Chapter Eighty-Five: The Altar of Alchemical Sacrifice

Wang Yuanfeng saw the poisonous mist bearing down on him and at once gathered his vital energy through his whole body. With a sweep of his sword along the mist, he unleashed a move of descending bee needles at Zhang Xiangzi.

Zhang Xiangzi also sensed danger and tried to flee with an escape art, but Wang Yuanfeng gave him no time to cast. In the next instant, he saw a dense rain of needlelike streaks rushing at him. Their force was slight, at most enough to leave superficial wounds.

As for Xiaoqing’s poisonous mist, it was not much to fear. So long as one circulated inner breathing and sealed the injured Zusanli point, that would suffice.

It seemed the only course was to seize Wang Yuanfeng first. He leveled his steel fork and thrust for Wang Yuanfeng’s chest.

“Move!” the others cried out in alarm.

Wang Yuanfeng also felt the danger. In a flash of thought, he was trapped in a dilemma. If he fully unleashed the descending bee needles, Zhang Xiangzi would surely die, for when he struck, he had brushed his sword through Xiaoqing’s poisonous mist without leaving the slightest trace.

Though that move would not cause Zhang Xiangzi any real harm, once it pierced the skin, the poison would seep into his meridians, and then things would be far easier.

But at the same time, Zhang Xiangzi’s steel fork would pierce his chest. He could avoid the vital point, perhaps, but he would still be wounded. Yet if he abandoned this chance, Wang Yuanfeng did not know whether he would ever get another. Judging by Zhang Xiangzi’s deep and abundant power, the chance was great that the three of them would be worn down and killed.

Wang Yuanfeng hardened his heart and prepared to force the issue. Better to be wounded than dead. He shifted his body to avoid the heart meridian, kept his sword force from slackening, and drove it harder still, controlling the tiny sword lights like a cloud of ox-hair-thin needles as they struck Zhang Xiangzi.

Zhang Xiangzi only felt as though he were being tossed in a storm. The dense, fine sword lights pierced him all over, making him feel as if his body were bristling with needles. Even his skin began to seep blood.

“Die!” Rather than being driven back by the pain, Zhang Xiangzi only thrust harder toward Wang Yuanfeng.

Seeing Wang Yuanfeng in peril, Zhang Sangu leaped up and struck Zhang Xiangzi in the back with a palm. Zhang Xiangzi merely gave a muffled grunt; his momentum did not slow.

“Young Master Wang, move aside!” Eryan was equally frantic. He drove a rattan magic tool at Zhang Xiangzi, while Xiaoqing also sprang forward, rushing at Zhang Xiangzi.

Wang Yuanfeng could only feel countless bursts of force surging at him. Fixing his gaze on the steel fork’s trajectory, he did his utmost to avoid his heart meridian.

Zhang Xiangzi was just about to pierce Wang Yuanfeng when he began calculating his retreat. So long as he had a single breath’s time, he could cast an escape art. Once he had recovered from his wounds, he could return and break them one by one.

Suddenly, a pale figure flashed before the fork, knocking the already wounded Wang Yuanfeng away, while both hands seized the twin-pronged steel fork.

Zhang Xiangzi was startled by the sight. It was Huaguzi. This was the precious medicine that could improve his cultivation. By the time he tried to draw back the fork, it was already too late. He could only watch helplessly as the steel prongs drove into Huaguzi’s chest.

A mouthful of blood sprayed from Huaguzi’s lips, and her face turned as white as paper.

“I’ll kill you—” Zhang Sangu had struck Zhang Xiangzi many times to no effect. Seeing Huaguzi suddenly appear and be pinned by a fork, she snatched out her hairpin and, with all her strength, drove the magical pin into Zhang Xiangzi’s Dazhui point.

Zhang Xiangzi’s vitality was fierce; even after being struck in Dazhui, he still held on and turned to sweep her away with a palm.

The scene changed in an instant. Eryan’s rattan bindings had flown out and tangled Zhang Xiangzi, while Xiaoqing hurried forward, preparing once more to breathe out poisonous mist.

Bang. Though Zhang Xiangzi felt a little dizzy, he could still endure. He forced his demon power to surge and snapped Eryan’s poisonous rattans clean in two.

Eryan let out a muffled groan. Her magic tool was damaged, and she herself was injured as well.

Seeing Xiaoqing about to spit poisonous mist at him, Zhang Xiangzi knew something was wrong. Another blast, and he might well be done for today. He reached out toward Xiaoqing with a sucking force, then seized her throat in one grip. Xiaoqing was lifted into the air, her face and neck turning red as she struggled helplessly.

“Sacrifice the elixir core, flying sword, slay the demon, go!” Wang Yuanfeng cried out when he saw Xiaoqing caught by the throat. Without a second thought he cast the sacrificial art and offered up the Small Return Pill.

The three-inch flying sword within his lungs burst forth with silver-violet sword light, while Wang Yuanfeng’s lungs were once again ravaged.

“Go.” With a soft call, Wang Yuanfeng opened his mouth. A streak of silver-violet light shot out, and in the blink of an eye it reached Zhang Xiangzi’s brow, piercing through his skull and flying out from the Jade Pillow point. It curved back into Wang Yuanfeng’s mouth, traveled down into his chest, absorbed all the disorderly blood in his lungs, then condensed into a mass and came to rest there, breathing in and out with his innate primal qi.

Zhang Xiangzi had just been about to channel his power and crush Xiaoqing’s throat when he felt a streak of purple light flash before his eyes. His soul was annihilated by boundless sword qi until not a trace remained. His thoughts stopped at once, and with them, all thought itself.

Xiaoqing, whose neck was still being held, had been choking on the poisonous mist, unable to spit it out or draw it back. Seeing Zhang Xiangzi increase his grip as though preparing to kill her, she was instantly overwhelmed by despair.

Then, suddenly, a silver-violet light flashed before her eyes. Zhang Xiangzi’s fierce gaze went hollow all at once, all brilliance draining away. The strength in his hand became faint and uncertain. Xiaoqing felt she could move again, and at once spat the poisonous mist she had been holding back for so long toward Zhang Xiangzi.

Zhang Xiangzi was swallowed by the poisonous haze, yet he still did not move. In curiosity, Xiaoqing extended a finger and gently poked him.

Bang. Zhang Xiangzi’s body toppled stiffly to the ground, kicking up a burst of powder shattered loose by the battle.

The others all froze. It was too strange. He had been utterly invincible a moment ago—how had he suddenly died?

Dead or not, the matter was at last settled. Zhang Sangu rushed to Huaguzi’s side. Looking at the wound that had gone clear through her chest, she saw thin traces of blood already seeping from it.

“Huaguzi, you must not die. There are only the two of us left of our clan. Hold on.”

Seeing the face of pure gold and the gray, withering aura already beginning to spread from Huaguzi’s body, an aura that only the dead possess, Zhang Sangu felt panic surge in her heart. She looked toward Wang Yuanfeng, who sat to one side, equally grievously wounded, and gazed at him almost as though pleading.

Eryan’s natal magic tool had been damaged and she too was injured, though she was in far better condition, at least able to move freely. She also saw that Huaguzi was in grave danger and had to be treated at once. Just then she looked to Wang Yuanfeng and suddenly changed expression.

“Young Master Wang, what is wrong with you? Your cultivation...”

Eryan glanced again at the dead Zhang Xiangzi. She suddenly sensed wisps of sword qi emanating from the center of his brow, and that there was only a tiny opening there. Then she understood that Zhang Xiangzi’s death had something to do with Wang Yuanfeng. She had not expected the price to be so great—he had directly lost his cultivation. Turning, she said coldly to Xiaoqing, “Xiaoqing, from now on, whatever Young Master Wang tells you to do, you will do.”

Xiaoqing could not make sense of it. She had just been about to retort, when she realized the atmosphere had turned terribly strange. She was ready to go and help Wang Yuanfeng purge the poison, but on a closer look, though Wang Yuanfeng was badly injured and on the verge of death, there was not the slightest sign of poisoning. She glanced at Eryan, who had just scolded her, then lowered her head and said nothing.

“Do not worry. Losing the elixir core may not be a bad thing after all. I simply cannot use spells now, that is all. I still have this.” Wang Yuanfeng leaned on his sword and said this to Eryan, easing the tension.

Then he looked again at Huaguzi’s condition and shook his head. “Huaguzi’s heart meridian has already been badly wounded, and her spirit has suffered great damage. She is only being sustained by a single thread of will now. If you use your vital energy to protect her heart meridian, she should be able to last a little longer.”

Zhang Sangu’s heart filled with sorrow. She knew Huaguzi was already near death. This was injury from a magic tool, not from an ordinary blade. The fact that Huaguzi could still endure without dying was already a miracle. Yet she still wanted to know whether Wang Yuanfeng had any way to help. Hearing him say to protect Huaguzi’s heart meridian, she hurriedly circulated her power and nourished that meridian with gentle force.

Huaguzi’s heart meridian steadied a little, and some color slowly returned to her eyes and cheeks. Everyone who saw this felt a deeper sadness.

They were all cultivators who had practiced for many years and knew this was the final flicker before death. The key to life lies in that unextinguished innate spiritual light. It exists within the body, unseen from without. The path of cultivation mostly begins from that faint spark of innate undying light, the primal source essence. When the essence gathers, one lives; when it scatters, one dies.

This final flicker occurs when that essence is about to disperse outward, like a flower blooming only once. At its bloom, life reaches its peak; when the petals fall, life ends.

“My time is short. All these years, I have lived without ever truly understanding why.” Zhang Sangu tried to speak, but Huaguzi stopped her, then went on, “I heard everything you just said very clearly. I only hope, Auntie, that you can live well.”

None of them dared make a sound, afraid of interrupting Huaguzi’s thoughts. After all, the final flicker before death does not last long.

Huaguzi then looked at Wang Yuanfeng and said, “Lutu Chang pays his respects to the young master. Thank you for granting me the position of star deity. From this day on, there will be no more Huaguzi in the world, only Lutu Chang.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the light in her eyes vanished completely. All the power in her body dispersed outward, but then suddenly turned and flew toward Wang Yuanfeng’s spirit platform. At the same time, Wang Yuanfeng only felt the Celestial Sphere tremble, and the abode of the third star of the Southern Vermilion Bird, Lutu Chang, blaze brilliantly before fading in an instant.

Wang Yuanfeng opened his eyes and saw Zhang Sangu shaking Huaguzi’s body and weeping bitterly, while Huaguzi herself was slowly dissolving away. Then he suddenly remembered the stirring of the Celestial Sphere just now and thought of a possibility: Huaguzi’s true spirit should have entered the Celestial Sphere along with her vital energy, and been stored upon the abode of Lutu Chang. So long as the true spirit remained undestroyed, she would not truly die.

Since parents’ command governs only one lifetime, but the command of the Dao endures through countless lives, he said to Zhang Sangu, “Mourn, then. She has only perished in this life. She has already attained the position of a star deity. When she is reborn, simply guide her back.”

Hearing Wang Yuanfeng speak of rebirth, Zhang Sangu looked up at him in disbelief. Hesitating, she said, “Young Master, though there are legends of reincarnation, there are very few such cases throughout history. I have never heard of anyone returning after rebirth. This...”

Eryan and Xiaoqing also looked at Wang Yuanfeng in astonishment. Though they had their doubts, they still believed he would not speak recklessly.

Seeing their confusion, Wang Yuanfeng thought that it made sense. Though they had cultivated for many years, they lacked a long inheritance. The methods they practiced had all been pieced together from here and there, and they knew nothing of these hidden truths.

They also knew little of life and the command of the Dao. What they had heard was only a vague half-understanding. The Dao itself was a luxury; those who can enter its gate are few indeed. It is not like the ways of salvation, which all may enter, and which even an old farmhand in the countryside can recite a couple of lines of.