Chapter Eighty-Nine: Encountering the Bone-Altering Pill Once Again

Jiang Yan pushed aside the tangled branches and descended the earthen mound, making his way to the heart of the demon-hunting battlefield, where he stood next to the Tianshan disciple with a severed arm, blood still pouring from the man’s mouth. Jiang Yan gazed down at him with a chilling indifference.

“Ugh…” The wounded disciple spat another mouthful of blood. Though his eyes flickered with a hint of resentment as he looked at Jiang Yan, what prevailed was a sense of desolation—the desolation of being abandoned by his sect master.

“Who are you?” the Tianshan disciple asked, his voice strained.

“Hua Mountain, Jiang Yan.” Jiang Yan’s reply was terse; his gaze remained unwavering, fixed coldly on the fallen disciple.

At that moment, Tang Wan emerged from behind the mound. She was cautious as she approached, her eyes darting around, ever watchful for any demonic beasts or lurking cultivators.

The Tianshan disciple, coughing weakly, glanced at Tang Wan, who was scanning the surroundings. A glimmer of regret flashed in his eyes. If only he and his senior brother had truly kept watch, these two young cultivators would never have succeeded in their ambush.

“I… I know what you want to ask…” the Tianshan disciple rasped, struggling to speak. “You want to know how your master died.”

Tang Wan’s pretty face snapped toward the wounded man, her eyes blazing with killing intent. At the mention of her master, tears welled up in her eyes.

“Spare my life, and I’ll tell you…” The disciple coughed more blood, desperation filling his eyes as he stared at Jiang Yan.

Jiang Yan’s gaze turned icy. His face was masked with a deadly frost as he said, “Tell me what you know, and I will grant you a swift end. Otherwise…”

Spiritual power surged from Jiang Yan, enveloping the greenwood arrow lodged in the disciple’s chest. Slowly, he began to draw it out.

“Aaargh!” The arrow scraped the disciple’s inner organs, sending a wave of agony crashing through him. He let out a bone-chilling scream.

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk! I’ll talk…” the disciple gasped, sweat beading on his forehead, his breath coming in ragged bursts, terror lacing his words.

Jiang Yan’s expression remained unchanged as he stopped drawing the arrow out, his cold gaze never leaving the fallen man.

Wheezing, the Tianshan disciple pleaded for Jiang Yan to stop, then, with great difficulty, began to recount the cause of Ding Yuan’s death—Jiang Yan’s master.

Every year, the leaders of vassal sects were required to attend lectures at the main sect, both as a means for the great sects to foster loyalty among their vassals and to prevent these sect leaders—who sometimes stood in for main sect disciples in demon-hunting contests—from being mocked for their lack of skill by other third-tier sects.

After each lecture, Golden Flame Sect would occasionally host a banquet for the leaders of the vassal sects, events typically presided over by an inner sect elder.

However, at the last banquet Ding Yuan attended, an unexpected guest appeared—a young noble, accompanied by Xie Beilun, the inner sect elder and son of the Golden Flame Sect master.

After the lecture, the noble expressed a sudden interest in attending the banquet. The vassal sect leaders, naturally cautious, each offered the noble a toast—except for Ding Yuan, who, for some reason, did not. On that day, every vassal leader toasted the noble youth—save for Ding Yuan.

Unexpectedly, this slight did not go unnoticed. The noble, perhaps offhandedly, remarked to Xie Beilun, “That cowardly cultivator dares not toast me—does Golden Flame Sect think its position unassailable?”

Xie Beilun, startled and terrified, apologized profusely and promised to kill Ding Yuan at once to appease the noble’s wounded pride.

Yet the young noble flew into a rage, rebuking Xie Beilun for his pettiness. As for whether the youth ultimately ordered Ding Yuan’s death, the Tianshan disciple could not say. But regardless, that banquet sealed Ding Yuan’s fate.

A year ago, the third-tier sect demon hunt happened to be held in a valley west of the Linqing region, near the Tianshan Mountains. The Tianshan Sect and several second-tier sects were commanded by Golden Flame Sect to guard the valley, with Tianshan also tasked with securing the battlefield’s perimeter due to their advantageous position.

Lu Tiannan, upon receiving orders from Xie Beilun, was instructed to provoke and kill Ding Yuan, the Hua Mountain master, without revealing the true motive, to soothe the noble’s grievance over the unoffered toast. Xie Beilun cared only that any factor threatening the relationship between Golden Flame Sect and the noble be erased.

At that time, Lu Tiannan was already coveting the Purple Garment Sect’s spirit stone lode, as his sect’s resources were dwindling. Upon receiving this command, he was overjoyed—if he could seize Hua Mountain for Tianshan, by the region’s rules a second-tier sect could claim a thousand miles, which would include the spirit stone mine. And with Golden Flame Sect’s backing, there would be no obstacles.

After the demon hunt, Ding Yuan, having survived, was confronted at the gate by Lu Tiannan, who tried to coerce him into surrendering Hua Mountain. Ding Yuan refused. Tianshan’s foremost expert, Lu Xiya, struck without warning, killing Ding Yuan before he could make sense of the situation.

Ding Yuan fell, clutching his treasure pouch at his waist, his eyes wide open, collapsing onto the cold ground…

“For Wan’er and Nanmen, the wooden cranes. For Yan’er, the beast core. As for the wooden horse Mu Yun wanted, I failed to get it this time—next time… next time…” Lost in a haze, Ding Yuan perished, carrying endless regret and worry, dying beyond the demon-hunting grounds.

Lu Xiya, irritable, strode forward, yanked away Ding Yuan’s treasure pouch, and dumped its contents on the ground. Seeing only a few beast cores and wooden cranes, he sneered in disdain, crushing the wooden cranes underfoot. “Utterly destitute,” he spat.

…

Behind the main hall of Hua Mountain Sect, in the training courtyard.

Before Training Room Number Five, several Hua Mountain disciples stood respectfully. In the yard, Yun Ying played gleefully, a black and a white spirit beast circling around the delicate little girl.

The courtyard was peaceful; apart from the occasional mountain breeze and the barking of the Howling Heaven and Howling Soul hounds, there was no other movement.

Click—

The door of Training Room Number Five swung open. The plump Mu Yun emerged, holding a box in his hands, his round face beaming with satisfaction as he waddled out.

Seeing the six senior disciples waiting by the door, Mu Yun sat down on a stone stool in the courtyard, placing the box on the stone table.

Click—the door to Training Room Number One also opened, and Nanmen Luo strode out with a triumphant light in his eyes.

“Congratulations, Brother Mu, on breaking through to the sixth level of Qi Refinement. You’re not far from the seventh level, as Master has required,” Nanmen Luo said, settling himself at the stone table. Noticing the box, his eyes flickered with curiosity.

“Third Brother, Fourth Brother!” Yun Ying hurried over, climbing onto a stool and peering eagerly into the box. “What’s inside, Third Brother?”

Mu Yun quickly pulled the box close, his plump face full of concern. “Be careful, little sister. This is a Bone-Easing Pill left by Senior Brother—the sect master. It’s to be awarded to the disciples. Don’t knock it over.”

“So stingy!” Yun Ying stuck out her tongue, hopped off the stool, and resumed playing with the spirit beasts.

“Have you finished your studies today? If you haven’t, Third Brother will have to carry out Senior Sister’s orders and spank you!” Mu Yun called out to Yun Ying as she ran off.

“Reporting to Third Uncle, Little Aunt has finished her lessons for the day,” Lin Ke replied with a bow, her tone respectful.

“Ah, good, good,” Mu Yun replied, feeling slightly awkward as he looked at the veiled Lin Ke. Among the six senior disciples, only his own disciple, Sun Yang, lagged behind; the other five were each more outstanding than the last. Even Zi Su had reached the sixth level of Qi Refinement. Mu Yun, as the uncle-master, felt somewhat ashamed by comparison.

“Senior Brother, go ahead and announce it. The sect master’s orders are for us to carry out, nothing more,” Nanmen Luo urged, his tone calm.

At the mention of the sect master, Mu Yun’s expression grew solemn. These six disciples did not call him master or uncle because of him, but because of the sect master. It was the sect master who had brought these six together, who had even accepted disciples from outside the sect with higher cultivation than his own. The honor of being called uncle-master was due to the man behind him, not his own cultivation. Now that the sect master had given his orders, he needed only to execute them—there was no need for further thought.

“Zi Su, Ding Ning, Duo’er—because of your meritorious service patrolling the mountains these past days, the sect master orders each of you to receive two bottles of Qi-Gathering Pills.” Mu Yun’s spiritual power enveloped the milky-white porcelain bottles in the box, distributing them to the three.

“Thank you, Sect Master, Master, and Uncle-Master,” the three young women replied respectfully as they received the bottles.

Mu Yun glanced at Ning Qian, who stood upright and handsome, and at the sly-looking Sun Yang. Doing his best to keep his tone neutral, he asked, “Ning Qian, Sun Yang, how are your cultivation levels progressing?”

“I have stabilized my realm and am working toward the fourth level of Qi Refinement. If all goes well, I hope to break through within a month,” Ning Qian replied with a respectful bow.

“If not for the patrol duties, Brother Qian would have already broken through to the fourth level,” Sun Yang said regretfully.

“And what about you?” Mu Yun’s round face darkened as he turned to Sun Yang. His own disciple was rather like himself—lacking in ambition. The sect master had told him to be stricter, so, forced to play the villain, Mu Yun obliged.

“Ah!” Sun Yang grimaced, embarrassed. “Master, I spent too much time patrolling with the wooden crane. My third-level Qi Refinement is still unstable.”

Nanmen Luo’s face darkened. Frowning at Mu Yun, he seemed dissatisfied with the handling. Mu Yun, catching his critical gaze, reprimanded, “Useless boy! I went to great lengths to get the Earth Spirit Pill for you from the sect master. It’s a rare elixir! Brother Qian took his at the same time as you and is already close to the fourth level, but you’re still where you started. This time, I’m holding back the Bone-Easing Pill. You can ask for it again when your cultivation is stable.”

Nanmen Luo shot Sun Yang a look, then glanced at Mu Yun, evidently still dissatisfied. Picking up one of the porcelain bottles from the box, he spoke with pride, “This is a Bone-Easing Pill, top-grade among first-tier pills—the best in the Linqing region’s Treasure Pavilion. But there’s a catch: only those below the third level of Qi Refinement can benefit from it. Zi Su and the others won’t see any effect, and Lin Ke has already taken a mid-grade Bone-Easing Pill. So among the six of you, Ning Qian, take this pill as soon as possible. If nothing goes wrong, you should reach the fourth level by tomorrow…”