As the day of departure neared, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior stopped cutting off the story in the middle of the good parts. He also sped up the plot a bit. On the day before Heavenfire Skycrossing ended, he reached the end of the tale.

Ling’er’s mood became a bit more reserved as she realized they would be leaving soon. Deep in her heart, she wished she could stay. In the two months that had passed, she had made friends. She had also given out a lot of medicinal pills as gifts. 𝑖.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Xu Qing wasn’t looking forward to parting ways with the little girl who loved alchemy. She had come to visit many, many times. Three days before it was time to leave, he decided to personally tell her that he was leaving.

“Panyan, take a seat in front of me,” he said softly. The girl’s name was Shi Panyan. 1

“Yes, Teacher!” Shi Panyan had full confidence in Xu Qing, and thus immediately sat down in front of him.

Xu Qing reached up and put his hand on her forehead. “Don’t resist.”

Hearing that, Shi Panyan closed her eyes.

A moment later, Xu Qing shook his head and sighed inwardly. He had done a quick test in the hopes that he could somehow undo the red moon curse in her. At the very least, he had hoped to find out the basic principles that made the curse work. Unfortunately, given his current level of power, there was no way he could do anything about the curse in her blood. And he would need to do a lot more research, study, and experimentation. Unfortunately, such tests would require large amounts of blood, and meticulous vivisection. Xu Qing couldn’t bring himself to do tests like that on humans.

“Panyan,” Xu Qing whispered.

She quickly opened her eyes.

“I’m leaving in a few days.”

Shi Panyan’s eyes turned red and she bowed her head. She didn’t say anything. She had come to realize a few days ago that this was coming, and had tried to prepare herself mentally. But when she heard the words coming from Xu Qing’s mouth, her heart hurt.

Xu Qing thought back to her earnest hard work over the past month, and how she thirsted for knowledge. It was something Xu Qing was very familiar with. After a lot of thought, he’d made a decision.

Taking a medicinal codex out of his bag of holding, he rubbed the cover and thought about Grandmaster Bai. Then he handed the book to Shi Panyan.

“My Teacher gave this to me, and now I’m giving it to you.”

Shi Panyan’s little hands trembled as she reached out and took the book. She looked at it, then clasped it against her chest and gazed up at Xu Qing. Her eyes seemed sad and reluctant. She obviously wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to form the words. In the end, though, she knew that she and her Teacher were from different worlds. Therefore, all the words she wanted to say transformed into one thing.

Shi Panyan kowtowed nine times to Xu Qing.

He accepted her kowtows, and then said, “If you carefully study this medicinal codex, you won’t need any more help from me. Now go.”

Shi Panyan got to her feet. She walked to the door and stood there, her skinny little frame looking unusually lonely and desolate. She looked over her shoulder. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she said, “Teacher, will I ever see you again?”

He looked up at her. She was only eleven or twelve, and he knew what kind of thoughts were in her heart and mind. Something very similar had happened to him once. 2

He smiled warmly and nodded. “The world is a tavern for living beings. And the timescape is an old guest. As long as we don’t die, we’ll meet again. I hope that when we do, you’ll have made something of yourself.”

Shi Panyan committed the words to memory. Taking a deep breath, she bowed to Xu Qing, then left. As she walked through the night feeling very down, she clutched the medicinal codex against her chest, as if it was the embodiment of hope to her.

“As long as we don’t die,” she murmured, “we’ll meet again!”

Xu Qing watched her go, thinking about Grandmaster Bai, as well as himself back at that time.

Teacher, I accepted an apprentice. Her name is Shi Panyan. She’s very studious.

Xu Qing closed his eyes.

There was no farewell banquet. After the Heavenfire Skycrossing ended, the time came to leave the city. To Xu Qing, the people in that city were like fireflies in a world of darkness and gloom.

Before leaving, Ling’er embraced all of her friends, young and old. She cried a lot.

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior said farewell to the people who had come to listen to his stories. He was clearly loath to part with them.

Duanmu Zang stood next to Xu Qing, looking on and sighing inwardly.

Xu Qing also studied the crowd. He saw Shi Pangui off in the distance with his wife and sister. He clasped hands and bowed in farewell. Shi Panyan kept her head bowed as she stood there trembling slightly. She didn’t want her Teacher to see her crying.

After taking it all in, Xu Qing quietly said, “Senior, do you mind seeing me out?”

He turned and started walking away. He left the city. He left the tomb.

Ling’er went back to her snake form and nestled in Xu Qing’s sleeve. Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior went back into the Spike of Misfortune, feeling very melancholy.

Once outside the abandoned mine, Xu Qing gave Duanmu Zang some more jugs of alcohol. He also gave him some spirit stones, medicinal pills, and magical devices. In fact, he gave most of his collection.

The two of them looked at each other and nodded. Both wished each other well.

After that, one of them walked back into the mine, and the other flew up into the sky.

There were no flames above. It was dark again. However, there was a bit of the glow of fire coming from the direction of the Heavenfire Sea. The lands were all scorched and blackened. The mountain peaks looked crumpled, and there wasn’t any sign of plants or vegetation. The world looked withered and dry. There was still some lingering heat.

As Xu Qing flew along, he tried to stop thinking about departures. He was used to such things. It had always been like this, from the time he was young. That said, even things that you think you’re used to can still be difficult. The only difference as you get older is that it’s easier to hide it inside.

A few days later, Xu Qing caught sight of the Heavenfire Sea. It looked the same as before. The lava still bubbled, and rumbling sounds still echoed out. As he flew out over the sea, he didn’t see anyone else.

Because the Heavenfire Skycrossing had just ended, local cultivators would be most concerned with the rebuilding efforts. Few of them would do as Xu Qing was doing and immediately go to the Heavenfire Sea. He felt like he was the only person in the world.

That said, he was no less cautious than before. He wanted to find a distant and remote location to start melting the next life lamp.

Seven more days passed.

He was now in the very depths of the Heavenfire Sea. That evening, he noticed a red glow.

The source was an incomparably massive heart. As the heart beat, it sent out shocking thumping sounds into heaven and earth. Atop the massive heart was a red church temple. The construction was crude, and everything was as red as blood. It also pulsed with the god power of Crimson Mother. The most eye-catching thing about it was the statue that rose up above it. It was a kneeling statue, with its hands covering its eyes. Blood oozed out of the statue’s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

Rotating around the heart were several dozen asteroids of varying sizes. They were pitch black, but they oozed with blood, making them look magenta. Atop each asteroid sat a cross-legged cultivator. They were all from different species, and none of them were moving. All had their eyes covered with their hands, and blood dripped from them down onto the asteroids. Not one of them spoke. The only sound to be heard was the beating of the heart. These people were obviously from the Red Moon Cathedral.

The moment Xu Qing spotted it, he dropped down into the lava. Once there, he continued to observe through narrowed eyes.

The huge heart was floating through the canopy of heaven, the asteroids orbiting around it. It seemed to be completely oblivious to everything around it as it flew toward some unknown destination.

In the Moonrite Region, they were gods. Any species who encountered them would either bow in obeisance or flee. No one would dare block their path. Eventually, after they were far in the distance, Xu Qing emerged from the lava. After ensuring they were really gone, he continued on his way.

Three days later, he found a suitable location. There, he took out the eyeball Duanmu Zang had given him. The eyeball was still staring at him. Thinking back to what Duanmu Zang had said about subjugating the eyeball, he summoned his shadow. The shadow manifested around him in a canopy of darkness. Its eyes glittered like countless stars, and all of them focused on the eyeball. The eyeball shivered.

Expression cold, Xu Qing tossed the eyeball into the black canopy. .

“Have a chat with it.”

The eyes in the dark canopy blinked, and malicious fluctuations of divine will spread out. The canopy wrapped around the eyeball.

Sometime later, the canopy spat the eyeball back out. The eyeball looked listless and terrified. It was trembling.

Xu Qing examined it, then called out Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior and told him to use the eyeball to polish the Spike of Misfortune. The patriarch complied with a vicious grin, and the eyeball trembled even more.

Finally, Xu Qing gripped the eyeball in his hand and dropped into the lava. The brown eyeball obediently sent out a defensive shield.

Although it looked timid and weak when dealing with Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior and the shadow, once in the lava, it really did a fantastic job of helping Xu Qing deal with the heat. This eyeball was a perfect example of the principles of mutual augmentation and suppression that exist in all living things. With the help of the eyeball’s power, Xu Qing sank down further.

The shadow seemed concerned the eyeball might try something, so it stayed out in the open.

In that manner, Xu Qing sank down about 300 meters before settling cross-legged. Then he sucked in some of the flames from outside. It was only a bit, yet it instantly filled him with a sense of deadly crisis. The violet crystal immediately gobbled it up.

A light that was far more intense than before filled Xu Qing’s sea of consciousness, shining right onto the immortal-shredding god-devouring lamp.

The lamp started melting. The process went much more quickly than before. Xu Qing watched excitedly. Meanwhile, the shadow was going all out to supervise the eyeball, and was continuously emanating a sensation of profound hunger.

The terrified eyeball did everything possible to reduce the heat from the lava.

Seven days later, Xu Qing had completely melted the immortal-shredding god-devouring lamp. His sea of consciousness vibrated as a 3,000-meter vortex appeared beneath the surface of the lava. Then, a fourth sundial life lamp appeared!

The gnomon shadow moved to a different time as its effects spread to the outside world. Being 300 meters below the surface of the lava, the effects, though dramatic, weren’t as noticeable. Coupled with his remote location, they didn’t attract any attention.

Seven more days passed, and Xu Qing opened his eyes. Another 3,000-meter vortex appeared as a fifth sundial appeared in his sea of consciousness. Terrifying fluctuations rose up from him the moment that fifth sundial formed. The gnomon shadows spun, all of them fourteen hours apart from each other at different times!

Xu Qing studied them thoughtfully. Several hours later, the first sundial’s gnomon shadow stopped at noon. The ball of light also stopped moving. A sensation of enlightenment filled Xu Qing’s mind.

Next, the other four sundials will stop at noon. When they’re all at the same time, some special ability will manifest….

Xu Qing had no idea what it would be. But based on what he could sense, it was going to be the first time the true power of the sundials were revealed.

1. Shi Panyan: As you can tell, her name is very similar to her brother’s name, which is Shi Pangui. Shi is listed #61 on the list of 100 common surnames. It means “stone.” Pan means “hope for, long for, expect.” Yan means “goose.” Madam Deathblade says that, culturally speaking, the reference to the goose makes her think of family and family reunions. The goose migrates to a distant location, then eventually returns. Similar to the father’s name, this is a somewhat sad and melancholic name, although maybe it’s slightly more hopeful than his. ?

2. Chapter reference: 29. ?

𝑖𝘦𝑎.𝗇t