Zhang Yuyang, Crippled! Zhang Li, Taken!
[Author's note for later: Zhang Li was not harmed in any way.]
"This... I'm honestly not sure..."
The Glazed Fire Spirit stammered through an answer that ultimately explained nothing.
Zhan Wuji's eyes narrowed, suspicion written plainly across his face.
No one pushed the matter further.
"I've told you everything I know. Can you let me go now?" the Fire Spirit pleaded.
"No," Zhang Lingxiao said, shaking his head.
"What more could you possibly want? Don't tell me you're planning to refine me too."
"Yes," Zhang Lingxiao said, nodding.
"No, you can't! I'll die! I don't want to die, I still want to advance into a Heavenly Fire someday!" the Fire Spirit wailed.
"You'll die, and I'll get stronger. Sounds like a fair trade to me." Zhang Lingxiao grinned, wicked.
"Wait, there's another way! Preserve my spiritual intelligence and let me re-merge with it properly. I'll serve you willingly. Would that work?"
The Glazed Karmic Fire in Zhang Lingxiao's other hand crept closer, and the Fire Spirit's voice climbed into a shriek.
A thousand years dormant already counted as dying twice over. It had no interest in a third, final death.
Every living thing clung to life the same way: the longer it survived, the more it feared losing what it had.
"Oh? And how exactly does that work? This isn't some scheme to possess me and turn the tables later, is it?" Zhang Lingxiao asked, skeptical.
"No! I've had a thousand years to think about it. Earth fires like us are meant to serve; that's simply what we are. The fact that the Glazed Karmic Fire lets you refine it at all means it already chose you. Your future's an extraordinary one, and I want to be part of it," the Fire Spirit said, sincerely.
Zhang Lingxiao weighed it for a moment, checking in with Gu Yue Ningbing through his divine sense. Her approval settled it; he had no objection either.
Because the Fire Spirit still carried its own consciousness and counted as a living being, the refining and fusion went smoothly.
With Elder Su, Han Tianlai, and Zhan Wuji standing guard, Zhang Lingxiao merged the Glazed Karmic Fire and its Fire Spirit back into one without much trouble.
The moment the fusion completed, Zhang Lingxiao broke through to Spiritual Martial Realm Seventh Heaven, officially crossing into Spiritual Martial Realm Late Stage.
He could feel it immediately: the Glazed Karmic Fire had grown fuller, stronger, more complete than before.
Controlling it felt different too, easier. He no longer needed to consciously push spiritual power into it; a single thought was enough to call it forward.
Once the refining was finished, the group parted ways.
Before leaving, Zhang Lingxiao asked Elder Su what he thought of Feng Jian's proposal of apprenticing under two peak masters at once. Elder Su shrugged it off as no real concern, only warning Zhang Lingxiao not to let his sword cultivation crowd out a gift for alchemy this rare.
Zhang Lingxiao arranged to meet Zhan Wuji at the foot of the mountain the next day. Zhan Wuji was already part of his plans for building a power of his own: strong talent, real combat ability, and loyalty that didn't waver. Zhang Lingxiao wanted him anchoring the force's upper ranks from the start.
Zhan Wuji agreed without hesitation, clearly thrilled at the idea, swearing he'd help build it into the strongest force on all of Qingyun Mountain.
The next morning, Zhang Lingxiao woke early, washed up, and rode his Xuan leaf down the mountain.
He met Zhan Wuji at the base as planned, and together they set off to find where the Inner Sect Disciples lived.
Unlike the scattered, private homes of the Core and Personal Disciples, the Inner Sect Disciples' stone houses clustered together in tight groups, almost tribal in their arrangement.
Every house looked identical, and Zhang Lingxiao had no idea which one belonged to Zhang Yuyang.
He flagged down a passing Inner Sect Disciple. The disciple's irritation at being stopped vanished the second he clocked the Personal Disciple robes both men wore, and he greeted them with a respectful "Senior Brother."
"Junior Brother, do you know an Inner Sect Disciple named Zhang Yuyang?" Zhang Lingxiao asked, unbothered by the sudden shift in tone.
The Nine Provinces Continent ran on one rule above all: strength earned respect, and weakness earned none. This kind of difference was simply how things worked here.
"Zhang Yuyang? You mean the one who caused all that commotion a couple of days back, the one whose cultivation got crippled?" the disciple asked.
Both Zhang Lingxiao and Zhan Wuji's expressions darkened at once.
Zhang Yuyang. Crippled?
The man had awakened a Battle Thunder Spirit Body and stood at Spiritual Martial Realm Second Heaven, with every reason to expect a bright future ahead of him. Whoever had done this had been merciless.
Zhang Lingxiao had spent the last few days refining the Glazed Karmic Fire, and Zhan Wuji had been away on a mission; neither of them had heard a word about it.
Had they known, they'd never have let it happen.
"You know where he is? Take us there, now," Zhan Wuji demanded, impatience cracking through his voice.
Zhang Lingxiao said nothing, but the look on his face had turned genuinely frightening.
"Right away!" The disciple nodded quickly, heart hammering at the reaction he'd triggered.
Before long, the two of them were led to a plain, unremarkable stone house.
Zhang Lingxiao glanced at the disciple, then pulled roughly a hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones from his Qiankun Pouch and handed them over as thanks.
The disciple accepted them gratefully and hurried off.
Zhang Lingxiao stood outside the stone house, expression grim. From inside came only silence, broken by the faint, low groan of a man in pain.
He tried the door, locked tight, and kicked it open without hesitation.
Inside, they found Zhang Yuyang lying out on the bed, his face bloodless, his expression hollow, more corpse than man.
Iron chains held him in place, tight enough that he couldn't even turn his head. The sound of the door crashing open made him flinch, his whole body shaking with fear.
"Please... let Zhang Li go. She's done nothing wrong. Whatever grudge you have, whatever debt you think needs settling, take it out on me instead."
His voice cracked around the words, pale lips trembling, choked with tears.
Something in both of them broke a little, hearing it.
Zhang Yuyang, proud, full of promise, reduced to this.
And Zhang Li, Zhang Yuyang's woman, Zhang Lingxiao's own clan sister, had been taken by whoever had done this to him.
Zhang Lingxiao's hands curled into fists without his meaning to them, fury rising fast in his chest.
"Big Brother Yuyang! Who did this to you? Who took Sister Zhang Li?"
His voice came out cold as ice. He crossed the room in a few strides, tore the iron chains apart with his bare hands, and fixed Zhang Yuyang with a wide, burning glare.
Zhan Wuji felt the same fury ignite in him. He hadn't known Zhang Yuyang well, but they'd traveled to Qingyun Mountain together, and loyalty ran deep in him. Seeing him like this was enough to set something dangerous loose.