A Glimmer of a Clue

"Gurgle..."

The old monk stirred the boiling water with a wooden stick. Several golden tea leaves with clear patterns churned within, turning the hot water a brilliant yellow as an intense, bitter tea fragrance filled the air.

The leaves of the Terrestrial Treasure Tree, the Buddha-Heart Tea Tree.

"Master, how is this Ancient Seal Script character pronounced? How do I interpret it?"

Chen Xuan squatted on the ground and used a branch to draw a crooked, twisted character, humbly seeking the old monk's guidance.

The old monk lowered his head and glanced at it. After patiently explaining it, he asked in confusion, "You don't recognize these characters, so how could you write them?"

He was shocked inwardly. These seal characters dated back to ancient times, and the Ancient Chu Kingdom had stopped using them long ago. If the Hanging Temple had not studied Yong He, a Mountain Sea Exotic Beast, in its early years and preserved many ancient texts, he would never have had the chance to come into contact with these seal characters.

"I was just scribbling nonsense. I didn't expect it to actually be a character."

Chen Xuan babbled an explanation, then wrote another Ancient Seal Script character on the ground. "This one isn't Ancient Seal Script too, is it...? Ha, it really is a character. What a coincidence..."

The old monk wore a helpless expression. What coincidence? Could it be that you're one of the Ancient Sages who created writing? The Qi Refiners outside the temple truly lied through their teeth. They were beyond saving.

In the distance.

The young monk, who had suffered severe injuries, held a wooden alms bowl and squatted on the ground. He kept smiling apologetically at Chen Xuan, showing that he knew he had been wrong. Chen Xuan felt a little creeped out by his stare and thought all these monks were completely deranged.

He had taken a kick from Monk Kong Wen and was in mortal danger. Now, he was waiting for the Treasure Tea Soup to heal his wounds and preserve his life.

Not long after, the tea soup was ready, and a group of "wretched-lifers" Qi Refiners eagerly crowded over.

Chen Xuan received a bowl of Treasure Tea Soup.

Only a single golden tea leaf floated within it, glittering brightly and giving off a clear fragrance. Just breathing in its scent made one feel refreshed and invigorated, almost as though they had reached enlightenment.

Although the portion was small, it was still extraordinarily precious—and there would be some every day.

The old monk distributing the tea soup looked at the gathered Qi Refiners with a pleading expression and urged them in a low voice:

"After drinking this precious Treasure Tea, please behave yourselves. Our Hanging Temple bears no ill will toward any of you..."

Chen Xuan did not have much to say about it.

After all, one's mouth was softened by what one ate, and he was not the sort to cause trouble for no reason.

But the other Qi Refiners merely sneered.

The burly man sneered coldly. "One rotten tea leaf, and you think you can fob us off? Worried about your treasures, are you? Please, just let us into the Southern Wilderness... I'll go find heavenly treasures myself. At least I won't have to put up with your damn attitude!"

The middle-aged Daoist said sternly, "Your Dao hearts are as true as iron!"

"If you believe us, you can simply let us leave. We absolutely won't interfere with the Hanging Temple's plans," one Qi Refiner repeatedly promised.

"But I can't. I've loved women since I was little. For the sake of a beautiful woman, I'd even disown my own parents..." Another Qi Refiner exaggerated wildly, making dire threats.

A crowd of people shoved and jostled, bullheadedly arguing like street thugs and scoundrels. The old monk's kasaya was torn into tatters, and some Qi Refiners even took advantage of the chaos to grope him, trying to find leaves from the Buddha-Heart Tea Tree or some other treasure.

The people from the Hanging Temple were harried to the point of utter exhaustion and could only flee in a panic.

"Everyone's latched onto the Hanging Temple, but they can only pinch their noses and swallow this loss."

Chen Xuan watched the scene with barely contained laughter. Then he tipped back the Treasure Tea Soup, swallowed it, held the golden tea leaf in his mouth, and entered the temporary wooden hut that had already been built.

A faint bitterness blossomed on the tip of his tongue. The qi and blood within his body were gradually stirred into motion, accumulating strength like water behind a dam.

"Before Peach Blossom Garden falls, I can cultivate Green Qi."

Chen Xuan sat cross-legged on the cold, crude plank bed. Originally, cultivating a trick other than White Qi would have taken him twenty days, but now that he could drink valuable Treasure Tea Soup every day, that time should be shortened considerably.

He had already learned the exact time and location of Peach Blossom Garden's fall from Wang Chan's Yellow Millet Dream.

The first day of the first month.

More than half a month remained—enough time for him to master a second trick, and perhaps even set foot on the Feather Transformation Path for a second time.

"Buzz..."

A strand of White Qi slowly moved within his body, gradually sketching out a qi-circulation diagram. From time to time, a flash of green radiance flickered, only to be swallowed by golden-white light...

Time flowed like water.

"Patter, patter!"

In the latter half of the night, a fine drizzle fell outside, mixed with pellets of ice.

Chen Xuan ended his cultivation and pushed open the door to look outside. His gaze sharpened.

In the wilderness, more than twenty Ascetic Monks from the Hanging Temple sat in the rain like statues, completely motionless. Faint moonlight reflected off their heads, while chill air rose from the ground like mist. The scene was eerie and terrifying.

"These Ascetic Monks really have some skill. Their mental fortitude seems far stronger than ordinary people's. That Monk Kong Wen was actually worried these young men would be bewitched by Yan Yushu."

Chen Xuan stared in puzzlement. Among the crowd, he saw the young monk who had been severely injured during the day. He sat in the cold rain, threads of blood seeping from his chest and flowing away with the rainwater, yet he seemed completely unaware. His expression was solemn, and it was as though a genuine Buddhist nature flowed from him.

In truth, the convictions and mental fortitude of these Ascetic Monks surpassed those of most people in the world. Moreover, they cultivated White Qi and were cold by nature.

In the wooden hut next door, voices plotting together rang out.

"Daoist Priest, we benefited because of that Yan Yushu. We absolutely can't stand by and watch those bald donkeys from the Hanging Temple humiliate her as they please..." The burly man lowered his voice and whispered, "My heart is in torment. I can't bear to watch any longer."

"..."

After a moment, the middle-aged Daoist's voice slowly sounded.

"This poor Daoist... also feels deeply ashamed..."

Hearing the faint disturbance, Chen Xuan turned his head in surprise. He saw two figures vault out of the wooden hut and speed toward the endless mountains of the Southern Wilderness beneath the night sky.

"Amitabha..."

In the curtain of rain, a slightly disappointed Buddhist voice rang out. "They're seeking their own deaths..."

Immediately afterward, one of the "statues" seemed to come alive. A figure wreathed in golden-white radiance, resembling an enraged Vajra, chased after them into the darkness...

The Southern Wilderness stretched into boundless darkness.

Freezing rain fell like woven threads. Along the winding, slick mountain path of muddy sludge, a slender, barefoot figure fled through the night. She wrapped her thin clothes tightly around herself in the cold, her body trembling violently from the chill.

"Boom!"

In the mountain forest ahead, golden-white radiance after golden-white radiance lit up. Qi and blood soared into the sky, like white-flame furnaces more than a zhang tall, illuminating the night sky.

"..."

Yan Yushu stopped. Her delicate brows drew together slightly. Then she turned and changed direction, only to halt again.

"Roar!"

"Moo!"

Several figures resembling white furnaces emerged from her retreat route. Behind them, the phantom of a white-furred giant ape several zhang tall, with a crimson face, fangs, and a hideous countenance, threw back its head and roared. There was also the phantom of a giant elephant whose four limbs were as thick as pillars and whose two snow-white tusks rose high, its trunk as thick as a water barrel...

"Six, Desires, Heaven—"

Loud Buddhist chants rang out from every direction, one after another, echoing across the mountains like thunder rolling over the earth.

"Huff..."

Yan Yushu pressed her slightly pale lips together and casually gathered up her waterfall-like hair. In her foxlike eyes, black flames seemed to burn fiercely. Her steps swayed with alluring grace, and the delicate, vulnerable air of a powdered beauty vanished without a trace.

"A bunch of motherless bastards. Then... come at me."

Within the curtain of rain, the phantom of a huge black fish leaped out. Transparent bird wings spread from its back, and its cry resembled that of mandarin ducks. The rain filling the sky trembled along with it.

The slaughter would never end.

She had long since grown used to it.

"Damn, Yan Yushu's Six Desires Heaven really is something..."

Chen Xuan watched the figures disappear from the camp and was startled.

During the day, the burly man and the middle-aged Daoist had made the biggest fuss. He had assumed they merely wanted to take greater advantage of the Hanging Temple, but he had never expected them to truly rebel.

They had actually been willing to abandon benefits readily within reach just to go into the mountains and help Yan Yushu. It was unbelievable.

"The Hanging Temple isn't some harmless bunch that can be pushed around, either. Once their bottom line is crossed, they overturn the table outright and reveal their vicious side... I heard that every mortal cultivator in the Hanging Temple's territory, good or evil, was slaughtered."

Chen Xuan muttered inwardly. In the distance, an Ascetic Monk opened his eyes and looked over.

"Heh..."

Chen Xuan lifted his chin at the monk, then returned to the wooden hut. He continued cultivating the Little Green Deer Trick for a while before lying on the planks and closing his eyes to rest.

All sorts of major events happened every day in the Qi Refining World. Not every one of them had anything to do with him, and each of those great events had protagonists of its own.

"I only need to proceed step by step, keeping my feet firmly on the ground. Naturally, I'll bear fruit of my own... Peach Blossom Garden contains relics left behind by ancient immortals and sages. That is the direction I must strive toward."

Chen Xuan firmly believed that his heart for cultivating immortality and seeking the Dao was as unshakable as a green mountain. It had never wavered, and no amount of distracting thoughts could throw his will into chaos.

What was Six Desires Heaven? It could only lure away those with unstable minds. To someone like him, who could even withstand Yellow Millet Qi head-on, it was utterly insignificant.

Not long afterward.

While asleep, Chen Xuan dreamed of Yan Yushu...

"Crack!"

His body suddenly tensed. Sweat covered his head, and his five fingers, sharp as knives, seized the wooden bed. With such force that he directly tore the planks apart.