The Purity of Fire

1.7. - Wrathful Fires

As Chu Dishi reached into the storage treasure, Chu Chen could feel the anticipation seep into his bones, what could the myserious gift be. Pulling the glowing object out and holding it in front of him, Chu Dishi waited patiently for the glow to die down. The object in his hand was a small jade slip.

Almost letting his curiosity get the better of him, Chu Chen wanted reach out and grab the slip, however he refrained, remembering his fathers inclination towards discipline.

Seeing his son's behavious, Chu Dishi laughed heartily, the boy's futile attempt to hide his eagerness reminding the general of his younger days.

"This slip contains an ancient cultivation technique of our clan, known as the Wrathful Flames, it was lost centuries ago, during a dark period of our history, but I managed to recover it whilst on the campaign."

Smile broadly as he handed over the jade, Chu Dishi continued talking at a brisk pace "the art itself is intrinsically linked with our Chu clan's bloodline, since we all have minute traces of Phoenix blood running through our veins, members of the Chu clan generally gravitiate towards fire attribute martial arts."

Pausing only to take a large gulp of the gourd of alchol next to him, he continued, "Wrathful Flames, is a cultivation technique, meaning that you will need meditate using the mantra in order to circulate Qi throughout your body. This in turn will allow you to raise your cultivation level, which I will teach you more about later."

"This cultivation slip will be of untold value to you, allowing you to cultivate through the various cultivation levels. When you practice tonight, I want you to try and feel the path forward, if you're lucky, you might even break through to the first level of Qi condensation."

Putting the tablet away safely in the pouch on his Chu Chen stood up and thanked his father for the invaluable gift and prepared to depart for his room, when he was stopped by his father.

"Not so hasty my son, you forgot your other presents" Tossing over the bag, Chu Dishi laughed heartily again, before he continued "one last thing, here's an amulet you need to wear while you cultivate, its a present your grandfather left for you the last time I saw him."

Placing the small necklace over his sons head, Chu Dishi had the faintest feeling of ominous danger, however he disregarded the inauspicious omen, dismissing his son in the process.

After he had left the courtyard, Chu Chen sprinted to his room as fast as he could, eager to begin cultivating.
When he eventually reached his destination, he slammed the door and took his prize out of the pouch at his belt.

Staring in awe at the miraculous little tablet in his hand, Chu Chen's mind buzzed with anticipation, this was the start of his journey to become an immortal, his very first cultivation art! He then crossed his legs and began to examine the slip, making sure to memorise the mnemonic.
Now sure that he was ready he closed his eyes and began to meditate, repeating the mantra over and over in his mind until only the words remained in his head.

Unbeknownst to him however, as he cultivated his first currents of Qi, the little red amulet on his chest began to glow with a blood red light...

Author's Note:
Right, so lots of new information in this chapter, including the first appearance of cultivation techniques.

Also for future reference, a phoenix is an extremly powerful mystical bird, however it is not the same thing as the Vermillion Bird.

A Phoenix, known as a Fenghuang is usually associated with the Empress and her Yin attributes, there are multiple phoenixes in existence.

Where as the Vermillion Bird is one of the four holy beasts, residing in the South and associated with the element of Fire and the season of Summer, there is only one Vermillion bird, and it is known to rule over all other animals with feathers.

Now for anyone new to wuxia and xianxia novels, a lot of these terms may be unfamiliar, however if you have any questions at all, feel free to pop me a message on social media or Wattpad. My details are on my profile.

Also there are no excuses I can give for the lack of content lately, the only thing I can do is apologize and try to do better in the future. So to those few people that have been reading my chapters and supporting me, I am deeply sorry and will try to meet expectations in the future.

Happy Reading
SouthernYaksha