Great Chaos Approaches

Li Chengjie held the crude wooden token and cold key, following the token's blurred directions as he kept his head down and hurried through the streets of Qingshi Market's inner district.

Unlike the deathly silence and ruin of the outer district, the inner district, though likewise shrouded in an oppressive tension, at least had clean streets. Occasionally, patrols from the Flowing Cloud Sect Guard passed by, their steps uniform and their gazes sharp, bringing a faint sense of safety.

Most of the houses lining the street had their doors and windows tightly shut, but faint fluctuations of formations could be sensed within. Clearly, they had all activated basic defenses. The people here had more Spirit Stones than those in the outer district.

Li Chengjie did not dare look around, afraid of drawing unnecessary attention. He simply followed the markings at the alley entrances and found Lane Bing in the southern district.

This alley lay in a relatively secluded corner of the inner district. It was far less orderly than the main roads, but compared to the outer district, it was heaven and earth apart.

At the very end of the alley, Li Chengjie saw the small, low house with a wooden plaque bearing the character "Gui."

Rather than a residence, it looked more like a slightly larger storage room. Its lintel was low, and its walls were mottled with age.

Li Chengjie unlocked the door with the key, and a faint smell of mildew and dust rushed over him.

The room was cramped, containing only a crude wooden bed, a table missing one leg and propped up with a stone, and some unidentified, dust-covered junk piled in the corner. Clearly, no one had tended to it for a long time.

Yet to Li Chengjie, this place felt incomparably precious.

He slid the bolt into place behind him. Though it did not look sturdy, it was at least a physical barrier.

Leaning against the cold door, he drew a long breath of this relatively safe air. The nerves that had been taut for an entire day finally showed the first sign of easing.

In the dead of night, even through the considerable distance and the inner district's weak soundproofing, faint clamor and unrest from the outer district still seeped in like ghosts.

At first there were only scattered shouts, but they soon turned into clear wails, furious curses, and the piercing hum of Dharma Artifacts colliding!

"Fire! Run!"

"My shop! My Spirit Stones! You damned bandits!"

"Don't kill me! I'll give you everything! Aah—!"

"Fight them! We're dead either way!"

"Loot it! Whoever grabs it owns it!"

The chaotic sounds grew louder and louder, mixed with the thunderous crashes of collapsing buildings and even more shrill screams.

Firelight faintly reddened part of the night sky from the direction of the outer district, staining some of the buildings at the inner district's edge with an ominous crimson.

Li Chengjie shot upright from the bed and rushed to the tiny window, peering outside through a crack.

Though he could not see the exact situation, the soaring flames and increasingly distinct sounds of chaos had already painted a scene of hell on earth.

Li Chengjie's heart began pounding violently of its own accord, while a chill crawled up his spine.

When the rabbit dies, the fox grieves; creatures mourn their own kind.

An indescribable sorrow and lingering fear seized him tightly.

If he had not exhausted everything to force his way into the inner district, he would likely have been one of those voices in the desperate uproar at this very moment—or perhaps already a cold corpse lying in a pool of blood.

Just then, a squad's hurried footsteps approached from afar and stopped at the alley entrance not far from him. It seemed to be a group of Flowing Cloud Sect guards who had just withdrawn from outside.

A somewhat familiar voice, suppressing its rage, rang out. It was Steward Zhou, the man who had spoken with the Foundation Establishment Elder and always wore a worried look on his face!

"Stop right there!" Steward Zhou's voice carried unprecedented severity and a trace of tremor. "Look at yourselves! Look at what you've become! Do you still look like disciples of the Flowing Cloud Sect?!"

A somewhat defiant voice muttered, "Senior Brother Zhou, it's completely descended into chaos outside! We... we had no choice..."

"No choice?!" Steward Zhou's voice abruptly rose, filled with grief and indignation. "And having no choice means you can imitate those rogue cultivators, looting amid the flames, burning, killing, and plundering?! What did I just see, huh?! Junior Disciple Li! What is that bulging in your arms? Was it something you casually pocketed from that old cultivator's stall after it was robbed?!"

The named Junior Disciple Li seemed flustered, stammering, "I... I didn't... That... that was picked up..."

"Picked up? What a fine thing to call 'picked up'!" Steward Zhou laughed in rage.

"Junior Disciple Wang! The blood on your blade has not even been wiped clean, has it? Don't tell me you picked that up too!

"And you, Junior Disciple Zhao!

"Did you just attack a female cultivator who was trying to flee?!

"Tell me, what is the difference between you and those utterly heartless rogue cultivators outside?!

"The sect raised us to maintain order and shelter those under our protection—not to turn us into destroyers of order, into the very sort of bandits we ourselves despise!"

The squad fell silent. Only heavy breathing and the uneasy sounds of shifting feet remained.

Another voice tried to defend himself, but he was clearly lacking conviction. "Senior Brother Zhou, it's not that we wanted to do this... It's just too chaotic outside. Everything has completely spiraled out of control!

"Everyone's eyes have gone red with greed. If we... if we don't take anything now, it'll all be snatched away by someone else... Besides, didn't the higher-ups also..."

"Shut up!" Steward Zhou cut him off sharply, his voice heavy with exhaustion and disappointment.

"The higher-ups are the higher-ups! We are us!

"Do not forget the Heart Demon Oath you swore when you entered the sect!

"Do not forget the responsibility represented by those blue robes you wear!

"The collapse of order is not a reason for us to fall!

"And power should never become a tool for bullying the weak!"

Look at the flames shooting into the sky on the outskirts, listen to those desperate cries! Don't you feel even a shred of guilt?!"

He paused, his voice heavy and hoarse:

"I know the situation is dire, and the future uncertain.

But precisely because of this, we must hold fast to our original hearts, to the bottom line of being human, and to the last shred of dignity we have as Flowing Cloud Sect Disciples!

Otherwise, even if we survive by some stroke of luck, our Dao Hearts will already be tainted. How would we be any different from demons?!

How would we be any different from those fiends of the Blood Fiend Cult?!

Everyone who took part in the looting tonight, hand over whatever you had no right to take. When we return, report to the Punishment Hall and accept your punishment!

If I discover anyone again consorting with them in evil, don't blame me, Zhou, for showing no regard for our fellowship!"

The alley entrance fell into dead silence, broken only by Steward Zhou's heavy, suppressed breathing.

Inside the house, Li Chengjie heard every word of the exchange clearly, and his heart shook violently.

That night, amid the ceaseless chaos and clamor on the outskirts and the oppressive silence of the inner district, Li Chengjie tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

The next morning, the sky was gray and overcast. The air still seemed to carry a faint scent of scorched ash and diluted blood.

Just as he lowered his head and hurried along, a somewhat familiar voice—now brimming with smug satisfaction—drifted over from the fork ahead.

"Hehe, Shopkeeper Wang, you're too polite. In times like these, pills are scarce, so a rise in price is only natural. This batch of Harmony Qi Pills I refined cost me no small amount of effort. Their efficacy is absolutely guaranteed..."

Li Chengjie looked up and saw Zhang Gui, the Mid-grade Alchemist who had once turned him away at the door, chatting merrily with a richly dressed middle-aged man who looked like the shopkeeper of some establishment.

Zhang Gui wore a brand-new silk robe, his face ruddy and his hair combed without a single strand out of place. An unconcealable air of triumph filled his face, making him seem like a completely different person from the cold and distant man Li Chengjie had met outside that shabby little courtyard.

The Spiritual Power Fluctuation around him also seemed somewhat more condensed. It appeared that after advancing to Mid-grade Alchemist, both his status and resources had risen enormously.

Shopkeeper Wang wore a fawning smile and nodded repeatedly. "Master Zhang, you're absolutely right! Who in the Marketplace hasn't heard of your skill?

Now that you've advanced to mid-grade, these Harmony Qi Pills are even more precious than gold! The price is negotiable, completely negotiable!

I only ask that when you achieve Pill Formation next time, you give my humble shop first consideration..."

"Easy enough, easy enough." Zhang Gui stroked his beard, beaming with pleasure. Clearly, he was enjoying this immensely.

Li Chengjie silently watched the scene, his heart filled with mixed emotions. There was envy, there was reflection, but more than anything, there was an indescribable excitement and... a sense of purpose!

Li Chengjie concealed the gleam in his eyes and strode past the chatting Zhang Gui. A voice within him roared madly:

"Earn Spirit Stones! At any cost, earn one hundred Spirit Stones as quickly as possible! Copy the mid-grade alchemy experience!"