Choice and Gift

Watching the Flowing Cloud Sect Guard vanish around the alley corner, Chen Xing seemed to have had his spine pulled out. He collapsed limply to the ground, gasping for breath as cold sweat soaked the clothes on his back.

"They're... they're gone... finally gone..." Chen Xing muttered, the terror still lingering on his face. "We can't stay in this damned place for another moment! It's too terrifying! We have to leave—tomorrow, no, today!"

Li Chengjie looked in the direction the guards had left, but his brows did not relax.

Steward Wang's handling of the matter had seemed fair, yet beneath it lay perfunctoriness and a warning, like a thorn lodged in his heart.

The Flowing Cloud Sect did not truly care whether lowly Rogue Cultivators lived or died.

Yet on the other hand, his life-and-death struggle with the Liu brothers last night had made him keenly feel the helplessness of lacking a suitable Dharma Artifact.

He had spells but no sharp weapon. Not only did that consume enormous amounts of spiritual power, but at critical moments, he lacked a decisive means of attack. Had Chen Xing not accidentally struck one of them with the pestle, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

That feeling of being constrained by others had made him crave strength—especially the aid of external objects—like never before.

"Furnace Master," Li Chengjie said as he turned around, his tone calm but carrying an unquestionable resolve, "we can't just leave like this."

Chen Xing jerked his head up, disbelief written all over his face. "Not leave? Chengjie, have you lost your mind? Someone just died here! The Flowing Cloud Sect people only just left! Who knows whether some other Liu Decai or Liu Defu will come next? If we stay any longer, we're walking straight into a dead end!"

Chen Xing's voice turned shrill with agitation.

"Precisely because someone just died, this place may actually be safer for a while," Li Chengjie analyzed calmly.

"Robber cultivators will weigh the risks too. They'll know there are tough opponents here and won't come so readily again. Since the Flowing Cloud Sect has already put this on record, they won't pay us much attention in the short term either. If we leave now, with chaos and war outside, the three of us have low Cultivation levels and carry pills and Spirit Stones. We'd be the real sitting ducks."

Li Chengjie paused, his gaze sweeping over the wrecked Pill Hut before finally settling on the dark-red Alchemical Furnace. His voice deepened. "And what is our greatest support?

Alchemy!

If we leave here, without an Alchemical Furnace—our Storage Bags are too low-grade to hold more than one or two cubic zhang—and without familiar surroundings, what could we accomplish even if we went to Falling Cloud City?

Start over from scratch and live under someone else's roof?

Furnace Master, are you really going to let your alchemy skills go to waste?"

Chen Xing opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but every word Li Chengjie had spoken struck directly at his weak point.

Chen Xing could not bear to abandon the foundation he had built up over so many years.

But fear, like an icy poisonous snake, coiled around his heart.

"But... but it's too dangerous..."

Chen Xing's voice trembled, almost breaking into tears. "Even if it's safe for now, who knows what tomorrow will bring? That Blood Fiend Cult... I heard they're getting closer and closer! I don't want to die here!"

"Risk and opportunity walk side by side. Who knows how many times the price of pills will rise?" Li Chengjie cut him off, his eyes sharp.

"The Marketplace is in chaos, and pill prices are soaring. This is the perfect chance for us to accumulate Spirit Stones!

With enough Spirit Stones, we can buy better Dharma Artifacts, stronger Talismans, and improve our strength. Only then can we truly seize our own fate!

If we do nothing but run, we'll only grow weaker and weaker, until we become fish on someone else's chopping block!"

Li Chengjie stepped forward and said to Chen Xing, "Didn't last night's battle make you understand, Furnace Master?

Without strength, nowhere is safe!

Look at the Liu brothers. Weren't they once 'honest and law-abiding' Rogue Cultivators too?

In a Chaotic World, who can keep themselves untouched by it?"

Chen Xing lowered his head beneath his gaze. His heart waged a fierce struggle, and all color drained from his face.

Li Chengjie's words made sense, but he had truly been scared out of his wits. The sight of his brother dying miserably and that icy blade still seemed to flicker before his eyes.

Seeing this, Li Chengjie knew he needed to give him a way out—and also secure the greatest possible benefit for himself.

Li Chengjie changed the subject, his tone softening somewhat. "Of course, the Furnace Master's concerns are reasonable as well. Everyone has their own ambitions. If you have already resolved to leave, this junior cannot force you to stay."

As if he had seized a lifesaving straw, Chen Xing hurriedly said, "Yes! Yes! I have to leave! I can't stay in this place for even one more day!"

As though he had found an excuse at last, Chen Xing immediately scrambled up from the ground and began frantically gathering the valuables scattered about. He muttered under his breath, "Pills, Spirit Stones, my notes... I have to take them all. I can't leave anything behind..."

Li Chengjie watched his busy back, understanding everything in his heart. Yet the right amount of helplessness and gratitude appeared on his face as he spoke.

"Since the Furnace Master has decided to leave, this junior wishes you a smooth journey.

It is only... this junior's Cultivation level is low, and I possess nothing of value. If I remain here alone, I fear I will struggle to survive.

Could the Furnace Master, for the sake of the bond we have shared these past days—and for the fact that we faced the enemy side by side last night—leave this courtyard, along with that Low-grade Pill Furnace, for this junior to stay in?

That way, this junior would at least have a place to stand. Perhaps... with the little foundation the Furnace Master leaves behind, I could barely refine some pills and drag out a miserable existence in this Chaotic World."

Li Chengjie deliberately mentioned "facing the enemy side by side last night," bringing up the bond forged through their shared brush with death.

Chen Xing's hands paused as he packed. He turned back and looked at Li Chengjie's "earnest" yet slightly "downcast" expression. Then he looked at the cumbersome Low-grade Pill Furnace, which would be extremely inconvenient for him to carry. Remembering that he would have died on the spot last night if Li Chengjie had not risked his life to hold the enemy back, a complicated feeling rose in his heart.

The main reason was that Chen Xing's larger Storage Bags were already occupied by his own Low-grade Pill Furnace, and this old furnace would no longer fit.

There was guilt, gratitude, and a trace of relief at casting off a burden.

Chen Xing sighed and waved his hand. His tone carried both charity and farewell. "Fine, fine! This courtyard... you can have it! This Pill Furnace... it's yours too! Consider it thanks for your help yesterday... Between us, we're even!"

He deliberately stressed the words "we're even," as if he wished to sever every tie he had to this place.

Li Chengjie felt his heart settle, though gratitude showed on his face as he bowed. "Thank you, Furnace Master! This junior will remember this kindness!"

Chen Xing said no more, as though afraid Li Chengjie might change his mind—or that he himself might. At the fastest speed possible, he packed away every pill, Spirit Stone, precious medicinal ingredient, and alchemy notebook he could take. He even swept up the Qi Condensation Pills that Li Chengjie had previously skimmed off and saved but had not yet taken away, leaving behind only empty shelves and the lone dark-red Alchemical Furnace.

"Chengjie, then... then we're leaving!" Chen Xing panted beneath a massive bundle, his eyes shifting away as he did not dare meet Li Chengjie's gaze.

Standing at the entrance of the Pill Hut, Li Chengjie nodded calmly. "Furnace Master, Douzi, take care."

As though granted a pardon, Chen Xing pulled along Li Douzi, who was likewise carrying heavy luggage and wore a bewildered expression. Without looking back, they staggered toward the end of the alley, heading for an unknown distance that they perhaps believed to be safer.

The Pill Hut immediately became empty and silent.

Only Li Chengjie remained, along with the mess covering the ground, a cold Alchemical Furnace, and the scent of blood that had yet to disperse from the air.

Li Chengjie slowly walked to the center of the courtyard and looked around. Having lost most of its supplies, the place appeared particularly shabby.

Yet there was no disappointment in his eyes. Instead, a glimmer of relief and ambition flashed within them.

The shackles had vanished completely.

He was no longer someone's cheap apprentice. He no longer needed to conceal his Cultivation level. He no longer needed to secretly skim off pills.

This courtyard and this Alchemical Furnace, though old and broken, though merely low-grade, were now the starting point that belonged wholly and completely to Li Chengjie!

Feeling the Mysterious Flame Art circulating within his body, his gaze grew firm and sharp.

"Dharma Artifacts..." he murmured, touching his Storage Bag.

Acquiring Dharma Artifacts was urgent.