Chapter 15: Traces of the Spirit Flame

Looking at the wretched state of the gathering place before him, Li Ji’an felt a tightness in his chest.

He had not failed to foresee such a situation. Decades ago, when he first arrived in this world and came to understand the wilderness gathering places, he realized that in this world of cultivation, resources were king. Everyone struggled against the heavens, against others, and against themselves for that fleeting chance of advancement. Possessing significant combat power himself, he had always remained cautious.

In particular, although these gathering places were mostly inhabited by mortals who had yet to step onto the path of cultivation, they often possessed resources needed by cultivators. It was inevitable that unscrupulous individuals would prey on the weak, casting greedy eyes upon the assets of the mortals. While most gathering places were situated near spiritual veins and received some degree of protection from local powers, that protection was ultimately limited.

He had worried about this often before his reincarnation. It was only after he acquired Guagua that he felt a measure of security. This was also why he had exhausted all efforts to ensure Guagua remained under his control before he was reborn.

Composing himself, he signaled for Guagua to stay close to Xiao Changfeng, ready to provide support should any danger arise.

Upon arriving at the scene and witnessing the carnage nearby, Xiao Changfeng’s face was also filled with shock. There was a rule within the territory of Cangyun Prefecture: wanton slaughter of mortals was strictly forbidden. At the very least, no such large-scale massacre of mortals had occurred in a thousand years.

As he approached, Xiao Changfeng dove into the earth to scout cautiously. A moment later, he burst out of the ground within the gathering place. Looking at the corpses strewn across the streets, it was clear that at least half a month had passed; the blood had already dried and seeped into the soil. He immediately began searching every corner of the settlement for survivors, and Li Ji’an instructed Guagua to do the same.

Unfortunately, not a single soul had been left alive.

Xiao Changfeng immediately sent a message to his sect to report the incident and then headed toward a nearby Qi-Refining family. That family occupied a first-tier mid-grade spiritual vein about a hundred miles away, and their highest-ranking elder was a late-stage Qi-Refining cultivator.

Before long, the same tragic scene greeted both Xiao Changfeng and Li Ji’an at the family’s estate. It was a scene of total devastation, with not a single survivor.

Once Xiao Changfeng returned, the two reached a consensus: this massacre was likely the work of a group of rogue cultivators who had drifted over from Tianyuan Prefecture. There were likely many of them, primarily late-stage Qi-Refining cultivators, and perhaps even some Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators. Otherwise, they would not have abandoned such a valuable first-tier mid-grade spiritual vein.

As Xiao Changfeng filed a detailed report of the massacre, an idea struck Li Ji’an, and he sent a message to Yan Qingwan to inform her of the situation. The rogue cultivator group from Tianyuan Prefecture was rumored to be led by a Golden Core master and had rallied a massive number of followers. The leader had eventually been dealt with by the Wanfa Palace using thunderous measures, causing the followers to scatter and flee. Half a year ago, a group of these fugitives near the Biyun Sect’s immortal city had been led by a Foundation Establishment practitioner. This current band was likely another faction that had fled from the eastern part of the Daze Mountain Range to this region.

Further south from here lay the territory of the Beast-Taming Liu family, one of the five great families, and beyond them lay the wilderness. If this band of marauders lacked a Golden Core master, they would likely bypass the Liu family and head straight into the wilderness. The wilderness was far from Tianyuan Prefecture and was in a state of chaos; one could plunder the second-tier spiritual veins of the eight great wilderness families or retreat deep into the Fallen Dragon Ridge. Informing Yan Qingwan in advance would at least allow her to prepare.

"No! Brother Li, we must pick up the pace. I am worried that if they continue eastward, they will reach the family where my parents reside," Xiao Changfeng said. After his report, the sect had acknowledged the information and promised to send people to investigate and apprehend the culprits. However, Xiao Changfeng’s thoughts turned to the family residing less than ten thousand miles to the east. His parents were both former rogue cultivators who, relying on their physical refinement, had been able to enter a local family and become its backbone. If this band of marauders continued eastward, that family would inevitably suffer.

Sect recruitment required cutting off past ties, not only to build the sect's cohesion but also out of fear that disciples might get embroiled in family disputes, leading to internal factions that would hinder unity. But in reality, how could blood ties truly be severed? One of the sect’s methods was to forbid disciples from keeping in touch with their parents’ families, intending for the relationships to slowly fade over time until, after a generation, the disciple would belong entirely to the sect.

Li Ji’an nodded, though he did not think rushing there now would be of much use. Judging by the traces, the marauders had left half a month ago. If they had designs on the family where Xiao Changfeng’s parents lived, it was likely already too late. Moreover, it was clear that this group acted with brute force and crude methods; they likely had no intention of staying, with the wilderness as their true target. Still, confirming their safety would at least put Xiao Changfeng at ease.

For the rest of the journey, Xiao Changfeng pushed himself to his maximum speed. The ten-day journey was completed in just six. To their relief, the place was safe and sound.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Xiao."
"Paying respects to Senior Xiao."
"Changfeng, why have you returned?"

As soon as he entered, Xiao Changfeng let out a long breath of relief, and the familiar members of the Ma family came forward to greet him. The clan head of the Ma family hurried to lead the elders out to welcome him. The little outsider Changfeng, who had once been a mere youth, now wore the robes of an inner-sect disciple of the Biyun Sect—a big shot they needed to treat with utmost respect.

Fortunately, the moment Xiao Changfeng was discovered to have a high-grade spiritual root, the clan head and elders had been wise enough to know he would surely have a bright future. They had not only gifted him many of the family's treasures but also sponsored his participation in the sect's trials. Over the years, they had treated his parents with the respect due to honored guests.

After Xiao Changfeng met with everyone, the clan head arranged for him to speak privately with his parents. Others extended great hospitality to Li Ji’an and Xiao Qiao, treating them as figures of equal stature to Xiao Changfeng. Upon learning that Li Ji’an was a senior expert alchemist, they became even more respectful, immediately assigning the apple of the Ma family’s eye to serve them personally. This area was far from the immortal city and remote, making resources scarce; even the most common pills from the city were hard to come by, and traveling to purchase them was costly and risky.

After Xiao Changfeng finished catching up with his parents, they learned that half a month ago, this place had also almost met with disaster. Fortunately, a rogue cultivator who was on good terms with the Ma family had sent a warning immediately after the neighboring gathering place was destroyed. The Ma family had not hesitated; they packed up their important supplies, led their clansmen to flee eastward for over a thousand miles, and hid in a barren region for several days, only returning after scouts confirmed there was no danger.

This forced Li Ji’an to admire the survival wisdom of the bottom-tier families in the cultivation world, and he couldn't help but break into a cold sweat for them.

They stayed with the Ma family for three days before Xiao Changfeng’s parents urged him to leave, fearing he might incur the sect's displeasure. Before departing, the Ma clan head asked Xiao Changfeng if he could persuade Li Ji’an to sell them some Qi-Condensation pills for late-stage cultivators. Li Ji’an, appreciating the clan head's worldly wisdom, agreed to the request. Unfortunately, before setting out, Li Ji’an had already sold off most of his stock to fund the journey and prepare talismans, and the only Qi-Condensation pills he had left were of premium quality. Their value far exceeded what the clan head could afford, and in the end, the head could only offer an embarrassed, self-deprecating smile and give up.

***

Setting off again, a month and a half later, Li Ji’an finally reached the outer perimeter of the Flame Mountain forbidden zone, where he suspected traces of a Heavenly Spiritual Flame could be found.

This was already the eastern border of Cangyun Prefecture. Another ten thousand miles to the east would put them truly inside the Flame Mountain forbidden zone. Compared to the barren lands they had passed, the spiritual energy here was even thinner, almost impossible to sense.

Looking up at the endless, desolate red earth and bare rocks, where not a blade of grass grew and heat waves steamed the air, Li Ji’an felt his divine sense affected by the heat, leaving him with only eighty percent of his strength. His internal spiritual power was also shrinking daily due to the lack of replenishment from the world’s spiritual energy. The reason cultivators could not stay in barren lands for long was precisely because, without the replenishment of spiritual energy, their cultivation would weaken, eventually leading to a regression in rank. If the dantian remained depleted for too long, it could even cause permanent damage and affect one's potential. Thus, Li Ji’an had prepared plenty of spiritual-replenishment pills for this trip.

Upon reaching the outer perimeter of the Flame Mountain, Xiao Changfeng put away his flying boat to minimize the consumption of spiritual power. Li Ji’an cast a protective barrier around himself and Xiao Qiao to shield them from the discomfort of the heat waves. It was worth noting that while this place lacked the spiritual energy suitable for human cultivators, it held an attraction for certain fire-attribute demonic beasts. For such beasts, advancement relied mainly on bloodline transmutation and evolution, and besides spiritual energy, they required various special materials—such as the chaotic, violent spiritual energy found in deep mountains that humans could not absorb, or the fire-attribute spiritual essence contained in the rolling heat waves of the Flame Mountain forbidden zone.

Guagua, however, disliked the environment here intensely and was somewhat affected by it; it was better suited to earth and water-attribute environments.

After venturing hundreds of miles deeper to the area where that rogue cultivator had claimed to see traces of the Heavenly Spiritual Flame, Li Ji’an and Xiao Changfeng stopped rushing. Li Ji’an had already told Xiao Changfeng the purpose of this trip, which was to try his luck. Xiao Changfeng understood; no alchemist had ever lived who didn't dream of possessing a Heavenly Spiritual Flame. While the chance of finding one was far smaller than finding an opportunity for Foundation Establishment, countless alchemists explored everywhere for them every year.

They had encountered three other alchemists on the road who appeared to be trying their luck, or perhaps they were beast tamers looking to capture fire-attribute monsters. They had also seen many such beasts, but they were mostly low-level fire lizards that fled far away upon seeing them.

Once they reached the target area, the two split up. Li Ji’an shared all the possible traces of the Heavenly Spiritual Flame he knew and handed him another bottle of spiritual-replenishment pills.

***

After Xiao Changfeng’s figure disappeared from view, Li Ji’an released the very reluctant Guagua.

"Overcome it. If we can capture a Heavenly Spiritual Flame this time, my Foundation Establishment will be virtually guaranteed, and I can then plan for your evolution into a Blood Pill. You can do it!" Although his greatest hope for this journey was Xiao Qiao, Li Ji’an habitually encouraged Guagua, feeding it a beast pill that had fire-repelling properties.

"Guagua is good; I’ll make you something delicious when we get back," Xiao Qiao added, gently stroking the frog's head to encourage it.

"Gua!" Guagua’s enthusiasm was instantly ignited, and it dove into the ground to begin the search.

"Xiao Qiao, help Uncle look in the ground for that type of flame I showed you before," Li Ji’an said to her. Before setting out, Li Ji’an had used his spiritual power to conjure an image of a Heavenly Spiritual Flame as he had seen it in ancient texts. Although the shapes of these flames varied and their colors differed based on their grade, they all shared the appearance of a flame.

"Okay," Xiao Qiao nodded and began to peer into the earth. Because Li Ji’an’s divine sense was hampered and using it to probe in such a place was extremely taxing, he simply stopped checking the ground himself and focused on traces on the surface.

They searched for half a month with no results.

"Uncle Li, there’s a fire snake there," Xiao Qiao said one day, pointing to the ground not far away. Li Ji’an immediately signaled Guagua to avoid it. During these days, Guagua had been quite miserable, having been attacked by local monsters several times and bearing many scars. The deep underground here was filled with late-stage first-tier monsters that occupied the territory, and whenever Guagua accidentally intruded, it would be attacked. Although it usually defeated them with its tongue, it was a pyrrhic victory every time. Thus, in addition to searching for the flame, Xiao Qiao now had to help Guagua clear the path.

"Uncle Li, there’s a small herb there." Before long, Guagua emerged from the ground with a "Three-Flame Grass" in its mouth. Li Ji’an nodded in satisfaction and had it store the herb in its internal pocket dimension. This was a late-stage first-tier spiritual herb, a common auxiliary ingredient for many late-stage pills and even second-tier pills.

This was another pleasant surprise Xiao Qiao brought him. Besides being able to "see" living things underground, she could also "see" objects containing spiritual energy. After testing this for so long, Li Ji’an had gained a deeper understanding of Xiao Qiao’s ability. It seemed to be a form of sensing, but one that only worked underground. He had tested it by having Guagua place an ordinary stone underground, and Xiao Qiao could not "see" it, which ruled out a "spiritual eye" ability.

Xiao Qiao herself did not understand her own power. Li Ji’an felt it might be some kind of ability to connect with the earth's spiritual essence. He could not be sure if it was a divine blessing. After all, the more he understood about the world of cultivation, the more he felt that this vast world was truly filled with wonders. Beyond those blessed by the fragments of heavenly laws after a Daoist’s demise, it was said that in ancient times, there were many special, miraculous traits that ordinary cultivators could not understand.

"Brother Li, come quickly!" Suddenly, a message talisman brought Xiao Changfeng’s slightly anxious urging. Li Ji’an’s eyebrows arched; could it be that Xiao Changfeng had found it? He immediately picked up Xiao Qiao and summoned Guagua, rushing toward Xiao Changfeng’s location.

Not long after, in front of a pile of rubble that had been baked red by the heat for a long time, Li Ji’an saw a pleasantly surprised Xiao Changfeng.

"Brother Xiao!"

"Brother Li, look quickly! These winding, scorched marks—are these the traces of the spiritual flame you spoke of?" Xiao Changfeng pointed to the ground in front of him.

Li Ji’an focused his gaze and his eyes lit up. "Brother Xiao, you truly are blessed with great fortune. We each searched for half a month, and you actually found it." He meant it from the bottom of his heart; compared to Xiao Changfeng, he had the help of Xiao Qiao’s ability and Guagua’s underground coordination, yet Xiao Changfeng’s spiritual sense was barely effective here. Relying only on his eyes, he had actually discovered it. The traces were still so faint and obscure.

However, as Xiao Changfeng said, these traces were exactly one of the iconic clues Li Ji’an had read about in many ancient texts for tracking a spiritual flame.