Chen Kuang gently felt along the wooden bars. The characters carved into the surface were as fine as fly legs, packed densely and flush with the wood grain.
Without close inspection, they were virtually indistinguishable from the natural texture of the wood.
Incredible...
Just how deep did Huo Hengxuan's martial cultivation go?
His killing intent could manifest as illusions that directly affected the mind and even with his limbs severed, he had managed to etch over a thousand words into this wooden rail!
Or perhaps, at this level, Divine Ability no longer resided in martial techniques, but in the self.
I am the Divine Ability..
The images Chu Wenruo had described earlier now surged into vivid clarity.
Black clouds pressing down upon the city. Enemy troops amassing at the gates. The old general donned in golden scaled armor, standing alone before the city gate with nothing but a sword.
His body riddled with arrows, yet still trudging forward, his blazing gaze enough to scatter the spirit of thousands. A lone warrior barring a ten-thousand-strong army.
A general of the nation and a guardian of the realm. Truly worthy of the name Slaughter God.
Pity he could defend the gates, but not the hearts of men.
Even lowly musicians like Chen Kuang had heard the palace attendants whisper of Huo Hengxuan's cruelty, how he was said to murder prisoners indiscriminately and lacking mercy or righteousness.
That despite being granted the rare imperial privilege of entering court with sword and shoes, he still beat censors to death in open court, disdaining royal authority.
"Such a minister will one day seize the throne," they whispered.
And yet, none of these slanderers ever suffered harm from Huo Hengxuan.
When the Zhou army breached the gates, and these same officials were captured and brutalized, they screamed and cursed Huo Hengxuan for being "incompetent."
Chen Kuang wondered..
When that aged titan, armored and arrow-struck, sword raised high, watched helplessly as enemies bypassed him like a flood and poured into the city, what did he feel?
Despair? Fury?
But now, Chen Kuang understood: Huo Hengxuan hadn't fallen.
He still stood at that gate, sword in hand, banner aloft, never turning back.
"Song of Weed-Cutting: Wither and Bloom Chapter"
That was the name of the text carved into the bars, over a thousand characters long.
It wasn't a song.
It was a sword technique.
A Sword Qi Cultivation Method.
To nourish the sword qi and to have the sword nourish the self.
But the "Qi" in this manual was different from the usual spiritual energy.
It referred to Killing Intent.
"To kill is like cutting weeds, between wither and bloom lies but a breath..."
"Wither means death, bloom means life. A living sword needs death to flourish. To slay others is to slay oneself..."
The meaning was clear.
This sword technique fed on death. Its sword intent and killing aura were like blades of grass, wilting and flourishing. The more one killed, the stronger the sword grew.
But once the sword intent waned and killing aura overwhelmed the body, it would backfire, becoming a heart demon.
Chen Kuang was shaken.
Was this why Huo Hengxuan had earned the reputation of a violent butcher?
If so, then this technique was likely his foundation.
Yet he had passed it on to Chen Kuang with relative ease, it felt almost careless how he did it so easily.
But thinking back, Huo Hengxuan had hesitated for a night. Only after seeing the execution meal delivered to Chen Kuang did he decide to leave the clue.
Heh...
So it was a wild gamble after all.
A desperate bet, that behind those broken gates, there might still be someone foolish enough to try and close them again.
But Chen Kuang suspected, it wasn't really a bet.
That in the end, it was just the final act of a heartbroken old man.
One glance through the smoke and dust, back toward the city he failed to save.
"To entrust something like this to me... that's really thinking highly of me, huh..."
Chen Kuang smirked bitterly.
Huo Hengxuan had probably noticed that Chen possessed some degree of cultivation, and so gave him the technique.
But in truth, that cultivation wasn't earned through his own effort. It came from the passive Fetal Breathing Technique, constantly at work.
"Speaking of which... I'm almost through the eighth Qi Aperture."
Looking inward, his meridians glowed like thin streams of blue light, ebbing and flowing like the "Blue Tears" phenomenon in coastal oceans from his previous life.
The ninth aperture already brimmed with radiance.
Now the eighth was loosening, its light flickering behind the barrier, ready to break through.
He knew very little about cultivation, only the two most basic realms:
9th Rank Qi Opening,
8th Rank Innate Realm.
These were the thresholds mortals could aspire to. Beyond that, most didn't even know the names of the realms.
"Thankfully, this sword technique includes a visualization and qi-nurturing method. I won't be groping around in the dark."
He focused and guided the inner tide of Spiritual Energy to his palm.
He wanted to try something, to erase the carvings.
These words mustn't remain.
Chu Wenruo noticed his long silence and asked softly,
"Mister Chen, is something wrong? Is there something strange about the railing?"
Chen Kuang was about to answer when-
Click.
A clear metallic sound echoed from the prison entrance.
His heart sank.
This wasn't mealtime. No one should be coming in right now.
"Damn it, what's there to clean in a filthy prison like this?"
"Orders from above, just do it. I heard the Immortal Master wants to take a look. Said to drag out the half-dead prisoners and bury them. Every corner's gotta be spotless."
"Haha, a sparkling clean prison, huh. What a noble soul."
"What can we do? The Immortal Master can't stand the sight of filth."
Two jailers strolled in, joking as they carried cleaning supplies.
They were assigned to clean in order, and unfortunately... the first cell was Huo Hengxuan's.
And the first thing they saw was Chen Kuang clinging to the bars, reaching through with effort.
"Hey, blindy, what the hell are you doing?"
Li Erhuang barked.
Chen Kuang replied calmly,
"Sir, my bowl rolled into the next cell. I was trying to get it back."
Li Erhuang stepped forward and sure enough, saw a bowl lying in the corner.
He scowled, picked it up, and snapped:
"Dropped it, so what? Quit making a fuss. Pull your damn hand back!"
But Chen Kuang held the bar firmly.
"Sir, I have a favor to ask-"
"Shut it! What crap are you spewing?!"
Li Erhuang wasn't buying it. He'd seen too many idiots trying to butter him up for small gains, and he wasn't falling for it.
That's how he became squad leader in the first place.
He ordered his colleague to clean the opposite side and turned back, only to find Chen Kuang still gripping the bars.
This blind bastard's acting different. He used to be meek and obedient...
Li Erhuang frowned, noticing that the bars seemed... uneven?
Suspicious, he stepped closer, and locked eyes with Chen Kuang.
He froze, then suddenly remembered that he'd made eye contact with this man yesterday.
His heart dropped.
That wasn't a mistake!
A chilling realization crawled up his spine.
"You're not blind! Let go! What are you hiding?!"
His voice was harsh, but he kept it low, afraid his colleague might steal the credit.
In the time it took to speak those words, Chen Kuang had already discreetly erased the carved sword manual using gathered energy.
He was just about to come up with another excuse when his heightened senses, boosted by abundant Spiritual Energy, picked up something from outside-
A cold aura.
Black, sharp, metallic, reeking of blood and utterly oppressive.
Like the edge of a blade.
"Looks like... you won't get to tattle after all."
Chen Kuang muttered under his breath.
Li Erhuang: "What?"
Chen Kuang clutched him urgently.
"Sir! I swear I'm telling the truth! The Chief Musician really had a box with a pill inside-!"
Ssschhk!
In a flash, Li Erhuang's bewildered head dropped from his shoulders.
Chen Kuang closed his eyes.
Warm blood splattered all across his face in the dark.
For a moment, he was back in the palace again, limbs scattered, blood filling the air around him.
His body trembled in fear.
Back then, he couldn't even run, he was blind and helpless.
His acting might've been weak, but the memories were real.
"Sir? Sir, are you alright?"
The "blind" musician's voice trembled as he spoke, eyes still shut.
The Black Armor Guard sheathed his blade.
Then, without a word, reached out and grabbed Chen Kuang's extended arm.
He stared silently into Chen Kuang's expression.
A long pause.
"Come. The General has questions for you."