"By the Immortal Lord's decree, from today onwards, he will be in closed-door cultivation. All celestial soldiers are to patrol diligently, and no one is to disturb him," O Shinan commanded the celestial soldiers stationed outside SiTu Fanzhi's chamber. Seeing the guards disperse, he subtly shook his hand, releasing a black-bordered toad into the grass, which then hopped silently through the half-open window of SiTu Fanzhi's chamber.
Watching the toad enter the room, a smirk crossed O Shinan's lips. Since SiTu Fanzhi was so eager for the power of the Blazing Pill, he might as well assist him.
Hua Qiuyuan had scoured the entire Peach Blossom Forest for days but had found no trace of Mi Xingzhe or anyone else. Spotting a cabin in the distance, he cautiously explored the surroundings before entering, confirming it had been uninhabited for some time.
The cabin's furnishings were dusty, but the setup didn't seem abandoned. Hua Qiuyuan's eyes caught a familiar medicine chest in the corner of the room. Kicking away a stool, he picked up the black and gold-edged chest, gently tracing the intricate patterns on its surface. It was unmistakably the chest he had crafted for Hua Ruoying when she first started studying poison. Inside, a relief of black cumin was carved.
"So ugly! Brother, why did you carve such an ugly pattern?" Hua Qiuyuan remembered Hua Ruoying's complaints when she received the gift.
"She was definitely here," Hua Qiuyuan thought, then heard the footsteps of a group of people outside. He quickly grabbed the chest and reached the door only to see a troop of celestial soldiers surrounding the cabin.
"What do we have here? This Peach Blossom Forest of The Liao Yin Immortal Realm is not a place a demon clan leader can come and go as they please," O Shinan's voice came from behind the celestial soldiers. He walked forward, leisurely fanning himself.
Hua Qiuyuan knew that as a member of the demon clan, he shouldn't be near The Liao Yin Immortal Realm. Seeing no point in explanations, he leaped onto the roof, attempting to escape.
"Trying to leave?" O Shinan flicked his fan, sending it flying towards Hua Qiuyuan on the roof. He then leaped after him, summoning a golden light that shot towards Hua Qiuyuan.
Hua Qiuyuan dodged the fan, flipped sideways to avoid the golden light, and raised his hand to block O Shinan's incoming kick. Holding onto the chest made him lose balance and stumble back a few steps.
O Shinan caught his falling fan, seeing Hua Qiuyuan lose his footing. He spun and quickly closed in, hooking the chest's strap with his fan.
Hua Qiuyuan, gripping the other end of the strap, tried to pull it back. As they both exerted force, the strap began to tear.
O Shinan, noticing Hua Qiuyuan's attachment to the chest, reversed his palm and struck downwards, aiming for the chest.
Hua Qiuyuan kicked towards O Shinan, trying to deflect the attack.
Predicting Hua Qiuyuan's move, O Shinan's hand flipped upward, striking Hua Qiuyuan's ankle with strong inner force, sending him flipping backward off the roof. Waiting soldiers quickly subdued him as he hit the ground.
O Shinan looked down from the roof with a mocking smile. He released the chest, letting it shatter on the ground.
"Take him away," O Shinan ordered as he floated down, waving his hand dismissively.
Hua Qiuyuan struggled against the celestial chains binding him, but they sapped his strength, rendering him helpless as the soldiers dragged him away. He watched the shattered chest with resentment in his eyes.
In the Jiuling cave,
Li Luoning watched the fading glow of the Flowing Light Butterfly, then turned to the still-unconscious Mi Xingzhe, sighing in relief.
A stick of incense later, Jia Gu Qing arrived, covered in dust from his journey.
"Little medicine addict, with so many caves in Jiuling, how did you find the hardest one to locate? I had to search everywhere. Look at me, all dirty. I tell you, the promised wine needs to be doubled this time," Jia Gu Qing grumbled, picking leaves out of his hair.
Li Luoning hurriedly approached, asking anxiously, "Senior, did you get the Tianquan Scorpion Water?"
"Here," Jia Gu Qing pulled the small bottle from his sleeve and handed it over.
Li Luoning quickly took it and rushed back to Mi Xingzhe.
"Hey, you ungrateful brat! Not even a thank you?" Jia Gu Qing muttered.
Li Luoning's thoughts were entirely on Mi Xingzhe. Carefully opening the bottle, he added the Tianquan Scorpion Water to the prepared concoction. The mixture started to emit black smoke, which slowly dissipated, leaving a small bowl of medicinal liquid.
The pungent smell made Jia Gu Qing wrinkle his nose, "What did you mix? Don't accidentally poison your little golden core."
"Xingzhe is poisoned and injured. The Tianquan Scorpion Water will quickly relieve pain, clear poison, and ease blockages," Li Luoning explained, lifting the unconscious Mi Xingzhe to cradle him, prying his mouth open to pour the medicine in. After ensuring he swallowed, Li Luoning gently propped him up and pressed a few acupoints on his back before laying him back down.
"Little medicine addict, doesn't your disciple have the Floating Light Golden Seal to protect him? How did he end up like this?" Jia Gu Qing asked.
"Though Xingzhe can summon the Floating Light Golden Seal, each time it consumes a great deal of his spiritual energy. Without the twin cores nearby to replenish it, it quickly exhausts. When I found him, his body had a Soul Fixing Nail, blocking much of the seal's power. And poisoned and injured, the seal's energy is now spent, leaving it dormant," Li Luoning said, touching Mi Xingzhe's forehead gently.
"This precious thing can go dormant?" Jia Gu Qing asked, puzzled.
"I read in my father's library that while the Floating Light Golden Seal is the world's strongest shield, it requires immense energy. That's why it always appears near one of the twin core bearers," Li Luoning explained.
"So, the little golden core used the seal more than once in The Flatland?" Jia Gu Qing asked.
"Logically, if Xingzhe used the seal, Nan Zhe wouldn't have captured him," Li Luoning said, wondering how Nan Zhe managed to embed the Soul Fixing Nail despite the seal's protection.
In The Liao Yin Immortal Realm's dungeon,
Hua Qiuyuan was chained by two iron shackles, a third chain with three-pronged spikes embedded in his back.
The dungeon door opened, and O Shinan entered, fanning himself leisurely. Hua Qiuyuan struggled against his restraints, the spikes in his back causing excruciating pain, but he made no sound.
"As the Wuming Demon Mountain's leader, you should know that trespassing into The Liao Yin Immortal Realm is punishable by a bone-crushing death," O Shinan sneered, leaning closer with a sinister smile.
"I came to find someone!" Hua Qiuyuan's voice was icy cold.
O Shinan covered his lips with his fan and laughed lightly, "Since when did the Wuming Demon Mountain's people become so bold, daring to come to The Liao Yin Immortal Realm to look for someone?"
He cast a fleeting glance at Hua Qiuyuan, his eyes glimmering with a hint of conspiracy. Leaning close to Hua Qiuyuan's ear, he whispered, "Or perhaps, someone told you that Yun Wan Nian fled towards the Peach Blossom Forest?"
Hua Qiuyuan's eyes widened with shock, confusion flickering in his furious gaze. He stared at O Shinan in disbelief, half-opened mouth as if to speak.
O Shinan swiftly struck Hua Qiuyuan's throat with his fan, shattering his larynx. He then casually opened his fan again, fanning himself leisurely, "What a pity. If it weren't for Yun Wan Nian interfering, I might have called you 'brother.'"
Hua Qiuyuan struggled to breathe, feeling the heat and pressure build in his throat. His eyes turned bloodshot, unable to speak or breathe properly, his vision blurring.
O Shinan watched him struggle with sadistic glee, his head tilted in amusement. He moved closer, speaking softly, "Since we have this connection, I'll let you die knowing the truth. It's not for much, just that your inner core, tainted with crystal cold poison, is quite a rare treasure. I'm borrowing it for a while."
His voice dripped with low, seductive mockery as he prodded Hua Qiuyuan's chest with his fan, cold eyes gleaming with a smile.
Hua Qiuyuan's throat burned intensely, his vision fading. O Shinan appeared as a venomous serpent, his cold tail coiling tightly around Hua Qiuyuan's neck.
Realizing everything was O Shinan's plot, Hua Qiuyuan clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking with fury. The chains rattled loudly as he struggled violently.
O Shinan turned his back to the futilely struggling Hua Qiuyuan, enjoying the sound of the clinking chains.
As the noise of the chains subsided, O Shinan turned back, a satisfied smile playing on his lips as he extracted Hua Qiuyuan's crystal cold poison-tainted inner core.
Admiring the glowing core in his palm, O Shinan smirked, "This is quite a beautiful thing."
The cool night breeze wafted into the cave, waking Li Luoning from his vigil beside Mi Xingzhe. He looked at the still-unconscious Mi Xingzhe, his downcast eyes filled with melancholy and detachment.
As he placed two fingers on Mi Xingzhe's pulse, Li Luoning's mind wandered. The image of Mi Xingzhe killing Yun Qingyi flashed in his mind, and his grip tightened unconsciously on Mi Xingzhe's wrist.
"Ugh..." Mi Xingzhe groaned softly, snapping Li Luoning back to reality.
Seeing the red marks on Mi Xingzhe's wrist, Li Luoning frowned, "What's happening to me? Ever since I took the Moonshadow Pill, past sorrows keep surfacing, and I almost enjoy reliving the pain. Could it be as Senior Jia Gu Qing predicted, that the Moonshadow Pill not only inherited Li Minghan's power but also his nature?"
Shaking off the thoughts, Li Luoning stepped outside the cave to clear his head with the night breeze.
He didn't notice Mi Xingzhe's slight movements and the faint golden glow on his chest as he turned away.
In Mi Xingzhe's dream, a gentle voice called out, "Yun Wan Nian..."
"Who's there?" Mi Xingzhe looked around nervously, realizing the once pitch-black surroundings had turned into a soft twilight hue.
"With the emergence of the twin cores, the golden seal shall unite the three realms," the ethereal voice of the Liao Yin High Deity echoed.
"Master Ancestor? Master Ancestor! Your disciple is foolish; please enlighten me," Mi Xingzhe knelt, following the voice.
"Cause and effect, yin and yang; the fate of the three realms rests on a single thought, a single choice," the voice wavered as a golden feather descended, landing on Mi Xingzhe's chest before vanishing.
"Master Ancestor, Master Ancestor!" Mi Xingzhe shouted, waking up with a start.
He looked around the cave, then at the empty medicine bowl beside him, puzzled. [Did Master Ancestor save me?] he wondered, noticing a shadowy figure outside the cave. He got up and walked towards the entrance.
Outside was a small clearing, beyond which lay a steep cliff.
The Jiuling night was silent, the occasional firefly flitting like fallen stars. The breeze was gentle, the stars sparse, the forest seemed to be asleep.
Mi Xingzhe stepped to the entrance, about to call out when a crow landed near Li Luoning.
"Caw... Caw... Caw..." The crow cawed as if trying to communicate something.
Annoyed by the noise, Li Luoning frowned, turning to look at the crow perched on a withered branch beside him. [What's a crow doing here at this hour?] he thought.