Chapter Forty-Eight: The Golden Blood Pearl

A man in his thirties stepped into the room. He wore the same black and white Daoist attire, but his garments were made of Sichuan brocade, shimmering with moonlit radiance as the light filtered through the paper-paned windows.

Such wealth!

Jiang Lan sighed inwardly, gripping Sanmu by the collar with one hand, while her other limbs clung tightly to the beam overhead.

Outside, a chaotic crowd rushed past, and Jiang Lan guessed that the mechanisms she triggered earlier had finally been discovered.

But rather than investigating the disturbance, this man entered the room first, suggesting hidden motives. Jiang Lan was about to ask Sanmu if he recognized the newcomer, but when she glanced over, Sanmu's eyes had rolled back, his face darkening to a purplish hue as he clutched his own collar in a death grip.

"Not good!"

Jiang Lan cursed silently, quickly springing into action. With one hand still holding the beam, she used her legs to hook Sanmu, lifting him up onto the rafters beside her.

Knowing the man below was formidable, Jiang Lan pasted several stealth talismans processed by Chifeng onto herself and Sanmu. As long as they didn't act rashly, they shouldn't be discovered.

"Who is he?" Jiang Lan mouthed silently.

Sanmu, rubbing his neck and counting the thousand taels he'd regained, peeked out at the newcomer. The moment he saw him, his head snapped back.

"Wei Li," he whispered.

Jiang Lan nodded, signaling Sanmu to stay put. She slid along the beam, moving away from the cramped corner, opening up her view.

She watched the man's every move, suspecting he was hiding something here.

As expected, the man headed straight for the alchemy furnace. He glanced around, relieved when nothing seemed amiss. Jiang Lan watched as he performed a series of incomprehensible hand gestures, causing the lid of the furnace to float upward.

From her vantage point, Jiang Lan noticed something unusual.

Ordinary alchemy furnaces were designed with small openings to contain the fragrance of the pills, but this one had a massive mouth—large enough to hold three or four grown men at once.

Jiang Lan stared intently, afraid to miss a thing.

The man performed another intricate hand gesture, and a water membrane slowly rose from the furnace, inside which lay a young girl. She was naked, curled up, her waist-length hair covering her pale body.

On her forehead, a bead of blood, not yet fully formed, glimmered faintly.

Jiang Lan’s eyes reddened at the sight of the golden blood bead. Her arm veins bulged.

"Golden blood bead!"

"Who’s there?"

"Not good, retreat!" This time it was Sanmu, frantically pulling Jiang Lan and pasting a speed talisman in hopes of fleeing. But magical barriers had been set all around; escape was impossible.

Wei Li, seeing the two unexpected intruders, quickly sealed the furnace lid, his aura surging.

"Five Thunders Strike!"

Jiang Lan frowned. "Divine Sky Thunder Technique!"

When did Old Lord's methods reach the mortal realm? Her soul, still settling in this place, was far from stable—taking such a blow could shatter it entirely.

No time to hesitate, Jiang Lan tore open her spirit pouch.

"Chifeng!"

A violent demon wind erupted, and Wei Li watched as demonic energy poured out, overwhelming like a tidal wave.

"So it was you who spent a fortune at Spring Delight Pavilion!"

Jiang Lan had no patience for his words, grabbing the unconscious Sanmu and leaping onto Chifeng’s true form.

In an instant, all the Daoists from the Celestial Observatory rushed in. The alchemy chamber lay in chaos, a massive hole gaping at the side. Peering through, they saw a red demon phoenix breaking through the barrier, soaring into the sky.

"Wei Senior Brother, was that a demon phoenix?"

The speaker was a youth of about twenty, wearing Daoist robes like Wei Li's, though less refined. His face was round and slightly fleshy, dimples appearing when he smiled. Standing over seven feet tall but slender, he was Wen Ren, the direct disciple of Grandmaster Rongmu.

Wei Li nodded, directing the other disciples to search for missing items and clues regarding the demon’s presence.

Wen Ren was about to join them, but Wei Li stopped him.

"Is there something you need, Senior Brother?"

Wei Li looked at his courteous junior, wondering what luck had made Rongmu choose him as a disciple and personally teach him. Though Rongmu practiced strange arts, he was the only one among the twelve Grandmasters who had mastered them to perfection. Wei Li himself had sought to learn such arts countless times, only to be rejected.

Wei Li righted the furnace, with Wen Ren’s help.

"Junior Brother, did you notice any anomalies in the mechanisms downstairs?"

Wen Ren’s eyes lit up. "Senior Brother, you wouldn’t believe it—the demon was remarkable! The other traps aside, the maze on the sixth floor was painstakingly crafted by Master, his pride and joy, yet it was broken so easily. Truly impressive!"

Wei Li felt a headache coming on. If those two were as formidable as Wen Ren claimed, they were beyond his ability to handle.

Seeing Wei Li’s troubled expression, Wen Ren offered comfort. "Don’t worry, Senior Brother. I’ve already sent word to Master. He’ll return soon to repair the mechanisms. There’s no need to worry about danger in the observatory..."

Wei Li looked at the fool. He wasn’t worried about the observatory, but about the golden blood bead he had worked so hard to find for refining his own body. If it was stolen, where would he find such a rare item again?

Clutching his head, Wei Li said, "That villain just now disturbed my vital energy..."

Wen Ren’s face changed, and he quickly produced a jade bottle. "Senior Brother, this is a new elixir from Uncle Li. Take two pills and meditate. With junior brothers outside, you should rest."

Wei Li accepted the bottle, coughing twice, and Wen Ren’s concern grew.

Once Wen Ren left, Wei Li stared at the bottle. Such precious pills were almost impossible to obtain from Uncle Li. Yet Wen Ren, thanks to Uncle Rong’s favor, was cared for by Uncle Li as well.

Even priceless pills like these were easily granted to him.

"Someday, all of this will be mine!"

Wei Li clenched his fists, gritting his teeth.

...

The wind slowed, and Jiang Lan leaned out, glancing at the myriad lights below—they had already left Jiankang City.

Beside her lay Sanmu, still unconscious. Jiang Lan sighed and instructed Chifeng, "Go to the lonely mountain at White Horse Temple outside the city."

When Sanmu awoke, dappled shadows greeted him. Above was a great tree—he was lying beneath it.

He rubbed his head, memories of last night flooding back.

"Young Lord, Young Lord..."

He quickly got up and looked around, spotting Jiang Lan with hands folded behind her head, leaning against a distant tree, eyes open, gazing at the sun rising over the cliff.

Sanmu followed her gaze, seeing the mist rising and dissipating in the sunlight, beautiful and unreal as a dream.

"Isn’t it beautiful?"

Sanmu nodded, then shook his head.

"Now isn’t the time to discuss this, Young Lord. Don’t you want to save that ghost girl?"

Jiang Lan remained lying there, not even glancing at Sanmu.

"Aren’t you always calling me a demon? Why not say it now?"

Sweat beaded on Sanmu’s brow. Though he’d just woken up and his mind was fuzzy, he vaguely knew the person before him was neither fully human nor entirely demon—when Wei Li found them, Jiang Lan had summoned a giant demon phoenix.

Thinking back, the phoenix’s overwhelming demonic aura would be more than his master could handle.

Knowing when to bend is wise, especially with fifteen hundred taels in his pocket.

Heh, such a wealthy patron must be served well—time to cling to this golden thigh!

"Young Lord, what are you saying? I never said that."

Jiang Lan looked at the shameless fellow, unsure what to say. Her thoughts drifted to the events at the Celestial Observatory.

Hatred remained for that man—vengeance for her destroyed family!

But who was the man in her dreams? Though he had a mortal body, her divine sense was nearly godlike, and shouldn’t have fallen into such a predicament. More importantly, she could not recall any details of what transpired within the maze.

She’d seen the man only once, and everything else was forgotten.

Perhaps her memory had been cursed—no matter how she tried, she couldn’t recall what she’d lost in the endless abyss.

Each time she remembered her dreams, only the man’s vague appearance remained.

Thinking too much brought pain; it had been this way for hundreds of thousands of years.

That maze was formidable—few in the Six Realms could sever their emotions and desires. Passing through it would be arduous.

The mortal realm truly hides dragons and tigers.

Chifeng, limited by earthly constraints, had used brute force to break the Celestial Observatory’s barrier, injuring his vital organs and now resting in the spirit pouch.

"Young Lord, Wei Li put the wild ghost into the furnace, clearly trying to refine the golden blood bead from her body, to temper himself and become the top Daoist."

Sanmu’s mind flashed to the blood bead—her ancient blood lost in the mortal world.

Though only a drop, it could refine a mortal body and elevate talent, leading to true cultivation. The bead in Xiangxiang’s body, mixed with Jiang Lan’s blood, might be even more potent.

Wei Li was a fool. When purging evil for Xing Mo, had he recognized its worth, none of this trouble would have arisen. Step by step, he was trying to refine Xiangxiang’s ghost, but without the right method, who knows how long it would take.

Recalling their bidding war at Spring Delight Pavilion, Jiang Lan deemed him a wealthy fool.

"That blood bead has miraculous effects. Wei Li, for his own cultivation, would refine a ghost girl—disgracing the Daoist sect, truly heartless!"

Sanmu spoke righteously, turning to Jiang Lan. "Young Lord, we must eliminate him."

Jiang Lan didn’t even lift her eyes.

"At the very least, expose his wolfish ambitions, right?"

Sanmu tried to persuade Jiang Lan to help him rid the world of such a wicked man. Though the man was depraved, his power was not to be underestimated. Sanmu couldn’t handle him alone.

"We?"

Jiang Lan rose, dusting off her hands. "We're business partners."

She pointed at the silver notes in Sanmu’s pocket, her gaze meaningful.

Sanmu reluctantly pulled out the notes. "Five hundred taels—is that enough?"

Jiang Lan frowned. "Only five hundred?"

Sanmu switched to a thousand-tael note. "Is this enough?"

Seeing Jiang Lan raise an eyebrow, he painfully handed over everything.

"Fifteen hundred taels, plus thirty assorted talismans—how’s that?"

A sharp pain in his palm. "Deal!"