Turns out, when they say "serving a sentence," they really mean it's not supposed to be easy.
Right now, Li Xun was confined in a place called the "Triple Severance Pass" on Zuowang Peak. It was about seventy thousand li from the base of the peak. Even flying at full speed on his sword, it took him nearly ten hours to get here.
The area sat against a sheer cliff hundreds of feet high. Within a mile or two around, not a single blade of grass grew. Compared to the rest of Zuwang Peak, which was full of life, this place felt dead and cut off.
The punishment that Zhong Yin had suggested was simple: Li Xun was to mine here, alone.
But this wasn't your average iron or copper ore. The mine held something unique to the Tongxuan Realm. Ninefold Stone.
On the outside, Ninefold Stone looked like ordinary rock. But its properties were strange. A chunk the size of a fist could weigh a thousand pounds. Even a cultivator with deep training would need serious effort to break through one.
And the surrounding bedrock was even tougher. Dense as refined metal. Mining this thing wasn't just hard; it was exhausting.
If that was the physical punishment, the real torment was what it did to the mind.
It had been over a month since the sentence began. Other than Zhong Yin showing up on the first day to assign the task, it was like the entire sect had forgotten about him. He'd been left here, completely alone, with nothing but heaven and earth as his prison, locked in what felt like some kind of self-imposed exile.
Li Xun had wondered whether this was some kind of test, a trial, maybe even a way for the sect to observe him. But still, in over two years, when had he ever been treated like this?
More than once, he thought about just walking away. But every time the thought crossed his mind, it felt like a pair of calm, gentle eyes from the distant summit of Zuwang was watching him. Maybe it was just his imagination, but the quiet pressure he felt was very real.
And lately, strange things had started happening…
Zhong Yin… What exactly was this unfathomable "demigod" thinking?
The more Li Xun thought about it, the more he felt like a foolish bird flying straight into a snare, stumbling into a carefully laid trap, all while the hunter watched with a smile in his eyes.
As he cursed under his breath, another sharp crack rang out. His iron sword let out a groan on the verge of shattering, and a large chunk of rock broke away, revealing the dense core of Ninefold Stone within.
Li Xun shook his head and tossed the battered sword aside. Channeling true breath to his fingertips, he got ready to yank the stone out with his bare hands.
But just as his fingers were about to touch the Ninefold Stone, he suddenly felt a shift in the air. He turned his head.... and caught a glimpse of a pair of eyes, clear as water, looking right at him.
Ming Ji.
The same female cultivator who had stirred his desire to return was now standing there with a gentle smile. There was a graceful softness in her expression, unmistakably feminine, but when paired with the sharp angles of her features, the result was something fierce and arrestingly beautiful.
Caught off guard by her sudden appearance, Li Xun couldn't help feeling a jolt of joy. But it didn't last. Almost instantly, he remembered the state he was in. Probably not the time to let that emotion show too openly. The smile that had just begun to rise on his face froze halfway.
The change was subtle, but Ming Ji noticed. She acted as if she hadn't, though, and gave him another calm glance before speaking in an even tone.
"How have you been?"
Li Xun blinked, realizing this was the first time he'd seen anyone from the sect since his punishment began. Ming Ji wouldn't have come on her own; there had to be a reason.
While the thought ran through his mind, he answered cautiously, "I've been doing alright."
He knew the words weren't entirely true. A little uneasy, he glanced quickly at Ming Ji's face, then added, "I've mined seventy-five pieces of Ninefold Stone. They're all over there."
Ming Ji followed his gesture with a glance to the side and gave a light nod. Then she turned back to him, her smile deepening just a little.
"You've changed a lot."
Li Xun hadn't expected Ming Ji to speak to him in such a casual, almost conversational tone. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond. All he could do was look a little lost and wait to see what she'd say next.
Ming Ji met his eyes. "Your appearance has changed, sure, but that's not the main thing," she said calmly. "Don't you think you're a lot more reserved now, talking to me like this?"
Li Xun was taken aback. He actually gave it some serious thought.
What had it been like, back when he used to talk to Ming Ji?
It wasn't hard for him to remember. They had only met a few times, but her presence had left such a deep impression that even now, he could clearly recall every word they'd exchanged by that little spring.
So when he saw her again a few months ago, radiant as ever, something stirred inside him. Something he couldn't contain. That sudden urge had gripped him hard. He wanted to go back to Lianxia Mountain and relive what he'd felt back then.
But with just one question, Ming Ji had thrown him into a problem he didn't know how to solve.
And what was I like, back then?
To look at her now and then recall the version of himself from those days; it was a strange and unsettling experience. Li Xun felt a little dazed.
Before this, his thoughts had been simple. Back then, even with the blood fiend possessing him and all the pressures from within and without, he'd still managed to find a quiet joy in those fleeting moments. A joy he hadn't forgotten to this day.
So now that he had powerful backing and the qualifications to face anyone in the world head-on, he thought returning to the mountain sect would bring him joy a hundred times greater than before. It would wash away the fatigue and bitterness he'd built up over two years of constant scheming and survival in the Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect.
But now, a sudden thought struck him.
Two years had passed. The world had changed, and so had the people in it. Even if he longed for what he'd felt back then.... was it really something he could still have?
A bitter smile crept onto his face. For a moment, he felt deflated, even a little hollow. He didn't have the heart to respond to Ming Ji's words.
But in Ming Ji's eyes, that reaction meant something else entirely.
She gave a slight shake of her head. "I can see you've been through a lot these past two years. Now, serving a punishment here, it's no surprise you're feeling defeated. But to me, that's not the most important thing. What really matters is..."
She suddenly stopped speaking. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed a sword toward him.
Li Xun caught it and looked down. It was Azure Jade word that had been taken from him by Zhong Yin before his punishment began. It was also the same sword Ming Ji used to carry.
He stared at it, puzzled. But before he could figure out what was going on, a flash of cold light caught his eye.
There was no overwhelming surge of sword qi. Just a lightning-quick moment. And a chilling stillness that followed.
He had no time to think. Only instinct kicked in.
The Azure Jade sword was already in his hand. He raised it vertically in front of his face, guarding his centerline.
Clang!
He managed to block Ming Ji's strike. But inside, Li Xun was already screaming, This is bad.
Neither of them had suppressed their aura the way true opponents would. Their true breaths were flowing openly, honestly, revealing everything to each other.
They cultivate the same Cultivation Art. Li Xun knew her methods better than anyone. And yet...
Even knowing her every move, it felt like he was holding back a hundred slabs of Ninefold Stone. He couldn't move an inch.
He could feel a thread-thin wisp of qi coming from Ming Ji's sword. In an instant, it hooked onto more than a dozen shifting qi mechanisms within him. Then it twisted.
The sword in his hand felt like it had been sucked into a whirlpool. He couldn't hold on; it slipped from his grip and flew out of his hand.
The movement threw him slightly off balance, and before he could recover, Ming Ji's blade was already at his throat.
"Silken Soul Twist!"
The words slipped out of Li Xun's mouth. He recognized the technique. It was a variation of a basic sword form from their sect. But in Ming Ji's hands, it held a terrifying power he never would have expected.
She looked at him without pulling the sword away, her expression calm, her smile unchanged.
"Do you know where you went wrong?"
Li Xun glanced down at the blade resting cold against his throat and gave a wry smile.
If this had been a true fight. If he'd gone all out, even without relying on his Nethermyst Puppets, he believed he could've held his own against her for a while. But right now, all he had was the still-unmastered Shadowed Bamboo, Rising Mist paired with Lingxi Art. Losing in one move wasn't all that surprising.
Feeling the sharp chill of the sword against his neck, Li Xun was surprised to realize something; he wasn't worried that Ming Ji would actually hurt him.
In theory, if his true identity were exposed, Ming Ji could've taken advantage of this moment and captured him without lifting a finger. But up until the instant the blade touched his skin… that thought hadn't even crossed his mind.
At that moment, Li Xun saw the look in Ming Ji's eyes and understood immediately; she was testing his current cultivation level. He gave it some thought, then shook his head honestly.
"You don't know? You really don't know what matters most to someone on the path of cultivation?" Ming Ji smiled at first, then gave him a sharp look.
"I don't know what you've been doing these past two years, but your qi feels scattered and restless. That I can understand. But what's going on with your muscles and bones? They've shifted out of alignment.
"The human body is the foundation of the Dao. If your muscles and bones aren't strong and balanced, your meridians won't flow smoothly. Once your body falls out of alignment, your qi flow starts to block. It may not seem like a major issue now, but once your cultivation gets deeper, who knows what kind of problems you'll run into?"
She might have been scolding him, but it was clear Ming Ji wasn't truly angry. Still, Li Xun felt uneasy hearing it.
What she was calling "misaligned muscles and bones" likely came from him adjusting his body to adapt to the NetherYin Qi technique over the past two years. A technique with a very different foundation. Now that he was switching back to using Lingxi Art, his body naturally felt out of sync.
In truth, Ming Ji's words were a warning. Li Xun had worked hard to stitch together a tight cover story about his training these past two years, but small, easily overlooked details like this could still give him away.
She hadn't thought much of it yet, but if her thinking shifted just a little in the wrong direction… those loose threads could end up costing him his life.
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