Chapter 050

Chapter 50: He Has Sentience

Woodfire Spirit was not rare, but it was useful to an alchemist. For people with a cold illness, it was also an excellent medicine. The higher the grade, the better the effect.

Ye Wan Wan did not expect much from the treasures of the Illusory Dream Star Marsh. But when Star Marsh mentioned that this Cloud Mountain Cave held a Fifth Grade Woodfire Spirit, she had to come. The image of the man who always cultivated on the stone dais at Snow Mountain flashed through her mind, and she thought: [I should bring that cheap master a gift.]

Star Marsh’s excited voice rang out: “Found it!”

At the sound, Ye Wan Wan almost stepped into the restriction, but reason stopped her. She asked, “Where?”

Star Marsh reported: “I found a second grade Woodfire Spirit.”

Ye Wan Wan frowned and said, “Second grade? Wasn’t it Fifth Grade?”

Star Marsh added: “It’s second grade, and there are Cloud Beads and Spirit Shells, plus some artifact refining materials.”

A black stone stretched out two tiny arms. Pushing a brocade box larger than its body to the edge of the restriction, Star Marsh asked across the barrier: “Do you want it?”

Ye Wan Wan answered without hesitation: “Yes.”

Star Marsh asked: “Which ones?”

Ye Wan Wan said, “All of them.”

She stayed calm as she added: “You are the Parasitic Spirit of the Violet Cloud Ring now. You should be able to open the entrance and store everything.”

Star Marsh traded a look with her, then said: “Right! How did I forget that!”

It swelled its little body as a whirlpool formed in the stone’s center. In moments, all the treasures were drawn into the Violet Cloud Ring. Star Marsh then ran out fast, but the moment it touched the restriction, it was flung back inside.

Star Marsh yelped: “Oh no! Something in the vault tripped the restriction. I can’t get out!”

Ye Wan Wan thrust one hand into the glyphs of the barrier and grabbed the stone to pull it free. At the same instant, the restriction boomed open and a force of ruin chased straight for Ye Wan Wan, trying to erase her. She did not pause. She slipped into the Violet Cloud Ring. The ring turned to dust and fell to the ground, then the storm blasted that dust far away.

Inside the Violet Cloud Ring, the person and the stone were also buffeted by the shock. Star Marsh looked at Ye Wan Wan. Her left hand was covered in blood. Lines of runes were drawn across it. She had stepped into the array at the critical moment, seized him, and dragged him out.

Star Marsh asked in a small voice: “Are you okay?”

Ye Wan Wan dabbed the wound with a kerchief and said, “I’m fine.”

She spoke lightly. Star Marsh wondered why someone so young acted so careful and old minded, and never smiled. And when Ye Wan Wan did smile, it always looked like she was plotting against someone. He sighed.

There was a huge commotion outside, so Ye Wan Wan did not rush out. While waiting in the Violet Cloud Ring, she skimmed through what Star Marsh had pulled in. There was a lot, but her attention stayed on the Woodfire Spirit. It really was second grade.

Star Marsh said: “There should be a Fifth Grade one too.”

Ye Wan Wan replied in a low voice: “We’ll try the second path in a moment.”

After the storm outside eased a little, Ye Wan Wan left the Violet Cloud Ring, and Star Marsh followed, the stone perching on her shoulder. Star Marsh commented: “It was blasted flat.”

The stone chamber ahead had been destroyed. Her clever shortcut had angered the local master. The restrictions had fully activated and wrecked the room.

Ye Wan Wan did a quick calculation and said, “Next time I should switch methods.”

Star Marsh nodded and said, “True.”

They returned the way they came and stood between the second and third forks. Without hesitation, Ye Wan Wan chose the second path, but this route was far more complex than the first. It was a looped passage.

After walking for a while, Ye Wan Wan stopped.

Star Marsh said: “We circled back.”

Ye Wan Wan lowered her eyes, thoughtful, and said, “We came in from the fork and walked straight without any other turn. How did we circle back?”

Star Marsh swung his little feet and said: “You’re right.”

Ye Wan Wan did not answer. She walked on again, slower this time. She set each foot with care, feeling the tiny changes of spiritual energy under her soles, and she noted them one by one.

Star Marsh tilted his head at her. Her eyes were focused. Light moved beneath the thin veil that covered them. Sometimes she looked deep in thought. Sometimes a bright idea lit her face. In those eyes, Star Marsh saw many feelings, and then he heard her say: “I understand.”

Ye Wan Wan lifted her head and said with a small laugh: “Seven Star Maze Array. So that is what this is.”

Star Marsh asked: “What is that?”

Ye Wan Wan answered: “A kind of array arts.”

She set her steps in a special pattern. This time nothing blocked her. She reached the stone room, and there was no restriction at the door. The maze array itself had been the trial.

Ye Wan Wan entered the chamber. It was empty except for a single brocade box. She glanced around, then reached for it. A strong wave of spiritual force bounced off her hand, but it did not threaten her, so she stepped back half a pace.

A voice praised from the air: “Good, good, good. Someone has passed the second trial and reached me. You are a talent I can shape.”

A shadow appeared. Ye Wan Wan already had her last Golden Talisman ready in her palm.

She asked, “A spirit body?”

Star Marsh spoke quickly: “No, it is a remnant memory.”

Ye Wan Wan frowned and watched for a moment. It seemed harmless. She let her guard down a little and studied the gray robed elder’s shadow. The elder also watched her, as if he had truly seen her after thousands of years.

The elder asked: “Child, you must be here for the Woodfire Spirit. Tell me, do you want to become a great alchemist?”

Ye Wan Wan said, “No.”

The elder carried on, beaming: “Good. Wanting is right. I, Illusory Dream Elder, lived a proud life and had no equal in alchemy. Yet in old age I found I had no heir to my art. Such a pity. Now at last someone has passed my first two trials to stand before me. You are the heir fate has chosen.”

Ye Wan Wan stared at him and asked, “Is this a fixed script? Do I not get to choose?”

The gray robed elder looked “kind and friendly,” as if to say that she had no right to refuse.

Ye Wan Wan said evenly, “I want to.”

The elder shouted with excitement: “Good. Wanting is right. I, Illusory Dream Elder, lived a proud life…”

Ye Wan Wan cut him off: “Be quiet and get to the point.”

But a set ritual was still a set ritual, and it would not go on unless she followed it. This was a memory left by the master of the secret realm, and its wit was low. As Ye Wan Wan tapped through each choice, something new appeared in the brocade box.

It was a Spirit Bead.

The elder said: “This holds my lifetime of alchemy insights. Now I give it to you.”

Ye Wan Wan paused. She looked closely at the elder’s shadow. In the hope inside his eyes, she saw something else. He had sentience.