Immortality Starts With Generosity

The New Year began with all the villagers of the four tribes watching a Liquid Meridian Realm trying to fly. Unfortunately for Chen Haoran, Phelps’s seemed to float even faster after drinking and, with no ceiling to obstruct him combined with his head start, quickly outpaced the distance Chen Haoran could reach even with his fully powered jump. So it was that Chen Haoran pitched headfirst into the brackish waters of the Screaming Giant’s Lake while Phelps ignored him on his way to the moon. A laughing Xie Ling had taken to the skies then and easily took Phelps in hand, bringing his drunk sloth back to the ground.

After thoroughly embarrassing himself, Chen Haoran drowned himself in a different type of water and competed with Xie Jin, Ren, and even Xie Ling in various drinking contests until he woke up the next day with a Liquid Meridian Hangover.

Chen Haoran groaned and rubbed his eyes. His head and chest felt heavy, though one was because of the hangover, and the other was his little shit of a wannabe astronaut sleeping on his chest. He gently placed Phelps to the side before sitting up and swinging his feet over the side of the bed, throwing Xie Jin, who had been sleeping on his legs, to the floor. He woke up sputtering a thousand different curses to just as many hells and gods. Chen Haoran ignored him in favor of the growing headache building in his head.

Yellow Dragon?

He received a roar in answer. His nascent headache was dispersed with a rush of qi, and the roar carried to the rest of his body, re-energizing his tired cells and waking him up completely.

Thank you.

The Yellow Dragon roared in acknowledgment and continued on its cycle through his meridians.contemporary romance

Chen Haoran sighed in relief and stretched his back as he looked around his room. He didn’t remember exactly how he got back last night. Did he carry Xie Jin, or did Xie Jin carry him? A soft snore revealed the real answer. Ren was slumped against the door, dead asleep. Evidently, he’d brought the both of them back but failed to get back home on his own.

“Bastard, you could’ve just woken me up,” Xie Jin grouched, nursing his head as he rose.

“Get over it,” Chen Haoran told him. He paused, scattered memories coming together and forming a hazy picture. “You deserved it, I think? Did we get into a fight last night?”

“Get your head checked. Would I still be alive if he fought?”

It was a rhetorical question. The answer was no. Chen Hoaran pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to recall the events of last night. His memory from the heavy drinking was fine for the most part. No amount of normal alcohol was enough to drastically affect him now. The place where his memories blurred was when Xie Ling brought out a Profound-Rank wine that tasted like an orchard of green apples.

“Who the hell did I fight then?” He remembered getting into some kind of duel, even if he couldn’t remember the face of his opponent. He won pretty handily too. It was hard to win a fistfight when your opponent had skin comparable to steel.

Xie Jin’s face pinched as if the mere act of trying to remember was painful. “He was a Liquid Meridian Realm from one of the other tribes. Sable Skull, I think?”

“You’re right,” Chen Haoran said, the image in his mind becoming clearer. “I think he was watching Bao Si and me dance? Dunno what I did to piss him off, though.”

“Not what you did, who you did. Idiots like those are why I’m glad I’m rid of Si.”

Chen Haoran frowned. His memory of Bao Si from last night was a blur of red and a phantom sensation of his hand on her tattoo. “I didn’t do anything to Bao Si. I would remember that.”

Instead of answering, Xie Jin reached over and ran his thumb on the side of Chen Haoran’s mouth. When he pulled it back, it was covered in red. He gave Chen Haoran a singularly unimpressed look.

What the fuck? Chen Haoran rubbed his mouth and looked at the bright red smudge on his hand. Xie Jin passed him a hand mirror, and in the polished copper, Chen Haoran found that not only were his lips smeared red but that his cheeks and neck were covered in lipstick marks.

“I don’t remember her wearing lipstick,” Chen Haoran faintly said.

“You kissed her first, and that started the fight,” Xie Jin said. “The rest came after you won when the other girls started coming up to you. I only remember because of how disgusted I was.”

Did he really mack on the tribe’s princess in front of all the Basin and Elders? What the hell had been in Xie Ling’s wine? Even at his drunkest, he’d never been that uninhibited before.

“I’m not going to be run out of the village by your grandfather for this, am I?” Chen Haoran nervously asked. The classic scenario of the outsider being run off for being too close to the local’s golden girl rang through his mind.

Xie Jin shrugged.“If any of the other shamans really cared, they would have stopped it last night. Even if they did, they’d have to ask Si for permission.”

Chen Haoran stared. He’d known Bao Si was respected by the Onyx Arms but those were Crystal Transformation Realms they were talking about. For them to give her that much consideration… “Xie Jin, just how important is Bao Si?”

“Do you want to start from her being the last heir of the Black Bone’s only royal dynasty or the fact she’s the sole apprentice of our only Star Core Shaman?”

Chen Haoran fell back onto the bed. Perhaps he could just sleep in for the rest of his life.

Xie Jin had no such mercy for him and kicked him off. “Let’s go. I need breakfast.”

As he walked through the village with Xie Jin, Chen Haoran was subject to the strange eyes of the villagers. The respect was still there, of course, and they still spoke politely to him, but it couldn’t disguise that each and every one was looking at him differently than before. Even the kids ran past laughing while making puckering noises. Xie Jin endlessly ribbed him for it while they ate, and Chen Haoran could only half-heartedly defend himself. For the sake of his sanity, he bid a hasty retreat to the training grounds and resolved to spend the next month practicing before he showed his face again.

Step. Pause. Step. Pause. Wait. The motions of the Seven-Colored Steps of the Rainbow Stairs were a welcome distraction from the embarrassment that would be his constant companion in the near future.

“I still don’t understand why they’re here, Brother Chen.”

Too bad it couldn’t distract him from his other companions.

Xie Jin, Bao Si, Ren, and Phelps were all seated around a rock with the Seven-Colored Steps of the Rainbow Stairs laid open between them. While Chen Haoran practiced, they would call out some new piece of advice from their reading, at least when they weren’t bickering about said advice.

Bao Si smiled at Xie Jin. Her lips were bright red, and she had a green silk handkerchief covering her throat. “We’re here to help Chen Haoran learn, of course. Don’t be annoyed just because you’re the least useful.”

Unfortunately, even after he brought Xie Jin on board, they hadn’t been able to puzzle out the trick of the First Step. Two heads were not that much better than one in this case, much to Xie Jin’s embarrassment. So they brought in three heads instead. Bao Si had been just as shocked, if not more so, than Xie Jin that Chen Haoran would so readily share a Heaven-Rank technique. With her inclusion, they actually started making appreciable progress.

The thing about these techniques was that they were as much poems as they were medical textbooks. Not only did they have to interpret the visualization of the First Step they had to simultaneously flow their qi through the specific meridians detailed by the book in the exact pattern required before the qi could interact with the visualization conjured up by the cultivator. Suffice it to say there was a lot of arguing over what exactly kind of rainbow to visualize, the effects of channeling red light into movement, and what a rainbow even was in this context.

It reminded Chen Haoran so much of the literary analysis he’d done in his literature classes back on Earth. An experience he was thankful to have now, even though he was never good at them. Bao Si had been a font of insight in that regard, and they eventually pulled in Xie Jin’s cousin Ren to help as well.

Xie Jin scowled but conceded the point. He cast a fierce look at Ren. “That doesn’t explain why he’s here.”

Ren stared at the technique without acknowledging the accusation, and Chen Haoran answered in his stead.

“He’s another Liquid Meridian Realm. His judgment is invaluable.”

“His judgment is the exact thing in question here,” Xie Jin bit out and pointed an accusatory finger at his cousin. “He’s the one who gave Phelps the bottle!”

Phelps squealed.

Ren looked up. A hint of embarrassment showed through on his otherwise stoic face. “He asked. I was only being polite.”

Xie Jin held out a hand toward Ren and gave Chen Haoran a look that practically screamed, ‘See?’. Chen Haoran agreed with him on that issue. Who in their right mind would give alcohol to an animal? Still, Ren offered a grounded view of the intricacies of the Heaven-Rank technique in a way the others couldn’t as Qi Realms and helped temper Xie Jin’s and Bao Si’s more outlandish theories.

Step. Pause. Step. Pause. Wait.

Nothing.

“Like I said, Brother Chen. You have to rainbow, or else it’ll be pointless.”

Step. Pause. Step. Pause. Wait.

“Brother Chen, remember rainbow.”

Step. Pause. Step. Pause.

“Rainb—”

Chen Haoran’s patience snapped. “And just how the hell am I supposed to rainbow?”

Xie Jin shook his head. “Not how to rainbow. When to rainbow.”

Bao Si clicked her tongue disapprovingly. “You mean what to rainbow.”

Ren placed a finger on a passage in the book. “I believe it is proper to consider where to rainbow.”

Phelps squealed, begging for treats.

Chen Haoran cursed. Whatever tangent they were on this time must’ve been cultural because he couldn’t follow them at all.

Step. Pause. Step. Pause. Red—

Red?

Red light flared at Chen Haoran’s feet and all the arguments stopped as he suddenly accelerated….

….face first into a tree. Bark broke beneath his hands as Chen Haoran pushed himself out, spitting splinters and leaving behind a two-inch deep impression of his face in the wood. He ignored the sawdust and woodchips in his eyes and quickly assumed the stance of the First Step once more.

Step. Pause. Step. Pause. Wait.

Nothing. Chen Haoran wryly smiled. Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy. It was okay, though, now that he had a reaction, proficiency would come in time.

“You alright there, Brother Chen?” Xie Jin asked.

Chen Haoran grinned. “Don’t worry. It’ll take more than a tree to put me down.”

“If you’d like, I can kiss it better,” Bao Si teasingly said.

Chen Haoran’s eyes involuntarily went to her red lips. “I’ll pass. I want to show my face in the village.”

Bao Si rolled her eyes. “At least mine can be washed off.” She pulled down her handkerchief, exposing the hickeys on her neck. “You left quite a few hard-to-remove ‘presents’ of your own.”

Chen Haoran snorted. “As if you can’t heal those. I know you kept them just to mess with me.”

“I’m just a little Qi Realm girl. How could I possibly heal the place a Liquid Meridian brute marked me?”

“Keep being cheeky, and I’ll put them in other places.” The sentence came out so naturally that Chen Haoran didn’t realize he said it till he saw Bao Si’s cheeks tinge with faint color. He froze as he processed the sentence that his brain somehow thought was a good idea to leave his mouth.

Xie Jin gagged and stood up. “I’m going to be sick. Move aside. It’s my turn to run into trees.”

“Hold that thought,” Chen Haoran said as he rubbed his head. Was that Profound-Rank alcohol still lingering? “I want to get another opinion about the technique.”

“Like I said, you have to rainbow. I’ll show you right—”

“Not you,” Chen Haoran interrupted.

“Your grandfather.”

Xie Ling’s eyebrows rose higher than Chen Haoran had ever seen on a person before. He wondered if it was a Crystal Transformation thing. Xie Jin’s grandfather carefully flipped through the Seven-Colored Steps of the Rainbow Stairs his face alternatively cycling between shock and consideration. He closed the book and looked up at the five of them.

“You’re letting them learn this?”

Chen Haoran nodded. “You can too if you’d like, sir. I’d appreciate whatever pointers you can offer.”

Since they already included four heads, why not five? He’d passed it around so much already. He might as well add Xie Ling while he was at it. The perspective of a higher realm couldn’t hurt.

Xie Ling looked at Chen Haoran as if he’d grown another head before suddenly laughing. “Never before have I felt so ashamed in front of a junior. I suppose it’s true that the younger generation will surpass the old in time.”

“Cut the crap, old man.” Xie Jin said, ignoring how Bao Si elbowed him. “Just say you want to learn it.”

Xie Ling glared at his impudent grandson but ignored his provocation and turned to Chen Haoran. “I won’t put on any airs. I’m very interested in learning this technique. I’m not shameless enough to learn it for free, however.” He stroked his beard in thought before pulling out a white lotus flower.

At first glance, it looked like the Stygian Lotus that Chen Haoran had eaten back what felt like so long ago now. Upon closer inspection, however, the differences were revealed. Its color was white, like metal instead of bone. Its leaves were a vibrant green, full of life instead of poison like what he’d been seeing recently. A faint white glow surrounded the plant and gave off an almost holy feeling compared to the White Tyrant’s overbearing one.

“This is a 300-year-old Stainless Purity Lotus. Do not look down on its age. This is a plant that survives in the worst toxic sludge that collects in the Basin, yet it remains free of any poison. Even the most complex toxins and venoms can be cured by consuming the plant or its seeds, and just holding it lessens the dangers of any airborne poisons.”

Chen Haoran wasn’t about to refuse something that’d soon become a 30 thousand-year-old plant. He accepted it gratefully. “Thank you.”

“As to your prior question. While I will have to properly read through the text, seeing as how the First Step is referred to as the Red Step of Good Fortune, it might be useful if you were to practice while wearing your New Year’s suit.”

Chen Haoran clasped his hands. “Thank you for the advice. I’ll go back and try that immediately.”

Xie Ling waved off his thanks. “Don’t be in a hurry to go yet. I still have something I’d like to say. It is shameless of me to ask this, considering you’ve allowed my younger generation to learn it, but I still must ask. May I create a copy of this technique for the tribe’s archives? I will make sure you—”

“Yeah, sure,” Chen Haoran said.

Xie Ling stopped and stared at him.

“Oh, uh, I didn’t mean to interrupt you. Sorry.”

Xie Jin started coughing behind him.

“I can’t give you Bao Si,” Xie Ling abruptly said.

“I… don’t want her?” Chen Haoran slowly said.

Xie Jin wheezed only to yelp in pain.

“I mean for marriage,” Chen Haoran quickly clarified.

“I’m aware,” Xie Ling said dryly. “You made quite the show of the other ways you want her.”

Chen Haoran couldn’t help the heat from rising to his face. No matter the world, it was still embarrassing when someone older than you started talking about your love life.

Xie Ling laughed after seeing the look on his face and stood up. “For such an important heritage, I will not let you suffer.” He looked at Bao Si and Xie Jin, who paused their childish tiff.

“Prepare the Mourning Pool.”

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