Chapter 279: Special Circumstances

In the Northern Point, the previous headmaster of the Crafting School, Zi Jin, was seated in his courtyard.

He was sitting in front of a stone table with a serious look on his face as he looked at a violet jade slip. On the table in front of him, a series of rare herbs had been laid out in a single spread. Each herb had a very rich miasma coming from it. They were clearly very precious herbs.

There were over a dozen other jade slips piled up one after another to his right.

On the other side were sheafs of papers with characters scribbled all over them.

After looking at the jade slip in his hand, Zi Jin lifted his hand holding a brush to write something down on a paper.

When the paper was filled up, he put down the brush and looked over the other sheafs of paper in deep concentration.

“If we use some fantawood tricolored herbs as a primer and then some bluefire dragonfruit as the main component, the refined energy from the firecore primal stones should be able to help Yunfei’s essence fireseed gain some strength…” Zi Jin pondered. He scratched his head to think and gather his thoughts properly.

But even that was was fruitless.

“The bluefire dragonfruit is disposed to Yin and is poisonous, so there’s some worrisome side-effects…

“Then, what if we use viofire tribreath flowers?” Zi Jin looked at another stalk of herbs nearby before then shaking his head again. “No no, what is required to use the flower is far too harsh. If Yunfei can’t handle it…

“These eight-thousand year old flameberries might do, but without some aquacore fruits as a component, Yunfei would never be able to eat it!”

One by one, Zi Jin went through each of the herbs he had in stock to see if any of them could be used to help Bai Yunfei regrow his essence fireseed. There were reasons behind each herb. If the chances of success weren’t too low, then was too dangerous for Bai Yunfei to take.

“Each of these drugs have unusual effects, but also have harmful effects in large amounts. If only the art of alchemy was still alive. Alas…

“The only option left is the fireseed spirit mushroom… it’s the most well-known ‘ordinary’ drug, but it's unbelievably hard to get!” Zi Jin sighed. “Is our only option the soulbeast forest? Perhaps I can seek elder Hai’s assistance. After his travels, the amount of herbs and minerals he has surely must be large. I haven’t seen him in many years either. It’s possible he might have one of them…”

The presence of another person drawing near snapped him out of his thought, “Eh? Is that Yunfei?”

Following a wave of his right hand, all of the things on the table disappeared into his space ring right before a knock on the door could be heard.

“Yunfei, come in.”

The door opened to reveal Bai Yunfei. Walking slowly into the room, the student bowed to his tutor. “Master.”

Zi Jin nodded. “Yunfei, what brings yo—”

His voice hitched in his throat as he realized that something was off with the situation. Startled, Zi Jin stared at Bai Yunfei in worry, “Yunfei, your… where is your essence fireseed!?”

It was a startling discovery. From what Zi Jin could tell, Bai Yunfei had no essence fireseed in him!!

A blur flew from where Zi Jin was seated to right in front of Bai Yunfei. The next second, Zi Jin’s right hand pressed against Bai Yunfei’s left shoulder. He began to inspect every part of Bai Yunfei’s body for any semblance of his essence fireseed.

“It… it really isn’t here! Yunfei, what happened? Did the last of it disappear last night!?” Upon the finishing of his investigation, Zi Jin was thunderstruck, and his eyes reflected his panic.

If such a reaction could be had from the previous headmaster of the Crafting School and a Soul King, it could be seen that Bai Yunfei was clearly important to him.

His reaction was heart-warming, to say the least. “Master, don’t be worried. I’m fine. My essence fireseed is still here…” Bai Yunfei explained.

“What? It’s not gone?” Zi Jin repeated in confusion. “But how?” He asked, “I don’t sense it in your body at all...”

“It’s not in my body, I took it out.” Bai Yunfei nodded.

“What!? You took your essence fireseed out of your body!?” Gasping, Zi Jin immediately blew up in anger, “How could you be so rash, Yunfei!? How could you take it out! The longer it's out of your body, the more dangerous it gets! Where is it? Hurry up and put it back into your body!”

His eyes roamed around the room along with his soulsense to find it, but nothing could be found.

Bai Yunfei lifted his right hand up to summon the Cataclysmic Seal. “Master, I have it in my Cataclysmic Seal…”

Zi Jin paused here for a moment to stare incredulously at him. “What did you say? You put your essence fireseed in your lifebound armament? Furthermore… you had it stored in your space ring!?”

This time, Bai Yunfei found himself unable to reply. Nodding slowly, he asked, “Yes. Is… is that a problem?”

“It’s…” Continuing to stare at the Cataclysmic Seal above Bai Yunfei’s hand, Zi Jin said, “How could the essence fireseed be put into a space ring? If anything…”

He reached a tentative hand toward the Cataclysmic Seal, but as soon as his hand drew close, a fearsome blaze exploded from it, causing him to withdraw his hand. “What a strong repulsive force… it really is your essence fireseed!”

Unable to investigate the Cataclysmic Seal, Zi Jin thought to himself for a second. “Yunfei, explain to me everything that happened from the very beginning!”

“Yes, master.” Bai Yunfei replied. “Yesterday night, I…”

Word for word, he repeated the abridged story of what happened to him to Zi Jin. The Zi Jin listened intently to him, and every so often, a puzzled look could be seen.

By the time Bai Yunfei finished, he was aching with curiosity. “Master, in your observation, what is going on?”

Zi Jin shook his head. “I do not have a clue...”

“Ah!?”

“Yunfei, do you understand just how incredulous this situation is?” A resigned sigh escaped Zi Jin’s lips. “There is plenty that I know, but even this is beyond my comprehension…

“Firstly,” he began, “one’s origin essence cannot be stored into a space ring….

“Secondly, not only does the origin essence get weaker the longer it’s outside its host body, there is a great deal of danger by the time half a day has gone by.

“But from what you are telling me, your essence fireseed has been outside your body since yesterday night without going back in… and even more importantly, your essence fireseed is ‘trapped’ inside your lifebound armament and can’t be recalled… I can't say I’ve ever seen a situation like this before.”

“Does that mean…” Bai Yunfei started to ask, “No one in history has done this before?”

The slightest of grimaces twitched to life on Zi Jin’s lips. “One’s origin essence is extremely important. No soul cultivator would willingly have their origin essence outside of their body. People with lifebound armaments can almost be counted on one hand, and your situation has far too many unique factors. I have never heard of such a person with a case like yours throughout history. There is no precedent, and there are no references to go over. Thus I… I cannot guarantee or even say anything on behalf of your situation.”

“Then… what can be done now? Master, I can’t recall my essence fireseed to me. Isn’t that supposed to be dangerous?” Bai Yunfei was starting to panic now. Zi Jin was supposed to be the all knowing one, but what would happen now since Zi Jin knew nothing? According to what he said, Bai Yunfei’s essence fireseed would disappear after some time. How could that be good for him?

“Yunfei, don’t worry yourself too much. Like I said, your situation is extremely different. That in itself isn’t a bad thing.” said Zi Jin. “Take a look at your essence fireseed, does it seem like it's getting weaker?”

Now that was a good question to ask.

Quickly trying to get a feel for his essence fireseed within the Cataclysmic Seal, Bai Yunfei was able to figure out his current situation. Looking back to Zi Jin, he said, “Master, why do I feel that my essence fireseed is a little stronger than before. It feels like it is actually recovering?”

“Oh, really!?” This was the first definite news Zi Jin heard all day. Smiling, he asked, “Then aside from being unable to recall your essence fireseed, do you feel unwell or anything of that sort?”

“Not at all.” Bai Yunfei replied.

The light in Zi Jin’s eyes shined even brighter now. For a whole minute, he did nothing but think. “If that’s the case, then you shouldn’t have to worry for now. Pay close attention to how your essence fireseed changes before making a decision. It may very well be what you say. Your essence fireseed is too weak to leave your lifebound armament, but it isn’t in any danger of disappearing. It might not be a bad thing for your lifebound armament and it doesn’t seem to be hurting you, so don’t worry. When it grows stronger, it may very well ‘return’ to your body by itself.”

Since Zi Jin didn’t have any better plans, Bai Yunfei nodded his head. “Yes, master. Your student will be careful.”