stopped and took up his tea, waiting for Luo Binghe to assimilate this information so they could move on.

Eventually, the dark head lifted, revealing an expression of appropriate fear. So the small beast does possess an instinct of self-preservation. Surprising, as he has never displayed this on any mission.

"Sh-Shizun...will help?" his voice was very small.

"Yes. This returns to the cultivation manual."

Luo Binghe looked at the ragged manual obediently, seemingly dazed from the revelations of the meeting.

"It was written by this master during his disciple years."

That shocked him into focus.

"It was an attempt to align his teachings at Cang Qiong with his knowledge gained during his time with the demonic cultivator Wu Yanzi before he was accepted onto Qing Jing as a disciple."

The beast's mouth fell open gracelessly, revealing those sharpened canines for all to behold. Wu Yanzi was another name taught in the histories. He was rather infamous. Shen Qingqiu leaned over the table, spreading his qi in the air to loom with Intent and let some of the Hunter show in his eyes.

"And if you ever reveal the source of this information, I'll kill you like I killed my master Wu Yanzi. Su Xiyan's son or not."

Luo Binghe's eyes were wide and he nodded rapidly, stuttering words of understanding.

Letting a sharp smirk cut his mouth, he leaned back and began describing demonic cultivation, how the Five Phases differed between human higher life force energy, Spiritual qi and demon Earth energy and how each flowed within the spirit veins.

A shichen later and an order to attend a scheduled meeting every tenth day saw Luo Binghe staggering away from the Bamboo House to fetch Ning Yingying, mind churning with information.

Shen Qingqiu tracked his departure and turned to the sea of forms, reports and missives around him. He sighed, massaged his hands against inevitable aches and got to work, trusting the proximity arrays to alert him of Yingying's approach if his own senses didn't do it first.

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He was frowning at an invitation to tea from Li Qingrong when Ning Yingying arrived. She bounced in with smiling greeting and immediately diverted to the kitchen to refresh the tea.

She returned with one of his favoured tea sets in dark green and sweet lotus paste mooncake accompaniment.

Shen Qingqiu felt a burst of warm fondness for her, but it faded as he regarded her and thought on the future of Ning Yinying.

To make her as strong as she needed to be he would have to train her hard. To bring out that edge that makes a fight truly dangerous, that makes a fighter a Hunter, he is going to have to make himself her enemy. It's what made Shen Qingqiu, made Su Xiyan, made Emperor Luo Binghe.

In another life that passed like a dream, a vivid nightmare, he had tried to be kind, to care for her like he had once cared for Qiu Haitang.

He thinks she might have hated him then, for her husband's treatment as a child or for abandoning her and the Peak when he was taken, either. Certainly, if she still held any fond regard then it was not displayed when she visited him that once under the Beast's watchful, empty eyes. Clever girl.

In the end however, she too was hurt by his kindness. So it does not matter if she hates him now for what he will put her through for training, if she doesn't trust him or any man by the time he is taken away. At least she will be strong.

"Ning Yingying."

"Yes Shifu?"

"What does this disciple know of Cauldrons?"

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A long, difficult talk later, one that should have occurred years ago and Ning Yingying had returned to the female disciple housing to think over what Shen Qingqiu had told her.

He breathed in the scent of his orchid incense and he forced his eyes open against the heaviness of sleep.

Shi Hu and Tian Ma orchid sticks. Shi Hu, a cooling treatment to soothe and nourish the yin, rejuvenating the body by increasing fluid flow and centring the mind. Tian Ma, a warming treatment to strengthen the yang, settling the nerves against spams, chronic pains, facilitating downward qi flow and balancing the yin to assuage headaches and dizziness.

While it was true the orchid symbolised femininity, beauty, good taste and (ironically) nobility and humility, Shen Qingqiu enjoyed them for their alternative meaning; living with loneliness yet remaining elegant and graceful at all times, as well as the subtle fragrance of them compared to most incense.

Though Shen Qingqiu was used to functioning on around a shichen of meditation most days to complete his workload and stave off nightmares (and thus reminders of his abundant heart demons), he had achieved a minor breakthrough in his cultivation in the Ling Xi Caves. While invigorating at the time and improving his constitution overall, once the initial rush faded then much like adrenalin, one experienced fatigue and required sleep to recoup the energy of the effort.

Straightening up, Shen Qingqiu closed his eyes and breathed through the tight pain in his back. His disciples had managed the work well in his absence -they always did- but much of the work required the attention of the Peak Lord and could not be delegated.

However, he had completed much of it and could now leave to wash himself of the clinging must of the Ling Xi Caves. Finishing missive to Mu Qingfang informing of Liu Qingge's Qi Deviation he placed it in a basket to be delivered in the morning and rose from his desk for the first time in three schichen.

There were still three baskets of backlog, including a package of some sort from the Healer Peak Lord that Shen Qingqiu had yet to open, but he had made very good progress and his disciples were both competent and diligent, which helped immesurably.

Collecting a simpler set of his typical robes, Shen Qingqiu made his way to his personal pool, fan up to hide the tightness of his mouth even with no one present.

Sinking into the cold, clear waters was a relief as always. Bracing himself on arms crossed against the stone bank, Shen Qingqiu let his head fall forward and just breathed as the aches and sparking pain of the scars on his back dulled with the cold relief.

His lips smiled with wry bitterness. A flawless Immortal Body indeed.

True, most of his scars had faded as his cultivation increased; Cuts and scrapes from living and fighting on the streets, the lashes on his thighs from the Qiu Estate, cuts, bites and marks from plants and monsters on night hunts and disciples jealous of his fast rise within the Peak or hateful from one slight or another perceived when interacting with him.

Some however, had never faded.

The marks tied to heart demons remained untouched by time and Immortality; visible representations of the disfigurement of his heart.

A small line on the side of the tip of the first finger of his right hand where he cut it on the blade slick with Wu Yanzi's blood as Shen Jiu listened to Yue Qingyuan apologise for the first time of a decades long litany.

A jagged star burst on the bottom of his left foot where it was pierced on a broken piece of wood when he turned sharply, unwary of debris, upon hearing Qiu Haitang scream as her home burned.

The mess of blotchy patches and raised lines across the entire espanse of his back, thickest at the shoulders. They may have been struck by Qiu Jianluo, but they represented more than him. They marked him as a slave, as barely human, as undeserving of a name, as an outsider and infiltrator to the ranks of the Immortals.

The tightness of the skin and soreness against rough or heavy materials ensure that he never forgot that he was a liar unworthy of his life, that no matter how high he flew or what soft silks he wore, his roots were entrenched in the filth of the gutters and his core was rotten black.

And now a new addition; a clean slice through the muscle of his arm from Cheng Luan. From Liu Qingge. Though this one, Shen Qingqiu thought, would not last long; it was more tied to the heart demon of having killed his martial brother in that adjacent reality. It marked lingering feelings of...failure, guilt and hatred strong enough to scar him even past the semi-detachment of his own mind from the assimilated memories. It was a knowing without experiencing each instant, yet that was enough to leave a mark.

He soaked silently until the pain of his scars and bones had faded, then cleaned himself, dressed and set off down the mountain.

Though his body was settled, his mind was restless with churning thoughts and memories. He would not be able to sleep restfully tonight unaided.

Thankfully the ladies of the Warm Red Pavilion were always happy to help.


Notes:

So the conversation with LBH has happened! He now Knows. And sort of wishes he didn't. Same with NYY.

• Hua Shan : 5 Flowers Sect, basically a cultivator retirement village, where eternally youthful elders meditate for years on end cultivating until Ascension in the spiritually rich environment needed to grow the vast array of blooms-once-in-1000-years plants, with carefully calibrated alarms for the timing of each one for tending, pollinating, harvesting etc.
• Halmasters: not going to list them here because it would make the note way too long, will put them in notes if/when they come up. However, Zhang Yawen is the Head Hallmaster looking to retire.
•A week is ten days in ancient china apparently: have gone and edited the mention in Chp 2 accordingly.
•Ning Yingying is yin metal
•Tiger teeth: elongated canines, the sort that snag on a lower lip typically in anime characters.
• LQG White Tiger title: In ancient battlefield symbols, the flag of the white tiger commands the army. Symbolizes strength, courage, power and war.