The Small Courtyard

Situ Chen possessed a fairly handsome face with a high-bridged nose, bearing a slight resemblance to Situ Mo. Flames surged across his body, entwined with waves of black and red qi. His flames were exceedingly rare, taking the shapes of various birds at his sides with formidable might, forcefully shattering bolts of lightning. His two long sabers swirled with fierce wind like pouncing tigers. Seeing this, the cultivators nearby showed hesitation. Neither Miao Ye nor Situ Chen was someone to be trifled with, and little could be gained by meddling in their fight. Soon, the onlookers scattered in all directions, leaving the two confronting each other in midair. Situ Chen grew even firmer in his stance. That Cloud-Sinking Pearl was the key to forging his magical artifact. At once, he said, "I have no wish to waste time with you here. Why not name a price, Fellow Daoist, and we can come to an amicable agreement..." "Bah!" Miao Ye sneered and cursed, "Fuck your mother! Where do you think your Crow in Flames came from? Situ Tang snatched my ancestor's fortuitous encounter at Mount Douxuan to acquire that technique! And now you dare put on an act and talk about an amicable agreement? Pui!" The faint smile that had just appeared on Situ Chen's face instantly darkened. He said coldly, "How dare you speak a Real Person's name aloud? You only have yourselves to blame for losing your fortune, yet you take it out on others. You truly are unreasonable." Miao Ye let out a furious laugh. "The old bastard is already dead anyway! What can you do to me even if I curse him to your face?!" Unable to see eye to eye, the two immediately clashed in battle. Clad in dark-gold spiritual armor, Li Xuanfeng gradually reined in his radiance, concealing himself within the cloud layer to observe them closely. *So it was you... Crow in Flames. It truly is the Crow in Flames...* In the memories of the townsfolk of Lijing, a severe drought had once struck Lichuankou, emptying nine out of ten homes. Back then, Old Man Xu's entire family had been eaten by others, leaving only him alive, while Chen Erniu had fled to become a tenant farmer under the Li family. When Old Man Xu died before Li Xuanfeng, he had revealed a secret: Tangjin Gate had induced monsters to slaughter people and harvest fire, all to prepare a wisp of Crow-in-Flames Qi for their young master's Qi Refinement. *Crow-in-Flames Qi.* Those events were far too distant in the past. Heaven-and-earth spirit qi was gathered wisp by wisp, often requiring years or even decades. Tangjin Gate had surely harvested qi in more places than just Lichuankou, only no one cared. Mortals had short lives and lacked the leisure to dwell on past grief. Yet Xu San, clutching six-year-old Li Xuanfeng's pant leg before drawing his final breath, had left an impression that lasted over seventy years. Li Xuanfeng lightly drew his longbow. A dark arrow trembled, leapt from the quiver at his waist, and settled upon the string. Golden light condensed rapidly along the bowstring. Holding the bow, he bided his time without loosing the shot. Conserving his momentum, he slowly widened the distance instead, lying in wait within the clouds for the right opportunity while carefully committing Situ Chen's appearance to memory. *Inside the grotto-heaven, neither of them will fight to the death. That would be picking up sesame seeds only to lose the watermelon... They are merely testing each other. This man is the young master of Tangjin Gate, by no means easy to deal with. If I make no move, so be it... but if I do strike, it must be a fatal blow. I cannot alert the enemy and put him on guard!* Amid the dark sea of clouds, Situ Chen gripped a saber in each hand. Black-red flames blazed around him, hurling arcs of dark fiery fury with every sweep of his blades. At his side, Miao Ye refused to be outdone, lightning crackling within the bronze alms bowl held between his hands. Both made hand seals and cast spells, probing each other several dozen times until their tempers flared and real fury took hold. The clash grew ever more grand, black-red flames and thunder striking and scattering, their reverberations echoing across the distant horizon. Sure enough, seeing that neither side would yield, both showed signs of wariness. This grotto-heaven was different from the outside world. Fearing that their mutual struggle would allow a third party to profit, they quickly reached a tacit understanding and ceased fighting. Sheathing his sabers without another word, Situ Chen merely snorted coldly and rode the wind toward the distant mountains. Miao Ye spat at his retreating back, turned around, and flew in an entirely different direction. Once the two parted, Li Xuanfeng concealed his spiritual armor, mounted the wind, and quietly shadowed Situ Chen northward without making a sound. As Li Xuanfeng traveled through the clouds and mist, the streaks of light around him noticeably multiplied, piercing through the dark gray fog. There were that many openly flying, and counting those traveling unobtrusively with dimmed magical light, there were likely over a dozen people. *I wonder how they are distributed across this sea of clouds. A rough estimate puts it at forty or fifty people, with at least ten bearing karmic mandates. If a true melee breaks out, it will be quite a show!* Casting a glance around, he flew forward with his head down. Soon, a mountain range emerged before him. Deep brown foothills rose from the clouds, stretching straight toward the sky, covered mostly in various kinds of spirit pines that glittered in clusters and exhaled gusts of pale green wind. The wind howled incessantly, scattering the sea of clouds in all directions, only for them to surge back like ocean waves, coming and going in endless cycles—truly resembling an island set in an ocean. Among this vast pine forest lay embedded emerald-green stone slabs, winding upward from the mountain base like a massive azure scaly dragon all the way to the summit. Pavilions, towers, and courtyards lined the path, brimming with immortal aura. The moment he drew near the mountain range, the art-borne wind encircling him was completely scattered by the green gale. Stumbling midair, he had no choice but to alight at the mountain's foot. Li Xuanfeng discerned it after a breath, recognizing this spiritual wind as the Chongyuan Great Gale. Capable of scattering wind arts, felling spirit boats, kicking up wind and sand, and disrupting magical artifacts, it was a fairly decent spiritual treasure that even Foundation Establishment cultivators would covet. In the mortal world, this wind was exceedingly rare, found only sparsely in Daxiyuan to the west, where wisps might occasionally be gathered to forge magic treasures meant to knock down others' artifacts. If released outside, it would be enough to make rogue cultivators fight until their heads bled. Yet here, the wind seemed endless, swirling endlessly around the mountain. Knocked from the air by the gale, no one stopped to collect it; instead, everyone hurried up the mountain. Just as Li Xuanfeng landed, a black-robed man descended ahead of him. He had thick but faint eyebrows and sunken cheeks. Cupping his hands, he said: "I spotted you in the air earlier, Fellow Daoist Xuanfeng. The mountain is perilous—why not travel together?" This man was none other than Lin Chensheng of the Great Xiukui Abbey. Thanks to his earlier warning, Li Xuanfeng held a favorable impression of him. Raising an eyebrow, Li Xuanfeng nodded and said softly, "Very well." The two strode forward, circulating their movement arts across the stone tiles. Bypassing the spirit pines beside them, they briskly made their way toward the nearest pavilion. This pavilion was roughly the size of an ordinary household's courtyard, guarded by two stone lions before its gates. Li Xuanfeng focused his gaze and saw that someone had already arrived before the courtyard ahead of them. It was a female cultivator clad in red and draped in a red cloak, scrutinizing the pavilion. Cradled in her arms was a small halberd roughly an arm's length, red and yellow throughout. It branched into three prongs that gathered at the tip like a flower petal, looking less like a weapon and more like a ceremonial vessel. The moment Li Xuanfeng and Lin Chensheng halted, the female cultivator turned around, eyeing them guardedly. She said softly, "Fellow Daoists... I arrived here first. Please look elsewhere..." Her gaze swept past Li Xuanfeng to Lin Chensheng behind him, and she froze. Her eyes curved slightly, revealing a look of pleasant surprise as she called out, "Brother Chensheng!" Lin Chensheng was equally surprised and replied, "So it is Fellow Daoist Yuzhuang..." A genuine smile appeared on his face as he introduced her to Li Xuanfeng: "This is Fellow Daoist Bi Yuzhuang of the Hengzhu Path, a close friend of mine since childhood!" Lin Chensheng then turned to Bi Yuzhuang with a smile. "This is Li Xuanfeng, a capable stalwart under True Person Yuansu." Bi Yuzhuang replied, her attitude shifting considerably. She smiled and said, "I was just fretting over being unable to open this formation... at a loss for what to do. You two have arrived at just the right time. Why don't we split what's inside together? It will save us from wasting time in tangled efforts." Lin Chensheng cupped his hands with a hint of embarrassment. "You know I know nothing of formations, and Fellow Daoist Xuanfeng is no expert either... Had Kan Ziyu been here, we might have given it a try." Bi Yuzhuang pondered for a breath before answering, "I examined it for a while. This formation is quite peculiar, bearing an ancient style. It lacks the Six Chapters and omits the Nine Glyphs. Having weathered millennia of changes, shifts in the world, and the concealment and alteration of fruit positions, it has lost much of its power." With a turn of her hand, she retrieved several jade wedges from her storage bag, each tied at the tail with slender chains. She tossed them out lightly, grasping the ends of the chains together in her hand. The jade wedges settled nimbly upon the formation, drifting along its surface. Bi Yuzhuang explained, "When this formation was laid, it must have been over a thousand years ago, before Lushui's restoration. Not only were Mingyang and Jueyin both present, but Taiyang and Taiyin might also have existed in the world. Hence, its nodes employed Yin and Yang to fix the array, making it exceptionally sturdy. "The present age has changed too much. People today favor the Five Virtues and Three Metals to lay formations, and almost no one employs Yin and Yang. Although the impact within the grotto-heaven is much milder, flaws have inevitably emerged after all." She lightly tugged the chains, and wandering points of light gradually surfaced upon the array. Bi Yuzhuang pointed out several of them and murmured, "You two need only strike these flaws according to my spiritual sense's guidance." Lin Chensheng flicked his wrist, bringing out a talisman. It was pitch-black, silently flowing with iridescent light. Holding it for a moment, he formed seals, cast a spell, and consecrated the talisman, crashing it downward with a boom. Lin Chensheng had clearly held back, not using his full strength. A muffled bang rang out, and the formation flickered before lighting up once more. Li Xuanfeng drew his bow without nocking an arrow, condensing only a long streak of golden light. He shot an arrow into the formation, likewise restraining his force, shaking the array violently. The formation had not been meticulously crafted to begin with; it was more like something casually set up to guard a courtyard. Riddled with flaws, it was shattered to pieces beneath their combined effort, and the two stone beasts at the courtyard gate slowly dimmed. The three reined in their power. Bi Yuzhuang then took out a brilliant white orb from her storage bag and tossed it lightly. The moment the magical artifact touched the ground, it rose into the air and transformed into an armored warrior in white. Possessing only a peak Qi Refinement cultivation and regular facial features, it stood up silently and strode into the courtyard. *It bears some resemblance to Yuan Tuan's Qingxianyue...* Li Xuanfeng watched for a couple of breaths. The white-armored warrior pushed open the gate and walked inside without hesitation. Directly in the courtyard lay a pile of collapsed rubble. The stones were relatively intact, enough to vaguely discern that a stone beast had once stood there. This stone beast was neither wolf nor tiger. The head left on the ground possessed three eyes and sharp fangs, appearing exceedingly ferocious. A gemstone was embedded in the third eye, its exact nature unknown. Li Xuanfeng felt it looked familiar. After discerning it for a breath, he suddenly remembered that a similar stone statue stood before True Person Yuansu's gates. Sure enough, the two beside him turned their gazes toward him simultaneously. Lin Chensheng said in a low voice, "A Three-Eyed Tiaoshan Beast... This beast can protect formations and invite wealth. Traces of it still existed in ancient times, and people often used its likeness to guard formations. The most recent one... sigh!" Li Xuanfeng had heard that Yuansu once kept such a spirit beast, only for Situ Tang of Tangjin Gate to kill it. He asked, "This gemstone is...?" Neither Lin Chensheng nor Bi Yuzhuang recognized it. Li Xuanfeng gathered it with his magic power and said softly, "This object pertains to that spirit beast. I shall bring it back for the Real Person, so I will take it first." The two naturally nodded, watching the white-armored warrior ransack the several side rooms inside. It brought out a pile of items and carried them easily to the gate, laying them out one by one. There were dozens of ancient texts, over a dozen jade bottles, and items like jade pillows and jade prayer mats. Perhaps the courtyard's master had never imagined that anyone would breach the grotto-heaven, leaving without packing anything away. Lin Chensheng wasted no time, picking up the ancient texts first and passing them to the other two, letting all three read them according to their usual practice. Li Xuanfeng examined them carefully: thirteen were on formations, seven were cultivation methods, and the remaining dozen or so were biographies, novels, and catalogs of demonic beasts, mostly centered around dragonkin of the sea. Beside him, Bi Yuzhuang finished reading through the formation diagrams and sighed. "A pity, what a pity... These formations are truly exquisite... But with the changes in heaven and earth, most no longer possess any reference value..." Li Xuanfeng reviewed the cultivation methods: three were for Embryonic Breathing—two of the fourth rank, *Six Chapters of Seeking Immortality* and *Scaled Beast Inquiring the Dharma*, and one of the fifth rank, titled *Insights from Contemplating the Taihua Scripture*. *These ancients were truly unadorned and straightforward when naming things, never bothering with flashy titles.* Among the three, the six wheels cultivated by *Scaled Beast Inquiring the Dharma* could only transition into Water Virtue methods, making it somewhat restrictive. The others were mostly versatile, though *Six Chapters of Seeking Immortality* had a special note appended at the end stating that it could not transition into combined ancient arts. *What combined ancient arts... I've never even heard of them... Where could one find them nowadays...* These three Embryonic Breathing methods were useless to him, but they were exceptionally good for his clan's juniors. Though he did not know which Embryonic Breathing method his juniors practiced aside from the *Taiyin Breathing and Wheel Nourishing Scripture*, there was no way it reached the fifth rank. *Only inside a grotto-heaven can methods of such high rank still be found nowadays!* Committing these three methods to memory, he found that three of the remaining four were Qi Refinement methods, all introductory excerpts likely used by the courtyard's master for selection. The last one could be cultivated all the way to Foundation Establishment—the complete version of one of those Qi Refinement texts. *It seems the courtyard's master ultimately chose this one.* The Qi Refinement volumes held little value, so Li Xuanfeng skimmed through them and carefully scrutinized the Foundation Establishment method. This ancient book was made of a peculiar material, feeling exceptionally tough to the touch. The large characters on the title page were crisp and decisive: *Taiyue Hanbei Book*. He opened the first page, intending to read it carefully.