Jiang Yunxian stood perfectly still for a long moment, letting the weight of the situation settle around him. He sighed softly, the sound almost lost in the turbulent chaos of the Azure Scaled Court. Never in his entire life had he imagined himself poisoned. He had always despised the idea of toxins and venoms, had always gone to great lengths to avoid them. And now, fate had chosen one of the most lethal poisons in the world—Huang Bien's infamous Death is Better—to find its mark on him. He let out another sigh, quieter this time, more contemplative than resigned.
Slowly, with deliberate precision, he raised his hands and formed a series of intricate hand seals, the motions fluid, almost lazy despite the urgency of the moment. His focus honed in on the path the poison traveled, tracing it down through his body until he reached the point where it flowed into his right leg. With careful pressure, he pressed an acupuncture point in the leg, numbing it deliberately. Pain shot up like lightning through his limb, but he barely flinched. The numbing wasn't comfort—it was control. As long as he held the poison in place, Death is Better would not move against him unless he allowed it.
What most cultivators and immortals did not understand, Jiang Yunxian knew perfectly well. Huang Bien had indeed created the poison, and there was no recorded antidote. But over the centuries, a few daring cultivators had discovered a way to manipulate its flow. One famed female cultivator had managed to channel her spiritual energy to the afflicted area, temporarily halting the poison's spread. It required extraordinary awareness; the user could not rely on spiritual energy beyond that point. They had to rely purely on physical strength to survive until the poison moved again. In other words, the poison remained in the body but was rendered temporarily dormant. Some praised the technique as ingenious, others deemed it foolish, preferring to risk their powers while letting the poison flow naturally.
Jiang Yunxian had chosen that impossible middle path. He had done what few would dare. Physical control over his own body, patience, calculation, and an unwillingness to let the poison dictate the terms of his life.
Long Junlan's laughter erupted, booming through the court like thunder breaking over mountains. He stood, clapping his hands with exaggerated enthusiasm. "That's good! I love stupid people like you!"
"Beard Long," Jiang Yunxian murmured
under his breath, his voice calm and controlled, "you did this on purpose. You are so cunning." There was no resentment in his tone, only acknowledgment. Long Junlan had underestimated him, and there was nothing wrong in recognizing that.
But no time was allowed for reflection.
Another wave of energy, black as midnight and cutting as sharp as a blade, rushed toward him, slicing through the air with deadly precision. Jiang Yunxian gritted his teeth, his qinggong flowing through him like water, guiding his body in motion. He dodged several of the attacks, the black waves grazing his skin and drawing fine lines of blood.
Through it all, he could sense the design behind the assault. Every strike, every black surge, was deliberate. Long Junlan was testing him, provoking him, teaching him. And while the situation was infuriating, Jiang Yunxian allowed himself a small, mirthless smile. Even in anger, he recognized the brilliance of the challenge before him.
"Unbelievable… and cunning," he muttered under his breath.
As he prepared for another evasive movement, a sudden voice cut through the chaos, small yet insistent.
"Let me go! Let me…"
Jiang Yunxian froze mid-motion, senses alert. His eyes scanned the court, and he caught a translucent human form flickering with light, tinged faintly with the aura of fire.
The figure paused, turning toward him.
"Stop! You will…" the form began, then hesitated. Finally, it spoke clearly, voice trembling with embarrassment and urgency. Clearly seeing Jiang Yunxian and the mess he was in.
"Hey! I don't know why you are a mess, tell this dragon to let me go. Otherwise, I will burn your chest just like during the Pool of Knowledge!"
Both Jiang Yunxian and Long Junlan stiffened. Recognition, shock, and disbelief flickered in their eyes.
"Rong Qi?" Jiang Yunxian's voice was firm but laced with disbelief.
"What? I knew… just let me go, it's embarrassing!" The translucent figure wiggled in the air, flapping briefly as though struggling against invisible chains.
It was Rong Qi. His foolish, beloved phoenix feather. His companion. His family, in a way only a phoenix and master could understand.
"Let him go," Jiang Yunxian commanded, his voice low but unyielding.
"Hah? Let him go? Impossible!" Long Junlan scoffed, his grin cruel and contemptuous. "You proved you could do whatever you want, did you?"
Before Jiang Yunxian could make his next move, Lianhua came rushing in with terrifying speed, black robes fluttering like a storm cloud, energy crackling around her like lightning.
"Die!" she screamed, the sound sharp and unnatural, echoing off the marble floors of the Azure Scaled Court.
Time seemed to slow as Jiang Yunxian readied himself, eyes narrowing slightly, body coiled with precision born of years of survival and chaos. Around them, the court trembled as if anticipating the clash of forces that was about to consume the space entirely.
The air shimmered with power, the faint scent of smoke and scorched stone hanging in the balance, mingling with the lingering metallic tang of blood from previous strikes. This was no mere fight. This was a storm, and at the center of it all stood Jiang Yunxian—calm, unbroken, yet ready to unleash the full measure of his strength against anyone who dared threaten what was his.
Every breath he took was measured, every step precise. The Azure Scaled Court, grand and eternal in appearance, now seemed to contract around him, each column, each shadow, each trace of dust suspended in the tension of the moment. And yet, even here, he found himself smiling faintly—because even in the heart of calamity, he had learned the one truth that had guided him through every battle and every foolish challenge of life: those who dared underestimate him rarely lived to do so twice.
___
Inside the great hall of the Azure Scaled Court, the air was thick with tension, crackling with an energy so heavy it pressed on the lungs. Lianhua's claws had dug deep into Jiang Yunxian's shoulders, carving tiny, gothic-like dents into his flesh. Pain shot through him like molten iron, but his face remained eerily calm. His teeth gritted, lips curling slightly, not out of fear or anger, but in reluctant acknowledgment. The poison now stilled in his veins with his spiritual power, burning slowly, insidiously, and now this added torment threatened to tear his focus in two. He hated the situation, despised the vulnerability, but he would not falter. Not now.
Before him, Rong Qi struggled. The phoenix monarch, brilliant and proud, was trapped inside an invisible cage, a construct both impenetrable and sinister. To the naked eye, it seemed nothing existed, but to Rong Qi, to those who sensed spirit energy and the world's flow, it was a prison of subtle yet undeniable menace. He tried to beat against the invisible walls, his cries echoing faintly in the hall. "Jiang Yunxian! I promise I will not burn you! This person is aiming for my heart! My heart! I cannot die yet!" His voice rang with desperation and raw fear.
Jiang Yunxian's eyes widened slightly, but he made no sudden move. He allowed Lianhua to dig her claws into his other shoulder, feeling the sting and deep ache radiate through his back and arms. Pain was nothing new to him, but the gravity of the situation sank into his mind like ice water. He closed his eyes briefly, focusing on the rhythm of his breathing, on the small movements of the poison within him, and on the shivering form of his phoenix companion trapped before him.
"What do you mean?" he asked quietly, his voice steady despite the chaos.
"The Heart of Yanshi is like an ocean orb," Rong Qi's voice trembled but carried weight. "My heart is like the fire orb. This… this is something I only half-understood when he asked you to bring it. But I did not realize he was an imposter. My heart… it is like having the world in his hands."
Pain and sudden comprehension struck Jiang Yunxian simultaneously. Fire and water—orbs, halves of a greater whole, yin and yang in their purest forms. Fire that could consume all, water that could swallow all. And Long Junlan wasn't content with just one. He wanted both halves. He wanted the complete circle.
The realization hit him like a blow harder than any physical strike. His face drained of color. He understood now. Rong Qi wasn't merely in danger—he represented the last living remnant of the phoenix clan, a force of fire unrivaled in the world. And the Heart of Yanshi… in the wrong hands, it could spell cataclysm. Long Junlan sought the yin and yang, the fire and water, the complete power of existence. He wanted nothing less than the world itself.
Jiang Yunxian felt a surge of urgency, his instincts flaring hotter than his rational mind. He tried to reach Rong Qi, but an unseen force flung him back violently. He collided with the cold marble floor, sliding along it, and realized the extent of the barrier that had been set. The invisible cage around Rong Qi pulsed with lethal energy.
Lianhua had been flung for the nth time since the fight.
"Let him go!" he shouted, voice resonant and commanding, filled with all the authority he rarely needed to summon. "I'm telling you! Do not touch him! Mess with me instead if you dare!"
Long Junlan's response was a cruel, satisfied smile. He approached the cage, blue flames surging from his palm and wrapping the space around Rong Qi. The phoenix monarch shuddered violently as his form began to dissolve, his fiery essence flickering like a dying star in the wind.
Jiang Yunxian paled, his powers sealed, his hands trembling slightly as the helplessness of the moment pressed on him. Long Junlan's scorn dripped from every word.
"What can you do? Ha! Who do you think you are?"
The more Rong Qi diminished, the more helpless Jiang Yunxian felt. Lianhua leaped forward, black robes flowing like storm clouds, claws aimed to strike. But before she could reach him, a force of unimaginable density struck her, throwing her back violently. Each time she tried to rise, each time she advanced again, the dark force flung her further, relentless and implacable.
Then, suddenly, the entire palace trembled. Columns shook, dust and fragments of stone fell from the high ceilings, and darkness engulfed the court. The barrier that had protected Rong Qi shattered violently, spilling jagged cracks of energy across the floor. Long Junlan himself was thrown backward, stunned, unable to comprehend the sudden, unstoppable surge of power before him. He had sealed his spiritual energy—so how could this happen?
Jiang Yunxian opened his eyes. The room seemed to shatter and realign around him as molten red and deep azure swirled within his gaze. One eye burned with fire, the other shimmered with ice. A voice, deeper than any mortal tone, echoed through the court, resonating through the marble, the pillars, and even the very air itself.
"I am Jiang Yunxian. The God of Ten Thousand Chants. The Grandmaster of Abyssal Golley. How dare you defile me?!"
The voice was cold, unyielding, and distant, yet it carried a weight that bent the air and sent ripples through the very foundation of the palace. Lianhua froze mid-stride, her face twisted in shock, disbelief, and a terror that she had never before recognized.
"Impossible… it can't be…" she murmured, her lips trembling.
"You…" Long Junlan began, words failing to convey his horror.
"You want to take what originally belonged to me?" Jiang Yunxian's voice was no longer the carefree, lazy tone of the man who drank and laughed without care. It was dark, commanding, and utterly sovereign. "I see you are still the foolish old man," he added with a scornful laugh, a shadow of his former playfulness turned sinister.
"Scram!" With a flick of his hand, the space Long Junlan had occupied vanished, the force of Jiang Yunxian's presence annihilating all resistance.
Rong Qi was finally freed. The phoenix monarch, brilliant and alive, shimmered and transformed into a single feather, which floated gently into Jiang Yunxian's lapel. The feather nestled there as if it had returned to its rightful place, calm and regal, a silent witness to the magnitude of the battle.
Jiang Yunxian's expression softened, a faint, proud smile touching his lips as he turned to Lianhua. She knelt before him, tears streaming freely, kowtowing with absolute devotion. "Master, you are alive," she said, her voice trembling with joy and relief.
Before he could respond, Xing Yue and Cui Wulei burst into the hall, their eyes wide with terror. Xing Yue's face blanched, horror flashing as Jiang LuCi's words—long forgotten but never dismissed—suddenly flared back into her memory. The sight before her, of Jiang Yunxian, reborn in his full, fearsome power, and of Rong Qi safe at last, struck her dumb. The court, the battle, the darkness, all seemed suspended in that single, frozen instant.
The Azure Scaled Court, once a place of measured elegance and cold order, now shuddered with the raw, unstoppable force of a master's wrath, the return of a guardian, and the undying will of a phoenix monarch. Everything, from the tiniest dust motes dancing in the shattered light to the towering blackened columns, bore witness to the rebirth of power, to the reclamation of what rightfully belonged to him.
Jiang Yunxian breathed slowly, deliberately, the flames of his anger and the ice of his resolve settling within him, and the world itself seemed to acknowledge that no one—no impostor, no tyrant, no dragon king—could ever challenge him again while he stood there.