Chapter 157 - Pushing Past Limits

Flames danced and flickered above Kui Chong as Ao Wen worked through the second stage of her treatment. It had taken nearly an hour to burn away 'Sickness,' but that was hardly enough to restore the poisoned man to health. Underneath the cocoon of 'Sickness', Ao Wen found the more insidious components of the soul-penetrating venom. The first concept embedded deeply into the soul injury was 'Prey.' In the presence of a predator, any prey creature would be driven immediately to a state of heightened awareness, induced to fight or flee, and fear would rob their minds of the best weapons cultivators had - the intelligence to use even meager strength to overpower a stronger opponent. 

Over the months since he had been injured, his status as 'Prey' must have constantly sapped the once mighty cultivator's willpower and courage. How could he return to work in the dangerous mines when his very soul quaked in fear at the predators waiting there to claim his life? Even his dreams would have been plagued with nightmares of the Darkweaver Spider trapping him in its web, binding his powers before feasting on his flesh. That he remained sane after suffering under the effects of this venom for so many months was a testament to the fortitude of Kui Chong's will, even if it was just a stubborn refusal to die. 

As a Sorceress, Ao Wen couldn't help but marvel at a venom that managed to not only assault the flesh, but to attack the soul with not one but two words demonstrated a terrifying aptitude for soul cultivation that Ao Wen would need to guard against if she actually hunted these wicked spiders. Much like her mother, Cong Houzi, who cultivated 'Dragon' and 'Saintess', 'Prey' was a layered word with multiple facets, all of which would turn any hunter into the hunted with a single venomous bite. Understanding the venom also gave her an even greater appreciation for the opportunity the Matriarch's beast core offered her. If she could use it to propel her Sorcery and her Alchemy forward, that would be a tremendous reward. 

For now, however, her focus was on eradicating the concept that had no place in Kui Chong's soul. It wasn't enough for Ao Wen to burn away the concept of 'Prey', it had already made too much of a mark on his soul. If she burned it away it would leave an aching void that needed to be filled. What she needed to do instead was to leave another word in its place, one that would help bring Kui Chong, if not back to the man that he was, to a place of strength and power that he would be proud to occupy. 

If Ao Wen had been at the Sacred Flame Celestial Temple, she'd have asked her Senior Sister Qi Yue for help at this point. Qi Yue cultivated the word 'Desire' and she could place a thirst for nearly anything in a patient to help motivate them to overcome their illness and achieve their goals. It didn't matter if it was a desire to protect and provide for family or to conquer the world, all wants fell within Qi Yue's scope of power and she had considerable practice using her Sorcery in combination with her Alchemy to produce miracles of healing. 

For Ao Wen, she cultivated the word 'Fire' and while fire represented many things from passion to destruction, it wasn't appropriate to give her word or a portion of it to Kui Chong. He had no inner flame for her to stoke, nothing that she could ignite with her flames to give him a fire of his own. What he did have, however, was a strength of will that reminded her of the late Champion Bo. Brother Bo, like her, had not only endured the ravages of Yin Fiend Transformation sickness, he'd survived the torturous cleansing process to purge the sickness from his flesh and spirit and he maintained the courage to fight back against Yin Fiends up until the moment of his death fighting Song Yuefeng. Without a doubt, Champion Bo's word was 'Iron.' 

Looking at the emaciated figure of Kui Chong, he couldn't be further apart from the mountain of strength that Champion Bo had been, but in his eyes, she saw the same determination to get through this illness and regain what he'd lost. "Brawler Kui," Ao Wen said, drawing the man's focus to her despite the oppressive heat he felt surging through his body. "You remind me of a good brother, a Martial Champion with an unshakable will who recovered from the worst disease the world has ever known to fight against the enemies of all life. He saved my life," she added softly. "I see his shadow in you and so I'm going to give you a word in his honor and in honor of your unshakable will to survive this venom. Your word," she said, kneeling to speak directly into his ear, "is Iron."

As she spoke the word, Ao Wen allowed a wisp of her azure and crimson flames to combine with the purifying emerald flame and sear the word 'Iron' deeply into Kui Chong's soul. The flames burned away the remainder of the word 'Prey' and in its place left a greater strength than Kui Chong had ever known. 

When Ao Wen had given the word 'Inferiority' to Long Ma it had allowed her to undermine his strength for the duration of their battle but the injury was ultimately fleeting and had Long Ma survived he'd have been able to resolve the injury himself within a matter of weeks if not days. This time, Ao Wen drew on another source of power to create a word that wouldn't just provide temporary strength but would be a permanent part of Kui Chong until he himself removed it. To do so, Ao Wen called upon the strength of 'Earth' from her Earth dragon bloodline. While Metal and Earth weren't the same, they were close enough for Ao Wen to impart the characteristics of endurance, strength, and resilience that the word 'Iron' demanded of her. 

Within the room, Alchemist Ma Xiaohua's eye widened in shock as power continued to pour from Ao Wen into Kui Chong. Emerald flames had been followed by azure and crimson flames which already impressed the older alchemist but what happened next completely stunned her. Ao Wen's bronze aura of earthen energy flared as her pupils elongated and her amber eyes took on a bright bronze luster. Incredible pressure filled the room like a boulder hung above their heads ready to fall at any moment and crush both alchemist and patient alike. 

The moment felt like it had lasted for minutes when in truth only a few breaths had passed before the character for 'Iron' blossomed in flame on Kui Chong's chest, burning away the dark green web-like discoloration that had marred his chest since the venom reached his heart and leaving only pristine tender flesh behind. 

Perhaps more shocking however was the flame that wrapped around Ao Wen. No longer was she surrounded with the emerald green that had been the only flame she used for most of the purification, instead she was wreathed in four different colors of flame; emerald green, azure blue, deep crimson, and now a trace of bronze dragon's flame could be seen flickering at the edges of her aura. It was faint and feeble, but it marked both the first time in any of her lives that she'd come to possess the flame of an Earth Dragon but also the moment her cultivation progressed, pushing past the limits of what a middle-stage Drifter could accomplish and bringing her almost all the way to the door of becoming a Wanderer. As intense as this moment was, she lacked the strength to make that final push but for the first time since returning to her life as Ao Wen, her path forward was clear and the day she became a Wander wasn't as far off as she'd feared.