Climbing up the slopes of Weijin Mountain, the web of Lava Veins sprawled everywhere, and the surrounding temperature had already reached a level unbearable for ordinary cultivators.
Most cultivators who had entered the secret realm in search of fortune had already given up, knowing when to retreat.
Yet the disciples of Songhuo Peak only grew more frenzied, their eyes consumed by a single obsession, instinctively pressing on toward the summit of Weijin Mountain.
Gu Ze held Li Xunmiao’s hand as they slowly walked at the rear of the crowd.
The Ice Dust Mirror emitted a refreshing spiritual aura, helping the two of them resist some of the scorching heat.
To call it a crowd was a stretch—the cultivators did not travel together in a group; nearly all were collecting spirit-infused materials along the way.
“Senior Brother, these people are like moths drawn to the flame… It’s a little pitiful.” Li Xunmiao gazed at the blindly advancing group, letting out a soft sigh of pity.
“Sect Master Gong sent us to fetch the Divine Fire, but didn’t warn us in advance of the dangers inside the secret realm. I suppose he wishes for us to judge for ourselves, and in so doing, test our Heart of the Dao.” Gu Ze spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear.
Whether to save them or how to save them, it was Gu Ze’s choice alone.
He could easily take advantage of the chaos to seize the Divine Fire with the least risk.
Or, he could step forward to stop the others from marching to their deaths, even though he might bring disaster upon himself.
How to choose when faced with such options was, itself, the proof of the Dao within one’s heart.
Using a Divine Tribulation wrought by the Golden Core Fire to test the Heart of the Dao of Qi Refining cultivators? Sect Master Gong, you really know how to make things difficult for me.
Gu Ze could simply choose the path of least risk, ignore the deaths and injuries of Songhuo Peak’s disciples, let them all perish in the sea of flames, and then choose the right moment to snatch the Divine Fire.
Afterwards, he could use the excuse that these people were mere nameless characters in a book to numb himself, offsetting his sense of guilt.
But… how would he face Li Xunmiao after that? Li Xunmiao, too, was a character in the book. If he’d never met Li Xunmiao, he’d also be just another nobody now.
So what if he was trapped in the book? So what if it was the Divine Tribulation? Gu Ze clenched his fist, and after a moment of struggle, made his decision.
Li Xunmiao squeezed his hand gently, as if she understood the solemn look on his face.
“Gu Ze, whatever you choose, I will face it together with you!”
It was as if Heaven and Earth had sensed their resolve—a sudden, fierce hot wind swept past, and Li Xunmiao summoned the aura of the Yellow Springs to envelop the two of them, instantly suppressing the stifling heat around them.
A long wind, blowing from the summit of Rouman Peak, lifted Li Xunmiao’s robes; the young girl stood valiant and unyielding, clearly with no intention to retreat.
Just as their spirits were burning high, a shadowy figure quietly approached and interrupted them.
“You two, we discovered a large mineral vein not far from here. Interested in coming to dig a little?” Lin Tianhai, carrying a pitch-black pickaxe, had somehow walked over.
Li Xunmiao bristled instantly, ducking behind Gu Ze and fixing Lin Tianhai with a cold, wary stare.
His weathered face was etched with confusion: “Did I interrupt you again, perhaps?”
“No harm done, thank you for the offer, Senior Brother Lin. The two of us have already collected plenty of rare materials; we simply can’t carry any more.”
Gu Ze gestured at the storage pouch on his waist, declining politely.
“Alright then,” Lin Tianhai yawned, swept his gaze around, and found a spot of shade beneath a boulder, saying blandly, “I’ll just rest over there for a bit. I’ve already got enough spiritual ore anyway.”
As he brushed past, Li Xunmiao cautiously pulled back her aura.
The two of them exchanged a tacit glance and saw suspicion in each other’s eyes.
Something was off about Lin Tianhai!
He didn’t display any of the greed shown by the other Songhuo Peak cultivators.
Either he had a Golden Core-level treasure protecting him from the influence here, or—he was a Golden Core cultivator suppressing his true strength to enter this place.
Either way, he was the greatest unknown among the disciples of Songhuo Peak.
Could he truly not have noticed the abnormalities among the others? Gu Ze couldn’t shake the feeling that Lin Tianhai had another purpose in coming here.
Gu Ze and Li Xunmiao wandered elsewhere, and Gu Ze became vaguely aware of an aura trailing them from behind.
Ever since he’d revealed the Moonmark before, there had always been cultivators secretly watching him. The greedy gaze was so blatant that Gu Ze had been on guard for a long while.
He figured that, at the latest, tonight these people would make their move.
When dusk fell, Gu Ze deliberately set up a tent with his back to a cliff edge, and then pulled a blushing Li Xunmiao inside.
To outsiders, it was obvious—this little pair of Dao companions couldn’t resist the allure of this blessed land and were about to spend the night in “deep discussion of the Dao.”
A few cultivators who knew better kept far away, lest they hear anything they shouldn’t.
Soon, no one was left near the tent, just the occasional howl of the wind.
When the stars grew sparse and the moon was bright, some people began to stir with restless intent.
Several figures crept up to Gu Ze’s tent under the less-than-black cover of night, rubbing their fists with anticipation.
“Say, if we barge in all of a sudden, think we’ll scare that Gu Ze out of his wits?”
“Quite likely. Too bad that Li Xunmiao is Qingquan Immortal Venerable’s disciple—touch her, and it’s suicide. That Gu brat’s sure lucky… Can’t see what she likes about him, really.”
“…Maybe he’s got some special skill?”
The group couldn’t help snickering with dirty jokes, oblivious to the fact that they’d already become prey for a lurking predator.
Gu Ze lay in ambush not far away, his face alternating red and white at their words.
“Xunmiao, when the time comes, hit them as hard as you can—but don’t kill them.”
Li Xunmiao’s face was also flushed with shame and anger. Even though she didn’t understand their vulgar language, the thick, foul atmosphere made it clear nothing good was being said.
With the Ice Dust Mirror protecting her, Li Xunmiao shot out like a stream of light.
The empty tent collapsed, and the two lingering auras within scattered on the wind.
The group realized something was wrong—but it was too late.
“Don’t panic, she’s only fourth-level Qi Refining, we—” Before he could finish, a cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining had already been sent flying.
Li Xunmiao’s gaze was icy, and she fought with growing ferocity.
Against a peerless protagonist, these nobodies didn’t even qualify.
Before anyone else could react, the aura of the Yellow Springs swept through like a hurricane, and even the slightest touch left the cultivators wretched and feeble, as if they’d aged decades in an instant.
As her cultivation grew, Li Xunmiao’s Yellow Springs aura would become even more ruthless—eventually, it could sweep past and leave nothing but a pile of bones behind.
But this power, which governed life and death, was refined by herself from Heaven and Earth, not from slaughter or innocent lives. Though terrifying, it could not be considered demonic cultivation.
The surrounding cultivators instantly lost their will to fight, tossing aside their weapons and fleeing in defeat.
“Don’t kill us! We’re all Yunhai Immortal Pavilion people!”
Now, at last, they remembered they were members of Yunhai Immortal Pavilion.
Seeing that his intervention was unnecessary, Gu Ze strolled over and coldly kicked one of them to the ground.
“Trying to scare me out of my wits, were you?”
“Thinking of putting your filthy hands on my junior sister, were you?”
“Special skill… Forget it, I won’t hit you for that.” Gu Ze skipped over one of them.
After giving them all a sound beating, Gu Ze noticed the greed in their eyes seemed to have faded a little.
It seemed fear could clear their heads, if only for a time. Indeed, when people face the threat of death, the only thing they cling to is life.
Gu Ze deliberately drew out the Moonmark Blade, the cold gleam of its edge flashing in their eyes and making the group tremble uncontrollably.
“For safety’s sake, maybe I should just silence you all. You went to such lengths to conceal yourselves and ambush me—now you have no chance to call for help, do you?”
Gu Ze threatened, a cold smile on his face.
The group broke into a cold sweat and begged for mercy again and again.
“Still want my little blade?”
“N-no, no we don’t.” The leader shook his head frantically. “It just looked familiar, I thought… Wait! That’s it! During the Rouman Peak sacrificial blessing, Lian—”
Lianyue Immortal Venerable used that very blade when praying to Heaven.
Before he could finish, Gu Ze quickly sealed his mouth with spiritual energy.
Gu Ze nearly broke out in a cold sweat. He glanced at Li Xunmiao—luckily, she didn’t notice anything strange.
“Talking nonsense again? I really should kill you first.” Gu Ze threatened him again.
His thought was, now that fear had cleared their heads enough to resist the Golden Core’s poison miasma, he’d scare them off and let them leave the secret realm.
Their attack on Gu Ze and Li Xunmiao was only because the poison miasma had amplified their greed; Gu Ze did not intend to hold them accountable.
If not for their lewd talk about Gu Ze and Li Xunmiao, they wouldn’t have been beaten so badly.
But just as Gu Ze finished speaking, and before the man in front of him could beg for mercy again, a ragged figure slowly emerged from the shadows beside the cliff.
Lin Tianhai looked helpless, no longer hiding his aura as he stepped forward.
“Junior Brother Gu, I ask that you spare these men. Once we leave this place, the Hall of Discipline will deal with them as is proper.”
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