"Husband, I put up with too much recently. But if you embarrass yourself in public, I won't be able to protect you anymore. You have to get your head on straight."
"I... yes. Once again..."
"'You're sorry.' I know! Don't be sorry, be better than that. I called your master. Hopefully he'll be more successful than me."
Xue Rui did not even dare respond this time. But seeing him so hurt, Qiang Zilan also felt hurt inside. She had become his concubine for several reasons, but she had to admit that she had grown attached to this silly man. Sadly, she wouldn't go as far as to say that she loved him, but she sincerely cared about him. Considering her economic situation, this was good enough. However, he had become more and more on edge with each passing day.
She knew that forcing Zhong Ling to be his servant in order to humiliate her was a terrible idea. But he had also known she would stop him. Thus, he had done so while Qiang Zilan wasn't with him. Obviously, she was furious with him despite her frail aspect. She almost looked like a fragile doll and yet she was as terrifying as a dragon if she wanted to be. Seeing him so defeated though, she got close to him and hugged him gently.
"I know that you're under a lot of stress. But you have to keep it together. You promised me that you would bring me to the Imperial City. And I know you won't break this promise. From now on, I think you should try to rest. And maybe... maybe you should not act before talking to me about it beforehand."
Xue Rui didn't answer at all. Instead, he lost himself in her warm embrace. For a moment, he forgot about the burning sensation in his heart and the dread he had felt when she talked about his master. As much as he didn't want to go to him, he knew he probably should. But for now, he didn't want to leave the comfort of his concubine's embrace.
-
After a few hours, Xue Rui left his chambers and went toward an isolated building of the residence. This was called the Howling Wind Pavilion for very unsavory reasons. Indeed, at some point in time, it had been used as a form of prison as well as an execution ground. But now, it had become some form of laboratory for alchemists. And in this pavilion, the largest room was occupied by a hermit who never left and always worked, Xue Rui's master, Gu Song.
Like Cao Yun had surmised, he didn't want anyone to see his face. Until very recently, he had been staying at the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. When he fled, he returned here. No one knew that Xue Rui was his student. In fact, Gu Song had created a network of students without necessarily turning them into demonic cultivators, just to protect himself in case he needed some help. And as it turned out, he had required Xue Rui's help.
Now, Xue Rui was requiring Gu Song's help in turn. As such, he walked to his laboratory which was kept as far away from everything else as possible, he kowtowed and waited. When Gu Song finally felt Xue Rui's posture in front of his chambers, he smiled and sent him a telepathic message. Immediately, he rose and followed his master in his laboratory.
In the laboratory, Xue Rui saw many things that should have terrified him. However, he was now dull to those views. There were a couple of human carcasses on a table and all over the place, there were vials with blood and jars with organs which appeared to come both from demonic beasts and from humans. In fact, some organs had come from demons as well. Living demons couldn't cross the borders, but dead ones could. And Gu Song had found a great way of obtaining demon corpses.
Xue Rui wasn't entirely sure what Gu Song was researching but he didn't want to know either.
"Young student, I feel like you have been avoiding me for the past few months."
Once more, Xue Rui prostrated himself in front of his teacher and master. Since he had realized his error, he was trying to show how repentant he was. In front of him, Gu Song was quite amused but it didn't affect him much more than that. He had other matters to attend to right now.
"Master, this stupid disciple is sorry. I have misjudged you, but Qiang Zilan helped me see clearly."
"Oh? What have you misjudged? I am curious."
"I... I'm sorry, this was disrespectful of me."
"No, quite the contrary in fact. There might be hope for you yet if you're not as stupid as that little girl. But what you have misjudged is not me, no. What you have misjudged is yourself."
The moment Gu Song insulted Qiang Zilan, Xue Rui stood up. In his heart, the black flame was acting up. A powerful sensation of rage seethed through his body.
"And there is your problem... You can't control the Heart Locking Fire Pact I improved. I told you it would be hard to do so, but you also soared all the way to 4-star Human alchemist in less than a year. Such an improvement couldn't come cost free. Despite all the good I did for you, you thought you could just ignore my existence and go on with your life..."
"No! I..."
"You know precisely why you've been losing your temper recently, right? I mean... You can't possibly be that stupid as to ignore that flame that is burning within your very heart, right? You know what this is. And you know how I made it. When I proposed it to you, you wanted to prove that you were the best alchemist and anything was fair game. You didn't want to know more. You thought ignorance could be mistaken for innocence. But deep down, you know what you have to do to keep this black flame under control. In fact, this is also why you brought that Zhong Ling in, not just to satisfy your ego."
"... Indeed."
The flame Gu Song had put in his heart was clearly fueled by living corporeal souls ripped away from humans. They had been fused using demon blood. And together, they were a great fuel to this black flame. Just like the Rune of Fire for Cao Yun, this black flame had drastically improved Xue Rui's control over his flame. But the hatred and rage from those burning souls were starting to affect his psyche. There were several ways to try and appease them.
Bringing Zhong Ling in was opening possibilities for him to do so. Technically, until now, Xue Rui could claim he wasn't a demonic cultivator. Indeed, he had merely accepted the gift of his master. But if he did what he wanted to do, things would change. His master was not going to do it for him, and even then, he would know anyway.
"By the way, that was a stupid thing to do. You've risked bringing the Wubei Sect's attention on us all, I'll have to punish you for that. Hopefully they're too busy chasing my decoys."
Gu Song had had several demonic cultivators within the Wubei Sect. Now that they were useless to him, he had no problem using them to buy some time for himself.
"The Demon King has recovered most of his strength. And now that we have a better understanding of what the Traitor wants to do, we'll strike during the Alchemy Conference. And for that, we need you! Well... we don't exactly need you, right? We simply need a talented alchemist to enter the Alchemy Conference. Maybe this Guai Mo could be a great candidate too."
Xue Rui was almost shaking with anger after hearing his master but he was still able to control himself thanks to the words of Qiang Zilan. Right now, he was imagining Guai Mo's bloodied corpse trampled under his foot. He could imagine the screams of agony he would be unable to suppress before his death. Damn, Xue Rui could even try and refine his very soul to add it to his Heart Locking Fire Pact.
In Xue Rui's mind, there was only one goal. He had to be the best alchemist to prove his worth to everyone else. In fact, this would also raise Qiang Zilan's status. That woman had chosen him. Despite her economic circumstances, she could have married another man but she had married him. That idiot had been blind. Instead of taking her as a concubine, he should have taken her as wife. Maybe he was still infatuated with Zhong Ling back then, but it was over.
Yes, he would do what was necessary in order to control his Heart Locking Fire Pact.
"Master, you're wrong! I will surpass this arrogant brat! I will literally extract and refine his soul. Hell, I'll refine his entire flesh and bone to use for my alchemy. His very blood will be the fuel of my furnace."
"Good. Then, you know what needs to be done to stabilize this black flame. It can give you the victory you so desire on this Guai Mo, and on everyone else. I can teach you how to cultivate this fire in your heart, how to feed it and how to shape it. With this, your mastery of the flame will skyrocket and so will your alchemy. But are you truly ready? The process will be long and painful, can you stomach it?"
Xue Rui's legs were shaking. But his face wasn't showing fear. Instead, it was showing rage, but also excitement at the prospect of getting yet stronger. Xue Rui's new resolution, and even the reassuring words of Qiang Zilan, disappeared in that moment. For the first time in a long while, his mind was perfectly clear. Xue Rui had one goal and one goal only. He wanted to be the best alchemist in the entire Hongchen Kingdom. In that moment, there was nothing else that mattered.
Gu Song didn't wait for any response, his eyes were answer enough.
"Good. Finally, we'll be able to get somewhere. When I'm done with you, you might even be able to refine a Heaven pill. You see, I've been experimenting on many things in the past years. And I've gotten better and better subjects recently."
As he was speaking, there was a strange ethereal shape floating around his fingers. Cao Yun would have recognized it right away. This was the fragment of a corporeal soul. Most likely, it had come from the souls ripped away by the Soul Obsidian Nian Fish. Unlike Mo Tian, Gu Song was experimenting on souls way more than on blood.
Obviously, Xue Rui was just another one of his subjects and he knew it, but the young man didn't care as long as he could grow more proficient. Only as a talented alchemist did Xue Rui have any worth? He simply couldn't lose that. He could throw everything out, even his conscience and his humanity, but he couldn't lose that. Otherwise, Qiang Zilan would also lose everything along with him.
From his spatial ring, Gu Song took out a scroll. Without any hesitation, Xue Rui took it. It was a cultivation method aimed at improving one's control over the flame. The name he read on that scroll was the 'Blackened Heart Flame'. Most of the techniques required a 'partner', a victim to be more accurate. One had to use the fire from the black flame Xue Rui had in his heart to torment the soul of another. Only by experimenting with a living corporeal soul one could improve. And there were even ways to keep the poor victim alive as long as necessary.
Besides, there was also a dual cultivation technique with very graphic poses. By performing them while torturing the soul of the victim, the cultivator could increase the results significantly. And ironically, they would also share some of their strength with the poor victim so that they could live longer, suffer longer and serve longer.
Finally, there was another dual cultivation, a bit more classic.
"This dual cultivation is known to temper a man's anger. However, it can exert a heavy toll on a woman. You'll need to take some pills I'll give you and so will she. If you both practice it regularly, you should be able to keep your temper under check. You have some time before the competition. This method will tremendously improve your alchemy but the danger is almost as high as the reward. I hope you live... Well, if you don't, it won't be difficult for me to find a replacement. I got interested in this Guai Mo quite a lot indeed."
Obviously, Gu Song's last comment was a jab at Xue Rui. Demonic cultivators were rarely nice people to be honest.
-
While Xue Rui completely abandoned himself to the demonic way, Cao Yun was still enjoying his meal.
Finally, the person he had been waiting for arrived. Di Xihe crossed the threshold of the restaurant. And before the servants could ask her anything, Cao Yun made a gesture to tell them she was with him. Since he had been so generous with his tips, they were obeying his every command. It was as though he owned the restaurant by now. To be fair, he probably could have bought it if he wanted to.
"Liu Jiang, ask the head waiter for a bit more privacy, please."
"Of course, esteemed guest."
For some time, he had drunk and dined along with the beautiful Liu Jiang at his side. The head waiter had chosen her for Guai Mo and he had been pleased by her. She wasn't just beautiful, she was also very well versed in poetry, a subject that Cao Yun adored. She was extremely well dressed. Her make-up was accentuating her beauty without being too much, and her hair was splendid. Dining with such a classy woman would entice many men. But Cao Yun barely looked at her. However, this didn't disturb her in the slightest. In fact, she preferred men who were indifferent to her rather than the opposite.
The head waiter was a bit old with gray hair and a dignified gray and white beard. As he was a mortal, he was probably around sixty or seventy. No matter what was happening around him, he was always calm and professional. Part of his job was also to guess what his guests wanted before they could even ask for it. As Liu Jiang came to him, he already figured out what he wanted.
Without delay, he had a private room prepared for Guai Mo and Di Xihe.