Su Yan copied the Samadhi Water method from the Five Lamps Water Guidance, corrected three errors, and mastered it in the process.
He returned the scroll to Dong Meiqing. "Teach this to the others. Anyone who formed a golden core or Primordial Spirit needs to reforge them with true fire and water, or they'll never advance. Also — write down your Mud Palace nuo art. I want to see it."
Dong Meiqing left beaming.
Yuan Qi watched him go. "A-Yan, that man is a genius, isn't he? A broken technique and a nuo art, and he forced his way to ascension stage. In the ancient age, he would've transcended for sure."
The bell chimed, somber. "Pity. Born in the wrong era. And he walked the wrong path — only the Mud Pill Secret, none of the others. He'll never reach the peak."
Days passed. Cultivators arrived daily with treasured texts, begging Su Yan to decipher them. Some were ancient fragments, barely a few lines remaining. Restoring those took hours of grinding effort.
But Su Yan gained as much as he gave. He learned techniques he had never imagined — formations, alchemy, seal arts, finger techniques. Once he had known only nuo tricks. Now he wielded true cultivation arts.
Most importantly, he had filled the gap in the Mud Pill Inner-Realm Longevity Art. He could refine immortal medicine now, converting stolen elixir into true vitality. His power surged. Body and soul grew stronger by the day.
"Lord Xu, we are ready." Xu Fu appeared at his door. "It is time to resurrect the First Emperor."
"Where is he?"
"Sealed in Mount Li. I've spread word that a treasure has emerged there. The nuo clans will go first, bleed for us, clear the path. When they've spent their lives, we'll enter with far less risk."
He paused, smiling. "And... resurrection requires many lives. I only need to release a rumor. The sacrifices will come willingly."
Mount Fangzhang turned northwest. Su Yan's heart clenched. Chanchan, where are you? If you don't show up soon, it'll be too late.
* * *
Zhu Chanchan raced through the mountains beyond the ruins of Haojing. She spotted a familiar peak and nearly wept with joy.
She hadn't reached it when she saw hundreds of nuo masters battling below, fighting over scattered treasures — bronze tripods, bronze trees, bronze swords. The peak itself had seemed ordinary at first. Then a thunderstorm washed it clean, revealing what lay beneath.
A bronze mountain.
Chanchan ignored the fighters. She ran to the cliff face, pressed her palm against the stone, and whispered.
"I'm back... Six thousand years, and I'm back. Do you remember me? The seals I placed? Come out. Today I set you free."
The mountain shook. Boulders tumbled away, revealing ancient bronze patterns beneath. The entire peak was a single colossal magical treasure.
Her Flying Peak.
She tried to lift it. Her face twisted with strain. "I skimmed too much from the Zhou treasury. It's heavier than I remembered. I need ascension-stage power just to move it."
She dragged it forward, step by grinding step.
Nuo masters blocked her path. "Little girl, leave the treasure!"
Chanchan smiled sweetly. "Yes, grandfather!"
The peak swept sideways. Hundreds of experts vanished beneath it, crushed to paste. Even those wielding bronze treasures couldn't stop a mountain.
A voice thundered from above. "Wretch! You dare!"
Nine grotto-heavens rotated in the sky, piercing the void, rooted in a jade-colored firmament. A ninth-level Secret master.
Chanchan's Primordial Spirit leaped from her body. She drove the peak upward. The nuo master's giant hand shattered against it. Blood sprayed across the sky as he fled.
Bronze tripods and trees flew back to the peak, returning to where they belonged.
Chanchan slumped, gasping. "Lucky he was a coward. One more hit and I'd be finished." She looked toward the distant northwest. "No way I can catch up dragging this thing. Wait — are they coming this way?"
She brightened. "Good. Saves me the trip. Though if they were ambushed and killed, I'll just have to avenge A-Ying and claim the bell and Yuan Qi for myself."
She laughed all the way down the mountain.