One of the four suns had already set in the True Void Cave Heaven. The other two climbed toward noon while the last bled crimson on the western horizon.
The suns here lacked the fierce fire of the mortal realm. Their light was gentle, its essence easy to absorb without risk of burning one's meridians. Cultivation could proceed without fear.
"A day in the cave is a year outside," Yuan Qi sighed. He practiced the Dragon-Serpent Awakening Art while Su Yan cultivated, stealing stray dao seeds from the light fields. His ancient serpent bloodline stirred further with each breath. Clouds and mist gathered around him. Wind and thunder answered his call.
The great bell also circulated its own breathing art, intercepting seeds that spilled from Su Yan's field.
A single day here rivaled half a year of mortal cultivation.
Guo Xiaodie lacked any cultivation foundation. She fretted at first, but Veyon taught her from Tuo's Immortal Scripture, guiding her through qi-gathering. Her comprehension proved sharp. Within hours, she could sense the flow of essence around her.
The two girls sat side by side, cultivating together. Guo Xiaodie leaned against Veyon's shoulder, warmth spreading through her chest. Any lingering interest in the Demon King evaporated. She only wanted this moment to last.
Elder Xiao watched from nearby, his stomach in knots. He couldn't reveal that Veyon was a woman.
Another sun dipped below the horizon. The remaining two sank toward evening.
An old man with a walking staff approached from the mountain path.
"Children, the suns are setting. Why aren't you running?"
Su Yan stepped forward and bowed. "Elder, why must we run?"
The old man stopped, tapping his staff. "When the suns set, the netherworld claims this place. The vengeful dead—cultivators who fell to tribulation—will rise. I warn you from kindness. Go!"
They looked at the sky. Another sun had fallen. The last one touched the mountain peak.
They scrambled down, reached the Demon Suppression Hall, and leaped into the vat one by one.
Su Yan was last. As he jumped, a flash of crimson light streaked past his forehead. He touched the spot. Blood, no larger than a mosquito's mark, stained his finger.
He checked himself internally but found nothing wrong.
The old man appeared in the hall, stamping his foot. "Gone too fast! Not even a bite for me. No matter—they tasted the cave heaven's power. They'll return."
* * *
The Abyss of Cangwu lay in darkness. Nuo masters wearing Masks of the Reaper descended from Mount Jiuyi into the underworld. Ghost children roamed between graveyards, sucking yang-fire from fresh corpses. Some slipped into mortal villages to steal living essence.
The boundary between realms grew thinner. Human towns were swallowed into New Territory. The ghost children gathered in unmarked burial grounds, emerging at dusk.
What they harvested, the reapers took in turn. The reapers kept only scraps for themselves, eternally hungry.
And among the reapers walked human nuo masters, exploiting the ghosts just as the ghosts exploited the dead.
Su Yan watched the procession. "If the reapers harvest the ghost children, who harvests the reapers? Is there a higher power above them, waiting to squeeze them dry in turn?"
Yuan Qi had read such tales. "The Records of Strange Things says underworld reapers collect yang essence and tribute it to an underworld emperor. A scholar once killed himself in despair and met such an emperor in the afterlife. The emperor laughed and said he'd been an emperor thousands of years ago, and his old courtiers still served him in death."
"Did the scholar get his wish?" Su Yan asked. "Did he become an official?"
"He asked for a post. The emperor told him that even the lowest village clerk's position was booked ten thousand years in advance. The scholar came back to life."
Su Yan, Guo Xiaodie, and Veyon looked at each other. "Even the underworld is a rat race."
"Worse than the living world."
They grabbed the fishing line and were pulled from the abyss. Exhaustion hit them all. Guo Xiaodie arranged rooms for Su Yan and Veyon, then went to find her aunt and uncle.
Li Yingzhu was her mother's younger sister, married into the Guo family through the Li clan's royal connections. Guo Yue was her uncle, a talented swordsman.
Guo Xiaodie pulled out the crumpled paper and handed it to Li Yingzhu. "Aunt, you're the sword genius of both families. Look at this. I can't make sense of it."
Li Yingzhu scanned it casually—then froze. Her eyes went wide. She snatched the paper. "Where did you get this?"
"Traded it from that peasant. Aunt, is something wrong?"
"Wrong? This is the Sword Control Art!"
Li Yingzhu paced the room, her spirit trembling with excitement. "In the founding years, sword arts ruled. Even the imperial court cultivated sword qi. But the three founding heroes never mastered true sword control. They searched the world and found only a dozen characters matching these."
Guo Xiaodie stared. She had traded her family's Azure Sky Scripture for something worth more than a kingdom.
"Later, without the control art, sword cultivation faded. Other nuo arts surpassed it." Li Yingzhu unfolded the paper carefully, fire dancing in her eyes. "With this, sword arts won't die. This is... this is priceless."
She frowned. Two hundred characters. Simple. Utterly unreadable.
"Aunt, I traded our Azure Sky Scripture for it. Was it worth it?"
"Worth it? Our ancestors would climb from their graves to applaud you! Was it that peasant who gave you this? The boy has treasures. Why didn't you watch him longer? You might have gotten more."
Guo Xiaodie gaped. "Aunt, what are you saying? I'm not showing myself to strangers!"
Li Yingzhu hooked an arm around her shoulder, tugging at her collar. "Sweet Xiaodie, go flirt with him. Trick him into explaining these characters. Take another bath if you have to. By the way, you're not betrothed, are you?"
Guo Xiaodie jerked away. "Aunt, are you mad? I have someone I like!"
"Young Master Yuan?" Li Yingzhu said dismissively. "He's handsome and clever, but the Yuan clan is declining. That peasant, though—his two hundred characters could keep our families powerful for another century. Why not seal the deal?"
Guo Xiaodie fled.
Later, Guo Yue entered the study. After a long silence, he rose. "I'll talk to Xiaodie."
"If she refuses," Li Yingzhu said, "we'll ask the clan elders to petition the Emperor for an imperial edict. She won't have a choice."
Guo Yue nodded. "One more thing. This Su Yan is from Yongzhou. He's wanted by both the underworld court and Zhou Qiyun. They say he can read yao techniques."
Li Yingzhu gasped. "Truly?"
"The Emperor knows. I heard it from his own people."
The couple exchanged smiles.
"The Emperor must want that immortal scripture," Li Yingzhu said.
Guo Yue's smile stiffened. Both fell silent.
* * *
Su Yan slept soundly until warmth stirred against his side. He reached out and touched smooth skin.
His eyes snapped open. Dark hair spilled across the pillow. Guo Xiaodie lay beside him, wearing nothing, sleeping peacefully.
"Bell! Seventh Lord!"
No answer. The bell usually hovered above him while he slept. Tonight, it was gone. So was Yuan Qi.
Su Yan stared at the girl. He lifted the blanket, confirming what his memory told him. A mole. Just as he'd seen during his enlightenment on Mount Jiuyi.
So it had been real. The great horror that nearly pulled him into the abyss. The thing that blocked the Dao.
He dressed her in spare clothes, carried her to the window, and dropped her outside.
"Thief! Stealing my bed!"
A confused yelp came from below. "Why am I sleeping here?"
Su Yan sat on the edge of the bed, thinking. The abyss held something that blocked the Dao. Something that killed those who touched true enlightenment.
A tap sounded at the window.
Su Yan's heart skipped. Was she back?
He pushed the shutter open. Not Guo Xiaodie. A petite girl in colorful robes stood outside, smiling at him through the moonlight.
"Young Master Su, do you remember our appointment? My wounds have healed. Please, come with me."