Zhou Yihang reached the foot of Mount Wuwang and started uphill. A sudden chill ran down his spine. An earth god burrowed out of the dirt before him, a rock still perched on the brim of its tiny official hat.
"If the earth gods have tracked me here, Magistrate Xue and Shilongzi can't be far behind."
He raised a hand to crush the spirit before it could report back, but voices drifted through the trees.
"Your Honor," Shilongzi called out. "The local earth gods questioned the yao and beasts in the area. The boy Xu Ying was spotted nearby."
Magistrate Xue's voice answered. "What about the old Zhou?"
"The earth gods say Zhou Yihang reached this area too. We followed him here. That Verdant Puppet Art of his is remarkable—he actually found the brat's hiding place."
"We should thank him properly. When we meet, we'll send him on his way."
"Yes, Your Honor."
Zhou Yihang's blood ran cold. He faded into the undergrowth, heart pounding. *My wounds haven't healed. I can't fight them head-on. Better to stay hidden.*
Moments later, dozens of earth gods erupted from the soil, spreading across the mountain like a green tide.
*Even if Xu Ying burrowed underground, they'd dig him out,* Zhou Yihang thought. *But searching every peak will take them forever.*
Suddenly an earth god shrieked. "Your Honor! Look at the sky!"
Zhou Yihang glanced up—and froze.
Half an acre of golden light hung in the air above Mount Wuwang. It looked like a field of ripening wheat, each stalk made of condensed solar essence, drinking in the dawn. The glow was blinding.
Neither Zhou Yihang nor Magistrate Xue had ever seen anything like it. They hadn't even heard stories of such a thing.
"The boy is beneath that light field." Zhou Yihang's voice dropped to a whisper. "He's cultivated some demonic art. His power has surged. Killing him would be a waste. I'll grant him a clean corpse."
He raced toward the golden field. Behind him, Magistrate Xue led Shilongzi and a host of spirits in pursuit.
Beneath the light, Su Yan circulated the Grand Unity Daoyin Art. His vital energy swelled, refined by the Pure Yang Fire burning in his core. The darkness in his Realm of the Subtle retreated, revealing new territory.
Thunder quaked through the expanded realm. The great sun rose. Vital energy rained down, nurturing the land. His qi and blood grew stronger by the breath.
When he exhaled, wind whipped stones into the air. Half a foot of golden light flickered in his eyes—spirit sense made visible.
The coffin girl's gift of Pure Yang Fire had transformed his cultivation. Even his spirit sense had sharpened beyond anything he thought possible.
Su Yan faced the massive gate that loomed at the edge of the darkness in his inner world. On one side, a heavenly river crashed down from the sky. On the other, a majestic mountain range soared upward. Only by breaking through that gate could he explore what lay beyond.
*The coffin girl said the nuo masters' Inner-Realm Subtle Transformation is the wrong path. Her way—the qi cultivator's way—is the true one. But all the qi cultivators vanished. Their arts were replaced by nuo techniques.*
*So which is right? The way of the nuo, or the way of qi?*
He gathered his qi and blood, focusing his spirit for one decisive push.
Then the earth shattered.
A sound like the sky tearing open roared through the mountains. Su Yan stumbled, cutting off his cultivation to keep his feet.
Yuan Qi tumbled tail-over-scales, wrapping himself around a boulder. "The netherworld invasion happens at night! Why is it invading during the day?"
The great bell rang with confusion. "A-Yan, what did you do this time?"
Su Yan steadied himself and turned west. Ten miles away, the ground heaved. Dust shot into the sky. A sun burst from the earth, rising through the haze.
Its light bathed the world.
A mountain followed, tearing free from the soil, rising higher and higher until it hung in the sky, vast enough to blot out the sun. Boulders the size of houses tumbled from its sides. Some crashed to earth. Others simply floated.
Su Yan stared, then turned east. The real sun was climbing over the horizon. Two suns—one in the east, one in the west—burned together.
"I didn't do anything." His voice came out hollow. "How could I do something like this?"
"Hard to say." The great bell drifted closer. "I guarded my little stone hill for three thousand years without a single incident. Since I met you, the first night brought the Nai River rerouting itself. Then the black coffin in the ancient well. Then my temple got demolished. Then you whipped a Plague God. Then people started hunting us. Now a second sun crawls out of the ground. Every disaster scene has you in it, A-Yan. And you say it's not your fault?"
Su Yan grunted and started walking.
Yuan Qi slithered after him. "A-Yan, where are you going? Uncle Bell's right—stop causing disasters!"
Su Yan glanced back, grinning. "That sun and mountain are right here by Mount Wuwang. We're the two demon kings of this mountain. How could we not go take a look?"
"Looks like it's near Shuikou Temple," Yuan Qi said.
The great serpent's bulk shot forward. "Climb on! I'll carry you!"
Su Yan sprang onto Yuan Qi's back. The great bell shrank and slipped into his mind—too slow to keep pace with the serpent's speed.
Zhou Yihang and Magistrate Xue had also seen the impossible sight. They froze on the mountainside.
Magistrate Xue recovered first. "Capturing Xu Ying can wait. That sun and that immortal mountain matter more. The boy will surely go there too. We'll catch him on the way."
Zhou Yihang looked up. The half-acre light field had detached from Mount Wuwang and was drifting downslope—straight toward Shuikou Temple.
*Shuikou Temple is nothing but a ruined shrine. How could a second sun and an immortal mountain burst from there?*
He changed course and raced ahead. *Xu Ying is heading there too. I'll arrive first and wait for him to walk into my trap.*
Shuikou Temple had once stood at the foot of Mount Wuwang, but since the netherworld invasion, the shifting earth had pushed it miles away. The temple was now a crumbling relic, home to foxes and weasels, its incense long cold.
Yuan Qi carried Su Yan at a pace barely slower than the boy's full sprint. Beasts and great yao fled past them in the opposite direction. Su Yan and Yuan Qi were the only ones heading toward the chaos.
A boulder the size of a house fell from the sky. Yuan Qi veered aside. It smashed into the earth, leaving a crater wide enough to swallow a cart.
Su Yan looked up. The floating mountain's shadow blotted out the sky. Then light blazed from behind it—the second sun, circling the ancient peak.
More stones rained down.
Su Yan dropped to the ground beside a fallen boulder. He studied it, frowning. "Strange. This rock has hair. Uncle Bell, have you ever seen something like this?"
The stone was covered in fibrous growths—like hair twisted into ropes, or thick moss made of countless threads. Some sprouted from cracks. Others coated the surface like lichen.
The great bell emerged and examined it with spirit sense. "Strange. It's not quite stone, not quite hair, not quite flesh. What is this thing?"
Even with all its years of experience, the bell had never encountered such a creature.
Yuan Qi had read more books than either of them. He didn't recognize it either.
Then the earth shook again. Another mountain ripped free from the ground, even larger than the first. Fire and light blazed from its core as it rose. A sound like bowstrings snapping—magnified a thousand times—tore through the air. The vibration felt like it would split a man in half.
Su Yan sensed something else. Sword qi. His face went pale. "Yuan Qi, get over here!"
The serpent lunged to his side. The ground split open. A strange current erupted from the fissure—sword qi shooting skyward, forming a wall of blades that stretched for miles.
The edge grazed Yuan Qi's tail. He yelped and looked back. His tail tip had been sharpened to a point.
*My tail was blunt for a reason,* he thought, tears in his eyes. *It helped me execute the Titan-Ox Demon Fist. Now it's pointed. My punch power is ruined.*
The wall of sword qi grew wider, taller, nearly reaching the two floating mountains. When the fissure finally emptied, the wall faded.
Su Yan and Yuan Qi peered into the crack. It ran straight as a ruled line. The walls were smooth as mirrors.
"The world has gone mad," Yuan Qi whispered.
Su Yan crouched at the edge. The bottom was lost in darkness.
"This crack once sealed the sword qi of an unmatched swordmaster. It lay buried for ages. If the netherworld invasion hadn't shaken the earth, it would have stayed hidden forever." Su Yan sensed the faint remains of sword qi flickering miles below. "The power's dissipated now. I can't study the technique properly."
Yuan Qi shuddered. "That slash was stronger than Yuan Tiangang's swordsmanship in the Gazing Homeward Terrace."
Su Yan felt the sword case on his back hum. Something inside leaped with joy. Sword qi and sword intent seeped from the case, connecting with his spirit sense.
The case belonged to Yuan Tiangang. It contained his sword qi, refined into a treasure over centuries. Su Yan had carried it since leaving the terrace, but it had never responded to him before.
Today, sensing the ancient sword qi from the earth, the case had awakened. It guided his perception toward the secrets hidden in the crack.
The great bell noticed too. "This little one's got promise. Almost as smart as me, nearly awake! Not bad, not bad."
Its tone carried unmistakable pride. After all, *it* had achieved true sentience. The sword case was merely following in its footsteps.
Su Yan followed the crack toward Shuikou Temple. The closer he got, the stronger the sword intent grew. The case trembled with excitement.
He spotted several officials in fine robes sprinting along the fissure, gourds strapped to their backs. One shouted to the others: "Hurry to Shuikou Temple! The sun and the two immortal mountains erupted from the ruined temple there!"
"Did you notify the Prefect?"
"I did. But he must have seen the phenomenon already!"
Su Yan's heart hammered. *The sun and the mountains came from the ruined temple?*
He had visited Shuikou Temple once. It was famous for the grand shrine by the water, but age and neglect had reduced it to a crumbling shell without a resident spirit. He had walked through it himself. It looked like any other abandoned temple—nothing special.
How could such a ruin spit out immortal mountains and a second sun?