Heart-Destroying Mountain's True Person Dayu (Please Keep Reading!)

The mention of True Person Dayu's Night Star Fire brought back some memories for Yuhong.

To put it bluntly, if Yuhong had not thrown his full support behind Dayu back then, she might never have forged her Divine Ability and entered the Purple Mansion realm.

Seeing Li Zhengjun's confusion, he explained:

"The Dao scriptures say, 'A metal fire starter draws fire from the sun; a wooden fire starter draws fire from the night.' Dayu's Night Star Fire is no ordinary fire art. It is the first wisp of human fire kindled in the eternal night. As the saying goes, a spark can set a prairie ablaze. That spark and the image of 'the first light in the long night' on my Bright Yang Dao Path are a match made in heaven."

"A physique refined by her Night Star Fire will greatly benefit your future cultivation of Bright Yang. When I helped her rise to her position, others thought I was simply lending a hand out of loyalty. In truth, I had seen her potential to master Night Star Fire. Now, at last, I can make use of that move I left in reserve."

Li Zhengjun nodded, recalling some rumors.

He had heard the great name of this female True Person. What she cultivated was Tinder Fire, the "aspect of life" within Fire Virtue.

Rumor had it that Grandfather had helped this female True Person advance, and there had even been some gossip about them.

Of course, those were only rumors. Who would dare discuss a True Person openly?

Li Zhengjun was very surprised, though not that Grandfather was going to help him improve his physique. After all, he was in excellent health; he should have no trouble spreading his seed across this other world.

What surprised him was that Grandfather had only just said he needed to keep him safe, yet now he was going to take him outside.

"True Person, is it appropriate for me to go out now?"

To be honest, Li Zhengjun had no choice but to be this cautious. He carried the Immortal Mirror; if a Purple Mansion cultivator from another household spotted something amiss the moment he stepped outside the Lineage's grand formation, wouldn't he be done for?

Yuhong smiled and said lightly:

"There's no harm in it. Even I can't see the slightest sign of that mysterious immortal affinity of yours, so the other Purple Mansion cultivators shouldn't be able to either. Besides, you won't be the only one I'm taking out this time. On the surface, I'll be taking your youngest uncle to Heart-Destroying Mountain to seek medical treatment. You'll merely be accompanying us, which makes sense no matter how one looks at it."

"Even if not for you, I should have taken your youngest uncle to True Person Dayu long ago. Now that I'm bringing you along, I can make up a pretext: I, this True Person, couldn't stand by and watch the last surviving shoot of your father's branch die without descendants, so I swallowed my pride and brought you along to seek treatment as well. That will give us an explanation for your movements."

He paused, then continued:

"Besides improving your physique, I have another consideration. As a direct descendant of our Li Household, you'll only arouse suspicion if you stay out of sight year after year from now on. The people around us must already know that you and your second uncle joined forces to protect the Thawing Ice Bright Jade. If I still showed you no favor, that would be even more suspicious. The nearby Purple Mansion cultivators are all shrewd; the slightest trace could make them suspicious. Rather than hiding, you might as well show yourself openly. Otherwise, when you have to complete your allotted fate and contend for fortune in person, you'll have to get past them sooner or later. It's best to get people used to your presence early."

Li Zhengjun nodded repeatedly, deep in thought.

"Your grandson failed to think it through."

Yuhong waved a hand and said:

"It's all right. Once you get there, just act normally; there's no need to deliberately hide your abilities. This is the perfect time to show that, having been through life and death, you've decided to wash your heart clean, turn over a new leaf, and devote yourself to the Dao. A good-for-nothing scion who has sincerely reformed is far more believable than a genius who suddenly appears out of nowhere."

Li Zhengjun nodded. Sometimes, showing oneself at the right moment really was safer than staying in hiding.

"As you command, True Person."

Yuhong immediately waved his hand, drew him and his youngest uncle into his sleeve, and stepped into the Great Void, heading for Heart-Destroying Mountain.

He traveled through the Great Void at tremendous speed, and it was not long before they arrived.

Li Zhengjun emerged from Yuhong's sleeve. Before he had even found his footing, the sight before him caught his attention.

It was the winter month. Beyond the mountain, the north wind cut like a blade, the plants had withered, and all beneath heaven was bleak and desolate.

Around Heart-Destroying Mountain, however, it was like summer. The mountain gate marked the boundary: outside lay the depths of winter, while inside everything was lush and green, the entire mountainside shrouded in a faint, warm mist.

Yet this vitality was a little too abundant, leaving one's mouth and tongue inexplicably dry.

Before the three had finished taking in the scenery, the formation at Heart-Destroying Mountain's gate opened with a rumble, and a graceful figure flew out.

The newcomer was a young woman of great beauty, with a vermilion mark between her brows like a drop of blood.

Upon seeing Yuhong and the other two, she bowed with the utmost respect.

"This junior, Duan Hongyu, pays her respects to the True Person and the senior. My True Person is refining pills in the Alchemy Chamber at present and sent me to welcome you. Please follow me."

Duan Hongyu was at Qi Ingestion. Though she saw that Li Zhengjun was only at Fetal Breath, she did not dare neglect him and added with a smile:

"Greetings, fellow Daoist."

Yuhong nodded and followed her through the mountain gate.

The interior of Heart-Destroying Mountain was also quite mystical. Fire veins surfaced everywhere, making people unbearably hot and restless, while faintly stirring a primal urge.

Li Zhengjun thought, No wonder it's called Heart-Destroying Mountain. Living here for long, with one's thoughts in turmoil, how could anyone settle down to cultivate?

Before long, the group arrived in front of a great hall.

The main hall was tall and spacious, but on closer inspection, it resembled a vast pill-refining chamber.

The waves of heat inside were even more alarming. As soon as they entered, they saw a Pill Furnace suspended in the center.

The Pill Furnace was not actually large; it could even be called small and delicate. Yet from the moment Li Zhengjun stepped into the hall, this little furnace seized his attention.

After Li Zhengjun took a few extra looks at the Pill Furnace, his breathing involuntarily quickened.

His body began to stiffen, a surge of heat shot from his Dantian straight to the crown of his head, and several indecent images flashed one after another through the depths of his mind...

Li Zhengjun narrowed his eyes. He felt countless distracting thoughts surface in his Sea of Consciousness, and the chaos that had been suppressed by the golden hall began to churn.

Just as the desires were about to throw his Sea of Consciousness out of control, the golden hall suddenly burst forth with precious light and suppressed them all. In the next moment, clarity returned to Li Zhengjun's mind.

The entire process took only an instant. Li Zhengjun had driven away the desires using only the golden hall manifested by the Mystic Mirror, without even calling on the Mystic Mirror itself.

When he came back to his senses, he saw a woman studying him.

The woman looked to be around thirty, with a voluptuous figure. The play of her eyes held a charm that set the heart and mind wandering.

Li Zhengjun only glanced at her once before he dared look no longer. He hurriedly bowed.

"Greetings, True Person."

This was True Person Dayu.

Dayu smiled faintly, radiating allure, yet it was impossible to harbor the slightest improper thought about her. Instead, a sense of shame arose from the bottom of one's heart, making one even less willing to look directly at that breathtakingly beautiful face.

"So this is Zhengjun, who protected the Thawing Ice Bright Jade. You truly are extraordinary. To remain clearheaded before my Pill Furnace, without letting the scorching fire within it throw your mind into disorder, shows how steadfast your Dao heart is."

Li Zhengjun was neither servile nor overbearing as he smiled and said:

"You flatter me, True Person. Without my True Person's protection, I fear I would already be trapped in a beautiful dream, unable to free myself."

Yuhong knew that he had not intervened at all. The reason his grandson had been able to wake up was most likely the "immortal affinity" that allowed him to travel between two worlds.

Naturally, he could not reveal the truth, so he went along with it and covered for him:

"Dayu, stop teasing the younger generation. Have you finished refining the pills I asked you for?"