Into the Furnace

"Take a strike of my sword." Li Chijing uttered those four words. A blazing white radiance poured from the longsword at his waist. As he lightly raised his left hand, the northern gale buffeting Yishan City abruptly subsided, leaving everything above and below veiled in pure white. Deng Qiuzhi pressed a hand against the sword at his waist, his heart churning. He, too, was a swordsman, and though his cultivation was not profound, he could still recognize the peerless grace of this strike. "Moon Crescent sword intent... Brother Chijing has always preferred to conceal his abilities and disliked showing off before others. Now that he has been driven into a corner, he finally conceals it no longer!" The white light streamed forth like moonlight, seeming slow yet hurtling forward to crash into Chi Jiuyun's crimson light barrier. As easily as tearing through window paper, it pierced through. Layers of protective golden light from talismans flared across Chi Jiuyun's body, only to shatter in vain. Feeling a chilling cold at his neck, Chi Jiuyun could only turn pale and cry out in panic: "Patriarch, save me!" A look of sudden understanding flickered in Li Chijing's eyes. The white light swept over Chi Jiuyun's face like moonlight without inflicting the slightest harm. Chi Jiuyun stood frozen in a daze for a moment before uttering: "Sword intent?!" Li Chijing cupped his hands as if he had not heard, replying simply, "Thank you for indulging me, Senior Brother Chi." "Good!" Chi Jiuyun shouted, his face still deathly pale. He asked, "What sword intent is this?" "Moon Crescent sword intent," Li Chijing replied with a slight nod. To his surprise, Chi Jiuyun's expression turned complicated, muttering, "What a pity! What a waste!" Clang! Only then did the sound of a sword hitting the ground ring out, snapping the onlookers back to reality. A buzz of whispers immediately broke out; restrained by Chi Jiuyun's background, none dared speak too openly, yet every eye was filled with shock. Li Chijing descended back into the mountains. Xiao Yuansi was already staring at him dumbfounded, asking incredulously, "You almost killed Chi Jiuyun?" "I wouldn't dare." Li Chijing sheathed his sword, looking at Xiao Yuansi's stunned expression and shaking his head. "If I had killed him, the other members of the Chi family wouldn't dare harm me because of what that Purple Palace Zhenren needs, but they would inevitably strike at my family. It was merely a lesson for him." "Aren't you afraid he'll nurse a grudge and make trouble for your clan?" Xiao Yuansi asked curiously in rapid succession. "Chi Jiuyun is arrogant and proud of his talent; he wouldn't resort to such petty tricks. I have dealt with him for so many years, so we understand each other well enough." Li Chijing smiled and stretched his back. Just then, a figure walked up outside the cavern courtyard and said respectfully, "Senior, messengers from the sect have arrived, asking you to set off." Xiao Yuansi froze. Having not lost his temper in over a decade, irritation surfaced on his face, and his sleeves fluttered without any wind as he snapped, "Are they in that much of a hurry?!" The messenger lowered his head in terror. Realizing he had lost his composure, Xiao Yuansi offered a gentle apology. Li Chijing nodded and said in a heavy voice, "Lead the way." "Jing'er!" Xiao Yuansi called out. Li Chijing unbuckled the sword at his waist, placed it into Xiao Yuansi's hands, and murmured, "Take care of yourself, Senior Brother." With that, he stepped outside and rode the wind down toward the mountain peak, leaving Xiao Yuansi clutching a jade slip in the wind with a conflicted expression. As if having made up his mind, Xiao Yuansi stared blankly at the horizon. "Master... forgive me, for I can no longer remain within the sect..." — Li Chijing entered the grand hall atop the peak. In the seat that normally belonged to Chi Jiuyun sat a man clad in green robes, his facial features veiled and indistinct. Chi Jiuyun stood off to the side, his head bowed in deep deference. Below knelt a figure—none other than Deng Qiuzhi, who kept his head down, lost in thought. "Greetings, Zhenren." Seeing the man's demeanor, Li Chijing knew he was likely a Purple Palace cultivator. He immediately bowed in greeting, then raised his head to stare at him, as though trying to see through the mist over his face and discern the true visage of this Purple Palace cultivator. "Presumptuous!" Chi Jiuyun gasped in alarm, rebuking at once. The Purple Palace cultivator waved a hand and replied, "No matter." The green-robed Purple Palace master looked down at him for a while before suddenly asking, "Moon Crescent sword intent... how long has it been since you mastered it?" "A little over five years." The Purple Palace cultivator murmured to himself for a moment, then stepped forward to examine between Li Chijing's eyebrows. Only after confirming that the crescent-moon marking that filled him with dread was absent did he speak: "I have never approved of Senior Brother Chi Wei's methods—sacrificing one genius of the sect after another merely to pave his own path of the Dao. Unfortunately... the old fossil back then favored his style. Now he is the sect master, and his cultivation is superior, so I have no choice but to follow orders." To the side, Chi Jiuyun hurriedly closed his eyes, pretending not to hear these words. The green-robed Purple Palace master glanced at him and continued, "Rise." Li Chijing rose to his feet. With a light lift, the Purple Palace cultivator took a step forward, and in the blink of an eye, brought the two of them above the sea of clouds. The brilliant morning sun was ascending into the sky. The Purple Palace cultivator led them southward, crossing the flat wilderness outside Yishan City and delving deep into the vast, boundless Nanjiang. "So fast!" The surrounding scenery flashed past like lightning, the forests below blurring into a smear of green, while distant mountains drew near at a speed visible to the naked eye. Li Chijing let out a low laugh and smiled. "How truly carefree and exhilarating a Purple Palace cultivator is!" The green-robed cultivator shot him an astonished glance. Maintaining the spell that sustained Li Chijing and Deng Qiuzhi's speed, he nodded in approval and replied, "Far from carefree! A Purple Palace cultivator has their own plights and embarrassments; it is just that most of the time, we at least do not have to serve as pawns." "Ah, you." The green-robed cultivator looked at him again, chuckled, and said softly, "You really suit my temperament. If things had not come to this pass, I would have liked to take you as my disciple and instruct you well. But as it stands, you have to die. Even if that great flood dragon fails in refining the pill, I must watch you turn to ash with my own eyes before I can leave with peace of mind." Li Chijing did not know whether to laugh or cry. The image of Li Mutian suddenly surfaced in his mind. Counting the years, Li Mutian had likely passed away. Cut off from all news here in Yishan City, he did not know how his family was faring right now. Deng Qiuzhi's face was completely ashen. He stared blankly at the morning sun on the horizon. The northern gale high in the sky whipped painfully against his cheeks, yet in his desolation, he was utterly oblivious. Before long, they landed in a forest. Before them lay a bottomless, massive pool. The water within was emerald green like jade, without even a single ripple. To one side sat a youth who appeared to be in his teens, draped in an ink-black robe that shimmered faintly like scales. He was leaning against a large tree with his eyes narrowed in sleep. The green-robed cultivator cupped his hands and said respectfully, "Senior, the people have been brought." The youth snapped his eyes open, revealing a pair of emerald-green vertical pupils like those of a serpent or flood dragon. Glaring at the green-robed cultivator, he asked in a soft, reedy voice, "Why is it you? Where is Chi Wei?!" "The sect master has entered closed-door cultivation to preserve his vitality, waiting only for Your Excellency's pill." The youth shook his head and sneered with a mocking hiss, "I'd say that old ghost fears me, afraid to set foot in my Nanjiang, so he had no choice but to entrust you to come!" Li Chijing was pinned by their dual pressure, unable to speak. Gazing at the youth's emerald-green slit pupils, he thought to himself, "This must be the great flood dragon the Purple Palace cultivator spoke of!" The flood dragon drew over Li Chijing, who was immobilized under the pressure, scrutinized him, and laughed, "Dao foundation 'Lake Moon Autumn'—it indeed meets the requirements... Wait right there!" Then with his other hand, he seized Deng Qiuzhi, examined him closely, and nodded. "Following the usual practice, this is a Qi Refinement cultivator who cultivated the secret art, under thirty years of age—the medicinal age is just right." With that, he grabbed Li Chijing and Deng Qiuzhi and plunged into the water. Li Chijing's vision went dark, and he landed in an immortal cave filled entirely with jasper and jade. Jade tables and jade chairs, jade platforms and jade shelves—a magnificent display of emerald jade. In the center stood a massive golden furnace that would take five men to encircle, beneath which burned black-red flames. The flood dragon patted his head, inspected his arms, and formed a hand seal, giggling, "You look truly delicious. If I hadn't promised Old Ghost Chi, I would really love to eat you." Having said that, he tossed Li Chijing into the pill furnace, scooped up Deng Qiuzhi, held him over the furnace, and slashed across his chest and abdomen with a hand. Instantly, flesh was torn open and blood poured out in torrents. Deng Qiuzhi groaned and passed out before being hurled violently into the furnace. Li Chijing remained unable to speak or move. Looking at Deng Qiuzhi's gruesome state, he gave a faint inward sigh as he watched the blood slowly spread out. As various spiritual materials dropped in and struck his body, Li Chijing thought quietly to himself: "I didn't even get to see Father once before his death, and now I'm ending my life in this remote Nanjiang. When I reach the underworld, Eldest Brother will probably nag me again! Master is imprisoned, Senior Brother is in Nanjiang as well, and only Senior Sister remains in the sect—I wonder if she can preserve Qingsui Peak's lineage..." All around him was already scorching hot. Li Chijing thought: "I only hope Second Brother and Third Brother can watch over the clan's younger generations, and see through the true face of the Qingchi Sect sooner!"