With everything settled, Hei gave Matriarch Radiant Jade a map of the location so that she could find her bearings and make her way back to the sect.

He also gave her a prototype jade so that they could communicate should either one of them gain information that was relevant to the other. He was thinking that he may get an update of the situation at the sect from Bai and Mei that may be of importance to the matriarch. It was also possible that the Matriarch would run into some trouble and be in need of his assistance.

After the other groups left, it was only Hei, Honghuo and Ju Li who stayed behind.

“Well,” said Honghuo. “Should we head off?”

“Not yet.”

“Oh?”

“There’s still one more thing to do.”

Hei walked up to the broken guardian formation and placed his hands on the ground. He created some temporary fire element spirit roots then guided his fire qi into the ground, spreading out through the area within the guardian formation.

Before long, Honghuo could feel the increase in fire element qi.

“What are you doing?”

“Destroying evidence.”

As Hei spoke, the ground started to glow orange and the temperature in the area shot up several hundred degrees. Fortunately, Hei had controlled his power such that the majority of the heat was contained within the bounds of the guardian formation, otherwise, Ju Li would have had an extremely unpleasant experience.

Soon, the surface of the sect turned to molten lava, which swallowed all of the constructs that had been standing there, leaving a lake of burning orange. Hei went even further in extending the effects of his heat to the lowest point of the sect, reaching several metres beneath the surface.

“Isn’t this going a little overboard?”

“You can never be too safe.”

“But aren’t you leaving a massive amount of qi here? This is arguably more traceable than what was there before.”

“I’m not finished.”

Hei dissolved part of his fire element roots and added water and earth element roots. He used the water element to generate a mist and used the earth element to churn the earth, allowing the sea of lava to be cooled into a solid state.

After that was complete, he decided to aid in the formation of soil by continuing to churn the solid rock that was formed from the cooling of the lava, creating a sand-like consistency. That, mixed with the water from the mist, would allow plants to grow, which would, in turn, allow this area to become fertile land.

Honghuo understood what Hei was doing, so he wanted to mention the fact that this area’s qi profile was heavily skewed to fire, followed by water and earth. Water and earth were fine to have in high concentrations, they would be beneficial to most plants. But a high concentration of fire would limit the kinds of plants that could grow here.

Before he could speak, Hei got up and walked out into the middle of the new land. There, he absorbed the fire element qi from earlier, as well as the earth and water element qi.

After that, Honghuo witnessed something strange.

That mist from earlier came back with a vengeance, causing the area to become so humid that water droplets formed on his hair, but even those flew off in a strange horizontal rain, following the sudden racing winds to a centre, where they swirled around creating a vortex. The ground beneath him pulsed up and down, seemingly breathing as it followed the wind and the rain, joining that vortex, slowly depositing earth in a conical shape. That wasn’t all. Even Honghuo’s own fire element qi seemed to want to exit his body and join the party. It took him a tremendous amount of mental energy to keep it contained, but even then, some of it managed to escape, adding an orange tint to the swirling earth.

When things finally calmed, there was a new mountain standing before Honghuo and Ju Li. It had a unique swirling pattern, differentiating it from every other mountain in the area, and at its peak was a single person, behind whom, the moon appeared in all its glory, casting a cool blue light on his metal mask.

“So even someone without spirit roots can do this? Maybe you’ll become something special, Ju Li.”

“I doubt I’ll be so exaggerated.”

Honghuo chuckled. “Yeah. This guy has been extreme since day one.”

As they finished their conversation, Hei landed beside them. He had the thought to contact Bai and Mei to update them on his side of things, but considering the time, he felt they may be sleeping, and he didn’t want to wake them.

Following that line of thought, he turned to Ju Li.

“Do you need to sleep, little one?”

Ju Li looked up to the top of Hei’s head. He was only slightly taller than she was. But he had hit the nail on the head. She was quite exhausted. While she was locked up in that cell, she spent as much time as she could awake, waiting for any opportunity to escape, and at this point, she hadn’t slept in three days. But she didn’t want to be a burden on Hei and her brother.

“I’ll manage.”

Hei shook his head. “Children shouldn’t be deprived of sleep.”

“…”

He turned to Honghuo and asked, “How far is the Shimmering Sword Sect from here?”

“About a day and a half on foot.”

“We’ll rest at an inn first, ”said Hei as he pulled out a map. “This is where we are, and this is the Zhu Clan. Which direction is the Simmering Sword Sect in?”

“It would be this way.”

“Then we’ll be stopping over at Chigong City.”

“Alright.”

With everyone’s agreement, Hei summoned a black phoenix and jumped on its back. Honghuo and Ju Li did the same and they flew into the night.

It was only while they were flying that Honghuo realised just how tired Ju Li was. She had nodded off moments after they sat down. He looked forward to Hei, who was standing atop the head of the phoenix.

“For the record, I was going to suggest the same thing…”

Honghuo’s words fell on deaf ears. Hei was currently preoccupied with working on the communication jades. He only broke his concentration when the phoenix landed outside of a bustling city shining brightly with lights under the night sky.

As they walked past the gates, Honghuo made a comment.

“You know, it’s a shame that we’re only staying the night. Of the local cities, Chigong is the most popular by far. It has the biggest and most reputable auction house, which frequently acquires rare and valuable goods, bringing in cultivators from across the land. There are several restaurants which serve speciality dishes unmatched by others in their field. They have a state of the art cinema with all of the latest hits. And they have some of the finest beauties in the land.”

“You can come here whenever you want, can’t you?”

“That’s true.” Honghuo turned his head to look at his sister, who was sleeping on his back. “It’s just a shame that Ju Li won’t be able to enjoy it.”

“What happened to her?”

“I told you about the medicines our clan used to suppress emotions, didn’t I?”

“Mm.”

“Ju Li is one of those cases where the effects never wore off.”

“I see.”

“I became an alchemist to find a cure for her, but so far I haven’t made much progress.” “ But I’ve only just begun, and I have a great teacher. I’m sure I’ll be able to help her one day.”

“By great teacher, you’re referring to the spirit in your pendant?”

“So you knew about it, huh?” Honghuo pulled his necklace out from under his robe. “This was a gift my mother gave me alongside my spatial ring before she passed away.” “I had no idea there was an ancient spirit living inside it.”

“I hear that they can be more trouble than they’re worth. You should think carefully whether it’s worth it to cooperate with it.”

Honghuo shook his head.

“I could never repay what he’s done for me. He helped me become as strong as I am today. He’s teaching me alchemy. And he even sacrificed some of his own life essence to save my life. That’s why he’s in this dormant state now. If I don’t do everything I can to help him, I’ll bring shame to myself and my clan.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, let’s find a place to stay. I know of this relatively cheap place just up-”

“You shouldn’t be concerned about the cost. Find somewhere your sister can get a good night’s rest. She’s been through a lot.”

“R-Right. That’s exactly what I was thinking. Great minds think alike, huh?”

Honghuo swung his arm and pointed in a random direction. When he saw what was on the other end of his finger, his heart skipped a beat. It was a tall building, seemingly made of gold, with a giant flower seated atop of it. He wanted to shift his finger to another spot, but Hei was already looking there.

Suppressing his tears, he exclaimed, “My sister will get nothing less than the Grand Lotus!”

“Very well.”

The two walked while Honghuo laughed out loud. Though, his laughter sounded more like crying.

***

‘Goodness gracious.’

Hei was sitting in his room, working on some schematics for the communication jade, when his spiritual perception informed him of some suspicious activities. There were people closing in on his room from multiple directions.

‘This is what happens when you flash your wealth.’

Hei was thinking back to the awkward moment where Honghuo was penny-pinching at the receptionist’s desk. To hurry things along, Hei presented one of the trinkets he had in his storage space, and it seemed to be enough to cover the cost of both their rooms and then some.

‘Perhaps I should pay a visit to an appraisal hall.’

So far, Hei hadn’t concerned himself with the monetary value of the things he had. But it seemed that was being ignorant of the ways of the world. If he kept overspending, he was bound to find himself in situations like these again and again.

He got off of his chair and strolled out of his room before making his way out of the Grand Lotus. As he walked, he monitored the movements of those suspicious individuals. Fortunately, none of them had gone after Honghuo and his sister.

Hei walked down the bustling streets of Chigong City, seeing the sights and listening to the sounds. To anyone, it would seem as if this were his first time here. So, when he turned into an empty alleyway, none of the people following him paid it any mind.

But when they followed after him, they experienced something that would forever haunt their dreams.

***

After dealing with his pursuers, Hei spotted a little sign in the alleyway. Noticing the lack of people present, he thought his actions may he may have disturbed their business, so he went over to offer an apology.

‘Oba Chan’s?’

That was what the sign read. It was a little store that didn’t fit in with the rest of Chigong City’s brightly lit scenery. Looking through the window, he couldn’t see any customers. There wasn’t anyone at the counter either.

But the sign hanging at the door and the lit interior suggested that the store was open, so Hei walked in.

As he opened the door, he heard the jingling of a bell.

“Oh? Is that a customer?”

He heard the voice of an elderly lady coming from somewhere behind the counter. Oddly enough, even though the space was open, his spiritual perception was unable to extend past what his eyes could see.

He walked up to the counter and waited, and before long, a little old woman came out from behind a corner. She had grey hair and was drying a glass with a towel as she walked up to the counter. When she got there and looked down to Hei, whose head was just barely peeking over the counter, she smiled.

“Welcome to Oba Chan’s. How may I help you?”

“I just came to apologise about the disturbance. I’m sorry if it affected your business.”

“Disturbance?”

The old lady looked in a certain direction, but there was only the wall of her shop there.

“Ohoho. I see.” She smiled. “Don’t you worry about that. Business hasn’t been all that great lately.” “Now. Hows about you buy some ice cream? It’s my speciality.”

“Ice cream?”

“Mm. You can’t come to Oba Chan’s and leave without trying my world-famous ice cream.”

“World famous?”

Hei looked out to the empty alleyway. When he turned back, he and the old lady shared an awkward silence.

“Touche,” she said as she placed the glass down. “Do you want to try it?” She smiled. “It’ll change your life or your money back.”

“If it’s that good, then I’ll have to try some.”

“Excellent. Take a seat. I’ll be right back.”

She picked the glass back up and walked to the back where Hei could hear oddly destructive sounds and concerning exclamations.

“Was it sugar or salt that I was supposed to add here? Or was it both?” “Uh oh… That’s not supposed to happen…” “You go without a customer for a couple of decades and your skills degrade this much, huh?” “My word! How did that get in there?” “Hm… Will he notice?” “Ah, let’s just leave it in.”

Hearing all of this, Hei couldn’t help but be slightly concerned.

“Is everything alright back there?”

“A…hahaha. It’s fine. Everything’s fine. Your ice cream will be ready in just a moment.”

Soon after she said that Hei heard a loud bang, and before he could ask about it, the old lady came back out. She was the picture of serenity. As if nothing at all was out of place. She held the glass of ice cream with both hands and placed it gently in front of Hei.

“There you go, dear. Enjoy.”

Hei was hesitant to put this questionable ice cream in his mouth. He looked at the old lady for a long while.

She just smiled and told him the name of that particular ice cream.

“This one is called Five Denials. Eat up.”

‘My healing ability will be able to prevent death by poisoning… right?’

Hei took a spoon-full of the ice cream and ate it through an opening he created in his mask.

“!”

As soon as it touched his tongue, his eyes shot up to the old lady, who smiled in response.

“I told you it would change your life.”

Hei’s eyes switched between the ice cream and the old lady several times before they finally settled on the old lady, who now looked a few years younger in his eyes.

“You are truly a master at your craft.”

“I appreciate that. But go ahead. It gets better with every bite.”

“Impossible.”

“See for yourself.”

Hei did as she said, and as she said, the experience only became more exquisite with every step. His spoon had already scraped the bottom of the glass five times before he realised he had finished it.

He let go of the spoon and raised his hand to his mask, removing it from his face. He looked to the old lady with a level of respect he rarely showed.

“Oba Chan. Would you be willing to teach me your technique?”