Avia led them to a hillside villa called Pine Listening Court. Clean, quiet, and impossible to escape without wings.
Su Yan stretched out on a bench, grinning at the phoenix girl. "Fairy, good thing Xu Fu doesn't know our history. He picked the worst possible jailer. Let's go — now."
Avia's face darkened. A sword of phoenix feathers pressed against his throat.
"You want to run? Betray Old Ancestor Xu?"
Su Yan carefully pushed the blade aside. "Little Fairy, remember? I saved your life. You promised to serve me in the next one."
Her grip tightened. "I remember. I owe you. But this life belongs to Old Ancestor Xu."
Yuan Qi hissed. "He saved you! This is how you repay him?"
"Personal debt and great cause aren't the same." Avia's eyes burned. "Your kindness is mine alone. Old Ancestor Xu's kindness belongs to all cultivators."
Su Yan tried a different angle. "How about you repay the small debt first?"
Avia froze. She bit her lip, wrestling with herself. Then she dropped the sword and reached for her sash.
"Fine. I'll repay you with my body. Then I'll serve the greater cause. Both debts settled."
Yuan Qi's jaw hit the floor. Should he say something? He was still here. If he stayed quiet, maybe she'd keep going...
He stayed quiet.
A voice called from the gate. "Lord Xu, this one is Hua Xianchen. May I enter?"
Su Yan nearly wept with relief. "No — your timing is perfect!"
He yanked Avia's robe back into place and turned to the visitor. Hua Xianchen stood in the courtyard, a dao robe clinging to her slender frame. She took in the scene — the half-dressed phoenix girl, the coiled serpent — and spun around.
"I came at a bad time. Forgive me, I'll return later!"
"Wait!" Su Yan caught her sleeve. "What brings you here?"
Hua Xianchen's cheeks flushed crimson. She had misunderstood badly. Two of them? And a serpent watching? She forced her mind back to business.
"I obtained a text called the Grand Unity True Fire Formula. It claims to teach Samadhi True Fire, but I cannot grasp it."
Su Yan took the silk scroll. "Why not ask Xu Fu? Or Avia? They've both cultivated true fire."
"I did. Old Ancestor Xu said his flames are powerful but impure — not true Samadhi Fire. Avia's fire is innate. She cannot teach it. They say the real technique was lost long ago."
Su Yan skimmed the scroll. "It's not lost. It's right here, plain as day."
Yuan Qi peeked over his shoulder and immediately felt dizzy. The text twisted like angry worms.
Hua Xianchen pointed at a passage. "'In the Li Palace lie three flavors. Fill the cauldron with Kan water. The furnace cannot form without the Xun Gate gathering breath.' What does it mean?"
Su Yan laughed. "That's the formula for refining a golden core with Samadhi Fire — not for cultivating the fire itself."
Hua Xianchen's eyes bulged.
"You've been burning your qi and blood as fuel. Burning your own soul. That's why you see visions, hear whispers. Ghosts are circling, waiting for you to burn out so they can wear your skin."
She went white. "Can I be saved?"
"Don't call me lord. I'm fourteen. Call me A-Ying. Or Brother Ying." He pressed a finger to her brow, gathering her consciousness. When she opened her inner sight, she saw them — blood-soaked figures standing behind her, grinning with dead teeth.
She screamed.
"Calm down. I'll teach you properly. Once you cultivate true fire, your soul will strengthen and they'll flee."
He walked her through the text, practicing as he taught. By the time he finished explaining, three flame-flowers had merged in his palm into a single white fire. He flicked his finger. The pond in the courtyard ignited and burned dry in seconds.
Hua Xianchen stared, mouth open. "That's... that's it?"
"Once you have Samadhi Fire, refining a golden core becomes simple. The text mentions Dual Refinement — fire and water together. You need both before you can forge a true core."
She summoned her golden core. Su Yan activated his Heavenly Eye and saw the truth — it was riddled with blood and death energy, dark cracks webbing its surface.
"Your core's like Young Master Xiang's. Impure. Weak." He unhooked the stone axe from his belt and handed it to her. "Channel this."
She gripped the haft. Power flooded through her — visions of corpse mountains and blood oceans. She towered above them, axe in hand, laughing.
"With this weapon, I'm invincible! God or immortal, I'll cut them down! I'll take whatever man I want!"
The bell chimed. She dropped the axe, gasping.
"The axe didn't control you," the bell said. "It only amplified what was already there."
Hua Xianchen clutched her chest. "The axe controlled me! I would never think such things!"
Su Yan retrieved the weapon, hiding a smile. Some things were better left unsaid.