"Oh no, no, no. No matter what you say, absolutely not." Jiagu Qing kept shaking his head as Li Luoning followed him step by step through the courtyard.
"Senior, please help me this once. Senior, senior..." Li Luoning kept trailing after Jiagu Qing, pleading without pause.
"Little medicine fool, do you understand that using the clear heart dust-cleansing cauldron at a time like this would be pain like shattering every bone and building them all over again? You just changed your inner core. The spiritual power inside your body is already in chaos, and you are still carrying injuries. If you insist on forcing a marrow-cleansing now, how is that any different from asking for your own life? I do not agree. Nothing you say will change that." Jiagu Qing simply turned his face away and refused to look at Li Luoning anymore.
Seeing Jiagu Qing's attitude, Li Luoning let out a soft sigh before saying, "This junior knows that Senior Jiagu has always regarded me as a close friend and confidant. If senior were not truly concerned for my safety, you would never refuse so firmly. But it is precisely because of that that I must make this unreasonable request. I may be your friend, Senior Jiagu, but I am also Nian'er's master. My disciple is in danger now, and I cannot sit back and ignore it. Even if the floating light golden seal protects him and allows him to defend himself, that still does not mean he is free from peril. I once promised my disciple Yun Qingyi that I would take good care of his younger brother. No matter where Nian'er is at this moment, I must go and find out. I beg senior to understand a master's duty, and a master's love for his disciple."
After saying this, Li Luoning slowly dropped to his knees and bowed deeply to Jiagu Qing.
"Hey, what are you doing? Hey, you... you really are... fine, fine. I am afraid of you already." Jiagu Qing finally gave in.
Inside the wooden house, Li Luoning sat cross-legged on the bed with his five centers facing the sky, while Jiagu Qing sat on a stool nearby, holding the clear heart dust-cleansing cauldron in his hands.
"Have you thought this through? Once I begin, no matter what you say, I will not stop." Jiagu Qing still was not ready to give up and asked him one last time.
"I will trouble senior, then." Li Luoning smiled faintly and nodded.
As Jiagu Qing began chanting, a strand of blazing red power slowly drifted out from Li Luoning's chest and flew into the clear heart dust-cleansing cauldron. What came back out was a deep blue force carrying biting cold, and it was sent back into Li Luoning's body.
The moment that icy power entered him, Li Luoning felt a pain so sharp and piercing it reached his very heart. The two streams of power crashing wildly through his body shook every bone as though they were about to splinter apart. The violent agony inside him made his heart pound so hard that no matter how he tried to suppress it, he could not steady his ragged breathing. As the searing pain spread through him, Li Luoning felt as though ten thousand ants were gnawing through his flesh. His body began to tremble uncontrollably, and before long, cold sweat had soaked his clothes from head to toe.
At Nangzhe's residence,
Though Mie Xingzhe was no match for Nangzhe in cultivation, the floating light golden seal protected him, and Nangzhe's attacks could not harm him in the slightest. But for the same reason, neither of them could gain the upper hand.
Watching from the side, Hua Ruoying knew very well that if this continued, Mie Xingzhe would eventually lose once his strength ran out and the floating light golden seal weakened. With that thought, she drew the short blade Nangzhe had once given her. Twisting the handle open, she stabbed toward Nangzhe's back.
Sensing movement behind him, Nangzhe instinctively struck backward with a blast of force. Hua Ruoying had no time to dodge and was hit squarely in the chest. The short blade flew from her hand and scraped across Nangzhe's arm.
"Miss Ruoying!" When Mie Xingzhe saw Hua Ruoying get hurt, he immediately released the floating light golden seal and rushed toward her.
The blade had only grazed him, but Nangzhe frowned in irritation. He looked toward Hua Ruoying, who had been struck down by his blow in the distance. Then he saw Mie Xingzhe actually break his own floating light golden seal and run toward her. Nangzhe's expression changed at once. A sickly curve touched the corner of his lips, and in a cold voice he said, "You brought this on yourself." A powerful force gathered in his hand and split through the air straight toward Mie Xingzhe's back.
"Miss Ruoying, are you all right?" Mie Xingzhe had just crouched down to check her injuries when Hua Ruoying, who had been lying there with unfocused eyes and blood at the corner of her lips, suddenly widened her eyes and pushed him aside with all the strength she had left.
"Watch out!"
Her voice was dry and torn. She shoved Mie Xingzhe away, and the fierce strike in front of them smashed hard into her forehead.
"Miss Ruoying!" In that instant, Mie Xingzhe felt as though all the blood in his body had been drained away. He forgot to breathe. His lips parted soundlessly, one hand frozen in midair, as he watched Hua Ruoying crash down beside him and lose all signs of life.
When Nangzhe saw Hua Ruoying push Mie Xingzhe away and take the blow for him, even he sucked in a sharp breath. The veins stood out on the back of his hand, and he crushed the ring on his finger into pieces.
"Miss Ruoying, Miss Ruoying, no, no, do not die..." Mie Xingzhe's voice trembled and broke as he crawled to Hua Ruoying's side and gathered her into his arms. He poured his spiritual power into her body, sobbing helplessly as he looked at her.
Hua Ruoying no longer had any strength to respond to his cries. Her eyes only stared fixedly at Bingguo, who lay unconscious by the wall. When she saw a shadowy mist quietly leave Bingguo's body, a single tear of relief slipped silently down her face.
"No, no. Miss Ruoying, do not sleep. Please, do not sleep. Wake up." Holding Hua Ruoying as the warmth slowly left her body, Mie Xingzhe muttered almost blankly to himself, tears pouring from his eyes.
"Seize him!" Nangzhe's cold and furious order rang out to the ghost soldiers nearby. His voice sounded as though he wanted to grind his teeth to dust.
Under the tired moonlight, the moon itself quietly withdrew behind the clouds of night, leaving only a faint glimmer beneath the black trees. After Jiagu Qing sent the final thread of power into Li Luoning's body, he gently withdrew the clear heart dust-cleansing cauldron.
Li Luoning slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was dim, and deep exhaustion showed plainly on his face.
"How do you feel?"
Li Luoning raised one hand and lightly stirred his spiritual power. A pale ice-blue force slowly gathered in his palm.
"It feels... different. As though there is much more of a cold, desolate stillness within it."
"Naturally. This moonshadow core was forged from Li Minghan's resentment, feeding on the foul earth-energy of Wuming Demon Mountain. Even though the clear heart dust-cleansing cauldron can wash away the demonic power, some of the memories and nature inside it still remain. Of course it would feel more desolate." Seeing that Li Luoning appeared unharmed, Jiagu Qing simply picked up the tea nearby and took a drink.
"Many thanks for senior's help. I will never forget the grace of this lifesaving favor." Li Luoning stepped down from the bed and bowed with clasped hands.
"Oh, stop. This kind of lifesaving favor is better never happening again. I do not have that much patience to keep suffering along with your foolishness." Jiagu Qing turned his head away with obvious displeasure.
Li Luoning smiled without speaking. Just as he was about to say something, he heard a voice from outside.
"Immortal Master Xiaoyi, could you step out for a moment?"
The moment he heard someone call him by that name, Li Luoning's expression turned serious at once. That was the title he used in Liao Yin Immortal Realm. Anyone who knew that name must have come from there. But the voice also sounded strangely familiar. After thinking for a moment, Li Luoning opened the door and walked outside.
Once he reached the outer gate, he saw that Qingyuan was standing there alone.
"Qingyuan?" Li Luoning was curious how Qingyuan had found him. He quickly looked around and saw no soldiers. That told him at once Qingyuan was not here to arrest anyone.
"How did the war god know I was here?" Li Luoning asked.
Qingyuan hesitated for a moment. Then he took a flower bud from his robe. When it bloomed open, two spells appeared within it. One looked like a letter sealed by magic, and the other showed an image of this wooden house.
"I found this flower in the courtyard of Jingyun Residence. It carries the power of the Yinglong clan. I believe it was left behind on the day Dragon King Yingde was killed," Qingyuan explained.
"After that day, when Ruling helped you and your disciple escape from Liao Yin Immortal Realm, she was cast into the fallen immortal prison by the Immortal Sovereign. I had originally thought that once the Immortal Sovereign calmed down, I could find an excuse to have her released. But a few days ago, the Immortal Sovereign suddenly summoned me and ordered me to find you and your disciple within one month. Otherwise, Ruling would be convicted, have her inner core removed, and her soul shattered."
"So the war god has known all along that Nian'er and I were hiding here?" Li Luoning asked.
"At first I did not. I had no leads, so I went to Jingyun Residence hoping to find some trace there. That was when I saw the flower the Dragon King had left in the courtyard, and I followed it here alone," Qingyuan explained.
"May I take a look at that flower bud?" Li Luoning asked, extending his hand.
"Of course, Immortal Master."
Qingyuan immediately passed it to him.
The flower slowly bloomed in Li Luoning's hand. With a crisp sound, the seal on the letter shattered at once. The three of them looked at one another, not understanding what had happened. Li Luoning touched the letter lightly with his fingertips, and a handwritten message from Yingde Gengchen slowly unfolded before him.
"Nephew Luoning, by now you have surely learned of the matter of the twins. Minghan is not bad by nature. It is only that his temperament is extreme. If one day you brothers truly come to battle, I hope you will spare his life for the sake of your shared Li bloodline. Our two families have been close for generations. In the year the Li household met with disaster and dozens of lives were lost to the flames, I spent many years uncovering the truth. In the end I learned that the fire at the Li residence was caused by the Shangwei Heavenly Stone. And in all three realms, there is only one person capable of forging such a thing. That year, strange signs appeared in the heavens, and a prophecy descended: 'A pale lord falls, and from it blessing and disaster are born together. In the empty realm, a drifting fall begins. Clouds stir, and calamity comes to the immortals. Demonic spread remains unclean. A noble one is cornered like a trapped beast. All must yield to heaven's design.' I believe he feared the twin golden cores of your Li family. That is why he struck so viciously. Now his position is far beyond what it once was. If one moves openly against him, disaster will fall upon countless lives. You are alone and outnumbered. But if you are willing to endure for the peace of the three realms and keep the greater world in your heart, I, for the sake of all living beings, would be forever grateful. Now that you hold the Wings of the Yinglong, I am willing to entrust the Dragon Palace to you as well. I ask only that you think carefully. Whatever choice you make, let the greater good come first, and let the people of the three realms stand before all else. Here I offer my thanks."
The feelings in Li Luoning's heart would not settle for a long while. His face remained calm, but inwardly he still did not know how he should answer the burden Dragon King Yingde had left him in these words. Seeing that the contents of the letter were far too important, Li Luoning took a slow breath, turned his palm, and let ice slowly spread over the page before crushing it in one grip.
"Hey, hey, why did you destroy it? I had not even finished reading it!" Jiagu Qing protested from the side.
"War General Ruling will not be harmed," Li Luoning said softly.
"How does Immortal Master Xiaoyi know that Ruling will be all right?"
Li Luoning did not answer. He only looked Qingyuan over carefully, his gaze falling to the empty flower token hanging at Qingyuan's waist.
"The Immortal Sovereign only wanted to use you to find my hiding place as quickly as possible. You may have come here alone, but at this very moment, he already knows where I am." Li Luoning looked at the empty flower token as though he were speaking through it to someone else.
A shard of ice shattered the empty flower token at Qingyuan's waist.
Far away, Situ Fanzhi, who had been watching Qingyuan's every movement through that token, saw the image before him explode into fragments. Furious, he slammed a fist onto the table, took several heavy breaths, and still could not vent his anger. With one sweep, he overturned the book stand in front of him.
"Li Luoning! Let me see how much longer you can hide!" Situ Fanzhi forced the words out through clenched teeth.
"Immortal Master Xiaoyi!" Qingyuan had no time to stop him before the empty flower token at his waist shattered.
"There was no need for this, Immortal Master. If you truly did not want to see the token, you could have simply said so. I would have left it outside. Why destroy it? When I return to Liao Yin Immortal Realm, I still need it to pass through the barrier." Qingyuan sounded faintly displeased.
"After all these years of patrolling the barrier, has Qingyuan never noticed that something was wrong?" Li Luoning asked unhurriedly.
"What does Immortal Master Xiaoyi mean?" Qingyuan frowned, confused.
"The war god has fought countless battles and met countless people. How is it that such sharp powers of observation have never been used while patrolling Liao Yin Immortal Realm?" Li Luoning poured himself a cup of tea. "To enter and leave Liao Yin Immortal Realm, one does not need a token at all." He looked at Qingyuan with a smile in his eyes.
"No token is needed?" Qingyuan said in disbelief.
Li Luoning nodded lightly. "Does the war god still remember that my disciple Yun Wannian often ran outside of Liao Yin Immortal Realm before?"
"I remember. But what does that have to do with the token?"
"It was precisely because I feared he would sneak out that his token was always kept in my own hands. And yet every time, he still passed through the barrier of Liao Yin Immortal Realm with ease." Li Luoning explained.
"If the empty flower token is not used to pass through the barrier of Liao Yin Immortal Realm, then why does everyone in the realm receive one? What is it really for?" Qingyuan asked.
"It is used... to determine location. The Immortal Sovereign merely added an almost undetectable spell to the tokens of every important immortal friend, so that he could always know where those people were," Li Luoning said, remembering the flicker of magic he had sensed the day Mie Xingzhe was first rewarded with the token.
"That Immortal Sovereign of yours has always been like this. He is suspicious of everyone and trusts no one. Secretly watching all of you immortals with high cultivation is hardly surprising." Jiagu Qing shook his head helplessly from the side.
"Senior knows the Immortal Sovereign?" Qingyuan asked.
"Knows him? It is far more than that. I know him far too well!" Jiagu Qing suddenly drew himself up, folded his arms, and turned away with a scornful face.
"Oh right, little medicine fool, the old Dragon King wrote a whole pile of nonsense in that letter. Who exactly is the person capable of forging that Shangwei Heavenly Stone? I could not make any sense of it." Jiagu Qing asked.
"As far as I know, in all three realms there is only one person officially recorded as possessing a dual-element golden core of metal and wood. And that dual-element golden core is the key to forging the Shangwei Heavenly Stone. The Shangwei Heavenly Stone belongs to the fire element, and the stone I found in the backyard of the Li residence that day truly carried scorching fire energy. The Chixi Core that once resided in my own body was also a supreme fire-element golden core. I believe that is the reason he has schemed so tirelessly, no matter the cost," Li Luoning said, his voice grave and steady.
"There is really such a thing as a dual-element golden core in this world? A person that powerful... who could it possibly be?" Qingyuan was deeply shocked. He had never before heard that golden cores could even have multiple elements.
"Situ... Fanzhi."