Chương 84: Chapter 83: COLOR EYES

CHAPTER 83 COLOR EYES —∞— The front door closed behind Meiyao, while Jieyuan forced himself to stay in his seat. Qingshi had been the first to leave, right after explaining his plan; Yongyi, uncomfortable, had excused himself next. That had left them with the pair of Viridian Death cultists in thick, tense silence.

Jieyuan had been only too glad when they stood up, but then the younger of the pair, good old Viridian Eye Houliao, had claimed he had private business with Meiyao (he had, of course, been all worshipful and deferential about it, with no less than fourteen separate instances of Your Sacredness). Neither Jieyuan nor Meiyao had been too keen on that, but when Jieyuan suggested tagging along, the cultists had respectfully but firmly denied him.

Not even Meiyao requesting it had done the trick, though they'd amped up the respect a thousandfold when refusing her. Meiyao had eventually decided to go with them. Ultimately, it was unlikely the cultists meant her any harm. Even if they did, it wasn't as if Jieyuan tagging along would've made much of a difference; the synergy between Xiaohu and her bloodline put Meiyao in a whole different league.

Of course, Jieyuan had made sure to ask how long she'd be out, and the cultists had reluctantly said it shouldn't take more than an hour. So one hour was exactly how much time Jieyuan would give them; if Meiyao wasn't back by then, Jieyuan would raze the Viridian Death Cult to the ground. Until then, though, Jieyuan was stuck in the cabin with Daojue. Sitting at the table.

The way this living room resembled Viridian Death City, with its furniture that was grown rather than crafted, only nudged him closer to the edge. Jieyuan gathered all his tension, then expelled it from his body in a long sigh. When that didn't help much, he closed his eyes, taking a moment to properly center himself. So much had happened in so little time. Three Orangesouls dead. The possibility of future retaliation from a Yellowrealm sect.

Daojue's ludicrous transformation, the disturbing similarities to Tianzijun Juechen, and the role his mysterious red ring had played in it. And now a fourth Orangesoul had crossed their path—except they had entered a tentative truce with this last one so that they could take down a Yellowsoul. Qingshi's plan had been simple. So simple, in fact, it could hardly be called a plan. Tomorrow, Qingshi would take the three of them to the Gleamstone Valley for reasons Qingshi had refused to elaborate.

Daojue's presence should draw Elder Taishou out in short order, according to Qingshi, and once he'd made his appearance, Qingshi would deal with him. Qingshi hadn't explained how he intended to kill his old master; his excuse had been that if they didn't know, then Taishou couldn't take that information out of them. Obviously, neither Jieyuan nor Meiyao had accepted that excuse (you could force answers out of a cultivator if you were creative about it, but it took time).

Qingshi, in response, had brought up in that casual, offhanded tone of his how he was a tenth-step Orangesoul and repeated how they could do this the easy way or the hard way. They'd had little choice but to swallow their doubts. Jieyuan's nails dug into his palms, biting into his skin, making him realize he was clenching his hands. He shuddered, then took a deep, steadying breath. Heavens, how he loathed being at someone else's mercy. There was no feeling worse than that.

Worse, they not only were at Qingshi's mercy but had no choice but willingly subject themselves to it, because they did need his help if they wanted to save Meiyao's family (and even then, it was an awfully long shot). Slumping in his seat, getting comfortable, Jieyuan went through the conversations just now, over everything not just Qingshi but also what Yongyi had said, looking for hints, inconsistencies, clues.

Anything that could either shed some light on the situation or give them an advantage of some sort in the days to come. Only one thing really stood out to him. At the end, he'd asked Qingshi if he could share his Orangerealm coalescence hymn with them; Meiyao and Daojue, after all, were only one chant away from breaking through to Orangerealm, and though first-step Orangesouls wouldn't be of much help against a Yellowsoul, they'd at least fare better than tenth-step Redsouls.

But it'd been a long shot, and Jieyuan hadn't been surprised at all when Qingshi said he had no intention of sharing his Orangerealm hymns and that they wouldn't be able to use it anyway, because it was Crystal-aligned and only someone with second-order Crystal affinity could use it. Though Jieyuan had considered it, he'd ultimately decided against revealing that Daojue at least would actually fit the bill, courtesy of the Absolute Sword Trials.

Qingshi and Daojue had always been at odds, and if Qingshi was already unwilling to share his Orangerealm hymns, he'd be even less willing to do so if it meant helping Daojue. But Jieyuan's question hadn't been for naught, because he managed to draw a few conclusions from Qingshi's answer that he now pondered. Mainly, that Qingshi really was on his own.

He hadn't elaborated on how he'd broken through to Orangerealm, but given the context, it was fairly clear he'd managed to come up with his Orangerealm hymn on his own, through a combination of sheer talent and luck. Which implied something else: Qingshi had already created a full set of Orangerealm hymns; otherwise, he would've been stuck at first-step Orangerealm. What were the odds that Qingshi had also come up with a Yellowrealm coalescence hymn and was secretly a Yellowsoul now?

Jieyuan's heart seized at the thought. Qingshi had already faked his step several times, and there was the fact of how easily he'd dispatched all the Orangerealm cultivators he'd faced. It'd also explain Qingshi's secret plan for dealing with Taishou. Heavenly hymns weren't something you could create on a whim, and the higher the realm of the hymn, the more luck it supposedly took to create it. Qingshi had done quite a number of absurd things already, though; Jieyuan would be stupid not to consider the possibility.

But … No. Something else occurred to Jieyuan. Earlier, when Meiyao had warned them that Qingshi was approaching using Xiaohu's senses, she'd told them it was a tenth-step Orangesoul. And it'd already been confirmed that Xiaohu's ability to sense another being's realm and step worked by different mechanics than the soulsenses and so wasn't fooled by soul masking. If he had been Yellowrealm, she wouldn't have been able to sense him at all.

Meaning that unless Qingshi is using a means other than soul masking to hide his step, then he really is a tenth-step Orangesoul. Jieyuan eased up a little. As far as he knew, masking your soul was the only way to hide your step. It wasn't outright guaranteed Qingshi was a tenth-step Orangesoul, but it should be safe to assume he was. At the same time, though, he wasn't so sure that was a good thing. If Qingshi had been a Yellowsoul, their odds of beating Taishou would've been way higher.

On the other hand, though, their odds of dealing with Qingshi after they settled things with Taishou would've been way lower. Jieyuan had little doubt that after they handled Elder Taishou, they'd have to do something about Qingshi next. There was no way Qingshi would simply let the three of them go after they saved the Liangshibai, particularly Meiyao, who hadn't made any efforts to hide how much she wanted him dead. What a rotting mess. Worse still was that there was very little he could do about it.

Jieyuan opened his eyes, only to catch a rather curious scene: Daojue, sitting across from him, wearing a far-off, distracted look that didn't look right on his normally impassive face. Jieyuan leaned forward slightly, his gaze dipping down to Daojue's lap. And sure enough, Daojue was absently rubbing one of his fingers over his gauntlets. And Jieyuan decided to address another rather pressing matter.

"Daojue," he said, making Daojue look up sharply, snapping him out of that strange, ring-induced daze.

"Is it safe to talk here? Nothing listening in?" Jieyuan wasn't about to take any risks, not when it was clear Qingshi had been working with the Viridian Death cult for a while. Knowing Qingshi, Jieyuan wouldn't have put it past the man to set up some Orangerealm surveillance artifacts in the vicinity. Except Daojue, in defiance of everything known about Redsouls, could sense higher-realm artifacts, just like Meiyao could sense higher-realm beasts. Daojue closed his eyes for about ten breaths.

Then he said, "It is safe."

"Good," Jieyuan said.

"What can you tell me about what happened earlier, with that transformation of yours?" A trick Jieyuan had found for dealing with Daojue was asking open-ended questions. He'd still ignore them more often than not, to be sure, but they were likelier to get an answer than one where yes or no would suffice. Violet eyes bore into Jieyuan. Oddly enough, Jieyuan found Daojue's impassive, violet-eyed stare comforting, for once, because if Daojue's eyes were violet, that meant they weren't blood-red.

Jieyuan gave it a few moments, but Daojue didn't reply. But he also didn't get up, so Jieyuan decided to push it a little.

"That transformation… Was it a bloodline thing? A bloodgift?" Jieyuan asked.

"Or was it some kind of power of that ring of yours?" What Jieyuan knew about the Tianzijun Bloodline and Juechen would indicate it was the former, but the transformation had clearly started with the ring. It had first started glowing, and then Daojue had transformed. Moreover, something else Juechen had said came to mind, about how he believed the Tianzijun Bloodline in its current iteration had little to do with its original version. Another long pause.

But it was a pregnant sort of pause this time; Jieyuan caught the indecision, brief and faint, flicker across Daojue's face. And then Daojue delivered: "It was the Ring." Jieyuan sat up straighter. Answers at last. Not just that, the way Daojue had said ring … He'd put a lot of importance into that word. Almost reverence.

"But it has to do with your bloodline, right? With…" Jieyuan considered it for a moment, then decided to go for it, "the original Tianzijun Bloodline?" Another long pause. This time, Daojue's eyes dipped down to the hand on his lap. To the ring covered by his gauntlet, no doubt. And then Daojue said, "Yes." Jieyuan nodded.

"I'm assuming that isn't a power you can use at will." They'd been on the verge of death many times before.

"It's the ring that uses that power, right? Like with Gleaming End and its spiritskills. Are there specific conditions, for activation?" Silence again. Then: "It must be to serve the Tianzijun Clan." Jieyuan thought about it for a moment.

"So you could use it back then because you were taking revenge for your clan?"

"Yes."

"What about Gleaming End? You used one of its spiritskills before you transformed."

"It decided to offer its aid."

"Hmmm." Jieyuan leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. This was the third time Daojue had used Gleaming End's spiritskills. The first two times had been when they were escaping Viridian Death City. It couldn't be that Gleaming End only stepped in when Daojue was in danger; again, that had happened many times so far. What did the situation against the Orangesouls have in common with what happened in Viridian Death City? Heightened emotions, maybe?

Jieyuan had been through a lot, but without a doubt, nothing had disturbed him as much as Viridian Death City. Daojue often seemed like he was made out of stone, but maybe it'd gotten to him, too? He had certainly been riled up when confronting the two Orangesouls. It felt like a stretch, but Jieyuan couldn't think of anything better. One thing was clear, though. Either Daojue had some tough luck with his ego artifacts, or Jieyuan had lucked out with his. Both Gleaming End and the red ring seemed awfully picky.

Jieyuan's Shifting Sisters and Fatebloom Heart, on the other hand, always jumped at the opportunity to be of use.

"Back to the ring and the Tianzijun Bloodline," Jieyuan said.

"I understand the Tianzijun Bloodline is different now than it used to be. The eyes being violet now, not red, is indication enough. Does it still have anything to do with Blood?" Daojue stared at him for a long time, wordlessly. Well, it was worth a shot.

"All right," Jieyuan said, "never mind that. Back to your Red Ring. Where did it come from?" Jieyuan hadn't been expecting an answer, either, and enough seconds passed that he thought one wasn't coming and thought about something else to ask. But then Daojue said, quietly, "It belonged to my master." Daojue's master. Right. It'd only been that day that Jieyuan had learned Daojue had a master. Or maybe that he used to have one. Your master isn't around to save you again, boy.

Chiyanhao Huifen had said those words to Daojue. That had Jieyuan recalling something else. Back in the Mysterious Night House, the intelligence elder they'd talked with had said two Tianzijun had escaped the massacre of the clan through unknown means. Daojue here, and some unnamed protector. Jieyuan would bet good gold that the unnamed protector was this master.

"Your master… is he alive?" Jieyuan asked. He'd have measured his words more carefully with someone else, but with Daojue, straightforward was always the best approach.

"No." Sure enough. So he helped Daojue escape and then died. But to escape from an Orangesoul, Daojue's master must have either used some special artifact, or…

"Your master wasn't a Redsoul, was he?" A much longer pause this time. Jieyuan waited it out, bearing Daojue's impassive stare evenly. It paid off. Daojue said, "No."

"What was his realm?" Jieyuan asked. The answer, to Jieyuan's surprise, came quickly this time. But far more surprising was the answer itself: "Bluerealm." Bluerealm. Jieyuan inhaled sharply. His thoughts raced.

"He was from the true Tianzijun Clan, wasn't he?"

"Yes." Heavens. That was a lot to take in. Jieyuan tried to think through it.

"The Tianzijun Clan on this island, was it some kind of chapter of the true Tianzijun Clan?" This was something that had been bothering Jieyuan for a while now. Just what was a Bluerealm, formerly Violetrealm, clan doing with a Redrealm branch on their Yellowrealm island?

"No."

"No?" Jieyuan frowned. That couldn't mean the Sovereign Path City's Tianzijun weren't real Tianzijun, because they certainly had the chromal bloodline. But if Daojue was saying they weren't a chapter…

"They weren't aware of the main Tianzijun Clan, then? Was it like with the Linzushen Clan here? Unaware of their real origins?"

"Yes."

"But your master was from the main clan. And you knew… Because he told you, and only you? About his origins, and all sorts of Violetrealm matters besides? He told you, and nobody else?"

"No," Daojue said.

"My parents were aware of his identity." Daojue's parents. The Mysterious Night House elder had referred to Daojue as the son of the clan's patriarch. Meaning his parents had been the upper echelon of the local Tianzijun Clan. Jieyuan was starting to put together the picture.

"Your master… He couldn't have been born in Sovereign Path City's Tianzijun Clan, if he were from the main clan. How did he end up there?" This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. In the ensuing silence, another possibility occurred to Jieyuan. He thought about the origins of the local Linzushen Clan and its mysterious founder that Meiyao had told him about. That founder must've come from the main Linzushen Clan.

And your average Bluesoul would have a lifespan of nearly five thousand years. Before Daojue could answer his previous question, Jieyuan asked, "Did your master found the Tianzijun Clan on this island?" Daojue's violet eyes were unreadable.

"Yes." So Daojue's master had been some kind of local ancestor. His existence had probably been a secret of the clan, something only the higher echelons were aware of. Jieyuan could accept all of that, but it still begged the question. What was a Tianzijun Bluesoul doing setting up a Redrealm clan in some backwater Yellowrealm island? It wasn't only curiosity that was driving his questions.

Jieyuan needed to understand the situation better, because Daojue had already turned out to have two enemies after him, whom Jieyuan had had no idea about. He didn't want to take any more risks on that front.

"Why did he found a new Tianzijun Clan here? And why keep it at Redrealm?"

"My master's soul was damaged," Daojue said.

"He was unable to use his powers to return to his clan or contact his clansmen. He had no choice but to settle on this island. He started a new clan because he sought a successor. He kept the local clan at Redrealm because he did not want to draw attention." It wasn't the first time Jieyuan had heard so many words at once. But he could still count the times he'd spoken so much on the fingers of one hand, with fingers left over. It was almost uncanny, hearing and seeing Daojue speak like this.

But Jieyuan forced himself to concentrate: "How exactly was his soul damaged?" Daojue stared. A whole minute passed. Jieyuan realized that this time, an answer really wasn't coming. All right. Another question, then.

"That successor, it was supposed to be you?"

"Yes."

"You said he kept the clan at Redrealm. He was a Bluesoul, though, so he must've had higher-realm hymns. Did he not share them with you?"

"No."

"Why?"

"He died."

"Oh." Jieyuan wanted to dig into that further, but he stopped himself; the point was moot.

"All right. Your master, he helped you escape. But you also said he couldn't use his powers because his soul was damaged. How did you escape, then?"

"He forced himself to use his powers despite the damage to his soul," Daojue said.

"He flew us to the opposite side of the island. That strained his soul to the breaking point and killed him." A lot to unpack, there. Something immediately caught Jieyuan's attention.

"You said he flew you across the island. He was space-hasting, I take it." It'd explain how they'd managed to escape from an Orangesoul.

"With the haste factor of a Bluesoul… That must've taken, what, a few seconds, if even that?"

"Yes."

"But in your master's perspective, that flight must've taken hours. So if he had enough time to fly you across the island, he must've had enough time to deal with Gaofengzhi Zhuoji and Chiyanhao Huifen." Daojue went very still. He'd already been statue-like before, but now it was as if he'd fully frozen in place. Something dark and dangerous crept into his violet eyes. Daojue said nothing. This time, Jieyuan didn't wait for a whole minute to pass in hopes of an answer.

He'd thought that question might be a delicate one, but he hadn't imagined it would provoke a reaction this bad. He swallowed thickly, then said, "Never mind that. I'm sure your master had a reason. Anyway, back to the Chiyanhao Clan. Was there a reason for their attack? Or did Huifen just go for it because he'd managed to get an Orangerealm on his side?" Jieyuan felt no little relief as the tension slowly but surely bled from Daojue. The answer came quickly, readily. Unnaturally so, by Daojue's standards.

"A clansman happened upon a rogue Orangesoul's inheritance. He reported it to the clan. It supposedly contained both heavenly hymns and skillseeds. Chiyanhao Huifen found out about it from one of our elders."

"A traitor?"

"Yes." And it spoke to how unsettled Daojue was that he elaborated without Jieyuan's prodding: "Chiyanhao Huifen revealed it during the massacre. He had Zhuoji cripple both the traitor and my parents before killing the three of them himself." Jieyuan couldn't help but notice how talking of his parents' death didn't seem to affect Daojue any, even though he'd clearly been shaken by Jieyuan's question about his master's intentions. Jieyuan didn't quite know what to make of that.

He was fairly sure he'd at least figured out one mystery, though. How Huifen had broken through to Orangerealm while keeping it a secret from Zhuoji. He must've used the heavenly hymns from that inheritance the Tianzijun Clan had found. His Orangerealm bondskill had probably come from it, too. Jieyuan also recalled how he currently had Huifen's holder pouch. If Huifen were clever, he would've destroyed the jadebook with the Orangerealm hymns. But there was still a chance.

Jieyuan kept himself from just reaching for it, though. He could do that later. He had a much clearer idea of Daojue's matters, but he needed to take advantage of how open Daojue was being right now and make sure he wasn't keeping anything else important from him.

"One last thing," Jieyuan said.

"Is there anything else you think I should know? More enemies of yours that might be hunting you down, maybe? Or anything else, really, that might give us trouble in the future?" He'd been hoping that Daojue would say nothing. That silence would be his only answer. But it was not to be.

"Yes," Daojue said.

"The ring unsealed my bloodline and heavenly affinity." Now it was Jieyuan's time to freeze. He recalled another talk he had, days ago, leaving Muyeshen's cave. And suddenly Jieyuan knew just what Daojue was going to say, as absurd as it seemed.

"Your heavenly affinity and bloodline were suppressed? Like Meiyao's?"

"Yes."

"Did you know about it before?"

"I did. My master told me."

"Do you know how it was sealed?"

"No. I was born that way." That, at least, wasn't much of a surprise. Meiyao had shared with him everything she'd found out from Muyeshen about her circumstances. The seal on her bloodline had been inherited, apparently; a limitation written into her bloodline by someone else. Muyeshen hadn't known why that had been done, but at least they had an explanation for it. On the other hand, the Primordial had known nothing about how Meiyao's heavenly affinity had been suppressed.

According to Meiyao, Muyeshen hadn't even known such a thing was possible. The Primordial hadn't known it was possible. Jieyuan still didn't know for sure just what or who Muyeshen was—Meiyao wasn't clear on it, either—but Muyeshen was clearly important even among Violetsouls.

"But there's that seal on all Tianzijun, isn't there? Something that was put into your bloodline," Jieyuan said, recalling Anren's words about it.

"The one that Anren mentioned. The one that stops the Tianzijun from advancing to Violetrealm."

"Yes. I do bear that seal. But it affects neither my heavenly affinity nor my bloodline order; it shall only come into effect when I attempt to advance to Violetrealm."

"Meaning it must be something else altogether," Jieyuan said. Most likely, whatever it was that did it to Meiyao, too.

"So, the ring… It unsealed your bloodline and heavenly affinity, then?"

"At the moment of my transformation," Daojue said.

"It was not purposefully done."

"I see," Jieyuan said, thoughts racing. The unlocking of Meiyao's heavenly affinity had supposedly been unintentional, too. The Primordial had only removed the seal restraining Meiyao's bloodline, but that had somehow also released Meiyao's heavenly affinity. Meiyao's and Daojue's circumstances weren't exactly identical; the seal on Meiyao's bloodline had at least been identified and intentionally broken by Muyeshen. But they were still far too similar.

"What is it?" Jieyuan finally asked.

"What is your actual heavenly affinity?" He already knew the answer. Knew it surer than the weight of gold. But a shiver still went through him as Daojue's eyes changed. Physically changed, turning into a much deeper and richer shade of violet. They'd been fourth-shade violet before. Now they were tenth-shade violet.

"Tenth-order," Daojue said. Jieyuan let out a low, shuddering breath. All sorts of thoughts and emotions rushed through his mind at the confirmation. But more than anything else, one thing was clear. Meiyao and Daojue. Both from local branches of clans that should have had no business whatsoever with their island. Both roughly the same age. Both ending up joining the Gleaming Stone Sect. Both born with six violet skillseeds.

And now, both born with tenth-order heavenly affinity suppressed to fourth-order through unknown means. Jieyuan's suspicions—suspicions that had been born the moment he'd remembered his life as Amyas—had just been confirmed. Unarguably so. No two ways about it. Daojue and Meiyao, and maybe Jieyuan himself as well—they were all part of something much greater. —∞— Closing his eyes, Jieyuan focused his soulsenses on the skillseed in his hand. It was one of Jiahao's skillseeds, the last of the bunch.

He'd already gone through both of Huifen's skillseeds and Jiahao's other one. Just over half an hour had passed since Meiyao had left, and after all of Daojue's revelations—particularly that last one—Jieyuan had decided he needed something to occupy his mind. And he'd really needed the distraction, because it hadn't taken long before it occurred to him that now it was both Daojue and Meiyao who had tenth-order heavenly affinity—while he was still stuck with his fourth-order one.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, there was also that whole business with the dark thing in his soul making him unable to advance any further. He'd first gone through Huifen's holder pouch and checked all of his jadebooks one by one, but he'd found no heavenly hymn in them. There had been a few Orangerealm artifacts, but he'd have Daojue look through them later. All that had been left to do was go over the skillseeds. Eldritch Shadow Authority. The name of the bondskill it contained.

He also got a few other impressions. Conceptual ones. Shadow. Control. Creation. He couldn't really tell any specifics, but it did give him a general idea of what the bondskill was about. Especially given he'd seen it in action. It had to be the bondskill Jiahao had used to create those tentacles out of his shadow. From the other skillseed, Jieyuan had gotten the name Esoteric Shadow Incarnation and the impressions of Shadow, Transformation, and Union.

That confirmed Jieyuan's suspicions that Jiahao's ability to transform his neck into shadows had been a different bondskill. Opening his eyes, Jieyuan considered the skillseed in his hand for a moment. The little orange prism seemed so deceptively inconspicuous, for what it signified. What it contained.

Jieyuan was still at Redrealm, and it'd be a while—but not forever, because there was no way he'd let the dark thing in his soul leave him stuck at Redrealm—before he advanced to Orangerealm, so he didn't need to worry about bonding a new bondskill yet. But it was good to have some options at hand for when the time came, anyway. Huifen's two skillseeds had been Fire-aligned but had given him very different impressions.

Probably because, if Jieyuan was correct, his red one had come from his clan, and the orange one from the Orangerealm inheritance he'd stolen from the Tianzijun Clan. Despite being a Firesoul, Jieyuan found the two Shadow bondskills from Jiahao more interesting. Granted, he had a much better idea of what Jiahao's bondskills did, so it wasn't really fair. Jieyuan put the skill away. He was about to draw the Shifting Sisters—he had something he wanted to test—when the door opened and Meiyao entered the cabin.

She was alone except for Xiaohu, who was lazily wrapped around her neck. The dye was gone from her hair; she must have used her cleanser ring to get rid of it. Jieyuan jumped to his feet, quickly looking her up and down. She seemed fine. Unruffled. No signs of combat. She was holding something in her arms—something long and thin, wrapped in some kind of chromal cloth. Not a shroud; the cloth around the object was much thicker and exquisitely patterned in white and green.

It did do a good enough job hiding whatever it contained from Jieyuan's soulsenses, though. The bundle had the outline of a weapon. A blade. Curious. Jieyuan focused on her expression, and he was surprised to find a subtle smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Her eyes were also bright. She looked excited. With everything that had happened with Qingshi earlier, Jieyuan had thought it'd take a good while before Meiyao's mood recovered.

"Good news?" Jieyuan asked. Meiyao's smile widened. She didn't say anything, though, but rather strode over to the table and set the bundled weapon down. Jieyuan noticed the door close behind her; the Viridian Death cultists were nowhere in sight. Small mercies, that. Daojue had been quietly meditating in the seat opposite Jieyuan's; now he was looking at the weapon on the table. His eyes, Jieyuan noticed, were fourth-shade violet again.

He had told Daojue, after their conversation, that it'd be a good idea if he kept the change in eye color a secret from others, but he hadn't known if Daojue would comply. Good. Jieyuan would rather if Daojue kept his eyes mundane, really. But baby steps. If Daojue had made no effort to hide his violet eyes or name even though he must have known Huifen and Zhuoji might be pursuing him, Jieyuan doubted it'd be easy to get him to hide his heritage altogether.

Daojue had done it in the Absolute Sword Trialworld, but only after Anren had asked; the fact that they'd be meeting Violetsouls from all over had probably played a role, too. Jieyuan joined Meiyao at the table, standing beside her. Xiaohu gave a little yip and stepped off her master's shoulders and onto his. Jieyuan rubbed the little beast under its chin as it curled itself around his neck. Meiyao didn't seem to notice; all of her attention was fixed on the wrapped weapon on the table.

Almost gingerly, she reached over and gently unfolded the chromal cloth. It was a saber. But Jieyuan barely got a glance at its appearance before something jumped at him: he couldn't see it with his soulsenses. He could sense the chromal cloth just fine, but not the saber now out on top of it. And there was no way it was mundane. Both the blade and the handle were green, and not from any material Jieyuan knew.

The handle was textured in a spiral; it looked like dozens of vines neatly wrapped around each other, coiled together. The blade was the same deep, vivid green, but very different: its surface had a crystalline gleam to it, smooth and reflective. It reminded Jieyuan of jade.

"Viridian Rebirth," Meiyao said.

"The heirloom treasure of the Linzushen Clan. Our sole Orangerealm artifact. And the Viridian Death Cult's best-kept secret. Supposedly not even my mother had known about it; it'd been the High Priest's duty to care for it, and Mother had run away from the cult before Tangqiao had the chance to tell her about it."

"Orangerealm?" With the mesmerized way Meiyao had been looking at it, Jieyuan had been hoping for Yellowrealm. It was a beautiful weapon, certainly, but Meiyao already had a ninth-step Orangerealm saber.

"What step? Tenth?"

"Tenth," Meiyao said. She looked up from the saber, meeting his eyes.

"And, more importantly, an ego artifact." Jieyuan's eyes widened. Now that could explain Meiyao's reaction.

"You're sure?"

"I bonded it already," Meiyao said. She reached forward and tenderly wrapped her hand around its handle before lifting it.

"I can feel it. It's—" Meiyao paused, then gave a little chuckle.

"It's enjoying the attention. Oh, it's precious." She trailed her hand along the blade, looking thoroughly enthralled. On Jieyuan's shoulders, Xiaohu gave a little huff. Jieyuan glanced at the little beast; Xiaohu was staring at Meiyao and the saber with her beady little eyes narrowed, her snout wrinkled. Are you jealous, girl? Amused, Jieyuan gave the little beast another rub, and it settled back against him.

"So that's what the cultists wanted with you? To give you the weapon?"

"Yes."

"Where exactly did it come from?" Jieyuan asked.

"Some secret Orangesoul the cult had once?"

"No," Meiyao said.

"It was supposedly born from the Sacred Source itself, back when the cult was still based in Viridian Death City." The Sacred Source. The massive tree in the middle of the Viridian Cradle. The one that had unlocked Meiyao's Divine Nature Resonance bloodgift. The one that had supposedly been born from the corpse of the local Linzushen Clan's founder.

"What are its spiritskills?"

"I don't know," Meiyao said.

"I'm its first master, supposedly. It never bonded anyone before." She looked up at him.

"Help me find out? You're good at figuring things out. We've got until tomorrow." Tomorrow—when Qingshi would be taking them to the Gleamstone Valley to draw out Taishou.

"Sure thing," he said.

"I'll also need your help; there are some things I want to test with Shifting Edge, too." The way Sapphire had regained those vein-like, glowing red lines after drinking Jiahao's blood had given Jieyuan some ideas. He'd been too busy cultivating and then figuring out his Lawgifts to experiment with the Shifting Sisters. Now was the time. Jieyuan had no idea what tomorrow would bring, but they'd sure need every single advantage they could get if they wanted to make it through.

—∞— The Gleamstone Valley was just as wonderfully eerie as Jieyuan remembered it. They were back inside it. Jieyuan, Meiyao, and Daojue. Just like it'd been during the Gleamstone Hunt, all those months ago. Except now they were supposedly the only ones in the entire valley. Jieyuan eyed the tall, crystal trees rising off crystal ground all around them, all unnatural sharp edges, like a facsimile of a forest carved out of crystal. All of it was gleamstone, reflective, a spiral of colors.

Faint, yellow, early morning light shone down from above; the crystalline life captured that light, turned it into an unsettling glimmer. Even after having spent so much time in the Viridian Dome, he found that the Gleamstone Valley was even more unsettling—even though it was supposed to be much less dangerous, considering it only had Redrealm beasts in it. Besides, from what Meiyao had told him, they were unlikely to meet any gleam beasts here; they supposedly steered clear of this particular area.

The most unsettling thing around wasn't the vegetation, though. They were at the edge of a large, expansive clearing, framed by a circle of trees. And in the middle of that clearing was a hole. A fissure in the gleamstone floor, wide and long enough for several people to go through at the same time. From where Jieyuan stood, all he could see were gleamstone walls extending downwards.

The ground around the fissure shone so brightly it nearly hurt the eye; the middle of the clearing had no canopy covering it; sunlight blasted down freely from above, and the crystal ground caught and reflected it in a dizzying explosion of colors. Jieyuan hadn't gotten closer to the fissure to get a better look, and nor would he, if he had any say in the matter. The Gleamstone Maw. Jieyuan had heard about it before, and that morning, before they'd set out, he'd gone over it again with Meiyao.

A hole in the middle of the Gleamstone Valley, leading down to the mysterious Gleamstone Depths. Where all the Liangshibai were drawn to. Where lay, supposedly, the origin of gleamstone. And where the first Liangshibai had supposedly gotten his chromal bloodline from. Much like with the Viridian Dome, the Incandescent Serenity Sect—and supposedly the other neighboring Yellowrealm sects—had sent multiple search parties to investigate it. None had made it back.

It hadn't been long since Qingshi had left; the Orangesoul had dropped by the Viridian Death Cult just after sunrise and flown together with them over to the Gleamstone Valley. Their trip had been uneventful; Qingshi had them land near the center of the valley before, seemingly satisfied, vanishing. Yongyi had come along with them on his own cloudcraft, and he had gone away with the Orangesoul when he left. Meiyao hadn't liked that at all, of course, and even now she still wore a dark expression.

Assuming they all made it out, Yongyi would have quite a lot of work ahead of him to get back into her good graces. All three of them had their weapons out. And for the first time in a very long time, Gleaming End didn't have a shroud wrapped around it. The gleamstone spear was bared to the elements in Daojue's hands, and it looked perfectly at home in their crystalline surroundings.

Jieyuan had also followed Daojue's lead and kept the Shifting Sisters bare, though for different reasons; experimenting with the Shifting Sisters yesterday, he'd found that they needed direct contact to use their new spiritskill. And even if he put a shroud on them, they'd just destroy it to get the blood, just like the last time, with Jiahao. Meiyao, on the other hand, had shrouded Viridian Rebirth, though she'd commented that the saber didn't appreciate being hidden like that.

She had also taken Jieyuan's advice and had refrained from resonating with Xiaohu; Jieyuan wanted to keep that particular ability of hers hidden for now, just in case. Jieyuan took a deep breath. Silence hung thick in the air. All that could be heard was a low, distant keen—a sound that Jieyuan remembered to be common in the Gleamstone Valley, from his last time in it. The wind moving through the crystalline flora. From the Gleamstone Maw, there was nothing. Silence. There was very little for them to do but wait.

Qingshi had given them no other instructions; in fact, Qingshi had been quite clear that they were supposed to do nothing else. Just stay there and wait for Taishou to come out. Meiyao and Daojue suddenly whipped their heads up. Alarmed, Jieyuan did the same, raising the Shifting Sisters on reflex. A figure floated from the sky. Slowly, over the center of the clearing. She wore ruby-red robes, and Jieyuan knew who she was even before he got a good look at her face.

Because in this situation, there was only one woman who could fly on her own power—and whose realm was so high she wouldn't have been caught by Xiaohu's senses. Liangshibai Yunzhu's face came into sight as she maintained her slow descent. It was the same face Jieyuan had seen several times before. Beautiful and angular, the way the Liangshibai always were, all sharp edges. Her eyes, on the other hand, were not the same. The Yunzhu Jieyuan knew had black eyes. Mundane eyes.

Deep and fathomless ones, that unsettled Jieyuan more than the Gleamstone Valley ever could when they were fixed on Daojue, but still mundane. Yunzhu's eyes right now were anything but mundane. They were like crystals seen from above. Liangshibai eyes, with that gemstone pattern. Red. But not red the way Liangshibai eyes sometimes were. Not ruby-red. Yunzhu's eyes were a different sort of red. Crimson. Blood-red. Just like Daojue's eyes had been when the Red Ring transformed him. Just like Tianzijun Juechen's eyes.