Chapter Forty: Another Wave Rises

In the study, Master used a spell to control the movement of the poison within Lu Xue’s body, then began the process of cleansing it. Yet the toxin proved exceptionally difficult, so much so that beads of sweat began to gather on Master’s brow. Bai Ze stood anxiously to one side, rubbing his hands and staring fixedly at Lu Xue. Master cast a cold glance at Bai Ze.

Lu Xue, drenched in fragrant sweat, wore a pained expression, her eyes closed as she muttered, “Han Qing… she harmed me… I didn’t…”

Master focused all his effort on the spell, but upon hearing her words, a sudden realization flickered in his icy gaze, quickly replaced by a hint of panic. Instantly, he summoned a shield of divine white light to protect Lu Xue.

“Bai Ze! Come and take over the cleansing!” Without another word, he pushed Lu Xue aside and flew out of the study.

Bai Ze hurried to take Master’s place. “Divine Lord! What about Lu Xue?”

Master had already become a stream of white light, speeding toward the alchemy chamber.

“It worked! The elixir is finally done!” Fourteenth Senior Brother burst from the chamber, clutching a small medicine jar, tears streaming down his face. Seeing Master approach, he wiped his eyes and presented the box with trembling hands, his voice thick with emotion: “Master! Mistress may yet be saved—Little Junior Brother has succeeded with the elixir!”

Master seized the box and rushed towards the alchemy room’s entrance.

A small figure flew out and collided with him. “Ah! Senior Brother, you must hurry!”

“Fei’er!” In his slightly anxious expression, a trace of joy appeared.

“Master!” Realizing it was him, I instinctively hid my arm behind my back.

“Master, Fourteenth Senior Brother has finished the antidote—let’s try it with Mistress now! If it doesn’t work, then…” I swallowed the rest, for if it failed, there was always another way, though it involved the use of living ‘Heartless Blood.’ I still wished to live.

Master swept his sleeve and sealed the alchemy chamber with divine power, sternly declaring, “No more unauthorized alchemy! You two, go kneel in the great hall and await my judgment!”

The other unfinished antidote, at a critical step, was sealed within the chamber. If this pill failed, I would have no way to enter and attempt another. With no other choice, my fellow disciple and I knelt in the great hall awaiting punishment. The other senior brothers soon arrived, having heard the news. After Fourteenth Senior Brother and I recounted the events, Thirteenth Senior Brother fell to his knees, overcome with guilt.

“Fourteenth! Little Junior Brother! This is my fault. I saw a small jar on the kitchen table this morning with some sugar crystals—I thought Fourteenth had made more sugar, comparing the batch I bought to the last. In a fit of annoyance, I poured it back in! I swear, I meant no harm!”

Tears of anger welled up in my eyes as I wanted to strike Thirteenth Senior Brother. “Senior Brother! Did you want me dead? If anything were to happen to Mistress, how would I ever atone to Master?”

He apologized repeatedly. “Truly, I had no intention! Dongfang Mo was with me when I brought in the vegetables—he can vouch for me. I was just upset with Fourteenth for always cluttering the kitchen with his experiments, turning it into an alchemy lab.”

Dongfang Mo tried to comfort me. “Little Junior Brother, don’t be angry. No one meant any harm. We’ll explain everything to Master.”

“So it wasn’t intentional poisoning,” Eleventh Senior Brother breathed a sigh of relief. “I was afraid we had an enemy infiltrating Jade Purity. I’ll check on Mistress, don’t worry.” He dashed off to Master’s study, and quickly returned.

“Well? How is she?” I asked eagerly.

Eleventh Senior Brother smirked with a hint of jealousy. “She’s fine—nestled in Master’s arms, acting spoiled. Looks to me like she’s perfectly well! Your antidote actually worked! Rest easy, Little Junior Brother, you’re innocent—Master won’t punish you.” He then mimicked Lu Xue’s delicate manner: “Han Qing, I’m hurting, Han Qing, I can’t get up.”

Seeing him so animated, I finally felt my anxiety lift, though a sour ache lingered in my heart. My arm, still swollen from Bai Ze’s earlier injury, throbbed with pain where I’d drawn blood for Lu Xue. She truly saw me as her enemy.

Later, Master arrived at the hall, investigated, and resolved the matter. Thirteenth and Fourteenth Senior Brothers were each given a harsher punishment. As for me, since I hadn’t realized the poison and used it as sugar to make the pear cakes, I was sent to copy scriptures and reflect in the Library Pavilion. The recipe for the Heartbreak Poison and its formula were completely destroyed.

Having brushed past the gates of death, Lu Xue now appeared exceedingly magnanimous. Reclining on her couch, she greeted us with a look of delighted surprise as we entered to apologize. With cheerful words, she insisted she didn’t blame me, that it wasn’t my fault, that she shouldn’t have been greedy for pear cakes. She said she was the reason we were punished and owed us an apology herself, promising to get along better with us in the future. Even Bai Ze admitted he had wronged me.

Once the storm had passed, Master became busy with his duties again. Earlier, a messenger had arrived from the Eastern Shentu Prefecture, bearing word of an urgent matter requiring Master’s personal attention.

Though the punishment felt a bit unjust, the Heartbreak Poison was almost indistinguishable from white sugar—colorless, odorless, impossible to detect without suspicion. But Lu Xue was safe, and my own life spared—cause enough for celebration. Besides, being sent to the Library Pavilion meant I could avoid Lu Xue, which was hardly a bad thing. Immersed in scripture copying, I could refrain from imagining her acting coy with Master.

So I buried myself in the Library Pavilion, devoting all my spare time to reading and study. I resolved to continue this way, avoiding Master and Lu Xue whenever possible.

When I finished copying the scriptures, I browsed the shelves. Dongfang Mo came after evening lessons to read with me.

“Senior Brother, is the Jade Dragon Goblet mentioned here the very one sealed in our Jade Purity Shrine?” I asked, poring over a volume on divine artifacts. One entry in particular caught my attention.

“That’s right,” he replied.

“Have you ever seen Master use it?” The goblet was sealed with layers of wards in the shrine, accessible only with Master’s special permission. I had seen it only once, and Dongfang Mo, with his interest in artifacts, knew far more than I did.

“It’s not something to use lightly. The Jade Dragon Goblet is a Chaos artifact—it can absorb primal spirits and scatter souls. If it’s unsealed, something momentous is at hand.”

“How powerful!” I exclaimed.

“Yes. In fact, every immortal mountain has inherited a few such potent artifacts. But our Jade Purity domain has sealed away more than most, and many are far too dangerous to use at will,” Dongfang Mo explained.

“Master’s responsibilities are immense. Have you ever heard of Chaos artifacts?” I recalled my time in Qilin Town, where a peddler hawked miscellaneous goods, claiming they were ‘Chaos Artifacts’—cauldrons, ropes, even waterproof cloaks.

“I’ve heard tales. They say ancient relics left by Chaos itself can refine heaven and earth. The one who obtains them can rule all. Yet there are only ten such artifacts—whether any single one can govern all, or if all ten are needed, no one knows.”

“So they really exist—but where are they?” I wondered.

“They’re said to be scattered across the world. Which is which, and where they are—I can’t say,” Dongfang Mo replied.

“Could the Jade Dragon Goblet be one?” I asked.

“I don’t know. We can ask Master when he returns.”

“Never mind, he’s busy—always busy…” My voice trailed off as I lapsed into thought. Even if he weren’t, he’d likely be with Lu Xue.

“What made you think of Chaos artifacts?” Dongfang Mo inquired.

I grinned. “I once met a street vendor who sold ‘Chaos artifacts’—two silver leaves each, practically giving them away.”

Dongfang Mo burst out laughing. “That’s outrageously cheap!”

“Right? There was even a clothesline he claimed could keep any dog from escaping,” I chuckled.

“But rumor has it there’s a ‘God-Binding Lock’ in the heavens—far more powerful. The usual tricks for untying immortal ropes won’t work,” Dongfang Mo said.

“Not even a sharp sword?” I asked.

“Master’s Longyuan Sword might manage it.” Dongfang Mo replied.

By the time the candles burned low, Dongfang Mo urged me to rest early, since I’d finished my copying. But I felt no sleepiness, wishing to read a bit more, hoping exhaustion would let me fall asleep without thinking of Lu Xue and Master. Dongfang Mo agreed, but set a limit: I could only read until the candle burned out, then had to return.

I agreed. I found Master’s old war records and began to read. Flipping to an entry from twenty thousand years ago, I saw: the Eastern Shentu Prefecture, in collusion with the Netherworld, had started a war. Master wrote, “Tiande gravely wounded, Wenrui slain. Immortal Biyou, by my order, delivered medicine, but was slandered by the enemy—rumors spread that ‘Biyou deceived the army, officers and soldiers bewitched.’ Unable to bear the defamation, Biyou took his own life outside the camp. A wound to the heart cuts deeper than any sword. I mourn for him deeply.”

I remembered hearing in the teahouses of Qilin Town that Immortal Biyou had been in love with Master. I sighed—hard enough to clear one’s name in life, let alone after death.

I kept reading, page after page… War was so cruel, chaos ever looming, greed trampling countless innocents—too many wrongs and grievances buried in its dust…

As I read, it felt as if I was amid the smoke and flames of battle, heat pressing in on every side until I could barely breathe…

My chest grew tight, my breath quickened, and suddenly I awoke. At some point, I had fallen asleep at my desk, Dongfang Mo slumbering beside me. All around us, flames raged!

I quickly shook Dongfang Mo awake. Together, we cast spells to extinguish the fire. A toppled candle had caught a stack of books, sparking the blaze. Though the fire was put out in time, many volumes had already been lost. Cradling the charred remains, I cursed myself for such carelessness—trouble seemed to follow me, one disaster after another!

Bai Ze and the other senior brothers rushed in.

“How did this fire start?” Bai Ze demanded sharply, looking from me to Dongfang Mo. With Master away, he was responsible for all affairs in Jade Purity.

“It was my fault and Little Junior Brother’s. We fell asleep reading upstairs, and the candle must have fallen, setting the books alight,” Dongfang Mo reported honestly.

Bai Ze’s anger flared. “Yu Fei! How many more disasters will you cause? The evening bell has long sounded—why were the two of you still in the Library Pavilion? Were you reading, or up to something else? How did you both fall asleep together? And how does a candle, properly set in its holder, just fall over?”