Chapter 47
Chapter 47: Night Talk with Chao Ge
[No. That day, the omen clearly showed sun, moon, and stars together. If there were a true clash, the backlash should be minimal.]
[I already have plenty of moon essence in me. I can absorb a little sun radiance first and test it.]
[When I absorb moon essence, there’s a special change. So what happens when I absorb sun radiance?]
Shao Heng stopped circling the thought. She sat cross-legged on the cushion, closed her eyes, calmed her mind, and began to visualize the great sun.
In a hazy, hollow stillness, she slipped into a tranquil state. A scroll appeared before her eyes—formed from the immortal art’s true meaning.
Within it, a three-legged black crow burned in golden flame, wings spread as if embracing a blazing sun. Crow and sun seemed almost fused, as though they would merge completely in the next heartbeat.
As Shao Heng held the image, the sunlight filtering through her window seemed to answer a summons. Crimson-gold droplets gathered out of thin air, then stretched into dozens of fine streams that wound toward her like threads.
When sun radiance entered her body, the sealed point between her brows shimmered.
In the next instant, silver-white moon essence surged out to meet it.
They responded to each other—opposing forces reaching a strange balance instead of colliding.
Moon essence cleared her mind until it felt spotless. Sun radiance tempered her flesh until every inch seemed reinforced from within. And within that equilibrium, the two immortal arts surfaced in her consciousness at the same time—characters and meanings breaking apart, turning clearer, as if understanding itself had been sharpened.
When the sun sank and the moon rose, Shao Heng ended her cultivation and opened her eyes.
She exhaled slowly, a long breath letting the last heat settle.
At that moment, her storage ring trembled.
Shao Heng drew out a blue-and-white conch shell, pressed it to her ear, and sent a thread of power into its tip. Li Chao Ge’s voice rang out at once.
“Shao Heng, Junior Sister. Everything has been confirmed. Shall we meet and talk?”
The Message Conch was a small artifact-smith trinket—not a true magic tool, but powered by qi, it could transmit short messages within a certain range. It cost about the same as message talismans, but it was far more durable, which made it common.
“Autumn Maple Terrace,” Shao Heng replied.
She put the conch away. When she stood, Duo Bao hopped over, tugging at her sleeve, whining softly.
“All right,” Shao Heng said, softening. “I’ll take you out for a walk too, Duo Bao.”
With the piles of cultivation resources she’d been feeding him, Duo Bao had already broken through to mid-stage First Realm. He’d grown a little larger, and the silver mark between his brows was clearer now. Even his eyes looked brighter, more alive.
She didn’t need a leash. He followed obediently at her feet.
Shao Heng left the disciple courtyard and soon reached a viewing platform.
Cinnabar Flame Maple Trees ringed the place. At the turn from autumn to winter, thin snow dusted their branches, yet patches of maple leaves still clung stubbornly, crimson as blood. Their edges burned with faint flame, providing warm light against the night.
It was a spot disciples used to relax. With darkness fully settled, only a handful of people remained.
Shao Heng spotted Li Chao Ge at once and walked over.
“Senior Sister Li.”
Li Chao Ge turned. They sat across from each other at a stone table, then cast a Soundproof Charm before speaking in earnest.
As Li Chao Ge idly touched the hair near her bun, she said, “About the inner sect matter you asked me to investigate—I asked two uncles in my clan. They found out.”
Shao Heng’s gaze sharpened.
“That inner sect Senior Sister, Jiang Yun Jiang, became a disciple under True Lord Tian Bai,” Li Chao Ge continued. “True Lord Tian Bai obtained the Cavern Mystery Jade Pivot Thunder Canon, one of the Five Canons. He’s in seclusion now, preparing to break through to the Seventh Realm.”
Li Chao Ge’s eyes shone with unmistakable envy.
“And he gave his four disciples a condition. Whoever collects more of the treasure called Shattered Moon in the Mystic Moon Secret Realm earns the chance to study that canon.”
She let out a slow sigh, resting her chin on both hands. “Three Canons. Five Canons. Top-grade Dao scriptures.”
“If they acknowledge you, and you switch cultivation methods starting from the Third Realm… then according to sect history, even the minimum achievement is a Sixth Realm Nascent Soul Stage True Lord.”
Her voice turned wistful. “Having a good Master really is the greatest advantage.”
Shao Heng finally understood why Jiang Yun Jiang’s probing after returning to the sect had felt strangely weak.
Jiang Yun Jiang had reconnected with Yan Ning and the others, paid out a small amount of resources, and gained their help. They watched Shao Heng’s comings and goings, recorded her every word and action, waiting for an opening.
But the Law Enforcement Pavilion was strict. Mission details could not be disclosed. Even inner sect disciples couldn’t break that rule.
And Shao Heng took missions faster than Yan Ning, Qin Ji, and the others could keep up with. All they could do was watch her leave the sect, return, leave again, return again—again and again.
Shao Heng had expected sharper tactics. Instead, Jiang Yun Jiang had gone quiet.
Now it made sense.
[Jiang Yun Jiang is the newest of True Lord Tian Bai’s four disciples. Her cultivation time is short. Even with high-grade aptitude, she can’t reach late-stage First Realm in half a year. The gap is too big.]
[And with her stubborn personality, the closer the secret realm gets, the more frantic she’ll be. She’ll pour all her time into herself. How could she spare effort to trouble me?]
Shao Heng had already guessed most of this.
Then another thought rose, cold and clear.
[So Jiang Yun Jiang is entering the Mystic Moon Secret Realm too.]
Her right fist tightened slightly, a chill flashing through her eyes.
[Then I’ll seize the chance and kill her.]
When the Mystic Moon Secret Realm opened, the Star-Inquiry Sect and the True One Yuan Sect sent disciples in together. Everyone hunted opportunities and treasures. Shao Heng had researched past openings—many died. Some to the realm’s dangers, but far more to the blades and spells of other cultivators.
Her cultivation was above Jiang Yun Jiang’s. With months of experience and dragon-blood tempering, she could crush Jiang Yun Jiang in a straight fight.
The only thing she feared was that filthy thing attached to Jiang Yun Jiang.
Li Chao Ge watched her closely. Shao Heng’s face stayed calm, but something sharp flickered in her eyes. Li Chao Ge curled her fingers and tapped the table.
“Shao Heng, Junior Sister. I brought you the news you wanted.” Her gaze burned. “What about the thing you promised me?”
Shao Heng snapped back, then pulled a jade bottle from her storage ring and handed it over.
“Senior Sister Li,” she said, smiling, “you’re really hurting my feelings. Do you think I’d lie to you?”
“When I was gathering precious medicines on Dan Yang Mountain, White Dragon was driven back again and again by a green-shadow cultivator. I got absurdly lucky and found a handful of soil soaked in dragon blood. After refining it, I got three drops.”
She sighed theatrically. “Giving you one drop really is painful.”
Then she leaned in, voice light. “But who told me you’re my Senior Sister Li?”
Li Chao Ge shot her a reproachful look, snatched the bottle, and probed it with divine sense.
A terrifying True Dragon pressure pulsed within.
Her eyes brightened. She immediately put it away, then sighed again, half-regretful. “If I’d known dragon blood could be collected like this, I would’ve stayed longer that day.”
Her excitement bubbled over. “Junior Sister, let me tell you—this dragon blood is incredible for pill refining. Like Dust-Falling Pill. Add one drop, balance the effects, and it can rise from First Grade to Second Grade, and also—”
“Senior Sister,” Shao Heng cut in.
She could sense Ao Chuan’s furious, restless screaming through the dragon mark on her forearm, as if he wanted to burst out and swallow Li Chao Ge whole.
“Stop.”