To keep the ascended spirit heavenly tribulation from cooking Zhuoming’s remaining consciousness, Xi Ping entrusted the heartless lotus’s stalk to a small cluster of flames far away at the bottom of the Unbound Furnace.

So right now, the safest place in all the Sanyue Mountains was occupied by a slender lotus stalk.

Zhuoming curled up like a snake. As he changed his point of view to look on as the spiritual mountains passed to their new owner, he smelled cooked flesh up close.

“Doesn’t smell good at all,” he judged regretfully. “Maybe there’s not enough oil.”

Xi Ping: “…”

How annoying. His jaws were locked; he couldn’t open his mouth to curse.

There were no more people left on the Central Peak now. The Silver Moon was struggling to the death in Xiang Rong’s hands.

In the imperial city in the capital of Dongheng, eighty-one coiled dragon columns trembled. No one in the whole country dared to go to sleep. Winter had already started, but the temperature was like at midday during the hottest days of summer. A hot wind swept along the Xia River, charged over the snow-wrapped mountain range at the very north of Western Chu, and collided with a cold wave from Northern Li and vapor from Southern Wan. All along the borders, winds rose and clouds scuttled. The sky seemed to be falling. It was raining everywhere. The Xia River, after a summer of calm, seemed ready to rise!

“My goodness, the winter thunder is rumbling. A new full moon sage has appeared in Sanyue. What will happen now? Truly, I feel bad on behalf of the other shed skins,” the lotus stalk chattered on with some glee at the misfortunes of others. “Before, Sanyue, the venom-breeding sect of the divine mountains, hoarded all the resources in the country. Will it be looking to combine the five great spiritual mountains into one now? When only one range of spiritual mountains remains, those at their summits will truly be able to touch the heavens. Do you think those shed skins will want to dispose of this new full moon sage as though he were a great demon, or will they try to become the next full moon sage as soon as possible, by hook or by crook? If it’s the latter, that will be quite a sight to see. After all, the other spiritual mountains don’t have Sanyue’s bottomless greed. They haven’t saved up a whole nation’s spiritual energy in their own backyards to use as they like. The fur will really fly, won’t it?”

Xi Ping didn’t respond, because just then, the second bolt of heavenly lightning fell, even stronger than the first, baking him into a piece of coal.

“How fortunate that I can’t breathe right now, or I’d blow you away.” Zhuoming tsked. The lotus stalk carefully avoided the sparks splashing everywhere and said, sighing, “As I see it, the appearance of a full moon sage is a hundred times worse than the great demon in the Impassable Sea coming back to life. Demons give immortals a chance to affirm their righteousness, while sages drag people down to the level of demons—hey, do you think the Silver Moon will win, or Xiang Rong?”

Before the third bolt of heavenly lightning could fall, Xi Ping quickly shook the ashes off himself. He was a quick study, becoming more and more practiced at regenerating after being crushed. The fire in the Unbound Furnace strengthened steadily. The speed at which his flesh and bones regenerated was constantly reaching new heights.

When the first bolt of heavenly lightning had fallen, Xi Ping had been struck so hard he had been even worse off than when he’d first jumped into the Unbound Furnace, unable to keep a human form; when the second bolt of lightning fell, while his flesh was burned black, his bones had held out; such that before the third bolt of heavenly lightning could fully ferment, he had already reconstructed himself into a human shape and could even move—with difficulty, he pulled out a pill and swallowed it.

Zhuoming had never seen this kind of pill. Curiously, he asked, “That isn’t a protective pill…and it isn’t a lightning repelling pill, so what did you just take?”

Xi Ping’s newly grown throat made a noise like rusty iron grinding against itself: “…mind calming.”

The mind calming pill was an open-eyed grade elixir that could be used by mortals. Its function was to clear and invigorate the mind, little better than strong tea.

Zhuoming, who had been the direct disciple of a high elder since beginning to cultivate, had naturally never seen it, so he asked, “Does it taste good? What does it do?”

“Calms…hff, the mind…and…steadies the…emotions…ugh…you’re annoying me to death!” Before Xi Ping could finish, the third bolt of heavenly lightning fell.

Zhuoming was stunned. This bolt of lightning was stronger than the previous two put together, making a sound that vibrated through the Unbound Furnace for a long time, like a mountain collapsing.

Xi Ping, who had just been talking to him, was pounded into a pile of fragments.

The heartless lotus’s stalk backed away. “Hey, listen, isn’t there something wrong with this heavenly tribulation of yours?”

Zhuoming had made off with the heartless lotus inside the Silver Moon and had entered what practically amounted to a monster’s way, yet when he had become an ascended spirit, there still hadn’t been such a major event. If not for the special hidden bones belonging to the ungovernable way, those three bolts of lightning would have finished off the Misty Willow here and now.

The heavenly tribulation didn’t seem intent on “testing” him; it seemed to want to strike him dead.

Sparks kept burning on the fragments of flesh and bone scattered throughout the furnace, connecting to the fire of the Unbound Furnace. The fragments “circulated” among the flames as though they were floating in water. In the blink of an eye, they had once again gathered into a human form.

“I think you must have too much bad karma to be suited for passing through a heavenly tribulation.” Zhuoming spoke a little faster. “Stop, you…”

Rumble—

Before he could finish, the fourth bolt of heavenly lightning spilled onto Xi Ping without leaving him even the time to take a breath to speak, and the fifth bolt of heavenly lightning was following hard on its heels, already overhead.

Hidden bones didn’t mean you couldn’t die, or else Yuan Hui wouldn’t have passed away in the East Sea. The ungovernable way wouldn’t give any better treatment to an ordinary young man a thousand years later.

Especially since Xi Ping’s hidden bones were attached to his consciousness. A consciousness wasn’t inextinguishable.

The fourth bolt of heavenly lightning stamped out the fire in the Unbound Furnace—this meant that Xi Ping’s awareness had wavered; his consciousness was in danger.

The first two bolts of heavenly lightning had given him the impression that he could pass through the tribulation. The third and fourth bolts had strengthened precipitously, simply crushing his awareness, not giving him a chance to hide in the fire of the Unbound Furnace. The fifth bolt meant to kill him… It wasn’t that it “seemed” that way; the heavenly lightning was deliberately coming for his life!

As soon as the furnace fire went out, the light of the Silver Moon quickly shone in. The lotus stalk was forced to cling to the side of the Unbound Furnace. Zhuoming was so dazzled by the lightning that he could no longer see what state Xi Ping was in. The deadliest bolt of lightning fell.

In that moment, even a paramount spiritual sense couldn’t see how he could survive. This mere ascended spirit tribulation was actually more shocking than the spiritual mountains changing hands.

A thought crossed Zhuoming’s mind: What a pity…

But just then, by coincidence, the Silver Moon, having been subdued by Xiang Rong, started a fresh round of resisting to the death. The Sanyue Mountain Range…even the better part of Western Chu’s territory began to shake and tremble.

Mountain ridges split apart, lofty towers folded like paper. Without its furnace fire, the Unbound Furnace had lost its foundation. It was lifted and sent flying by the roiling mountain wind, just missing the heavenly lightning.

The lotus stalk was tossed up along with the Unbound Furnace. Next, a charred hand reached out and grabbed the end of the lotus stalk. The fire in the Unbound Furnace once again kindled.

Zhuoming was dumbfounded. He finally caught his breath. “Misty Willow, I think you ought to acknowledge Xiang Rong as your benefactor!”

The fingers covered in coal dust were unbelievably nimble. Upon hearing these words, they tied the heartless lotus’s stalk into an enchanting knot at a speed too fast for even an ascended spirit to perceive.

Zhuoming didn’t bother bickering with him. “The Unbound Furnace’s fire can block heavenly lightning. Now, while your consciousness is still holding out, break off the ascension…what? Did you just say something?”

“I said…sit down…and…hold on tight!”

Hardly had these words been spoken than the fire in the Unbound Furnace once again went out altogether. The whole cauldron of the Unbound Furnace rolled down with the collapsing cliff. The moment was perfectly chosen. It perfectly sidestepped the sixth bolt of heavenly lightning.

After dodging two bolts of lightning in a row, Xi Ping's rapidly-repairing hidden bones had already come together. He actually stood up in one piece.

“You can do that?” Zhuoming came back to himself. In the gap between the lightning flash and the moonlight, he began to laugh. “My mistake. With the filial piety Xiang Rong has shown, he’s the one who ought to acknowledge you as his benefactor!”

The disintegrating spiritual stones of the spiritual mountains were caught up by the Unbound Furnace like moths drawn to a flame and turned to dust before they could even touch Xi Ping.

Following his previously established pattern, Xi Ping once again extinguished the fire in the Unbound Furnace, allowing the furnace to tumble into the valley.

When the seventh bolt of heavenly lightning fell, he could already get out the Tai Sui Qin. This time, a soundless image of a sword flew straight out and struck the cliff. The spiritual energy became a hurricane, pushing the Unbound Furnace hundreds of zhang away.

Xi Ping’s newly grown hair floated up in response to the heavenly lightning near at hand.

And at the same time, Xiang Rong made a two-handed seal and cried out for the third time, “Return to position!”

That vital curved blade of his that so resembled Xuanwu’s suddenly appeared as though cutting through empty space, slashing at the Silver Moon, smashing this most honorable divine tool that no one had dared to face directly in thousands of years against the Central Peak.

The Central Peak snapped.

The Slumbering Dragon Sea and the South Sea roared as they crashed against the land. The Xia River instantly burst its banks. At the borders of Li, Wan, and Shu, the walkers in the mortal world had evacuated, and ascended spirits were holding the line. The shed skins, who had descended en masse to the mortal world, stabilized the wavering border inscriptions. The waters of the rivers and seas were frozen in midair.

As the sky fell and the earth cracked, the Unbound Furnace was buried by the broken mountain. The enraged heavens threw down an eighth bolt of lightning, which smashed all the spiritual stones within dozens of zhang!

This buffer had been plenty. Xi Ping didn’t light the furnace fire. The Tai Sui Qin entered close combat with the heavenly lightning. Xi Ping’s hand bones and spine shattered along with the heavenly lightning but were once again restored after a breath. His tongue and throat at last healed up entirely in the struggle. “Come at me!”

The fire in the Unbound Furnace was kindled once more. Zhuoming opened his eyes amid the dazzling lightning. Xi Ping had actually jumped out; all that remained in the furnace was a piece of reincarnation wood with his consciousness attached to maintain the flames.

A bronze-colored bloody shadow flitted over the white moon in the sky, but it was only for an instant. Then it was masked by the light that had surpassed the blazing sun. And the other “moon” on earth had just now been pushed against the broken Central Peak by the new master of the spiritual mountains.

A hand as lustrous as a white spirit steadied the incessantly vibrating Unbound Furnace.

Zhuoming heard Xi Ping’s voice come from the reincarnation wood through his consciousness: “I don’t give a rat’s ass whether the old geezer or the big lamp wins. I only hope they’ll fight even harder… If they don’t knock a few cracks in the sky, won’t we all be crushed to death?”

As he spoke, the ninth bolt of heavenly lightning illuminated his face and caved in a corner of the spiritual mountains. Everything seemed to pause.

The spiritual mountains let out a sigh like a dying breath. Xiang Rong at last had the Silver Moon at his feet. The moonlight of that great divine tool was being steadily drawn away by Xiang Rong. The enormous statue of the Black Emperor on the cliff had already been destroyed. Xiang Rong hefted his blade one-handed and raised his head, divinity covering his expressionless face.

The consciousness of the full moon sage who had vanquished the spiritual mountains fell on Xi Ping at the same time as the final bolt of heavenly lightning.

The heavenly lightning struck Xi Ping’s body, rebuilt after being destroyed, but it didn’t strike as fast as he could reconstruct. No sooner were his meridians rent apart by the lightning than they reconnected, suddenly widening.

His already concentrated consciousness was transformed. His field of vision widened. In an instant, he felt the whole world become perfectly clear.

The movement of the Silver Moon, the movement of the spiritual mountains, the spiritual energy surging through the mountains, all of it was incredibly distinct.

In his eyes, the spiritual mountains, and even the whole of Dongheng, had become smaller—all of Western Chu had become smaller. His consciousness covered half of Western Chu in one sweep, touching distant Tao County.

The people of Tao County were gathered outside, gesticulating as they observed the sky, which had lit up in the middle of the night. Suddenly, they heard qin music coming from somewhere… It was genuine Chu music, loud and uncivilized, pushing and shoving.

Having avoided the Way of Heaven’s deadly blow, the most bizarre ascended spirit in the world had emerged in the supremely lofty Sanyue Mountains.

He had torn open a corner of unfathomable fate. Xi Ping met Xiang Rong’s eyes. From afar, he made a vulgar hand gesture towards Xiang Rong, of the kind that only a country farmer would understand.

The fatal moonlight fell, but Xi Ping and the Unbound Furnace had already moved. There was only a reincarnation wood sapling left behind. The tree was crooked and bent, maintaining its previous occupant’s vulgar posture as it was dissolved by the moonlight.

Before, Xi Ping had only been able to move his consciousness through reincarnation wood. After becoming an ascended spirit, he had learned without being taught how to simply swap places with his accompanying plant—he himself “grew” out of a little creek on the Central Peak.

Only then did the thunder, half a step behind the lightning, finally arrive, its ear-splitting torrent of abuse echoing through the mountains.

The next moment, Xi Ping once again disappeared from the water. Only a reincarnation wood tree remained. The little sapling was turned to ashes by the moonlight as soon as it appeared in the water, dissolving when the wind blew. Xi Ping, meanwhile, appeared on a cliff.

The moonlight clung to him like his shadow.

Before he could play the same trick again, there was a stab of pain in Xi Ping’s spirit. All the reincarnation wood he had left throughout the Sanyue Mountains disappeared. Xiang Rong knew who he was!

Xi Ping said, “Baldy, if you keep playing dead, you’re going to die for real!”

Xi Ping knew now that Zhuoming was all right—an ascended spirit’s true body could switch places with their accompanying plant; when Zhuoming had been “killed” by the Silver Moon, the lotus stalk with his consciousness in it had already been hidden in the Unbound Furnace’s fire.

In other words, that bit of lotus stalk had already quietly become Zhuoming’s true body.

Zhuoming said: “Water!”

Without so much as thinking about it, Xi Ping, holding the Unbound Furnace under his arm, jumped into the lake next to him. The lotus stalk inside the Unbound Furnace swam out and changed into human form. He instantly turned all the plants in the water into heartless lotuses, wildly growing a big tangle of dark red stalks and leaves, narrowly blocking the light of the Silver Moon for a moment.

Zhuoming took this opportunity to press his hand to the bottom of the lake. A series of inscriptions that had been concealed at some point exploded with a rumble. Before the moonlight could pierce through all the stalks and leaves, he swept Xi Ping into the veins of the spiritual mountains.

Xi Ping’s vision blurred. Countless inscriptions flashed before his eyes. He seemed to touch the heart of the Sanyue Mountains.

The next moment, the two of them emerged from the lotus pond on the East Peak.

The lotus pond was full of the “corpses” of heartless lotuses. Though they were plants, they still gave off an acrid smell of blood.

Zhuoming, unmoved, waved a hand. The withered plants came back to life. At the same time, the full moon god’s spiritual energy struck the East Peak’s prohibition.

Once the Silver Moon had given him its allegiance, Xiang Rong had the whole of the spiritual mountains in his hands, apart from the East Peak—the prohibition on the East Peak had been built by Xuanwu over three centuries. It was enough to hold Xiang Rong up for a moment.

Xi Ping said, “Did you bury inscriptions throughout the whole water system of the Sanyue Mountains ahead of time? Do you have any other secret passages?”

Zhuoming pushed him underwater, out of the way of an astral wind that could have beheaded him. “No, that’s it!”

Xi Ping blew an air bubble that exploded in Zhuoming’s face. “So what do we do?”

Unwilling to be bested, Zhuoming also sprayed out an air bubble to return the explosion in kind. “Rely on Xuanwu. The East Peak is Xuanwu’s domain!”

“Does Xuanwu still have a backup plan left at this stage? What is it?”

“How would I know? Do you think he wears me over his heart?” Zhuoming howled. “The water’s so hot I’ve nearly been cooked. Stop spraying! Aren’t you from Wan? Why don’t you have any manners?”

The two ascended spirits sprayed back and forth in the tiny lotus pond, the air bubbles boiling the pond water.

“Who’s got time for manners? We’re about to cash in! If you don’t know anything, how could you dare to…”

Boom—