Reborn (The Jade Phoenix Saga #1) - A Cultivation LitRPG Series Read online

  He was watching his mistress read one of those scrolls now in the large central clan audience chamber as he stood guard, ten days after that terrible event. Suddenly, and for no reason he could identify, she closed her light-brown eyes. Her long silver hair slowly rose and floated away from her pale, wrinkled face and the white silk shawl embroidered with silver characters draped over her shoulders.

  She showed no outward change as her eyes opened and her hair fell. She called out “Let them in” to the pair of guards standing in front of the ornate black-painted bamboo doors. Bo Fang watched how the embedded ornate silver swirls glittered in the dim room when the double doors, twice as tall as a man, swung inward.

  Two cultivators of such power that he felt pressure simply from being in their presence approached his guard position. He glanced at his mistress and she waved him away. As instructed, he turned and took one full step backward, into the deeper shadows of the audience chamber.

  The male and female were nearly alike, with their long dark hair in matching brown ponytails. They were both covered from top to bottom in wrapped black cloth so that only their nostrils, mouths, and deep brown eyes could be seen. They lowered themselves to their knees in front of her and pressed their foreheads to the floor slowly.

  The Matriarch looked down upon them from her raised dais and said nothing. The female cultivator then spoke in a high-pitched voice that surprised Fang with its youthful sound. “It is done, Matriarch.”

  “You followed my instructions?” the old woman asked.

  The male responded this time. “Exactly as you ordered.”

  “Good.”

  Fang’s mistress actually smiled for a brief moment before her face returned to its usual stoic countenance. She closed her eyes and once again the world seemed to waver and bend, although this time nobody could feel the pressure.

  It was over as suddenly as it had started, and she nodded.

  “Good,” the old woman repeated. “It is critical that child be ruined but not dead. She has a part to play. I will call on you occasionally to go back there. As that foolish boy says, there are many strings still to be plucked, and we must do so at the right time and in the right way. You may go for now.”

  Without looking at the Matriarch, the pair rose to their feet and left the hall. When the doors closed behind them, the old woman returned to the scrolls. She looked down at them intently and muttered two sentences. Bo Fang didn’t know if he was supposed to hear them or not – it was impossible to tell with his mistress. Either way, he did.

  And they terrified him.

  Part One

  CORRUPTED

  Eons before humanity, four heavenly beasts brought together all the different types of power in the universe. A great act of forming took place and our world was born.

  The True History of the World, lost to time

  Author, unknown

  ONE

  Barn Incident

  Thirteen years later (early spring) – A dilapidated barn in Fei Shu City:

  Fenghuang Yu retched onto the floor of the barn. She spit up blood and vomit into the hay and grass that was scratching her bare legs and arms. She was prone on the filthy floor, trying to hold her long multicolored hair out of the mess with one arm while also protecting her stomach with the other.

  “Mundane girls like you should cover themselves, cousin. You are being indecent, showing so much skin,” Fenghuang Li mocked.

  Spitting out the remains of her last meal and more blood, Yu glared up at the three figures who were standing over her slumped form.

  Two boys and a girl against a cripple. How brave and honorable.

  “Girls that cultivate are allowed to wear the same clothes as boys,” Yu called back with a glare, proud that she heard no trace of fear in her words. She had learned long ago that wearing a cultivator’s attire in her secret training was a risk, but still she wore it.

  The sleeveless beast-wool shirt ended at her navel. The leggings stopped halfway down her thighs, and her soft cloth shoes ended just above her ankle. Her garb’s limited covering allowed for flexibility of movement and targeted skin exposure so that students’ bodies could strengthen through Qi absorption.

  Unfortunately, the student outfit, while perfect for training, offered little actual protection. Cultivators had their Qi for that. Yu didn’t. Not that it stopped her. In fact, she felt it made for excellent training attire, even without Qi. She wore it because it was functional, and, admittedly, as a small act of defiance.

  The fact that it exposed so much skin meant it was only worn by young cultivators, and only when required. Yu was aware she had no right to wear a cultivator’s clothes, but the hypocrisy angered her. She welcomed the anger. It quelled the fear.

  Li, the girl who had hit her and shoved her down, let out a braying laugh. She leaned over called sneeringly, “You’re no cultivator.”

  Yaozu, the larger boy, stood directly in front of her. He quietly sneered down at her while squeezing his fists so tightly they caused his knuckles to crack. Given his dinner-plate-sized hands, the sound was loud and ominous.

  The smaller of the two boys next to her, Chen, added, “Yeah, you’re a freak.”

  Yu’s temper flared as she reached behind her back with the hand that had been protecting her stomach. After a moment’s fumbling through the hay, she found one of the two wooden short swords she had been practicing with. They were the best she was permitted, given her… infirmity. She would certainly have never been allowed anything that could cause her to bleed.

  Tensing her weak muscles, Yu prayed to the gods that her three assailants were not cycling Qi to protect themselves. She swung the short blade in a sweep in front of her. Her prayers were answered. Her target must have been distracted by jeering at her because the blow miraculously did some actual damage. The thwacking sound of wood on skin and bone surprised all of them, but likely surprised Yaozu the most, as it was his knee she had successfully struck.

  His eyes widened, and a sharp yell of pain escaped his mouth as his leg buckled beneath him. Yu swung again, twisting her wrist as her years of relentless practice had taught her. She brought the sword into contact with the boy’s temple, now that his head had fallen within reach.

  Despite the pain in her hand from the vibrating wood, she smiled as his body dropped like a bag of rice next to where she lay sprawled in the hay.

  The other two shook off their surprise and Li yelled, “What did you do?”

  “He should have been cycling,” Yu replied.

  Arrogant asses. They took their power for granted. Yu, who had to earn every ounce of strength she had, was better than them. At least when it came to martial skills.

  As quickly as she could, she twisted her torso. She held herself upright with one arm and reached out for the other wooden sword that lay behind her, having been discarded on the barn floor when her tormentors had surprised her. Her perfect ambidexterity, one of her only two redeeming features, led her to always utilize dual swords when she practiced melee combat.

  Just as her hand closed around the leather-wrapped wooden handle, her feet were grabbed and she was yanked roughly toward her attackers. Her arm no longer supported her, causing her head to jerk downward and her chin to slam into the filthy compacted dirt floor of the barn. The taste of coppery blood once again filled her mouth as she bit her tongue.

  She was bleeding again and that meant trouble. Yu needed to get to a healer, and soon.

  She tried to spin and swing one of her swords, but her prone position and the grip on her ankles prevented her from getting any leverage and the blow held little force, and certainly not enough to hurt a prepared cultivator – even a young one.

  The swords did absolutely no damage when her attacks struck their arms, simply bouncing off their now Qi-enhanced skin. Yu saw movement from her side and looked over just before a fist made contact with her head. All she knew for a short time were flashing lights and ringing ears. Then her vision went dark.

  When Y
u became aware of her surroundings again, she saw a tall, familiar form towering over her and yelling at the remaining two upright assailants. She saw Li pointing at the now barely stirring body of Yaozu on the hay-covered floor. The ringing finally faded enough for Yu to make out their words.

  “—knocked out Fenghuang Yaozu. She deserves to be beaten.”

  Yu’s much larger brother, Fenghuang Lei, looked contemptuously down at the two still-conscious cultivators and then over at Yaozu’s prone body. His massive frame put him head and shoulders above the others, causing the offending parties to shuffle back involuntarily and crane their necks to meet his eyes.

  With a sneer he said, “That fool was knocked out by a cripple?”

  Yu winced at the descriptor she knew was true but still hated. She also knew her brother didn’t mean it; he was trying to get rid of her tormentors peacefully. It would not be honorable for him to take physical action if he had another option. After all, they were as much ants to him as she was to them.

  “He deserved it and the lump he’ll have. Go drag his useless ass out of here before you join him unconscious on the floor.”

  The two looked like they were going to argue, but her brother released a little of his Qi. The crackling of ice accompanied a cold vapor rising from his fingers.

  “You are of a branch family. Don’t press your luck further,” he growled in a threatening tone.

  Yu both admired and envied her brother’s strength and rare affinity. The ability to command ice was nearly unheard of in the Xing Nation, and her brother’s strength in it was far above the average. Lei was the most gifted youth in the family and a great hope for the clan’s future. He was also one of the few who didn’t abuse his half-sister.

  The two younger cultivators walked over to the slumped Yaozu, leaned down, and grabbed him by his armpits. While their faces were closer to Yu’s own slumped form, the younger boy, Chen, quietly growled out, “This isn’t over, freak.”

  The girl followed up with a sneering whisper, “Watch yourself, freak.”

  They easily lifted the boy using their Qi-enhanced bodies and dragged him away like he weighed nothing.

  Her brother didn’t move until the group was out of sight and Yu could no longer hear their steps. Once it was clear, he turned to his little sister and walked over to where she lay. He held out his hand. Yu spit the blood in her mouth to the side and grabbed it.

  Looking like he didn’t even notice her weight – which he likely didn’t – the young man very gently lifted her to her feet and stepped back. A wave of nausea washed through Yu at the sudden motion. She wobbled slightly but eventually was able to stand by leaning on his broad chest.

  She saw him checking her up and down for any significant injuries. He grunted when he saw the blood by her mouth. Then he scanned the area and noticed the vomit and blood on the floor. His eyes flashed ice blue, a mist rose from his body, and the ground beneath his feet crackled from the cold. Yu shivered slightly from the sudden drop in temperature.

  “Thank you,” Yu mumbled, looking down at her feet. She saw her breath mist as she spoke.

  She heard a sigh, and the cold quickly dissipated into the warm spring air.

  “Yu’er, what did I tell you?”

  He was using her family’s affectionate name for her

  She didn’t answer or raise her head. She was angry and embarrassed and exhausted, the combination robbing her of the will to speak. She felt her brother’s hand on her forehead as he pressed it gently up so she had to look at him.

  His sad look matched the tone in his voice, “Yu’er?”

  She then heard him growl as for the first time he saw her swollen face and the beginnings of the black eye that she knew would be fully formed soon.

  She needed to get to a healer immediately. The intensity of her emotions and fatigue was distracting her, though.

  “I didn’t do anything wrong. I was minding my own business. I wasn’t bothering them,” she whispered.

  Another sigh, and then he spoke, “C’mon. Let’s get you to a healer before you can’t walk from the blood loss and I have to carry you. And then I’ll walk you home so you can change before your mother finds you dressed like that and smelling so awful.”

  Yu dragged her feet and leaned against her brother for strength. Together they walked out of the isolated barn and toward their home in the city center.

  He did end up having to carry her, to her shame and frustration.

  Yu kneeled, fully healed, at the far end of the long polished dinner table with her family.

  She ate the meal of rice and spicy beef, moving her chopsticks slowly. Her uncles, brothers, and her father and his three wives also sat around the table making quiet and polite conversation.

  She glanced out of the corner of her eye toward the opposite side of the table. She saw her father at the head position, his head turned to his left to speak to one of his wives. The first, Ning Huiqing, hated Yu for reasons beyond her understanding. Next to that conniving and vicious woman was Yu’s mother, and next to her was her father’s third wife, Shen Guoling. Yu had little interaction with her and did not know her very well.

  Opposite them were Yu’s uncles, Gen and Zhao. Yu enjoyed what little time she had with her uncles. Gen was always gentle and understanding when he healed her. Zhao, on the other hand, was mischievous and joked around all the time. He didn’t seem to care about anything except gambling and women as far as Yu could tell.

  She loved them. But at the same time, she hated the looks of pity that always showed on their faces when they interacted with her. In some ways, pity was worse than the abuse she received from others. Physical pain would fade after all, but the looks never stopped, and had not for thirteen years.

  Next to them was Lei. He was, of course, her favorite. The eldest brother, Howin, was technically Lei’s senior, but was far less talented. Thus he would have been lower down the table were he present. However, he was off learning how to cultivate at some sect or school somewhere. Yu didn’t know or care for the details.

  A seat away from Lei were the identical twin boys who were her primary tormentors. Compared to the large Lei, they looked small. But they were actually average in looks, size, and build. Their short black hair and maroon eyes made them look sinister, in Yu’s opinion. It certainly fit their personalities.

  Delun and Deming had never liked her, and not just because of her condition. As with their appearance, they were both barely average cultivators, despite having their father’s Fire affinity. Unfortunately for them, theirs was many times weaker than their father’s. As such, they would not inherit any standing or position beyond that which they could earn for themselves.

  Most importantly, however, they felt that Yu was spoiled and received more than them because she was the only child of the strongest wife. The most baffling part of that was that Yu could never figure out why. All they said was that they should have what she did as she didn’t deserve it. That made no sense to her. What did she have other than ridicule and abuse? She would trade positions with them at a moment’s notice were it possible. To be average would be so much better than being what she was.

  Focusing back on her meal, Yu ignored the buzz of conversation around her. By ignoring the rest of her family, she hoped to avoid notice, although she did see that the twins were giving her sneering looks throughout the meal. Despite her twin brothers being older than her, third and fourth after Howin and Lei, they rarely acted their age.

  A few minutes later, when everyone was finished, her father cleared his throat. “You are dismissed,” he called to the room.

  Yu was relieved, thinking nobody had told her father about the barn incident.

  But just as Yu was about to get up and hurry away, he continued, “Not you, Yu’er. And Lei, please stay as well.”

  Yu’s shoulders slumped. She knew what was coming, and her heart fell in advance. This would be another lecture about her practicing her martial skills. Every time something happened to her
that resulted in a healing, a reminder of her constraints would ensue. After all these years of practicing against her parents’ wishes, and the injuries that resulted from that, she was used to it. Not that it hurt any less.

  “I would like to stay as well, lord husband,” her mother said.

  He nodded at her once and the rest of the family silently started to leave. They all knew Yu was in trouble again. They probably wondered how bad it would be this time, and hoped she wouldn’t disgrace the family too much. All, that is, except the twins and their mother, Ning Huiquing, who lingered behind. Delun and Deming were smirking. They were overjoyed every time their father took Yu to task. On top of that, it appeared that Lei might be involved as well, and that would bring them even more delight.

  Huiqing, on the other hand, was glaring. Yu could practically feel the vitriol that woman had for her.

  Over the years Yu had learned that it was her, not her twin boys, who came up with most of the torments in Yu’s life. Yu wasn’t sure if the twins were clever enough to come up with more than their favorite game of “hit the freak.” The twins were not subtle, but Yu kept the beatings secret, lest she should look even weaker in her father’s eyes. And they were always smart enough to keep it just short of doing lasting harm.

  Huiqing, on the other hand, was the real brains and power behind Yu’s troubles within the clan. Not that she could prove anything.

  The twins’ mother used her position and influence to encourage, manipulate, or even force others to cause Yu problems. And her sons were her favorite instruments for this. Not that they were unwilling. In fact, they were likely that woman’s most enthusiastic accomplices. She and they also used their positions to protect any who harassed Yu.