Aftermath

The moment the Wolf Soul collapsed, even the mountain wind at the northern foothills came to a halt.

The enormous ghostly green body crumbled like a collapsing snow mountain, shattering and peeling away layer by layer until it became a sky full of glowing specks. They drifted through the night like countless fireflies, gradually dimming and going out.

Li Xuan stood atop the pile of collapsed rubble, his right fist still held in the position of a punch.

The Crimson Gold Flame on his fist slowly faded, and the Blood Fiend Gang Qi withdrew into his body.

He lowered his arm. The flesh on his knuckles had already peeled back, exposing the white bone beneath. Yet the bones gleamed with a pale golden luster and were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Blood Fiend Diamond Body.

Elder Bai Chen was the first to recover. He sheathed his long sword and strode forward, his gaze lingering on Li Xuan for several breaths as if confirming whether he had suffered any serious injuries.

"You cultivated the Red Sun Scripture?" Bai Chen's voice was filled with undisguised astonishment.

Li Xuan nodded. "Steward Liu taught it to me."

Bai Chen fell silent for a moment, then glanced back at Ziyue and Hei Yan. Complex emotions filled the eyes of the two elders.

Shock, approval, and something else that was difficult to put into words.

"Let's head back first," Bai Chen said. "The Shadow Division will handle matters here."

He turned toward the disciples who had been flung aside by the shockwave and raised his voice. "Everyone, withdraw to the sect gate! Without orders, no one is to approach the northern foothills!"

The disciples got to their feet in twos and threes. Some were pale, some looked dazed, and some were still trembling. Their gazes toward Li Xuan varied greatly.

Some were awed, some jealous, and some confused.

Shi Yong pushed through the crowd and ran to Li Xuan's side. He had also been thrown aside by the shockwave. A large patch of skin on his back had been scraped away and was smeared with blood, but he was completely unaware of it.

"You damn..." Shi Yong opened his mouth, wanting to curse him for something, but found he did not know what to curse. In the end, he squeezed out only one sentence: "When did you become this damn fierce?"

Li Xuan did not answer.

He lowered his head and looked at his right fist. The wound had already healed more than halfway, and the new skin carried a faint pink hue.

With that punch, he had driven the Red Sun Qi and Blood Fiend Gang Qi to their limits at the same time. The two utterly opposite forces had collided and torn through his body, then achieved some sort of fragile balance at the final moment.

The feeling was like holding fire and ice at the same time.

The slightest carelessness, and he would be the first thing to explode.

Su Ying also came running over. The little girl's eyes were rimmed with red, though he did not know whether it was from fright or some other reason.

Hugging her hammer, she stood behind Shi Yong and said softly, "Senior Brother Li, you were amazing just now."

Li Xuan glanced at her but said nothing.

In the distance, people from the Shadow Division had already begun sealing off the ruins of the mine tunnel.

Seven or eight black-clad figures spread out and set up some sort of formation around the collapsed entrance. Pale blue patterns of light spread across the ground, slowly driving away the remaining Yin Fiend Qi.

Li Xuan's gaze passed over them and landed on the small hill farther away.

The place where Ghost Face had stood was already empty.

Yun Qingxuan walked over. Quite a bit of dust clung to her, but her expression remained relatively composed.

She glanced at Li Xuan and said in a low voice, "The elders want you to return and rest first. Tomorrow, the Shadow Division will question you."

Li Xuan nodded.

"Also..." Yun Qingxuan paused. "Steward Liu wants you to see him tomorrow morning."

Li Xuan's heart stirred faintly. Ever since Steward Liu had failed to break through to the grandmaster realm in seclusion, his health had been poor, and he had not even been able to attend tonight's battle. Now that he suddenly wanted to see him, it was probably not good news.

"Understood," he said.

By the time he returned to Courtyard 7, midnight had already passed.

Li Xuan pushed open the courtyard gate. The old plum tree was still there, and so were the stone table and stone stools. Everything was just as it had been when he left.

But he knew that some things were no longer the same.

He sat on the bed and closed his eyes to inspect his inner state.

[Li Xuan]

[Status: Lightly Injured (Recovering)]

[Realm: Inner Qi Realm, Third Layer (Stabilized)]

[Strength: 28.7]

[Physique: 79.4]

[Agility: 5.2]

[Spirit: 10.0]

[Potential Points: 21.5]

[Technique: Blood Fiend Bone Forging Technique, Third Layer (Threefold Limit Break)]

[Technique: Mountain Suppressing Art (Perfection)]

[Technique: Red Sun Scripture (Newly Mastered)]

[Special: Wolf Soul Mark (Restless), Blood Fiend Diamond Body (Bones Gleaming with Golden Light), Yin-Yang Harmony (Blood Fiend Gang Qi and Red Sun Qi Initially Fused)]

His gaze stopped on the line for "Wolf Soul Mark."

Restless.

When Gurqin's clone dispersed, the Wolf Soul Mark in his body had jolted violently.

It was not fear or struggle, but—

Resonance.

The words Gurqin had spoken before his death continued to circle in his mind: "I'm only a clone. The real me is still..."

Still where?

If what had been sealed beneath the mine tunnel was only a clone, then where was the real Gurqin? In the Northern Territory? At the Barbarian Royal Court? Or—

He remembered the Wolf Soul summoned by that black-robed shaman on the night Iron Wall City fell.

He remembered the two or three dozen densely packed shadows in the cavern at Black Stone Market.

He remembered Ghost Face's mention of "cooperation."

None of this was isolated.

Gurqin had spent thirty years extending his tentacles right beneath the Crimson Firmament Sect.

And only today had they discovered that this was merely a clone.

Li Xuan opened his eyes and took out the Pure Yang Stone from his robes.

The stone was considerably dimmer than it had been a month ago. The golden halo on its surface was almost invisible.

To cultivate the Red Sun Scripture, he had absorbed seventy percent of the Pure Yang Qi within the stone.

The remaining thirty percent was not enough to cultivate another technique, but it was sufficient for other things... such as refining the Wolf Soul Mark.

He tightened his grip around the stone, and a faint warmth spread through his palm.

Steward Liu had previously said that refining the mark would take half a year.

But now he had the Red Sun Scripture and Pure Yang Qi. Perhaps it would not take nearly that long.

Yet he also knew that now was not the time to refine it.

Gurqin's clone had only just been destroyed, Ghost Face was still lurking in the shadows, the Shadow Division would question him tomorrow, and Steward Liu still wanted to see him...

One matter came after another, surging toward him like a tide and giving him no chance to catch his breath.

He put the stone away and lay down.

Moonlight streamed in through the window and fell across the floor beside the bed, white as frost.

A wolf howl came from the distance.

It was very short and faint, as if it had come from somewhere very far away.

But Li Xuan heard it clearly.

He closed his eyes.

The howl echoed in his mind, once, then again.

Early the next morning, before Li Xuan had even left the house, someone arrived.

It was not someone from the Shadow Division, but Zhou Ning.

The Green-robed youth stood at the courtyard gate holding a lacquer tray. His complexion was poor, and dark circles ringed his eyes as though he had not slept well.

Two dishes of vegetables, a bowl of rice, and a pot of tea sat on the tray, just as usual.

"Senior Brother Li, your morning meal." Zhou Ning placed the tray on the stone table and secretly glanced at Li Xuan, hesitating to speak.

"What is it?" Li Xuan asked.

Zhou Ning hesitated, then lowered his voice. "Senior Brother, last night... were you at the northern foothills?"

Li Xuan looked at him without speaking.

Zhou Ning swallowed. "This morning I heard the steward say that something major happened at the northern foothills last night. Many Inner Disciples were injured, and some people even said... said that the demon sealed beneath the mine tunnel had escaped."

He paused, then lowered his voice further. "Some people said... that you were the one who killed the demon."

Li Xuan picked up the teacup and took a sip. "It wasn't a demon, but a Barbarian shaman. And I didn't kill him. It was only a clone."

Zhou Ning froze. He clearly did not understand what "clone" meant, but he did not dare ask further.

He bowed, turned around, and was about to leave.

"Wait." Li Xuan called him back.

Zhou Ning stopped.

Li Xuan took a piece of broken silver from his robes and placed it beside the lacquer tray.

Zhou Ning hurriedly waved his hands. "Senior Brother, I haven't finished using what you gave me last time—"

"Take it," Li Xuan said. "Help me inquire about something."

Zhou Ning looked up.

"Find out what the Shadow Division has been investigating lately," Li Xuan said. "Don't make it too obvious, and don't let anyone know you're asking on my behalf."

Zhou Ning bit his lip and nodded. He put away the broken silver and hurried off.

At a quarter past the hour of Chen, people from the Shadow Division arrived.

The visitor was a middle-aged man dressed in black martial attire, with a short saber hanging from his waist. His features were so ordinary that, once thrown into a crowd, no one would be able to find him.

But his aura was anything but ordinary—he was in the True Qi Realm, at least above the fifth layer.

"Li Xuan?" The man stood at the courtyard gate, his voice flat.

"That's me."

"Shadow Division, Zhou Qian." He flashed his insignia. "Come with me."

Li Xuan followed him out of Courtyard 7, passed through several alleys in the Inner Sect, and headed toward the western side of Crimson Firmament Peak.

The western side held an independent compound. Unlike the Contribution Hall and Cultivation Method Pavilion, its buildings had black walls and gray tiles, while the narrow windows exuded a cold, stern atmosphere.

The Shadow Division's headquarters.

Zhou Qian led him into a modest room containing only a table and two chairs. A lamp and a stack of papers sat on the table, while the walls were completely bare.

"Sit." Zhou Qian pointed at a chair.

Li Xuan sat down.

Zhou Qian sat opposite him and took a jade slip from his sleeve, placing it on the table.

"Elder Bai Chen has already reported last night's events at the northern foothills," he said. "We need your cooperation. Tell us everything that happened, especially the details of your fight with Gurqin."

Li Xuan nodded and recounted the events of the previous night from beginning to end: from emerging from Calm Mind Cave, to the ruins of the mine tunnel at the northern foothills, to Gurqin's appearance, and finally to his punch. Everything he said was true, but he concealed some things—for example, the Pure Yang Stone, the state of Yin-Yang Harmony, and the words Gurqin had spoken before his death.

After listening, Zhou Qian remained silent for a while, then asked Li Xuan a question he had not expected.

"When did you obtain the Wolf Soul Mark in your body?"

Li Xuan's heart tightened.

The Shadow Division indeed knew.

"The night Iron Wall City fell," he said. "A shaman planted it in me before he died."

"What was that shaman's relationship with Gurqin?"

"I don't know."

Zhou Qian stared at him for several breaths, then took a sheet of paper from his sleeve and pushed it across the table.

A rune was drawn on the paper.

A circle, with a vertical line in the middle. The top of the line forked like branches.

It was exactly the same as the rune at the mine entrance.

"Do you recognize it?"

"I've seen it," Li Xuan said. "There was one at the mine entrance, and another in the cavern at Black Stone Market."

Zhou Qian nodded. "This is Gurqin's mark. Thirty years ago, when he was still at the Barbarian Royal Court, he used this rune to mark his followers. The mark inside your body is part of this rune."

Li Xuan said nothing.

"Do you know what this means?" Zhou Qian asked.

"It means that he had his eye on me from the night Iron Wall City fell."

"Not merely had his eye on you," Zhou Qian said. "The mark in your body is a portion of the power Gurqin spread out. Through this mark, he can sense your location and even—when you are weakened—control you."

Li Xuan's fingers tightened slightly.

"But that isn't the most troublesome part," Zhou Qian continued. "The most troublesome part is that after you destroyed his clone last night, the mark in your body not only failed to weaken, but grew even stronger."

Li Xuan's pupils contracted slightly.

"Our people detected that after midnight last night, the activity of the mark in your body increased by thirty percent," Zhou Qian said. "Do you know what that means?"

Li Xuan was silent for a breath. "It means that after the clone dispersed, part of its power was absorbed by the mark in my body."

Zhou Qian looked at him, a trace of approval flashing through his eyes.

"You're cleverer than I expected," he said. "That's right. After Gurqin's clone was destroyed, the power it released did not completely vanish. Most of it was sealed by us, but a small portion..." He paused. "Entered your body."

Li Xuan closed his eyes.

The "resonance" he had felt last night had not been an illusion.

Part of the power of Gurqin's clone had been absorbed by his Wolf Soul Mark.

This meant that the mark within his body was growing stronger and stronger.

And the stronger the mark became, the easier it was for Gurqin's Main Body to find him.

"So," Li Xuan opened his eyes, "I've become a lamp."

"More precisely, a lamp that's already been lit." Zhou Qian said, "Gurqin's Main Body may already know your location."

The two looked at each other.

The room was so quiet that they could hear the faint sound of the wick burning.

"How do we solve it?" Li Xuan asked.

"Two ways." Zhou Qian said, "First, we help you seal the mark. But the seal will take at least three months, and during those three months, you can't use more than thirty percent of your strength. Otherwise, the seal will collapse."

Li Xuan shook his head. "Three months is too long. What's the second way?"

Zhou Qian looked at him and fell silent for several breaths.

"The second way is for you to refine it yourself." he said, "Use your Red Sun Scripture to burn away all the Yin Fiend Qi in the mark. That will not only solve the problem with the mark, but also let your cultivation advance another step."

"How long will it take?"

"If you enter seclusion and give it everything you have, half a month." Zhou Qian said, "But there's one problem."

"What problem?"

"When you refine the mark, the Red Sun Qi and Blood Fiend Gang Qi in your body will clash violently." Zhou Qian said, "If you can't suppress them, your meridians will shatter. It'll be even worse than what happened to Qin Lie back then."

Li Xuan fell silent.

Qin Lie had been devoured by the backlash back then, and had severed one of his own arms to preserve his life.

Now, Li Xuan faced the same risk.

"There's one more piece of news." Zhou Qian rose and gathered the papers and jade slip from the table. "We found out Ghost Face's identity."

Li Xuan looked up.

"His name is Yan Wugui." Zhou Qian said, "Thirty years ago, he was an Inner Disciple of the Crimson Firmament Sect and Qin Lie's junior fellow disciple."

Li Xuan's pupils contracted sharply.

"Qin Lie's junior fellow disciple?"

"That's right." Zhou Qian said, "Back then, he entered the mine with Qin Lie, and fought Gurqin with him. But when Qin Lie sealed Gurqin, Yan Wugui was eroded by Gurqin's soul power and disappeared. Everyone thought he had died."

He paused.

"Now it seems he didn't die. He became one of Gurqin's people."

Li Xuan clenched his fists.

Qin Lie's junior fellow disciple.

Gurqin's follower.

Ghost Face.

What exactly had happened among those three people in that mine thirty years ago?

Zhou Qian walked to the door and glanced back at him.

"Half a month. You only have half a month to refine the mark." he said, "Because in half a month, the Shadow Division will send people to the Northern Territory to investigate the whereabouts of Gurqin's Main Body. If you don't deal with the mark, going to the Northern Territory will be walking into certain death."

He pushed the door open.

"Of course, you can also choose not to go. No one's forcing you."

The door closed.

Li Xuan sat alone in the room, unmoving for a long time.

After leaving the Shadow Division, Li Xuan did not return to Courtyard 7. Instead, he went to the rear mountain.

Calm Mind Cave.

The cave door stood open. Steward Liu sat on the meditation cushion in the same posture as yesterday, with the same expression.

But his complexion was worse than yesterday, gray and ashen like a sheet of old paper.

"You're here." Steward Liu said, "Sit."

Li Xuan sat down.

"Did the Shadow Division summon you for questioning?"

"Mm."

"What did they say?"

Li Xuan repeated Zhou Qian's words.

Steward Liu fell silent for a long time after listening.

"Yan Wugui..." he murmured. "He's still alive."

"You know him, Steward?"

Steward Liu gave a bitter smile. "Know him? It's more than that. Back then, Qin Lie, Yan Wugui, and I were taught by the same master. Qin Lie was the eldest senior brother, Yan Wugui was the second senior brother, and I was the third."

Li Xuan's heart trembled.

"I didn't go that time." Steward Liu said, "I had just broken through to the Inner Qi Realm. Master said my cultivation wasn't sufficient and made me stay in the sect. Qin Lie and Yan Wugui went. When Qin Lie returned, his right arm had been severed, and Yan Wugui had vanished."

He paused.

"Master went looking for him but couldn't find him. Later, Master died of grief. Even on his deathbed, he kept murmuring Yan Wugui's name."

Li Xuan was silent for a breath. "Why did he help Gurqin?"

"I don't know." Steward Liu shook his head. "But I can guess. Yan Wugui's talent was inferior to Qin Lie's, but his pride was even greater than Qin Lie's. Back then, he had always wanted to prove that he was stronger than Qin Lie. If Gurqin made him some promise, he might have been tempted... power, perhaps, or the chance to surpass Qin Lie."

He looked at Li Xuan.

"You're going to the Northern Territory."

It was not a question, but a statement.

Li Xuan nodded.

Steward Liu sighed, then pulled a jade slip from his robes and handed it to him.

"This is the last thing Qin Lie left behind. I've never been willing to give it to anyone."

Li Xuan accepted it.

"He said that if one day someone could go to the Northern Territory in his place, I should give this to that person." Steward Liu looked at him. "Now it seems that person is you."

Li Xuan pressed the jade slip against his forehead.

Information surged in... It was a letter.

"Li Xuan:

When you read this letter, I should already be dead. Or something close to it.

I made many mistakes in my life. The greatest mistake was carrying everything alone back then.

I thought I could solve everything, but in the end, I harmed my junior fellow disciple, myself, and everyone who trusted me.

Don't follow my example.

When you should ask for help, ask for help.

When you should retreat, retreat.

Staying alive matters more than anything.

I went to the Northern Territory once. I don't want to go a second time. But if you insist on going, remember three things:

First, Gurqin's Main Body is in the deepest part of the Northern Territory, in a place called the 'Black Abyss.' There is no light there, no sound, only endless darkness. He has been raising himself there for three hundred years. He is no longer human.

Second, Ghost Face—that is, Yan Wugui—helped Gurqin not for power. He did it to save someone. As for who that person is, investigate it yourself.

Third, the Blood Fiend Gang Qi in your body is a double-edged sword. Used well, it can kill Gurqin; used poorly, it will kill you instead. Remember, killing intent is the blade. You are not the hilt—you are the hand wielding it. The sharper the blade, the steadier your hand must be.

Don't die.

—Qin Lie"

After reading it, Li Xuan fell silent for a long time.

He stored the jade slip away and rose.

"Steward, I'm leaving."

Steward Liu nodded but did not rise to see him off.

Li Xuan reached the cave entrance and glanced back.

Steward Liu sat on the meditation cushion, his back hunched like an old house on the verge of collapse.

By the time he returned to Courtyard 7, the sky had already darkened.

Li Xuan sat on the couch, took out the Pure Yang Stone, and held it in his left palm. He pressed his right hand against his dantian and circulated the Red Sun Scripture.

Inside his body, the Red Sun Qi and Blood Fiend Gang Qi surged at the same time.

He drew a deep breath.

He began refining.

The Red Sun Qi poured into the Wolf Soul Mark deep in his right shoulder, like a red-hot blade slicing into frozen flesh.

Agonizing pain exploded instantly.

He clenched his teeth, the veins at his temples bulging.

The mark struggled and resisted. Sensing danger, it desperately shrank deeper into his meridians, trying to evade the scorching force.

But the Red Sun Qi refused to relent. Layer by layer, it stripped away the Yin Fiend Qi on the mark and burned it into nothingness.

With every layer stripped away, the mark weakened.

With every weakening, the Red Sun Qi in Li Xuan's body grew stronger.

One side waned as the other waxed.

One incense stick.

Two incense sticks.

Li Xuan's entire body was drenched in sweat, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

[Wolf Soul Mark: 75%...62%...48%...]

The numbers on the panel jumped.

Every jump brought pain like a tearing wound.

But he endured it. If he wanted to live, he had to pull this thing out of his body first.

Outside the window, the moon rose.

The lights of Crimson Firmament Peak came on one by one, then went out one by one.

The Red Sun Qi burned inside his body like a fire that would never go out.

The final trace of golden light in the Pure Yang Stone on the windowsill slowly sank into his palm.

The stone dimmed.

It became an ordinary gray rock.

And the Wolf Soul Mark inside his body shattered.

[Wolf Soul Mark: Refined]

[Obtained: Pure Yang Qi (Minor Achievement)]

[Effect: Red Sun Scripture proficiency +50%, damage against evil entities +500%]

[Physique: 79.4→85.0]

[Strength: 28.7→32.1]

[Spirit: 10.0→15.0]

[Potential Points: 21.5→25.0]

Li Xuan opened his eyes.

Deep in his pupils, red-gold light flickered like flames.

He lowered his head and looked at his right hand.

In his palm, the Blood Fiend Gang Qi and Red Sun Qi intertwined. They no longer repelled each other, but—

fused.

Like two rivers flowing into the same sea.