Fire Tiger Fang

Three years passed, and early spring arrived.

The Great Red Abbey stood on Luoqing Mountain, with the Li River to its north. Its clear waters teemed with fish, shrimp, turtles, crabs, Tiger Flood Dragons, Hook Snakes, and even some monsters that had grown formidable. Yet all of them were silent now, as though a flood dragon were passing through the river, leaving none daring to stir the wind or raise the waves.

The Li River divided Red Cloud Commandery into north and south. Green Luo was one of the Seven Azure Peaks on its southern bank. The Great Red Abbey had originally occupied the four peaks richest in spiritual energy. A few minor sects surrounded it, mostly insignificant Qi Refining sects; those with Foundation Establishment cultivators presiding over them had all moved south to the Great Scenery Plains, where spiritual veins abounded.

When Chongyangzi was still alive, he too had considered seeking a spiritual site in the Great Scenery Plains. But before he could succeed, a Demon Calamity left him dead and his Dao extinguished. Now even Mount Dapan, once under the Great Red Abbey, had been seized by the Lotus Temple north of the river.

The brilliant sun hung high, its golden light woven into a tapestry that shone through the green pines before True Abode Hall on Azure Sky Peak.

Xu Xuan sat meditating inside the hall, regulating his breathing. Sword Qi spread around him, lightning flickering faintly within it. He expelled a breath of turbid air, and the blue bricks beneath his feet instantly crumbled to dust.

"I've reached the fifth level of Qi Refining, but the further I advance, the harder cultivation becomes. Master also had a Spirit Root a foot long, yet he was already sixty when he reached Foundation Establishment. How long will I have to wait?"

Xu Xuan cultivated the third-grade Thunder Radiance Spirit-Inquiry Method, which attuned him to lightning. His magical power surged like thunder roaring through the heavens. Once he reached Foundation Establishment, he could form a Thunder Pool within his body, allowing him to gather lightning for his own use. It was an exceptionally domineering third-grade cultivation method.

"Congratulations, junior brother. Your cultivation has advanced again."

A burly man with a curling beard stood outside True Abode Hall. He wore a blue Daoist robe, with rugged features and tiger-like eyes. a Red Jade Mallet engraved with twelve heavenly stars hung at his waist. He looked rather like an outlaw hero from the mountains.

He was Xu Xuan's senior brother, Wang Xiwei. Nearly eighty, he had been trapped at the fourth level of Qi Refining for years. These days, he rarely secluded himself to cultivate, instead overseeing the abbey's Artifact Refining. Seeing that Xu Xuan had finished his seclusion, he had come to greet him.

"You flatter me, Senior Brother Xi Wei. Now that I've reached the fifth level, it will probably take a great deal of hard work to reach the sixth. As for Foundation Establishment, who knows when that will happen?"

Xu Xuan sighed. Foundation Establishment was truly difficult. Though he had the help of the eight ancient seal-script characters, his cultivation speed remained far behind disciples of major sects, who were supplied with Spirit Pills and precious medicines and cultivated in blessed lands and spiritual mountains.

"The capable must shoulder more work. Junior Brother Xu Xuan, your talent is comparable to Master's. In the future, the affairs of our sect will still rest on your shoulders."

Wang Xiwei laughed heartily. He had looked after this junior brother since childhood, and both his talent and temperament were excellent. He was also the abbey's only remaining prospect for Foundation Establishment. The future of the Great Red Abbey depended on whether Xu Xuan could reach it successfully.

The two left True Abode Hall together, departing Azure Sky Peak for Cloud-Sweeping Peak, which Wang Xiwei oversaw.

Qi Refining cultivators could already ride the wind, but the two merely strolled down the mountain path. Xu Xuan had spent three years in seclusion, and the situation around them had likely changed again. He was about to ask Wang Xiwei when the other man spoke first.

"Since the Lotus Temple seized Mount Dapan three years ago, there's been little movement from them. I hear Abbot Cihai is now at the Middle-Stage Hearer level, equivalent to the fifth level of Qi Refining. He's also devoting himself entirely to breaking into the Solitary Realizer realm. Who knows how many years that will take?"

Wang Xiwei sounded resentful. The Lotus Temple's monks had come to provoke them many times, and the two sects were as incompatible as fire and water. Naturally, he had no kind feelings toward them.

Xu Xuan had fought the old monk Cihai before. His opponent's Buddhist arts were profound, and Xu Xuan had only barely gained the upper hand through his Sword Qi. The minor sects of the Green Peaks had always looked to the strongest among them, the Great Red Abbey, as their leader. But with Xu Xuan's master dead, they could no longer check the Lotus Temple's momentum. The neighboring Black Wind Valley, Autumn Gourd School, and Rejuvenation Mountain all harbored their own designs and were seeking new backers.

Still, Cihai would likely need several decades of bitter effort to reach the Solitary Realizer realm and become a Dharma Master. That was roughly how long Xu Xuan expected his own Foundation Establishment to take.

"Is the Chen Household to the south doing well?"

Xu Xuan was more concerned about the Chen Household to the south. Its head, Chen Weiyuan, was a powerful Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivator who had been on good terms with Chongyangzi. After Xu Xuan's master passed away, he had personally visited the abbey to pay his respects, putting an end to the surrounding sects' thoughts of exploiting the opportunity to swallow them up.

That was especially true of the Lotus Temple. Everbright Mountain had nearly fallen into the monks' hands as well, but upon receiving the news, they had left after taking only Mount Dapan.

"The Chen Household and the monsters of White Azure Cavern have fought until real fury flared between them. Both sides are vying for a spiritual spring, but Old Master Chen still hasn't acted. Rumors are bound to spread. His two-hundredth birthday is coming up in half a month, and I imagine everyone will want to sound him out."

Wang Xiwei stroked the Red Jade Mallet at his waist and said thoughtfully:

"If he's in poor condition, the Lotus Temple may really come battering at our gates."

The two discussed the matter carefully. If it truly came to that, they would probably have to abandon White Stone and hole up on Longbright and Green Luo.

The old blue-stone path was smoothly paved. Their steps carried them along like the wind, and before long they reached Cloud-Sweeping Peak.

The Great Red Abbey had once had nearly a hundred outer disciples, most selected from the mortals within its territory. They were primarily assigned to guard Longbright, White Stone, and Dapan, the three mountains under the abbey, maintaining spiritual veins, mining ore, and gathering medicinal herbs.

Anyone with a Spirit Root five inches long or more could enter Green Luo to cultivate as a True Disciple.

Outer disciples who reached the middle stage of Fetal Breathing before twenty, with a leakless sea of qi and spiritual energy entering their bodies, could also come to Luoqing Mountain and join one of its peaks as a True Disciple. Most, however, remained trapped at the early stage of Fetal Breathing until they died of old age.

Even those fortunate enough to break through to the middle stage were often past the age limit, either already middle-aged or withered with age.

After Chongyangzi passed away and the Lotus Temple seized Mount Dapan, more than half the outer disciples fled. The sect's last elder at the peak of Qi Refining had died in a magical duel the previous year. Including Liu Xiaowen, whom Xu Xuan had taken as a disciple, there were only four True Disciples left. The Great Red Abbey now truly had no new crop to follow the old.

Cloud-Sweeping Peak lay on Luoqing Mountain's sunny side. Within it ran a direct connection to an underground fire vein. Their predecessors had used formations to contain its fiery energy for Artifact Refining. The peak was thick with the fumes of burning sulfur and coal, its vegetation withered and yellow. It was hardly pleasant.

Xu Xuan followed Wang Xiwei into a side hall. Inside stood a precious red copper furnace three men tall, decorated with crimson suns and fire crows. Ancient and weathered, it was the Great Red Abbey's ancestral artifact, a Middle Foundation Establishment Grade [Scenery Sun Great Furnace]. It held Earth Baleful Fire within, capable of burning gold and melting iron. It could forge artifacts, but was ill-suited to refining Dan.

Beside the furnace, a blue-robed disciple in the Fetal Breath realm was forming hand seals to control the fire. Seeing Xu Xuan and Wang Xiwei enter, he stopped his work and came forward to greet them.

He had a round face and a plump body, with a guileless smile. This was Wang Xiwei's True Disciple and biological son, Wang Qiyun.

"Greetings, Sect Master. Greetings, Master."

Wang Qiyun hurried over to bow. Fiery heat steamed beside the furnace, and his Fetal Breath cultivation could scarcely withstand it. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he was somewhat out of breath.

"Qiyun has built a solid foundation and already reached the late stage of Fetal Breath. It looks as though you'll enter Qi Refining before long."

Xu Xuan smiled and helped Wang Qiyun up. The boy had decent talent, with a Spirit Root five inches long and an honest, gentle disposition. Qi Refining was within sight. More importantly, his talent for artifact forging was good, even better than Wang Xiwei's had been at his age.

Wang Qiyun was only twenty. Rather than his father's burly, rugged build, he took more after his mother. He seemed timid before the two elders and dared not say much.

Wang Xiwei remained solemn, merely offering a word of approval. He had spent years forging artifacts for the sect, and his son had rarely seen him as a child. Once the boy grew older and entered Cloud-Sweeping Peak, they interacted only as master and disciple. This troubled him somewhat as well.

Xu Xuan saw it all clearly from the side, but had no idea how to mediate another family's affairs. He could only ask Qiyun to show them the artifact he was forging.

Inside the [Scenery Sun Great Furnace], Earth Baleful Fire surged, dark red flames blooming and gathering like peonies. A Dharma Sword as crimson as blood floated within, fiery radiance billowing as it was continuously tempered.

"An upper-grade Fetal Breath Dharma Sword. Did you forge this, Qiyun?"

Xu Xuan was himself a sword cultivator who had mastered Sword Qi. Having seen [Constant Light], the Foundation Establishment Dharma Sword his master had left behind, he could naturally judge the quality of the artifact inside the furnace.

Though only upper-grade Fetal Breath, it was made from [bloodfire essence iron]. It had been forged using the Great Red Abbey's most mentally demanding technique, the Layered Weapon Method, which required ninety-nine days of patient, painstaking work, producing nine sword embryos and refining them together layer by layer.

"Yes, Sect Master. I forged it for Junior Brother Xiao Wen. This upper-grade Fetal Breath Dharma Sword is the finest artifact I've ever made."

Wang Qiyun sounded rather pleased with himself. Being able to forge an upper-grade Fetal Breath artifact at his age was certainly something to be proud of.

As he explained the Dharma Sword to Xu Xuan, he stole glances at his father. Seeing that same cold expression, his enthusiasm faded somewhat.

Xu Xuan noticed and praised him repeatedly, leaving Wang Qiyun a little embarrassed.

"Senior Brother Qiyun! Senior Brother Qiyun! Look what I caught!"

A youth burst into the hall like a gust of wind and flame. He was handsome and agile, like an ancient ape of the mountains, dressed in a black robe of the same style as Xu Xuan's, embroidered with fiery clouds. He dragged a monster's corpse behind him: a fierce tiger with slanting eyes and a white forehead. It appeared to have just entered Fetal Breath and gained some power.

Following his senior brother's instructions, Liu Xiaowen had lain in wait on Everbright Mountain for several months before finding this suitable monster for a blood sacrifice to the sword embryo. After killing it in battle, he had come looking for his senior brother. But upon entering the hall and finding both his master and his martial uncle there, he immediately restrained himself, no longer daring to fool around, and hurriedly bowed.

"Xiao Wen, I've been in seclusion for three years. How has your cultivation progressed?"

Xu Xuan intended to test his disciple's cultivation and see whether he had grown lax during those three years.

"Master, I've reached the middle stage of Fetal Breathing. My sea of qi is leakless, and spiritual energy has entered my body."

Liu Xiaowen answered respectfully. He had indeed worked hard over the past three years and entered the middle stage of Fetal Breathing considerably faster than Wang Qiyun had at his age.

After bringing this disciple into the mountains, Xu Xuan had taught him for only a few months. He had taken him to pay respects at the Founders' Hall and passed down a volume of the third-grade True Origin Breathing Method. It was the highest-grade Fetal Breath cultivation method in the abbey, available only to True Disciples, and served to rectify one's vital essence, ward off evil, and strengthen one's foundations.

Wang Qiyun beckoned to Liu Xiaowen from the side. The youth immediately ran over with a smile and tossed the tiger monster's body into the furnace.

Wang Qiyun silently increased the earthfire, refining the monster's body into a mass of essence blood. He traced patterns onto the blade, forming a scene of a crimson tiger entering the mountains and roaring across the wilds. The red Dharma Sword trembled ceaselessly, bloodlight contained within as pure fire essence flowed through it.

"It's done."

Wang Qiyun took the Dharma Sword from the furnace and handed it to Liu Xiaowen. The youth's face brimmed with delight, though he seemed a little embarrassed. Only after Xu Xuan told him to accept it without worry did he do so.

Liu Xiaowen thanked him repeatedly. For the past three years, Wang Qiyun had essentially guided his cultivation. Xu Xuan was busy with his duties and usually difficult to find, so the two fellow disciples had grown very close.

"Have you thought of a name for this artifact?"

Xu Xuan asked while silently sensing the four ancient seal-script characters of [Sun-Flint Descent of Fire] within his sea of qi. Liu Xiaowen was still in Fetal Breath, his Consciousness Sea not yet opened. This seal-script inscription could not yet be passed to him; it would have to wait until Qi Refining.

"I thought of one long ago. I'll call it [Fire Tiger Fang]."

Liu Xiaowen could not hide the delight on his face. Still a youth at heart, he had read tales of sword immortals in storybooks and yearned for their lives.

A little later, Xu Xuan left the two to continue cultivating on the peak, while Wang Xiwei went off to forge artifacts.

He rode the wind to the storehouse where their spiritual resources were kept, took out the sect master's token, and formed hand seals to open the formation and enter. The outermost section held the resources collected that year, which he inventoried one by one.

The mortals had offered a total of a hundred jin of spiritual grain. White Stone Mountain had produced sixty pieces of [scarlet blood stone] and seven pieces of [bloodfire essence iron].

Everbright Mountain's spiritual herb harvest was poor. The sect's Spirit Planting farmer had left and joined Rejuvenation Mountain to the west.

As for Mount Dapan, its rich Green Wood Qi made it suitable for growing spiritual herbs, but the Lotus Temple had seized it. Xu Xuan could only have the spiritual grasses and medicinal herbs planted on Everbright Mountain. Yet its earth energy was thin, and the harvest was truly poor. With the Spirit Planting farmer gone as well, things were nowhere near what they had once been.

Over these years, supporting the disciples' cultivation and providing for the elders had left the sect barely breaking even.

Most importantly, the Chen Household's old master was about to celebrate his birthday, yet Xu Xuan could find no suitable gift. Even if he could not produce a Foundation Establishment artifact, he at least needed an appropriate spiritual treasure to present. This bond of goodwill must not be allowed to lapse.

For now, he could only make some preparations, taking Spirit Stones, spiritual medicines, and a few battered artifacts from the lower storerooms. He packed them all into a mustard-seed pouch and prepared to visit the market to try his luck.

(End of chapter)