As Heavens Divide

After splashing some fire element materials into the campfire, Xin nervously wiggled his fingers. His heart was still beating at full throttle — even as most of his injuries were healed, the phantom pain and battle rush were hard to get rid of.

Xin glanced at his medicine pouch. Spirit leaves — vowed not to take any more. Painkiller pills — already took one, it will be hours before it's safe to take another with how strained my meridians are. Shit, I'll have to persevere.

Xin sighed out and limped towards the downed beast, groaning. Its body had already broken down into cultivation materials, but they were garbage now. The true liquid gold was the gooey substance that leaked underneath — materialized spirit essence. It was soaked in both Xin's qi and tiger's animal qi, and would be a perfect conduit to absorb the spiritual remnants of the broken totem. Once all of these were combined, Xin would be able to utilize the materials he brought, refining them.

"Let's do this." Xin said out loud. He enjoyed the sound of his own voice, having had to stay in silence for so long, but he also felt his stomach drop. The snarky presence that commented on his every move was now gone, he was alone in his head once again. A relief, of course, but it was hard to deny that he grew used to it. "Eh, you're just goo now, old friend."

Xin pulled out a suction, shaped like a small blacksmith's bellow, sucked the spirit essence in and splatted it on the bottom of his cauldron. It took him a dozen minutes to collect all the essence, and his mouth burnt, tasting like dirt, rotten meat and spices, but he was finally done with it.

He then sprinkled several types of absorption materials into the mix, to see which one would fit. The spirit essence was so volatile and varied that it would be hard to predict its properties in advance, and he'd have to improvise and adjust his recipe based on how it goes. It wasn't just a spiritual, but also an intellectual problem, just as Xin liked it.

Soul drain moss? Nah, it seems the Yang qi is even more potent than I predicted. Not surprised. Grave fungus dust? Perfect, but it will burn too quickly. Could make a paste out of it, but it would take two hours to prepare it. Will work as secondary material, I guess. It's not too reactive.

No easy solution, huh? Water element materials, then. Dry spiral coral isn't reacting, but why? I'll be fucked if I know. Shadow sponge, mayhaps… Yes. Good. Let's up the heat.

Xin added more fuel to the fire, then removed the unfitting materials with his spoon. He poured out all the shadow sponges he had into the cauldron, then dipped the grave fungus into salted vinegar and kept it at hand, to add gradually, as a supporting material. Fuck, these sponges are too expensive to be used like this, and I am already broke!

The tiger spirit was a Yang creature, and its spirit essence was unbalanced as it died in agony, but these sponges were quite Ying in nature, and quite absorbent on top, making them a perfect material to contain and stabilize the corrupt qi flow. Xin boiled the mix for ten more minutes, the emerging smoke hurting his soul, but it was nothing compared to any of the attacks the tiger launched at him just some minutes ago.

Let's add some cold distilled water. It hissed as Xin slowly poured it in, creating spots on the subtract material. As Xin stirred the mix, a black bubble formed in the middle of it. Good, everything is perfect, but its quality is quite subpar. Need to donate some human qi. 

Xin sighed out again, breaking his internal resistance. He endured too much pain in the past few weeks, and what he was about to do wasn't any more pleasant.

Fuck. Let's do this. He stuck his hand into the boiling water, then grabbed the black bubble and popped it. The dark goo coated around his hand, but did nothing to protect him from the burning pain.

Agh! Endure. Endure. Endure. No qi techniques, no spirit leaves, no painkillers. Nothing that would lower the refinement chance! Endure!

Should be enough. Is it wishful thinking? Probably. A few more moments… Fuck, it hurts!

When Xin pulled out his hand, he felt more than drained. It felt like he fought the tiger twice, and slept with Erdeni thrice. The pain was unbearable, but his human qi was also exhausted, making him feel like a puppet in his own body.

Xin ignored the pain. Will have to do the rest of refinement with my other arm. It's good that I sacrificed the one with wrist meridians torn. Xin stirred some more, then pulled out the rare white tiger refinement materials out of his bag of holding.

There you are, my treasures. Cost me a fortune.

There were several little trinkets among them, then some wood and metal path materials to support the new totem's qi flow, and a rare qi soaked remembrance goldfish, a potent soul type water path material. But the main exhibit was of course a glass organ jar, filled with expensive conservatives to preserve its most valuable ingredient.

White tiger organs! Qi active! Where did Feng Chonglin even get these? These belonged to an unborn fetus, and look slightly underdeveloped, but are still legitimate organs of a Baihu! Compared to supplement materials, these are top notch for organ refinement. 

As per Feng Chonglin's advice, Xin first poured out the water from the jar into the cauldron. The mix contained some amount of umbilical waters, and was thus very beneficial. It was a great first step in setting up the alchemical bonding between the regular tiger spirit essence and the white tiger's body.

Xin spent the next hour stirring the mix some more, refining it, sprinkling little ingredients in to regulate the mix and giving it space and time to develop proper connections. He then pulled out a sieve and poured the water out, collecting a refined totemic core.

Please, be stable. Please.

Yes! It's white, transparent and almost round, egg-like in its shape! Top-tier! Xin's heart was moved, he never refined something so complex. The totemic core looked similar to a xiandao core, but was actually more akin to complex embryonic membranes, yet hollow inside. Now, it was all about filling it with the white tiger essence and awakening it.

The method Xin was using was second best to outright refining a white tiger's spirit in terms of effectiveness. What it was superior at was the fact that this totem would carry over the taming status of the previous totem, which in Xin's case was fully tamed. It would also be a blank slate, filled with Xin's human qi, while the previous totem's memories would be refined or expunged.

Xin gasped in excitement as he held his precious treasure, then laid it gently on a clean cloth.

Now, for the materials. 

***

Seven hours later.

Xin added the last remnant of the material qi hunger inducing ointment onto the totemic core, then added the fetus's brain mush to the mix, letting it absorb. In the past few hours, Xin recharged his healing seed dao shard and used his plant reinvigoration dao shard to restore himself back to full health again, then spent a few more hours letting the totemic core absorb the materials. 

Xin was absolutely drained both body and mind, but was manic in his excitement to finish the refinement. His pupils wide, he added more fire path materials into the cauldron, melting a portion of clean silver. He then poured it out into an iron scoop, large enough to fit the totemic core.

Please. Please. Xin picked up the totemic core, now no longer transparent, but white and slightly silvery, firm to the touch, and lowered it into the melting liquid. Please.

Hiss. The core angrily absorbed the metal, becoming one with it, and formed into a white tiger figurine!

Xin reached out to it, trying to touch it with his soul. He felt a strong, fresh presence, solid but gentle, while his own soul felt weak, even scarred.

"Don't put me inside your core just yet, master." A pleasant baritone called out. "I'm still hungry from that ointment of yours, I might harm it."

Xin smiled in delight:

"You can already speak, tiger? And you understand cultivation?"

"Well, no. But I can make an educated guess, based on what I experienced in the past few hours."

"Oh, so you remember the process? The manuals never mentioned that."

"Apparently." The totem sounded like it was smiling. Xin found its presence soothing, and it was so easy to talk to! We are compatible! "My internal image is still that of a cub you used for refining, might be an issue if you plan to manifest me for combat."

Hmmm, weird. Xin rubbed his chin.

"It wasn't a cub, but a fetus. Your voice is also awfully manly for someone with a young internal self-image." Xin was filled with suspicion, right after feeling a great relief. When will this torture end?

"I am as confused as you are. Order me to tell the truth if you doubt my words, it would be twice as hard for me to lie, as I am both a righteous creature and fully tamed by you."

"Sure." Xin was astonished, at this moment, this newborn creature was sharper than he is! But it's understandable, given my mental drain, Xin thought. "Tell me everything about you. Tell me anything you're hiding. It's an order."

"I gladly oblige, master. I am a white tiger totem, newborn. I harbour no ill intent and my personal memories are limited to the past few hours. I can feel that your current state is quite dire, and understand that a tiger totem was refined to create me, but other than this, I am clueless. I have an ability to speak, courtesy of your human qi, yet I am still figuring things out. It's still easier for me, given that I am a totem."

"In what way?"

"Well, as a totem of an intelligent creature, I already have a defined character. I won't have to spend decades figuring out what I am, like humans do. There is some beauty in this simplicity, don't you think?"

Xin was astonished, this newborn creature is already starting philosophical discussions?

"I believe that there is some danger in simplicity, too. If I am faced with a dilemma, one that goes against your innate sense of justice, which might be less nuanced than that of a human, will you rebel against me?" Xin's worries about the totem's plotting were alleviated now, but there was also another problem that wasn't the case with his old pet — this one is righteous, and will want me to behave accordingly!

"The world isn't black and white like my fur, you know? Hehe, sounds like my master's qi is soaking through. But eh, as long as your intent is righteous, I'll have to trust your judgement.."

"This always comes down to 'do ends justify the means', doesn't it? Well, do they? What do you think?" Xin stared at the figurine, pondering its nature.

"My nature has no answer to this question. I guess we'll have to do with some nurture first. Lead the way, master."

"You have a way with words, creature. I like it."

"And I like you, master. But please, take care of yourself now, your state is rather worrisome. And to be frank, being spat into existence is awfully tiring, so I'd rather nap, too. Being made into Something, out of Nothing. Curious."

"Deal, but you've got to stop quoting me. That's not a good look." 

"Deal."

Xin chuckled and dropped on a plaid near the campfire.

I won.

Won!