Long Di felt a sense of impending comeuppance encroaching upon him. 'So this is what karma feels like, huh? Hm, the only thing that can make me feel worse is if someone with a single tooth says—'
"Get in."
****
Millions of thoughts went through Long Di's head, which included but were not limited to, karma being a female dog, the choices made in life that led to this moment, and Truck-Kun's omnipresence and power over transmigration.
However, at the end of everything, Long Di was well aware that there was no need for Uncle Tian Lu to do this unless it was absolutely necessary.
Long Di stared at the inside of the forge, which was like a world of its own, a world of flames.
He didn't dare to take a deep breath with the temperature being what it was, so after metaphorically doing so, he neared the forge to enter it.
Shu! Shu! Shu!
As soon as he came before the opening, multiple runic chains composed of flames shot out from the sea of flames and bound him!
In the split second, before anything else happened, Long Di's eyes shot back to Uncle Tian Lu who was still working on the weapon before him.
Long Di used every ounce of strength to force out these words. "I loathe you."
As soon as he said this, the runic chains dragged him into the world of the forge!
Roar!
The vociferation of the fire was like the howls and cries of thousands of beasts, and it mutilated Long Di much the same!
It found every inch of skin that was untouched and incinerated it!
It found every inch of flesh and burned it; the heat found its way to his bones and went even deeper into the marrow!
"Hah."
The runic chains came to a jerking stop, which drew a rasping gasp from Long Di.
They ran along his body to transform the bondage he was subjected to into a new one.
There were now six chains that primarily trapped him. Two secured his arms, two bounds his legs, another chain fettered his torso, whilst the last one wrapped around his neck!
"Long Di as my disciple, I will pass down the runes of the first chapter to you, the Marrow Chapter! Prepare thyself!"
Uncle Tian Lu's booming voice shook both the sky of fire above and the sea of flames below!
The world trembled in response to his voice!
Long Di was barely a humanoid figure at this point. However, the runic chains that held him aloft forced his body to keep the spark of life enkindled within this inferno.
His hearing was gone as well, however, because Uncle Tain Lu's voice regained its initial quality of resonance, Long Di could still hear it, and so he readied himself the best way he could.
Using whatever freedom his head was allowed, he stared eyelessly above; to let it be known to whoever it was that saw him that he was ready.
A wave of fire washed over him in response to this, and a harrowing scene presented itself.
What was bound within the chains was a burnt black skeleton!
There was no flesh, no organs, no blood. But what made this scene even more terrifying was the small minuscule movements that escaped the skeleton.
It was still alive!
Bang! Bam! Bang!
Uncle Tian Lu emotionlessly watched the scene within the forge. He relentlessly swung his hammer to forge his craft.
"If you dare to make this weapon ownerless, I will not forgive you!"
As he said this, the arm that held the forge opened before found its way to the handle of the hammer.
With two arms to power it, a dim rune appeared on its face.
"Hrngh!"
With a grunt, he sent a hammer strike into the world of flames!
The skeleton that was Long Di, could feel something coming towards him.
The form he assumed was thanks to the forge. It used a spatial technique that placed Long Di's skeletal structure in place where his body had been.
Even though his body itself was nowhere to be seen, it was now occupying a space that was both different and the same in nature. In essence, this profound ability allowed the skeleton to be present for the flames whilst still occupying Long Di's body due to a spatial overlap.
It was in two places at once. So Long Di was able to feel the pain of his skeleton being refined at this very moment by the flames.
Dum!
Ripping the sky of flames asunder was the massive image of a rune-engraved hammerhead!
It travelled with a speed that left a vacuum in its wake. The flames within this world were forcefully riled up as they rushed to fill the space in a frenzy!
It was like Armageddon came down to punish a prisoner long after death!
Boom!
It struck down on Long Di's skull, birthing a shockwave that covered the entire skeleton in cracks!
The flames for miles around were banished due to the explosion, and the giant hammer image disappeared slowly after.
Whoosh!
The sea of flames that had retreated in the face of power came back with renewed fury!
They assaulted the skeleton once more, and the flames seeped into the cracks, sending an unholy level of pain to whoever was unlucky enough to experience it.
Dum!
Suddenly the hammer image reappeared, this time with the rune lit up! It found the thigh bone and crashed into it!
Boom!
The rune on the hammer head quickly seeped in between the cracks and permeated the marrow within!
The flames retreated just like before and came back to exact their revenge!
The hammer image disappeared once more, but not long after, it came back down to do the same to another bone, and another, and another.
This repeated itself for hours.
Soon a faded ethereal image of Long Di appeared, grafted over the skeleton. The minute this image appeared and flames licked its surface, the image shuddered and then…
"Aaaaaahhh!" A scream of pain asserted dominance over the roar of the flames could be heard.
"Hm!? It seems the pain has gone soul-deep," commented Uncle Tian Lu as the Marrow Chapter was nearing its conclusion. "So he can scream, and to think he was acting tough all this ti… what the hell!? What is with his spirit!? D-Damn it!"
Uncle Tian Lu nearly lost control of the hammer in his hand. He was a genius of his sect in the past. As such, there was nothing that could make him lose his focus during forging, until now.
For what he saw was Long Di's spirit, and it was an ugly thing. It was filled with whip scars and mutilations all over. And it was done in such a way that if one were to wear normal clothes, they would be hidden from view.
However, it was not the spirit that issued this scream, but Long Di's body within the spatial displacement.
Uncle Tian Lu could also see that the only time the scream was issued was whenever the flames licked the scars that littered the body of Long Di's spirit.
"So this is his body's reaction? Not the spirit, not him? What has this child gone through?"
Uncle Tian Lu regained control of his nearly lost momentum as he continued to observe the situation.
Because the spirit was Long Di himself, it carried Long Di's soul-deep trauma and scars with it. The body was simply reacting in a way that one would in such a situation. His body being bereft of its trauma made it free to express what it felt, and all it felt was pain.
However, the spirit that was truly Long Di simply observed everything with the same expression… nothing.
Uncle Tian Lu could see that even now, Long Di's spirit didn't react to the flames and remained apathetic throughout the ordeal. He heard his body's screams, but he didn't comment on it. He merely waited until everything was over.
Dum!
The hammer came down once more, and its target this time was the skull!
Each time the hammer descended, a different rune appeared on its head. This time was the same.
All these different runes were what comprised the Marrow Chapter.
Bang!
The hammer strike dismissed the flames just like before!
The rune seeped into the cracks, just like the rest.
By the time the hammer image disappeared, the flames regained their lost property. The flames seeped into the cracks of the skeleton and washed over the spirit that appeared here to be tempered in the flames.
Normally, it wasn't easy for one's spirit to be taken from their body, but Long Di trusted Uncle Tian Lu and this was why he gave no resistance when there was some force trying to expel him from his body.
The pain he felt now in his spirit was disturbing, but it still didn't match the trauma he experienced in his old world.
As he was baptised in the flames, the cracks that covered his skeleton started to heal at a pace visible to the naked eye.
It didn't take long before the cracks were all but gone. Not only that, but even the blackened layer fell off and revealed a jade-white surface that glistened in the glow of the flames.
Soon Long Di's body returned to its previous singular spatial coordinates, and his spirit reconnected. The screams his body issued came to an immediate stop and its normal impassive demeanour reigned supreme once more.
"Gah."
The chains bound him like before and yanked him out of the world of flames, and this marked the end of Long Di being bestowed with the runes of the Marrow Chapter.