Eyes Open

An unnamed mountain cliff.

A cave.

The towering metal pill furnace was like a small mountain, holding up the sky before them.

What sky was there? It was plainly a dim stone wall, reflected crimson by the lava fire below.

Seated cross-legged before the pill furnace was a cultivator in a green robe, greedily inhaling the furnace's fragrance.

Inside an iron cage engraved with restrictions some distance away, a female cultivator lay chained, naked save for her heavy shackles.

"Still refusing to talk?" The green-robed cultivator turned around, revealing a rather handsome face.

He lightly waved the cattail fan in his hand. With merely a few quick and slow strokes, the flames seemed to gain sentience, circling the furnace from all sides and burning the great metal cauldron bright red.

"Heh."

The female cultivator sneered. "You are unworthy of hearing it."

"I advise you to flee while you still can. Otherwise, once the organization's seniors arrive, you will never have another chance to escape."

The female cultivator showed no panic despite her peril. Instead, she sat cross-legged in the iron cage and stared at the green-robed man.

"Why should I run? You, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator? Northern Plains Green Mountain is a foundation I have built over two hundred years. Your so-called Spirit Seed was mine to begin with, already in my pocket. Now that I have reclaimed what was mine, why should I slink away with my tail between my legs?"

Wei Huo said with a genial smile.

The female cultivator suddenly tried to rise, but only made her shackles clatter. Surprise filled her eyes. "The Myriad Dharma Sect didn't kill you?"

"What is so formidable about the Myriad Dharma Sect?"

"They crudely divide immortals from mortals, yet fail to realize that our methods are never meant for