Fu Yilan sat on her bed, staring with shimmering eyes at the paper cover of the manual in her hand. It had just barely fit within her budget, and she suspected that Senior Feng had lowered the price a bit. It was only fair though, with how often she had been letting him sleep with her. She had the suspicion that he was already ripping her off with their deal, but she would see when he actually showed her the art she was working towards. But first, the soft blade art. “Floating Petal Sword” was written on the front, with small blossoms around the name.
“Let your blade flow with the river that guides all things. The flow of battle is merely a stream within it, and like a blossom, stay afloat and follow it. Its unpredictability shall be a part of your strength, letting your blade flow around obstacles to strike at your target. The soft blade is the most beautiful, the most enchanting, and yet one of the most difficult to master among the many weapons available. Grace is your friend as you let it flow with you, a part of your arm.”
Fu Yilan read through it and knew that this would be an arduous journey. The blade art let her coat her sword in her qi, letting it move in ways that seemed impossible. It could turn rigid for a piercing strike, while at the same time moving like the river, flowing like a stream around a rock obstructing its path. The qi circulation method seemed tricky at first, but she got a hang of it quickly. Fu Yilan was unaware, but by now, she was near the top of cultivation talent. Her Void Lotus Demoness art had improved her meridians to an incredible degree, making it far easier to guide her qi through the proper path, while allowing for faster movement of the qi, strengthening the art’s effects.
Several sword forms were shown in the book, ranging from basic slashes and stabs to movements and combinations that were difficult to wrap her head around. But one thing she wanted to try first, as soon as she felt like she had a decent amount of control over the blade. With her soft blade art, the blade could bend further than it normally would. She let it wrap around her hips where it sat against her robes snugly. Yes, this was how she had imagined it. She beamed with excitement. It felt good, focusing on something else other than her pleasure arts for a while. She knew that she was almost due for another pleasure art manual from Senior Feng, but she decided to hold off for a while. This felt more important for now.
She took her blade to the sparring court. By now, everyone had gotten used to her presence, though they secretly hoped for another case of ripped clothes, she could tell. Unluckily for them, her Five Diverting Streams palm art had only gotten better, no longer putting her clothing at risk by the third-class disciples that practiced here. Slowly moving through the starting movements of the manual, she got to work, getting a feel for her new weapon.
It took a week before she felt like she could call what she did with the sword fighting, and another three for her to start feeling comfortable with it. A few brother disciples had said she was advancing quickly, but they were just trying to get into her pants. She ignored them coldly. By the end of the fourth week, they were calling her Ice Flower Fu. During that time, she had been visiting Senior Xu less and Senior Feng barely at all. She enjoyed straining her body with activities not usually performed in bed. She was angry at Senior Brother Xu for deciding her path for her. Though her physique favored pleasure arts, she might have had a future with the blade. Now she would never now.
Fu Yilan noticed that this art too seemed like a dance. It might be because the soft sword was such a flowing weapon, but she wouldn’t put it past Scripture Hall Master Feng to choose an art like that on purpose. Still, she liked it. Fu Yilan didn’t mind not looking as brutal as some of her brother disciples around her, viciously stabbing and cutting with a wide array of weapons. Instead, she was like a flower, looking as though she was flowing on a stream, beautiful to look at until the blade fluttered past your guard and into your flesh.
She incorporated her understanding of water qi, of its yin, its fluidity yet possibility of forcefulness into her strikes. Switching between a calm little pond, fed by a small spring, while dancing back, taking all energy from a potential attack. Then turning the blade into a raging waterfall as she chopped downwards, or a torrential downpour that found its way into every crack as her sword bent around an imaginary enemy’s guard with each stab. She wanted to test herself in the field, wanted to feel strong, competent. Dreams that every child had were bubbling to the surface. She wasn’t quite ready yet to fly through the sky, but she could strike down evil with her blade. She was ready.
“You’re definitely not ready,” Senior Xu said, arms crossed and face set in stone. After practice, Fu Yilan had immediately come over to the mission hall.
“Please, please. I’m a cultivator as well. I want to be of use as well!” She tugged at his shirt. Annoyance was blooming in her chest. Why was he allowed to limit her this much. She grit her teeth, because lashing out would do no good. “I want to strike down evil. Kill a bandit.” He just shook his head.
“No, all you need to do is suck my dick and take my yang energy! That shouldn’t be so hard to understand. Women! That’s why they shouldn’t be let into the sect. Don’t you get it? All you need is me! You’re my little slave, and I’ll be keeping you safe.” Fu Yilan forced a tear to her eyes. She wouldn’t budge on this.
“Please…” They held eye contact for a few second before Senior Xu relented.
“Fine.” She was around his neck in a heartbeat, squealing. “But! You will be going with three others. It’s dangerous out there. You’ll be surprised to find a situation quite different to the fairytales they tell mortal children.” Fu Yilan only nodded, mind going through the preparations she would have to make and the things to take. “Now, where’s my thank you?” He smirked and Fu Yilan got to work, rubbing his bulge.
She slid down beneath the counter, hidden beneath his legs and the wooden panels. She got to work and kept licking and sucking, drawing it out. She wanted to make him have a positive association with giving in to her demands. She stopped neither when other disciples came in to get new missions, nor when her senior’s first load painted her mouth white. She drank it all down before continuing. She spent another two hours down there, slowly licking and slurping. All she saw was his rod and belly, but she didn’t mind. It was necessary.
A day later, she stood at the gates of the sect, soft sword wrapped around her hips, travel bag in hand. With her were two other third-class disciples, as well as a second-class disciple in the fifth stage.
“How lovely of the honorable Senior Xu to send us such pleasant company for the trip. Ice Flower Fu, right?” She just nodded, not amused by what he was hinting at. “Mhm, cold as the rumors say. Though they managed to understate your beauty.” He didn’t get much of a reaction, so he turned back to the rest of the group.
“My name is Senior Peng. We will be hunting a group of bandits that have sprung up two days from here. Apparently, four of them are cultivators as well, though most likely at the first stage. You will be dealing with them while I am mainly there to supervise and jump in if problems arise. Understood?” Everyone nodded. “Alright, then off we go.”
They were running through the countryside along dirt roads. Fu Yilan had her Flowing Steps, keeping up easily. The other two third-class disciples were both metal aligned, and it almost felt like their movement art was slicing at the air in front of them, letting them move quicker. Still, they were struggling quite a bit.
They spent the night at an inn. It was almost embarrassing how the owner knelt before them, apparently thankful to have honored cultivators among his guests. But Senior Peng was already used to this treatment and calmly booked two rooms. Fu Yilan thought it was odd that the three of them would share a room, before Senior Peng spoke.
“You two in that room, Junior Sister Fu and me in this one.” Jealous stares followed them as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her through the door.
“Please don’t, I’m not interested. I apologize.” She pulled his hand away. “I will sleep on the floor so honored senior can have the bed.” He just chuckled and started to pull off his robes.
“No need to apologize. After all, you won’t be doing anything wrong. I will have you either way, so tell me. Do you want you robes ripped from your body? We will continue travelling tomorrow, no matter in what state you are.” She had expected it but still tried refusing. In the end, everyone just used their power to get what they wanted though. Unfortunately, that what they wanted so often was her body.
She laid on her back and let him have his way with her. Her sensitive body made her enjoy it as he fucked her uncaring of her feelings. With him, she didn’t need to act differently though. Her head was turned to the side as he had her legs on his shoulders pouring his yang energy into her. It was clear that she was doing it against her will, despite the occasional moan that slipped out. And he didn’t feel the need to change the experience for her. It was just him taking what he wanted, releasing his lust.
“Clean me off,” he commanded, and Fu Yilan obeyed, dutifully sucking his dick. Her tongue made sure to clean it thoroughly, out of habit. They fell asleep next to each other; his arm wrapped around her. This was her life, pleasuring men. She could hardly wait to have them all below her. She would soar, freed from all of this.
They reached the bandit camp afternoon of the next day. It was what remained of a small forest village, fortified with spikes and walls. Some houses of the village had been burned down, and she could glimpse a hand reaching out of the wreckage, charred. The smell of burnt flesh lingered, despite the bandits having slaughtered the village more than a week ago.
Fu Yilan had thought that she could handle it easily. She had survived seeing beggars beating each other or starving to death. But this was clear cruelty, people killing each other for their own gain. Her brother disciples seemed to handle it slightly better but still looked very uncomfortable. Senior Brother Peng didn’t seem to care.
“Calm down everyone. Just some mortals, nothing serious. You will have to get used to it. They die so easily, so seeing a few corpses happens often.” His dismissal at their suffering shocked her. Fu Yilan had not been a cultivator for long enough to completely dissociate with her mortal start. It seemed like her senior brother got over that a long while ago. “Now, I leave the rest to you. March in and slaughter them or hide and sneak around like little rats. Your choice.” His wording made it clear which option he thought should be picked.
One of her brother disciples started walking for the gate, anger apparent. He had a spear in his hand. The tip was quivering slightly, but his eyes held determination. They followed him, both pulling out their weapons. Stepping out of the tree line, a lookout sounded the alarm. Shouts could be heard, as well as men scrambling to get their weapons.
Her spear-wielding brother shot forwards, slashing through the gate and marching into the compound. Fu Yilan and the other third-class disciple, who was brandishing a long axe, were right behind him. Senior Brother Peng followed them leisurely, coasting along with his movement art. He seemed very unbothered by the men facing them. Fu Yilan could tell why. There were four cultivators, only one reaching the second stage of the earthly realm. All of them were holding crude swords, yet their stances showed that they had some sort of fighting art, instead of merely finding some evil cultivation art to force their way onto the road of immortality.