Where the Land Is Vast, the Sky High, and the Clouds Deep

Inside the hall, wooden boxes of all kinds were lined up across the table, containing ginseng, sealwort, deer antler, snakegrass, and various other medicinal herbs. Gao Xian had a photographic memory and matched them one by one, then recalled the refining method for the Immortal Elixir Formula recorded in the Depraved Flower Immortal Scripture.

"Donkey Guardian!" Gao Xian called once everything was prepared.

"Little Donkey is here!" Donkey Legs immediately took his position.

Gao Xian slapped the small bronze furnace, roughly the size of a head, which had been prepared at his side. It landed directly upon the ceramic stand built at the center.

With another wave of his hand, the sealwort drifted down into the bronze furnace.

As General Donkey's divine fire surged and rolled, linked to Gao Xian's will, it precisely controlled the heat and temperature.

The sealwort instantly transformed into a mass of spiritual essence and fell to the bottom of the bronze furnace.

One herb after another was continuously refined, until each became pure spiritual essence and dropped into the furnace. Gao Xian then placed the lid over it.

The supreme Spirit Pill formula that Silver Flower Palace had failed to refine even after gathering the strength of Northern Wei seemed as simple as eating and drinking in Gao Xian's hands.

Or perhaps it was simply because this donkey's divine fire was so formidable.

Gao Xian discovered that using the donkey's divine ability to command fire against enemies was simply a waste. Pill refinement was this divine fire's true purpose.

Clang! The bronze furnace's lid opened.

"There are still flaws!" When the first furnace was opened, the Spirit Pill that emerged did not look pure. Its spirituality was not fully complete, and it still retained mortal properties.

Gao Xian frowned, dissatisfied.

Clang! The lid opened.

"Another furnace." Great Immortal Kongchen was still dissatisfied.

Clang! The furnace opened once more.

"Another furnace!" Great Immortal Kongchen, seated cross-legged before the pill furnace, frowned. He looked at the remaining herbs and decided to try again.

At this point, Donkey Guardian General began pleading for mercy. Though it was merely a small flame flowing in a long, steady stream, even he could not endure this endlessly.

His tongue had split from breathing fire. The entire donkey sprawled on the ground without the slightest dignity, like an old dog.

"Great Immortal! Great Immortal! We cannot go on!"

Gao Xian acted as though he had not seen General Donkey's pitiful pretense at all. Calm and composed, he asked, "Oh? Why not?"

"Did you not say you would attend upon this Great Immortal before and behind, serving as an ox or a horse?"

"Did you not say that you would come through wind and rain, and would not shrink from a mountain of blades or a Sea of Fire?"

"How come you cannot go on after breathing a few mouthfuls of fire?"

The donkey was now paying the price for the loyalty he had proclaimed earlier. It would learn that some boasts were not to be made.

"But Little Donkey... really cannot do it anymore."

"If I breathe any more, I can only cough up blood!"

Who could a crafty, slippery donkey fool? Certainly not Gao Xian.

"One last furnace. Once it is refined, you may rest—and you can have one pill as well."

The donkey immediately sprang to his feet on all four hooves, climbing up at once and rallying his spirits.

The fragrance emitted by this Spirit Pill held an immense temptation for him as well.

The final furnace of pills took somewhat longer, but when it was opened, fluorescent light swirled around the furnace mouth.

Gao Xian looked over and saw three Spirit Pills resting at the bottom of the pill furnace.

One glance was enough to tell that the Spirit Pills from this final furnace were no ordinary objects.

They were as beautifully colored as jade. They looked less like medicinal pellets and more like spiritual pearls.

The fragrance of the Spirit Pills had already filled the entire residence while the refinement was underway, lingering without dispersing.

Just one breath of it made one feel refreshed in body and spirit. Even hidden injuries and stubborn ailments seemed to ease.

By now, everyone inside and outside the residence knew that Great Immortal Kongchen of Gongzhou City was refining immortal pills.

This drew countless eyes to the room where Gao Xian was refining pills. There were not only curious onlookers, but also the prying eyes of wandering martial artists. Many came merely to breathe in a trace of the immortal pills' Immortal Qi, as though taking a few extra breaths would grant them longevity and immortality.

Yet no one dared truly disturb Great Immortal Kongchen's pill refinement.

Even knowing that what was being refined had to be immortal pills fit for gods, one still needed to be alive to consume them. The blood on West Gate Long Street from last night had yet to be washed clean.

When Gao Xian finally finished refining the pills and stepped out of the room, Lu Canghai and Xu Bayuan, who had been waiting outside, immediately entered.

Lu Canghai remembered the scent of this Immortal Elixir Formula and Spirit Pill with bone-deep clarity. His face was filled with endless emotion as he said directly, "The immortal pill refined by Immortal Master is actually the legendary Life-Reviving Pill."

"This immortal pill appeared thirty years ago and stirred the martial world into a storm that filled every city. Canghai once acted for the sake of this pill, but in the end, fate did not grant it to me."

Sword Saint Xu Bayuan had also heard of this immortal pill. "It is said that this pill can revive the dead and regrow white bones, hence its name, the Life-Reviving Pill. It means even the dead can be saved, and any difficult or incurable illness can be cured. So it was refined by Immortal Master."

Gao Xian looked at Lu Canghai and held a wooden box out before him. "This pill was specially refined for you."

"Take it, and your eyes will see the light again."

Lu Canghai froze. Though he had always said that mortals had eyes but no heart, and that a swordsman needed only a sword heart, if he could possess bright eyes to behold mountains and rivers, lovely flowers and the full moon, who would willingly sink into that eternally silent darkness?

Years ago, he had fought over the Life-Reviving Immortal Pill for the sake of curing his eyes. At that time, the entire martial world had surged with wind and clouds, and even the forces of various nations had become entangled in it. No one knew how many had died before the Spirit Pill finally fell into the imperial palace of Shu.

Yet now, an immortal had specially opened his furnace to refine pills for him. The immortal pill fought over even by rulers and emperors was being given to him without asking anything in return.

At this moment, Lu Canghai, proud to the bone, wept tears of old age and dropped to his knees. "Immortal Master, I can never repay such great kindness and virtue."

Gao Xian raised a hand, his expression unchanged. "Why have you not taken it already?"

Even Lu Canghai's hand trembled as he held the Spirit Pill. At last, he swallowed it in one gulp, and a spiritual resonance spread from the depths of his origin throughout his entire body.

It was as though he had shed his mortal frame and exchanged his bones. The hidden injuries in his body healed, and the gray at his temples faintly darkened.

Yet those were merely secondary effects. Most importantly, bloody fluid continually streamed from Lu Canghai's eyes. His pair of clouded eyes changed as though newly replaced, eventually turning into a pair of dark pupils.

"I can see!"

"I can see!"

"Hiss—" The sunlight was too fierce, instantly stabbing pain into Lu Canghai's eyes. His eyes, long deprived of light, could not withstand it all at once.

Gao Xian had long been prepared. With a wave of his hand, a strip of cloth immediately wrapped around Lu Canghai's eyes.

Sword Saint Xu Bayuan was also delighted for his old friend, and the two were overcome with emotion.

At this moment, however, General Donkey came to Gao Xian's side with boxes slung over both flanks, looking plainly as though he was about to depart.

Sword Saint Xu Bayuan was the first to notice. "Immortal Master... are you leaving?"

"The matters here are settled. It is time to depart." Gao Xian nodded.

"Where is the immortal going?" Lu Canghai had long sensed Kongchenzi's intent to leave.

With cloth over his eyes, he saw the immortal's appearance dimly through his eyes for the first time. Just as he had imagined, Gao Xian bore himself with immortal grace and Daoist bones, his aura like the bright moon above the nine heavens.

The Daoist mark between his brows was like an imprint bestowed by heaven and earth. Like a heavenly being descending into the world, a Banished Immortal Descends to the Mortal World.

With an easy sweep of his hand, Gao Xian pointed to the earth and sky. "See where the land is vast, the sky high, and the clouds deep; hear the vast sea surge, as waves and billows rise."

Unlike last time, Lu Canghai pressed the question. "May we meet again?"

The Daoist smiled. "If fate wills it, we shall meet again."

Gao Xian took out a thin booklet and handed it to Lu Canghai.

Written upon it were none other than the four words Lu Canghai had given Gao Xian: Flying Immortal Beyond the Heavens.

Before parting, Gao Xian imparted to Lu Canghai the sword strike of Flying Immortal Beyond the Heavens.

"I hope you will use it to perform more chivalrous deeds, saving the common people."

"Canghai will engrave it upon his heart and entrails, and never dare forget it." Lu Canghai accepted the booklet.

Gao Xian looked toward Xu Bayuan. He knew that Xu Bayuan wished to learn Gao Xian's flying sword, but Great Immortal Kongchen had no means to pass on this immortality, much less teach him the flying sword.

Furthermore, Xu Bayuan was known as the Sword Saint and had devoted his heart to training with the sword, so it was not particularly suitable for him either.

Gao Xian took out another booklet. On its first page was a blade-shadow of intent he had imprinted himself. "Though this flying dagger technique cannot, like a flying sword, take a man's head from a thousand miles away, if you can comprehend it completely, then no one beneath heaven and earth will be able to evade this strike of yours."

"When that time comes, this move shall be called Little Xu Flying Dagger!"

"I also hope you will read more books. Perhaps one day your household can produce seven presented scholars in one family, and three top graduates between father and sons."

Xu Bayuan clutched the Little Xu Flying Dagger booklet, utterly baffled, like a monk six feet tall trying to touch his head.

Yet how could an immortal's words be nonsense?

Xu Bayuan suddenly understood. Perhaps the immortal was telling him that as long as he read more books, his family would produce seven presented scholars and three top graduates.

Xu Bayuan was moved to tears. "Bayuan will certainly have his sons and grandsons read more books in the future."

The immortal smiled in gratification.

The blazing sun flooded the long street, shining so brightly that people could scarcely open their eyes.

It was a splendid sunny day. The ice and snow between heaven and earth had begun to melt; winter had gone and spring had come, bringing another season.

Gao Xian rode away on the donkey's back.

Behind him, Lu Canghai and Xu Bayuan bowed in farewell once more, gazing after him for a long time, as though they wished to etch that figure forever into their hearts.