Zhou Buyi hesitated, then answered truthfully. "Two dead. One gravely wounded—unlikely to survive. Another lost his mind to fear. We're checking his soul for damage."
Zhou Qiyun's eyelid twitched. He opened his eyes slowly, pinning the old servant with a gaze like a tiger's low growl. "He killed two of my clan? On Zhou family ground?"
Zhou Buyi bent lower.
Zhou Qiyun snorted. "Buyi, your mind has grown too busy. Once you served me diligently, flawlessly. Now that you've risen in status, you've grown lazy. Arrogant. You underestimated him. Dismissed him. And my clan members paid the price."
The servant trembled. "The patriarch speaks true."
"You could have saved them," Zhou Qiyun said. "But you harbored other intentions. Su Yan offended you, so you let him kill Zhou disciples—let him dig his own grave. Borrowed-knife murder. Making him die without knowing why. Saving them would have cost you nothing."
Zhou Buyi fell to his knees, forehead striking the floor.
"You have children?"
Tears streamed down the old man's face. "Two sons. Neither accomplished. Tested for Nuo aptitude—failed. My eldest's wife is pregnant. The younger one took a peasant girl by force. She bore him a son. Six years old now."
"Make him marry the girl. Give her a name, a place. Send the boy to the inner court. Even if he can't become a Nuo master, the Zhou family will care for him. Go home. Arrange your affairs."
Zhou Buyi knocked his head against the floor, choking. "Thank you, Patriarch, for granting me a clean death!"
He looked up, wiping tears. "Since you let me die with clarity—what punishment will Su Yan face?"
Zhou Qiyun closed his eyes. "While he's useful, none. If he becomes useless, I'll sacrifice him in your memory. Leave."
Zhou Buyi rose and walked out in silence.
Zhou Qiyun closed his eyes again, regulating his breath. A moment later, his qi wavered.
He sighed, opening his eyes. "Master of the Mud Pill Palace, I've waited long. Why don't you come? Hiding in the shadows, waiting for my mind to falter? But while I wait... don't you wait as well?"
* * *
For days, the Zhou clan watched Su Yan, Yuan Qi, and the great bell strike bizarre poses on the palace roof. The floral fragrance grew intoxicating. The trio trained harder.
Clan members fumed. "The patriarch brought him here to decipher the Tuo Scripture! Instead he kills our people and sunbathes on the roof with that snake!"
Worse, Su Yan on the roof felt like riding on their heads.
But Zhou Qiyun hadn't appeared in days. Su Yan and Yuan Qi grew bolder, only coming down to devour meals before vanishing again.
"Is he here for spring outing? The Nai River flows beside us—where's the spring?"
Someone cursed. "When are Second Sister and Eldest Brother returning? They'll teach this brat a lesson!"
Veyon knew better. Su Yan had likely already cracked the Tuo Scripture—and the jade slip the Zhou clan treasured. He could feel their cultivation advancing at terrifying speed. Even the Yuan family's inherited Cosmic Sensing couldn't match it.
He hesitated.
* * *
Su Yan had decoded more of the scripture, but also found more flaws. Missing explanations of "Yang." Vague descriptions of certain cultivation stages. Major deficiencies.
That made the Grand Yin Origin-Nurturing Art all the more precious.
"Pity. Elder Xiao would never let me trade our family's Cosmic Sensing for it. Neither would Mother."
At mealtime, Su Yan, Yuan Qi, and the bell appeared as usual—but vanished quickly.
Veyon's eyes narrowed. "The ancients said: if someone's not eager at meals, something's wrong."
He skipped dinner and tracked them down. In the main hall, he found them gathered around a bronze pillar.
"Bell, I told you this pillar's something else! I struck it twice with Boundary Sundering—not a scratch."
Veyon peeked inside. Su Yan, the snake, and the bell were whispering around the pillar. "Dig it out, haul it away, melt it down to patch you up. That slap-mark on your face still hasn't faded, Bell. That ghost woman hit hard."
Veyon's heart pounded. "They're stealing Zhou property!"
He'd never witnessed such a thing, let alone participated.
He watched Su Yan and the snake pry at the pillar's base. The snake coiled around it, pulling. Su Yan channeled the Dragon-Serpent Awakening Art, pushing with flood-dragon strength. Even the bell leaned against it, straining.
In the hall's center, thirteen Zhou elders sat in meditation around the jade slip, completely ignoring the theft.
"I was raised on sacred texts. How can I watch them descend into banditry?"
Veyon wrestled with himself—warn the Zhous and endanger Su Yan, or stay silent and watch his friend corrupt. Before he could decide, Su Yan spotted him. Grinning, he waved. "Brother Yuan! Over here—lend a hand!"
Veyon found himself walking forward. "Demon King Su, this isn't right..."
"Push here, good brother."
"Alright."
With Veyon's help, the pillar finally loosened. The hall trembled. The four of them wrestled it free.
"Go! Go!"
Su Yan and Yuan Qi hoisted the pillar and sprinted out. Veyon's heart hammered as he followed, exulting inwardly. "I broke the rules! I finally broke the rules! Breaking rules feels... exhilarating!"
He caught up, both hands supporting the pillar, a wild joy burning in his chest.
* * *
They ran to the massive pagoda tree. Veyon glanced back—Elder Xiao hadn't followed. He must still be eating. The Yuan family rule: no talking during meals, sit straight, eyes forward. He hadn't noticed her absence.
Veyon felt light as air. She could have carried the pillar herself.
"Up the tree!" Su Yan called.
"Up?"
She looked up. The pagoda tree soared into the heavens. Its bark split into dragon scales—every one an inverse scale, large as a mat.
The slope was steep. Carrying a heavy bronze pillar made it harder.
Su Yan didn't seem to care. He channeled the Ba Serpent visualization, coiling around the pillar, and climbed hand over hand. "Brother Yuan, we found something interesting up here last time. Come!"
Veyon followed, using Nuo arts to help. They climbed a thousand zhang to reach the halfway point. Another thousand to the first branch. The crown remained distant.
Seven rests later, they reached a flat expanse—a branching point wide enough for a city of ten thousand, with soil, flowers, even a river flowing from a thick trunk above.
Heat rolled toward them. Scorching air.
"We're here!"
Su Yan and Yuan Qi set down the pillar. Before them lay a fire pit, barely ten feet across, radiating terrible heat. Normal humans would carbonize just approaching it.
Even Veyon, a Nuo master, struggled.
She peered over the edge and nearly fainted. The pit was hollow, sinking thousands of zhang into the tree's heart. The walls glowed red and bright. This great tree had somehow caught fire from within—and burned for ages without dying.
The bell floated upward, growing larger. Its voice entered Veyon's mind. "This is heavenly tribulation fire. You can harvest a spark and refine it in your Inner Realm. Not as potent as Su Yan's Pure Yang Fire, but still remarkable for your cultivation."
Yuan Qi puffed up proudly. "I collected one the other day. If you'd traded techniques with us, we could cultivate together."
"Your Inner Realm—you mean the world within the body?"
"You know about it?"
"I opened it once by accident. Flew inside it. Never knew its name."
Yuan Qi looked at Su Yan. "Is that right?"
Su Yan nodded. "The Yuan family secret storehouse is the Crimson Palace. It nurtures divine consciousness. For Yuan descendants, opening the Inner Realm should come naturally."
Yuan Qi grew alert. "This Yuan knows as much as I do. A rival."
The bell expanded, mouth upward, nose downward, slowly sealing the fire pit. "I'll cover most of the flame. Collect what you can."
Veyon thanked him and cautiously approached. "Bell, you said this is tribulation fire. Who transcended the tribulation?"
"Who else? This tree. Zhou Qiyun says it was born a celestial being. To become immortal, one faces tribulation—no exceptions. Either it committed terrible sins, or it's already near-divine. Struck by heavenly lightning, burned by heavenly fire. It'll die eventually."
It paused. "Another eight thousand years, give or take."
Su Yan and Yuan Qi dragged the pillar forward. "Hang in there, Bell!"
They shoved the pillar inside.
Su Yan dusted his hands. "You won't melt, will you?"
The bell laughed. "My master stole immortal fire from the celestial realm to forge me! Immortal fire I withstood—what's mere heavenly fire?"
Its base turned red. Its voice shook. "A-Yan, something's off. I remember I'm not fully healed. It's burning. Lend me some qi and blood..."
Su Yan pretended not to hear and walked toward a thick branch.
"Yuan Qi! Seventh Lord! Don't go! Lend me some qi!"
Yuan Qi hurried after Su Yan, gone in a flash.
Veyon asked, "Where did they go?"
The bell, roasting in flames, snapped, "Picking pagoda flowers! Two animals. They've been roasting them for days. Such waste."
He remembered Veyon and chimed pleasantly. "Brother Yuan—care to lend some qi and blood? I'll teach you how to refine heavenly fire in exchange."
Veyon agreed immediately.
The bell relaxed, drawing her vitality to resist the flames while teaching her the refinement method. It worked beautifully.
She stopped before her Inner Realm risked overload. Then Su Yan and Yuan Qi returned with a branch heavy with flowers. Each bloom measured over a foot long. Hundreds clustered together, fragrance filling the air.
The scent wasn't cloying—floral with fresh green notes. Elegant.
Su Yan and Yuan Qi plucked dozens and laid them on the fire. Soon they turned golden, crispy outside, tender inside, dripping with honeyed sweetness.
Veyon's stomach growled. She hadn't eaten.
Su Yan tossed her a roasted bloom. She sat straight, eyes forward, nibbling with refined restraint. Meanwhile Su Yan crammed an entire flower into his mouth and reached for more.
Veyon grew hungrier. She abandoned etiquette, mimicking him—shoving a flower into her mouth, chewing hard, nectar dripping down her chin. She licked it up. The sweetness sliding down her throat was unlike anything she'd tasted.