Chapter 141 - The Final Preparations and the Opening Gate
Chapter 141: Chapter 141 - The Final Preparations and the Opening Gate
After the messenger from City Lord Mansion left, the private hall remained silent for a while.
Li Xuanzong held the Jade Token in his hand and sent his spiritual sense into it once more.
Yue Cangyu’s imprint was real.
The message was real.
After a long moment, Li Xuanzong put the jade token away and looked at the Radiant Sky Sect disciples.
"Since the opening date can no longer be trusted, we stop refining from today onward."
The pill stockpile had already approached the target.
Continuing further might gain a few more pills, but if something happened during refinement, the loss would be greater than the gain.
Li Xuanzong waved his sleeve.
Several sealed jade boxes appeared on the table. Inside the boxes were the Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pills.
The atmosphere in the hall became serious.
Li Xuanzong said, "According to the predicted effect and the amount we have prepared, every disciple should have enough protection to last more than a month inside the Fallen-Star Sanctuary."
Liu Meng visibly relaxed.
Qin Baoshan’s expression became solemn.
Han Yuelin whistled softly.
Li Xuanzong began dividing the pills into jade bottles.
Each bottle was carefully marked according to grade.
When Li Xuanzong pushed a portion toward Su Bai, Su Bai looked at the jade bottles.
Then he said, "Sect Master, I do not need them."
The hall quieted.
Liu Meng looked at him.
Qin Baoshan blinked.
Han Yuelin’s brows rose.
Ji Ruyue’s gaze shifted slightly.
Li Xuanzong’s expression did not change, but his eyes became deeper.
Lu Canghai slowly lifted his teacup and took a sip, as if he had not heard anything strange.
Liu Meng asked softly, "Senior Brother Su... you do not need Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pills?"
Su Bai nodded.
"Probably."
Han Yuelin leaned back slightly.
"Probably is doing a lot of work there."
Qin Baoshan frowned with concern.
"Senior Brother Su, the Ashen-Blood Miasma is dangerous."
"I know."
"Then why not take them?"
Su Bai thought for a moment.
Because his body might treat the miasma as a local specialty.
That answer was not appropriate.
So he said, "The better pills are more useful for you."
Liu Meng’s eyes moved.
She did not fully understand. But she had seen enough.
During the trial, the red mist had brushed Su Bai’s sleeve and done nothing.
He had avoided Bai Zhi’s lotus barrier, not the mist.
He had handled poisons, cold, fire, and strange harmful things with an ease that made ordinary logic feel embarrassed.
A thought rose in Liu Meng’s mind.
Perhaps Ashen-Blood Miasma really could not affect him the same way.
Her eyes became bright with realization and curiosity.
Su Bai felt that gaze and became silent.
For some reason, he felt like a herb.
Li Xuanzong finally spoke.
"You will take them."
Su Bai looked at him.
"You may believe you do not need them. I may also have my own judgment. But entering the Fallen-Star Sanctuary without carrying Immaculate Lotus-Heart Pills is foolish."
Su Bai paused.
Li Xuanzong continued, "Even if you do not use them for yourself, you may use them to save someone else. Or exchange for help. Or prove to others that you are not abnormal enough to enter without protection."
That last sentence was very direct.
Su Bai understood.
If everyone carried pills and he carried none, it would draw attention.
In the cultivation world, drawing attention was sometimes worse than lacking pills.
Su Bai cupped his hands.
"Understood."
Then he looked at the jade bottles.
"But I will take only low-grade and mid-grade pills."
Li Xuanzong narrowed his eyes slightly.
He remembered what Lu Canghai had told him.
Su Bai would not be affected by Ashen-Blood Miasma.
If that was true, giving him the best pills would indeed be wasteful.
After a moment, Li Xuanzong nodded.
"Fine."
He divided the pills again.
Liu Meng, Qin Baoshan, Han Yuelin, and Ji Ruyue each received stronger protection.
Su Bai received mostly low-grade and mid-grade pills.
He accepted the bottles and stored them away.
The pill refinement was officially over.
From this moment onward, preparation changed from production to survival.
Li Xuanzong looked at the disciples.
"The remaining days will be used to adjust your condition, practice techniques, and prepare your minds."
His gaze became stern.
"No one is allowed to exhaust themselves before entry."
Everyone answered.
"Yes, Sect Master."
...
From that day onward, the rhythm of Quiet Jade Inn changed again.
The private courtyards became training grounds.
Liu Meng began studying the Verdant Flame Life-Sustaining Art.
Gentle fire flowed between her palms, not fierce and not scorching. Beneath that flame was soft wood Qi, warm and alive.
At first, the two forces refused to settle together.
Fire wanted to rise.
Wood wanted to grow.
If fire became too strong, it burned the wood Qi.
If wood became too dense, it smothered the flame.
Liu Meng adjusted again and again.
By the second day, a small verdant flame appeared above her palm.
It was gentle and full of vitality.
When Qin Baoshan accidentally strained his wrist during shield practice, Liu Meng tested the technique on him.
The verdant flame entered his wrist softly.
Qin Baoshan moved his hand.
"The soreness is lighter."
Liu Meng’s eyes brightened.
"It works?"
"It works."
Qin Baoshan nodded seriously.
"Thank you, Senior Sister Liu."
Liu Meng smiled.
Han Yuelin leaned over.
"Can it heal pride?"
Liu Meng blinked.
"What?"
Han Yuelin pointed toward a sword cultivator from another courtyard who had lost to him twice during friendly exchanges.
"He may need it."
Liu Meng pretended not to hear.
Qin Baoshan practiced Eight-Direction Mountain Lock.
Unlike Unshakable Mountain Stance, which rooted him like a mountain stake, this new technique taught him how to distribute pressure in eight directions.
At first, when he received impact, he still tried to bear everything directly.
That was his habit.
Su Bai watched for a while, then said, "Do not eat the whole attack."
Qin Baoshan paused.
"Eat?"
"Receive."
"Oh."
Su Bai pointed at the ground.
"Let the force leave through the side points."
Qin Baoshan tried again.
This time, when Han Yuelin struck his shield with sword intent, Qin Baoshan’s feet shifted slightly.
The force spread.
The stone beneath his left heel cracked.
But Qin Baoshan himself moved less than before.
His eyes brightened.
Han Yuelin laughed.
"Good! Again!"
Qin Baoshan nodded.
"Again."
The two immediately continued.
Su Bai silently stepped farther away.
People who enjoyed impact were difficult to understand.
Han Yuelin studied Drifting Step of the Returning Blade with visible delight.
The footwork was not about hiding.
It was about rhythm.
Advance. Clash. Withdraw half a step. Let the opponent’s momentum fall empty. Return from an angle before their breath settled.
Han Yuelin loved it.
He laughed while practicing.
His sword moved openly.
His steps changed constantly. Sometimes he retreated. Sometimes he returned faster than he had left. Sometimes his body seemed to give way, but his sword intent remained in front of the opponent like a question that refused to leave.
"This is fun," Han Yuelin said.
Then he attacked again.
Su Bai watched him and felt that Han Yuelin’s definition of fun was very dangerous.
Ji Ruyue practiced Silent Moon Frost Thread alone.
Thin lines of frost Qi extended between her fingers.
At first, they were visible.
Then faint.
Then nearly invisible under the morning light.
She used them to wrap a wooden training stake.
The surface of the stake seemed normal.
Then Ji Ruyue lightly closed her hand.
Crack.
The joints of the wooden stake froze from inside.
It broke apart without warning.
Liu Meng watched from nearby and quietly moved her medicine boxes farther away.
Ji Ruyue noticed.
"I will not freeze them."
Liu Meng smiled politely.
"I believe Senior Sister Ji."
Then she moved them one more step.
Ji Ruyue looked at her.
Liu Meng looked back gently.
Neither spoke.
Su Bai decided this was also a form of communication.
As for Su Bai himself, he did not lag behind.
He practiced his needles every day.
Needle Intent still had no formal shape. He did not even know if the name was correct. But his control was changing.
The needle no longer needed to move far to create pressure.
The progress was unstable. But it was progress.
Su Bai accepted that.
The strangest roads did not become roads in one night.
...
They also practiced the Three-Step Mist-Breaking Formation.
At first, Liu Meng, Qin Baoshan, and Han Yuelin formed the three anchor points.
Su Bai stood to the side and watched.
"Release Qi downward," he said. "Do not force it too deep. Just enough to anchor the rhythm."
The three released Qi.
The formation flickered.
Then collapsed.
Han Yuelin looked down.
"That died quickly."
Su Bai said, "Your rhythm was too excited."
Han Yuelin laughed.
"My rhythm is alive."
"It needs to be less alive."
Qin Baoshan nodded seriously.
"Senior Brother Han, please be less alive."
Han Yuelin stared at him.
Liu Meng turned away, shoulders trembling.
They tried again.
This time, Ji Ruyue joined as the fourth point.
Four anchors formed a loose diamond.
Qi pulsed between them.
One breath.
Two breaths.
Three breaths.
A faint line appeared in the courtyard air.
It stretched forward, trembled, then bent toward the left wall.
Earlier, Su Bai had asked Lu Canghai for a minor confusion talisman and placed it there.
The pulse touched the talisman’s influence and scattered.
Su Bai nodded.
"If the pulse scatters, the path is dangerous."
He placed another talisman to the right.
They activated the formation again.
This time, the guiding line curved back toward them.
"If the pulse circles back, it may be a dead loop."
Finally, Su Bai removed the talismans.
The formation pulsed again.
The line moved forward cleanly.
"If the pulse returns cleanly, that direction can still be followed."
Liu Meng’s eyes brightened.
"This is very useful."
Qin Baoshan nodded.
"If we are separated and three people gather, we can find a stable direction."
Ji Ruyue said, "It does not break mist."
"No," Su Bai said. "It only tells you which direction still behaves like a direction."
Su Bai originally intended the formation to help them use Slumbering-Lotus Fog Talismans without confusing themselves during escape.
If they released fog to obscure enemies, they still needed a way to move cleanly through their own cover.
But its use inside the Fallen-Star Sanctuary had become even greater.
In a place where maps could lie, wind could be false, and mist could twist one’s senses, knowing which direction was still real could save lives.
Even Lu Canghai was surprised when he saw them practice it.
He stood beneath the eaves, watching the faint guiding line form between the disciples.
After a while, his expression became thoughtful.
"This formation..."
Su Bai looked at him.
Lu Canghai walked closer.
"Very useful."
Su Bai nodded.
"That was the goal."
Lu Canghai laughed.
"Good. In dangerous places, useful is better than impressive."
Han Yuelin immediately said, "But impressive is also useful."
Lu Canghai pointed at him.
"That is why sword cultivators die loudly."
Han Yuelin laughed.
"I will try to live loudly instead."
Qin Baoshan said seriously, "Living is better."
"Brother Qin, you understand the heart of the Dao."
Su Bai silently disagreed.
But only a little.
...
Days passed in this way.
The atmosphere in Quiet Jade Inn became strangely focused.
They trained.
They cultivated.
They checked storage rings.
They memorized pill usage.
They practiced the Three-Step Mist-Breaking Formation until they could activate it with three people, four people, and even while moving slowly.
Li Xuanzong inspected them daily.
Lu Canghai occasionally appeared to give strange but useful advice.
"If you see a treasure sitting alone in a suspiciously clean place, assume the treasure has already eaten someone."
"If a cave smells too safe, leave."
"If the mist parts by itself, do not thank it."
"If Su Bai says something looks interesting, all of you should become more cautious."
Su Bai looked at his master.
"Master."
Lu Canghai looked back.
"What?"
"That last one is unnecessary."
Everyone else silently memorized it.
As each day passed, the pressure over Azure-Jade City increased.
At first, only sensitive cultivators noticed.
Then Foundation Establishment cultivators began feeling it.
By the third day, some lower-realm cultivators felt suffocated walking through the streets.
Many chose to remain in their dwellings, meditating behind closed doors.
The city became quieter.
The vendors still opened their stalls, but their voices were lower.
Spirit lamps flickered more often.
Formation masters moved through the streets, checking protective arrays.
The factions holding entry slots no longer visited each other casually.
Everyone was preparing.
Everyone was waiting.
The Fallen-Star Sanctuary had not yet opened.
But its shadow had already arrived.
Then, on the morning five days before the originally predicted opening, the city shook.
A massive sound exploded from the direction of the mist. Like the earth itself had groaned in its sleep.
The ground stirred.
In Quiet Jade Inn, every Radiant Sky disciple opened their eyes.
Outside, bells began ringing across Azure-Jade City.
The sound rolled through the city like a command.
Li Xuanzong appeared in the courtyard almost instantly.
Lu Canghai stepped out from cloud mist a breath later.
His expression was no longer careless.
"The gate," Li Xuanzong said.
Lu Canghai looked toward the distant red haze beyond the city.
"Yes."
Liu Meng arrived holding her jade bottles.
Qin Baoshan came with his shield already on his arm.
Han Yuelin appeared with his sword and a bright look in his eyes.
Ji Ruyue walked out quietly, frost gathering beneath her steps.
Su Bai checked his inventory one last time.
Everything was in place.
Another groan rolled through the earth.
This time, even the air seemed to bend toward the same direction.
From every inn, courtyard, and temporary residence, the factions holding entry slots began to move.
The Fallen-Star Sanctuary was opening early.
Five days before the predicted date.
Li Xuanzong looked at his disciples.
"Prepare to depart."
No one answered with unnecessary words.
They had already prepared for days.
Now, there was nothing left but to go.
Su Bai looked toward the distant mist.
For one breath, he felt as if something inside the Fallen-Star Sanctuary had also looked back.
Then the feeling vanished.