Qianli Heart-Refining Trial

Little Bug flipped over and sat up, letting out a startled shriek.

Anyone who saw themselves wrapped in a fire serpent would have their heart and guts tremble.

The fire serpent had scales and horns, thick as a water barrel, with a huge maw full of fiery fangs, whiskers beneath its jaws, and blazing flames covering its entire body. Fierce and hideous, it was a monster through and through. In terms of sheer terror, it was far more frightening than Sun Yougui's flying yakshas.

The fire serpent wound itself around Wang Chong, yet never attacked any further, nor did it set him ablaze.

"Why isn't this fire serpent burning me?"

"Shouldn't I have turned to ash on the spot?"

Wang Chong abruptly looked up and saw Xiao Nan standing guard nearby with his hand on his sword. He cried, "Master, what should we do?"

Sword qi surged throughout Xiao Nan's body as he stared at his precious disciple, ready to save him and flee with all his strength at the first sign of trouble. He knew how formidable this fire serpent was. Even flying swords could not cut it, and if it truly unleashed its might, he would never be able to withstand it.

"Disciple, try communicating with this fire serpent."

Reassured by his master, Little Bug steadied himself somewhat. He spoke to it gently for a few moments, but the fire serpent seemed unable to understand. It continued winding around him from top to bottom, as though it were idly rolling beads in its hand.

Little Bug's fear gradually faded, and his thoughts began racing. What the hell was that Qianli Heart-Refining Trial the Daoist mentioned? Was it just making me dream of court affairs?

Did I pass the test?

Is that why this fire serpent won't burn me?

It must be that the immortal's vision wasn't broad enough, and Father's imagination scared him silly.

Those stories Father told when he was young! Even I thought they were outrageous and beyond belief, yet somehow they always seemed to make sense.

Seeing that Wang Chong had failed to communicate with the fire serpent, Xiao Nan could not help asking his disciple what he had experienced just now.

Little Bug recounted everything exactly as it had happened. Xiao Nan's mind began turning, and after telling his disciple not to move, he too went to bow before the bronze gate.

Sure enough, a fire serpent flew out and immobilized Xiao Nan. Half an hour later, the fire serpent lashed its tail and sent Xiao Nan flying away from the bronze gate. Xiao Nan opened his eyes and shouted furiously, "A pack of traitors ruining the nation! They deserve to die!"

Little Bug asked curiously, "Master? What did you encounter in the Qianli Heart-Refining Trial?"

Xiao Nan said in uncontrollable rage, "I argued with those treacherous villains at court on the strength of reason, only for that muddleheaded emperor to have me dragged out through the Meridian Gate and beheaded on the spot. Such a court is doomed to perish before long."

Little Bug hurriedly asked, "Master, did you try to win over allies at court?"

Xiao Nan said indignantly, "What allies? Your master thought that those who followed the Way would gain much support, while those who lost it would find little. I never expected the entire court to be filled with mediocre fools—not one of them had any backbone."

Little Bug asked for a few more details and could only feel that... if he had been the emperor, he would have had to execute this blockhead too.

Xiao Nan refused to accept it. After pondering for a long while, he went up to try again. He lost seven rounds in a row. The second time, he was handling disaster relief when someone cut off his supplies. The third time, he set out with the army but failed to find the road, delaying military operations. The fourth time, he became embroiled in an examination-cheating case. Every time, the emperor had him killed.

The fifth time, he remained frustrated and unrecognized. The sixth time, he took control of court power, only to trust a sycophant and be implicated when his household was confiscated. The seventh time, he became an official under the Crown Prince. After the Crown Prince ascended the throne, he had intended to spread his wings, only for the new emperor to die within three days. A powerful minister assisted another prince onto the throne, exiled him three thousand li away, and he died on the road to exile.

When Xiao Nan went to bow before the bronze gate again, the fire serpents ignored him.

Under the fire serpent's constant circling, Little Bug calmed his mind and tested the talismans on the stone stele one by one. When he reached the seventy-sixth, a Heaven-Mixing Talisman brilliant as the sun, illuminating the ages, carrying the force to scorch the eight wildernesses and sweep across rich fields, drifted lazily forth and wound itself around the fire serpent. The fire serpent wrapped around Wang Chong gave a long roar. A torrent of blazing fire power penetrated Wang Chong's sea of consciousness, and the seven apertures of his spirit blazed brightly, roaring together as they shattered open.

This Heaven-Mixing Talisman had twenty-two seals. Once the seven apertures opened, seven talismans embedded themselves within them. A stream of dharma power flowed from the first aperture all the way to the newly opened seventh aperture, while a cluster of strangely brilliant flames coursed back and forth.

Little Bug was still a novice in the Dao. How could he ever have seen such a mysterious spectacle?

Xiao Nan had tried seven times and failed every one. When he turned back, he saw the fire serpent around his disciple gradually shrinking, landing upon his shoulder, and turning into a tattoo. He could not help crying out in shock, "Disciple, how did you subdue this fire serpent?"

Little Bug did not dare reveal that he had once viewed the Celestial Stele, so he could only answer vaguely, "This disciple doesn't know either. I don't know why this fire serpent suddenly became obedient."

Xiao Nan stepped forward and examined his disciple for a long while, leaving him speechless inwardly. It seems I am still lacking in immortal affinity.

He said to Wang Chong, "This restriction is called the Qianli Heart-Refining Trial. The seven fire serpents guarding it must have been formed from Qianli True Fire."

"Among the Buddhist and Daoist schools, as well as the righteous and unorthodox sects, this is one of the most famous true fires. It has two separate transmissions. One is the Five-Qi Qianli True Fire cultivated by Five Villages Abbey, the foremost mysterious sect of the righteous path. The other is the Qianli Sevenfold-Mystery True Fire of the Primordial Sect."

"When the Five-Qi Qianli True Fire is unleashed, it becomes an endless sea of fire clouds stretching for thousands of miles. Only the Qianli Sevenfold-Mystery True Fire secretly passed down by the Primordial Sect can be refined into flame dragons and fire serpents, fierce beyond measure in slaughter and battle."

Listening to his master speak of old tales, Little Bug asked quietly, "Was the original master of this cave an immortal master of the Primordial Sect?"

Xiao Nan gently exhaled, then gave two strange laughs, neither quite a smile nor not a smile. Seeing that Wang Chong had no reaction, he remembered that this disciple had only recently entered the Dao and knew nothing of the cultivation world. He explained, "Three hundred years ago, the Primordial Sect was already destroyed by the joint forces of the three great mysterious sects."

Father's stories really weren't all that reliable. There's no Red Staff Immortal here.

Still, I can't blame Father. He never said what was here. Master was the one who filled in all the details in his own head.

Xiao Nan gazed at the bronze gate for a long while before hesitantly saying to his disciple, "Why don't you go try again?"

He guessed that the bronze gate only allowed seven chances for heart refinement. He had lost all seven rounds, so only his disciple could try.

As long as they collected all seven fire serpents, master and disciple could enter and claim the hidden treasures of this place.

Though the Primordial Sect had acted in defiance of all principle and had been destroyed by the three great mysterious sects, at the height of its power it had even surpassed the Five-Terrace Sect. Its sect had countless formidable figures, and its cultivation arts, secret manuals, and magical treasures were beyond number. Obtaining the Primordial Sect's secret treasures would be no worse than finding the Red Staff Immortal's treasure hoard.

Little Bug went up and bowed properly. Another fire serpent flew out, and in a daze, the Daoist from before appeared again. Upon seeing Little Bug, he cried out in shock, "Why is it you again?"

At that moment, Sun Yougui was beside himself with rage. He had already discovered that Xiao Nan and Wang Chong, master and disciple, had vanished. He vented his fury on that grass hut, sending out all three flying yakshas to raze it to the ground. Yet even that could not soothe his anger. He roared, "Let me see where you master and disciple can run to!"

The fourth elder of the Heavenly Corpse Sect climbed onto his large sedan chair in a huff, had two flying yakshas carry it, and rose into midair to patrol the surroundings in search of the master and disciple.

Yet no matter what, he could never have imagined that the mountain wall nearby concealed another world within. Instead, he searched all manner of strange places, turning Youxuan Mountain upside down.

More to come...