Heng Hua sized up the newcomer.
"May I ask how to address you, Dao brother?"
"Ji Mingfeng, a nobody."
The scholar also held a fan, inscribed with the two characters "Wind and Moon." Its spiritual-power fluctuations were no weaker than those of the Mysterious Fire Vermilion-Plume Fan.
Fu Xiangfeng silently tightened his grip on the Spirit Song Sword.
Fu Xuanxing drew his wooden sword and stood ready.
Yet when both men probed with divine sense, it was as though they had swept through empty air, unable to detect even a trace of human presence.
Heng Hua shook his feather fan, thinking to himself: This fellow was no simple matter.
Zhou Xiao also sighed. Seven groups of pursuers—none of them were easy to deal with.
Li Nanxing asked suspiciously, "Have I met you before, Dao brother?"
Ji Mingfeng said solemnly, "The Duality Stabilizing Talisman."
Zhou Xiao and Heng Hua both looked up.
Li Nanxing had come here because of him!
Heng Hua and Zhou Xiao exchanged looks, each seeing a trace of relief in the other's eyes.
Fortunately, they had shown restraint. Otherwise, the fisherman would have profited from their struggle.
Recalling how he had obtained the "Duality Stabilizing Talisman," Li Nanxing was suddenly seized by doubt.
It seemed... it seemed that his journey here to find Zhou Xiao had gone far too smoothly.
Xu Wenyu also spoke up then. "Dao brother, you do look familiar. Have we met at Flamewater?"
"When Daoist Zhou escaped from the Mysterious Subtle Sect, I was the one who told you the news."
Zhou Xiao's expression darkened.
Heng Hua suddenly laughed. With a sweep of his feather fan, Li Fire surged up to the left of the Eight Trigrams Platform.
The flames blazed brilliantly, golden lotuses blooming within them.
"To meet is fate. If Dao brother wishes to hear the Dao, please make yourself at home."
Ji Mingfeng clapped and laughed. "Planting golden lotuses in fire—marvelous, marvelous!"
He stepped across the Li Fire. Though the heatwaves raged fiercely, they could not harm him in the slightest.
Seated amid the golden lotuses, a sheet of azure light slowly rose. Behind the scholar's head appeared a scene of clear breeze and bright moon, and the Li Fire gradually died away.
Heng Hua turned his head, treating the accident as though it did not exist.
With another light wave of his feather fan, the incense burner exhaled a wisp of white smoke that transformed into an immortal crane in midair.
"Transform."
The immortal crane spread its wings on the wind, turning into a wash of spiritual radiance that scattered over everyone present.
"Yesterday, you suffered my elixir poison. I shall now dispel it with this art, so you may listen to the Dao in peace."
Zhou Xiao saw it clearly. This technique truly possessed detoxifying effects. But for these people, it was merely psychological reassurance.
Given the Fu Family's ways, how could they let their descendants threaten others with elixir poison? What that boy had fed them yesterday was likely not some lethal poison, but merely ordinary detoxifying, fire-warding pills.
The cultivators bowed in thanks to Heng Hua. The youth's expression was solemn as he used Creation true qi to imitate Cloudflame true qi, opening the iron certificate and explaining the nine levels of Qi Refinement in the Cloudflame Immortal Method.
One red talisman after another circulated around him, first transforming into rosy clouds and auspicious mist, then shifting into spirit-seals the cultivators could comprehend.
Ji Mingfeng gazed at the Red Talisman Scripture and silently mused: Just as the rumors said, the Red Talisman Scripture was wholly different from our Donglai immortal Dao system. It resembled the inheritance of the Fufeng Immortal Palace instead—an inheritance from overseas.
As the Dao was expounded, Xiaoyu secretly manipulated the clear breeze, carrying over gusts of colorful blossoms whose fragrance rushed to the nose.
Hengshou tossed pills onto the water to feed the creatures. Several river dolphins leaped from the surface in succession, affectionately circling him and spouting water. Beneath the sunlight, brilliant rainbows appeared and vanished one after another.
Heng Hua was still dissatisfied. What a pity that the divine way did not flourish in Donglai. Otherwise, I could conjure heavenly gods and earthly deities to bear witness together, creating the spectacle of a World-Honored One. That would be truly imposing.
At night, Heng Hua had originally intended to create a twelve-grade lotus borne by nine dragons, but time was too tight, so he could only use the Eight Trigrams Platform instead.
"Third Brother, help make some music."
Fu Xiangfeng sighed, lightly flicked the Spirit Song Sword, and a string of clear, pleasant, delicate notes echoed across the island.
With accompaniment, Heng Hua's enthusiasm for expounding the Dao rose even higher. He went from the nine levels of Qi Refinement to the nine levels of Foundation Establishment, from the Twelve Cloudflame Foundation Secrets to seven Profound Embryo Elixir-Nurturing Arts.
Cloudflame methods centered on breathing in Fire-Cloud qi, taking the meaning that "clouds have no constant form, fire has no true shape." They were most suited for cultivation on Earthflame Island.
A cultivator named Cheng Yuliang attempted Cloudflame cultivation, converting his true essence and mana.
With a flash of red light, he successfully cultivated Samadhi Fire and reached the fourth level of Foundation Establishment.
Heng Hua nodded inwardly. Cheng Yuliang might be one fated to the Cloudflame lineage.
Afterward, the other cultivators converted their mana one after another. Xu Wenyu alone did not wish to discard his thunder-based cultivation arts, merely borrowing their cultivation secrets to verify his own path.
As everyone listened to the Dao as though drunk and entranced, Li Nanxing suddenly made his move. The divine cauldron emitted a stream of Crimson Origin essence qi that pressed down upon the scholar.
After being enlightened by the Crimson Origin Golden Register and receiving the Lesser Celestial Immortal Formula, Li Nanxing had turned misfortune into blessing.
Not only had his bronze cauldron advanced into the Crimson Origin Eight-Trigrams Furnace, but the Primordial Copper Elixir within had also been enlightened into a Crimson Origin Grand Elixir.
Furthermore, after his mana had been drained dry and he cultivated anew, his five viscera and six bowels had recovered completely. With the aid of the Crimson Origin elixir, he restored his Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivation. He was only one step away from attaining the Dao.
Ji Mingfeng unfolded his folding fan. A splendid landscape painting shone brightly, receiving the Crimson Origin golden qi.
"Dao brother, though there has been some scheming between us, I came this time to resolve our karma."
Ji Mingfeng transmitted a few words to Li Nanxing. Li Nanxing's expression changed. "If you can truly find the Spirit of Azure Wood and help my younger sister mend her flaw, I shall spare you this time."
"However," Li Nanxing said, glancing at Heng Hua, "if you wish to play petty tricks, you may try the methods of my divine cauldron and golden furnace."
Ji Mingfeng smiled without speaking.
When the exposition of the Dao ended, Heng Hua reached out and pointed to seven people.
"You seven are fated to the Cloudflame Immortal Palace and may inherit the Cloudflame Immortal Method."
The cultivation formulas for the nine levels of Qi Refinement and nine levels of Foundation Establishment entered the seven people's seas of consciousness. According to their individual specialties, he separately imparted twenty-seven methods of refining Dharma treasures, fifty-six formulas for secret medicinal elixirs, eight exclusive formations, and three sets of secret sword arts.
At last, Heng Hua closed the iron certificate and cast it back into the volcano.
Li Nanxing acted, placing another seal of Crimson Origin golden qi upon the volcano.
Heng Hua said, "The seven of you shall jointly govern the Cloudflame lineage. Whoever is the first to enter the Golden Core Realm in the future may obtain the Red Talisman Immortal Scripture and become the head of this branch."
The seven hurriedly rose and bowed in thanks.
Heng Hua added, "Since you are fellow disciples, you must be united and friendly. Should any of you commit the act of fellow disciples slaughtering one another, the Fu Family is in Yanlong and will absolutely not stand by and watch."
The seven hastily swore a blood oath: "Branches of the same qi, we shall aid one another."
Seeing the Donglai Golden Ranking appear, Heng Hua finally relaxed.
He knew that at his young age, his words might not necessarily inspire trust. If his party departed and these people slaughtered one another over the Cloudflame lineage, would that not ruin an immortal family's inheritance?
Then it would instead become his own sin.
Thus, on one hand, he had them swear a blood oath; on the other, he used the Fu Family to intimidate them.
Fu Heyi spoke as well. "The Fu Family enjoys widespread worthy renown in the Eastern Region. Should you encounter any difficulties, you may come to the Fu Family for help."
He took out a token and handed it to Cheng Yuliang, one of the seven.
Zhou Xiao said, "You must cultivate diligently. Sixty years from now, Earthflame Island will advance into Spirit-Hiding Island, and its spirit veins will emerge outward. The Cloudflame Immortal Palace may reopen its mountain gates then. At that time, a calamity will come. But if you work together as one, you should pass through it safely."
Spirit-Hiding Island?
Fu Heyi's expression shifted. He stared at the seven and silently calculated.
The Donglai Thirteen Waters classified islands into five grades—Immovable Reefs, Wind-Returning Islets, Spirit-Hiding Islands, Immortal-Stepping Continents, and Donglai Divine Continent—based on territorial size and spirit-vein strength.
The fifth grade was called Donglai Divine Continent because those of old still clung to the aspiration of "reviving Donglai and remolding the divine land."
Of course, cultivators of Heng Hua's younger generation had little real sense of that idea.
To them, there were only four island grades.
Immovable Reefs lay scattered across the waters like rootless duckweed, sinking at the touch of waves.
Wind-Returning Islets had already produced spirit veins. Spiritual qi drifted like returning wind, living creatures dwelled there, and nature blended into harmony.
Spirit-Hiding Islands possessed upgraded spirit veins, beginning from lower third grade, with spirit roots and strange beasts suppressing their fortune.
Of the Fu Family's three islands, only two now possessed lower third-grade spirit veins. Though the third, Azure Parasol Island, was called an island, its rank was still that of a Wind-Returning Islet. It merely covered vast territory, with a small nation established by the Fu Family and a population of one million.
"If we could obtain the spirit vein here..."
Thinking of the environment in the Cloudflame Mountains, Fu Heyi could only abandon the thought.
Earthflame Island's volcanic environment was unsuitable for the Fu Family.
Next, the Cloudflame Seven and the other cultivators conferred. They were willing to pass on the Cloudflame Immortal Formula and invited the others to join the Cloudflame Palace.
Aside from Xu Wenyu, who was unwilling to remain, the other cultivators gladly agreed.
As the cultivators busily and enthusiastically prepared to build the sect's Daoist grounds, Heng Hua came to Ji Mingfeng's small boat.
Ji Mingfeng sensed several auras locked onto him and looked toward Fu Xuanxing, Fu Xiangfeng, Hengshou, and Li Nanxing in the distance.
Even Fu Heyi had laid down a formation beneath the water. If Ji Mingfeng dared make trouble, the formation would rise at once and buy Heng Hua time to escape.
The two sat facing one another. Heng Hua went straight for the throat. "Dao brother lured Senior Li here to kill Senior Zhou, then brought a group of Rogue Cultivators to stir up trouble. Was it all for the reward offered by the Mysterious Subtle Sect?"
"Precisely."
Ji Mingfeng smiled. "My original plan was this: if Li Nanxing succeeded, Zhou Xiao's corpse would fall into the hands of those Rogue Cultivators, and I would then step in to seize it. If Li Nanxing failed, I could deliver his corpse to those friends of his and ask them to come out of seclusion."
Although Li Nanxing was powerful, Ji Mingfeng believed that his chances of victory were not high.
What Ji Mingfeng wanted to draw out were the friends behind Li Nanxing. They too were at Foundation Establishment Perfection. If they were willing to emerge and avenge Li Nanxing, Zhou Xiao would surely die.
Yet Ji Mingfeng had never imagined that not a single person would die!
Last night, he had kept watch over Earthflame Island. When he saw Li Nanxing and Zhou Xiao resolve their enmity, he immediately understood that he had lost his chance.
"So Dao brother came directly to expose everything? Just now, you already resolved your enmity with Senior Li. Was it because you had a treasure his friends could use?"
"Precisely."
"Then how do you intend to repay the karma you owe Senior Zhou?"
Ji Mingfeng smiled. "I deliberately led these two groups here and feel that I owe them, so I have compensated them. But Zhou Xiao—he is a discarded disciple of the Mysterious Subtle Sect and also my target. Do you think I would abandon my pursuit of him?"
"If you truly wished to keep entangling him, you could have stayed hidden and secretly incited more groups. Since you were willing to show yourself now, you naturally sought something... Something the Mysterious Subtle Sect could offer you, and so could we?"
"Dao brother is a clever man."
Seeing Heng Hua catch on, Ji Mingfeng's face filled with approval.
"If you can produce what I want, I will not only abandon my pursuit of Zhou Xiao, but also give you several pieces of information that can let Zhou Xiao live a while longer."
Heng Hua considered for a moment, then took the Coiled Dragon Token from his sleeve.
It was the one Li Nanxing had returned.
Seeing the Coiled Dragon Token, Ji Mingfeng shook his folding fan. "I believe I can withstand this token."
So he truly was a Golden Core Realm cultivator.
That was what made sense.
Zhou Xiao was a discarded disciple of the Mysterious Subtle Sect and a Golden Core elder. Those sent to pursue him should have begun at the Golden Core Realm.
Li Nanxing, Xu Wenyu, and the other Foundation Establishment cultivators had been the exceptions.
"What do you want?"
"Among the hundred arts of cultivation, I am obsessed with only one. I have now reached a bottleneck and need certain special materials to advance my attainments."
"Which art?"
Ji Mingfeng only smiled, saying nothing.
Well now? I was supposed to figure it out myself?
"Brother Fu is broadly learned. If you can guess my cultivation path and give me one item I need, I will not only abandon my pursuit of Zhou Xiao, but can also assist your cultivation."
As he spoke, he placed the folding fan in his hand before Heng Hua.
"This is the clue."
Looking at the landscapes, wind, and moon upon it, then recalling the "clear breeze and bright moon" that had extinguished the Li Fire not long ago, Heng Hua hesitated.
"A spirit painter?"
Ji Mingfeng stared directly at Heng Hua. "I have now entered a bottleneck. The Mysterious Subtle Sect has a kind of pigment that can bear Golden Core true essence and retain its color for a thousand years."
Another bizarrely obscure profession.
Even more niche than the Daoist Metallurgist!
An explanation for why the supplemental entry was placed in the author's notes.
If it were placed in the main text, it would take up the main text's word count. That would not matter during the public period, but after the work was put on shelves and became VIP, it would easily be seen as padding. Not every reader was interested in seeing a huge block of text suddenly appear after the chapter proper. So it was placed in the author's notes; anyone who did not like it could simply skip it.
--
Supplemental entry:
The Ten Daoist Paintings of Sage Fu were created by the immortal painter Ji Mingfeng. All were top-grade spirit artifacts, and when the ten paintings were united, they possessed the marvels of an immortal artifact. Activated with true essence, they could replay the scene of Sage Fu expounding the Dao and summon a strand of Sage Fu's mana to fend off enemies.
The Cloudflame Lecture Painting depicted Sage Fu seated upon the Eight Trigrams Platform, with the Cloudflame Seven below. Crimson Origin True Person sat to the right, a golden furnace beside him. At that time, the sky was filled with colorful blossoms, river dolphins offered congratulations in the distance, and rainbows rose into the air.
Though the Cloudflame Palace revered this painting as the foremost of the Ten Daoist Paintings, it was scorned by the Crimson Origin Sect and other Creation Dharma lineages.
The various Creation immortals said, "Among Sage Fu's ten paintings, only the Cloudflame painting was not personally transmitted by the Sage, but instead passed down through an ancient immortal on his behalf. Why should it be honored as the foremost of the ten?"
As for which of the other nine paintings should be honored.
Some believed that the Duality Emerald Radiance Painting elucidated the wonders of divine powers. It was Sage Fu's first transmission of the Dao in the Golden Region, spreading his name through every domain, and ought to be the foremost.
Others said that Sage Fu came from the Fu Family, so the Dragon-Calling Phoenix-Painting on Coiling Dragon Island ought to be supreme.
Still others said, "The Cloudflame Lecture should be excluded from Sage Fu's ten paintings. The Golden Furnace Illuminating the Dao Painting should be the foremost of the ten, because that transmission was Sage Fu's first public exposition of the Dao."
----------Immortal Cloud Painting Manual
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