Chương 92: Chapter 91: SECRETS AND COLORS

It felt like a dream. Jieyuan could scarcely believe it. His fourth-order heavenly affinity had weighed on him from the moment he realized just what it meant, how it'd limit him to never making it past Greenrealm. That had been one of the reasons why he'd decided, all those months ago, to delve deeper into the mysteries of Amyas's memories and Daojue's role in it all.

He'd bet that by getting involved in matters far above him, he might also find a solution to making it past Greensoul. And he'd thought he'd found the solution back in the Absolute Sword Trials. There, he'd managed to get some of his affinities past his heavenly affinity, past fourth-order. That hadn't changed his affinity with the Heavens themselves—he wouldn't be cultivating or pursuing Concepts any farther—but it had made it possible for him to use Bluerealm and Violetrealm heavenly hymns. And now this.

Jieyuan glanced down at his hand and saw that it was trembling. He took a deep, steadying breath, trying to settle his racing heart. He put his thoughts in order as he tried to make sense of the situation. Wracking his brain over how or why his heavenly affinity had changed wouldn't get him anywhere. His case was like Meiyao's and Daojue's; he'd gone through a major event and come out with his heavenly affinity altered to tenth-order.

This was definitely related to the bigger mystery they were part of: to Amyas's memories, to the circumstances that had led to the three of them entering the Gleaming Stone Sect at the same time. He suddenly recalled something else. Beloved by the Heavens. That was how Muyeshen, the Primordial, had referred to him, back in her cave. That hadn't made any sense to him at the time. But if she'd been able to tell, somehow, just what his true heavenly affinity was?

Then a tenth-order heavenly affinity would definitely warrant that description. This made him surer that his affinity had been unlocked rather than increased. All right. Tenth-order heavenly affinity. What does this change for me? One thing immediately came to mind: from now on he'd be cultivating faster. Much faster. The rate at which he harvested chroma wouldn't change; the whole point of using prisms was that the rate at which you extracted chroma from them was independent of heavenly affinity.

And even with tenth-order heavenly affinity, it'd still be faster faster to use prisms than to harvest ambient chroma; he had done some experiments with Meiyao previously to confirm it. On the other hand, both attuning and imbuing chroma would be much faster now. More efficient, too; he'd need significantly fewer prisms per step now. Fewer prisms in general, really. He didn't even need to do the calculations; he'd already done them when he found out Meiyao's heavenly affinity had changed.

If before it took him a month of dedicated cultivation to advance a step, now it'd take him less than two weeks. But that was just a secondary benefit. Despite Jieyuan's efforts to calm himself, he felt his heart racing again as he considered the real implications of his new heavenly affinity. Concept pursuit. He could now pursue Concepts much faster—and raise his affinity with any Concept to tenth-order. Jieyuan recalled something Anren had said back in the Absolute Sword Trials.

How there were three Concepts that would give him a Lawgift if his affinity with them reached seventh-order, even outside the Sword Tower. Pain. Death. Space. A weight settled on his lap, and he looked down to see Xiaohu curling up between his thighs, over the sheets. She raised her little head, peering up at him with her beady green eyes. Almost inquisitive, like she was wondering what had him so worked up.

Smiling, Jieyuan ran his hand through her fur, and the little beast relaxed, purring softly as she lowered her head and got comfortable in his lap. Taking another deep breath, Jieyuan resumed his thoughts. Pain, Death, and Space. Pain, he'd already gotten. He'd reached seventh-order affinity with it still back in the Sword Tower. It hadn't granted him a new Lawgift, not exactly, just allowed him to soulburn safely. But Death and Space were different stories. Especially Death. Death Will Manifestation. Deathwilling.

Daojue had it, even if the other man had yet to use it as far as Jieyuan could tell. Jieyuan, on the other hand, hadn't managed to get it in the Sword Tower, having only managed to raise his Death affinity to fifth-order in the Sword Tower. He'd thought, at the time, it'd be possibly beyond him forever. But now? Now it was well within reach. As long as he pursued Death hard enough, long enough, it'd be his. It looks like my days of avoiding Concept pursuit are over, Jieyuan thought, rather ruefully.

Not having to waste time on Concept pursuit had been one of the reasons why he'd chosen to bond Absolute Will Command, after all. His most precious resource was definitely time. Granted, now that he had tenth-order heavenly affinity, he'd need to spend much less time cultivating, so it wasn't so bad. Death pursuit, though… Jieyuan frowned as he actually considered how he'd go about pursuing Death. It was supposedly one of the simplest Concepts to pursue. You just had to kill. The problem was finding targets.

Sacrifices, really. There was a lot Jieyuan was willing to do to advance, but going on a senseless murder spree didn't make that list. And though he didn't know the exact numbers, he reckoned he'd have to kill a lot of people to get his Death affinity from fifth-order to seventh-order. Jieyuan pursed his lips. Something he'd have to consider some more. Now, what do I know about Space?

Closing his eyes, Jieyuan searched his memories, quickly going through all his talks with Anren, recalling everything she'd told him about the subject. Planesrending, he recalled. He was fairly sure that was the name of Space's Lawgift. Anren hadn't stated it outright, but she'd mentioned it in the same context as soulburning and deathwilling. She hadn't really told him anything about it, though. She'd only shared with him what she knew about deathwilling after he'd picked Death.

He could make some assumptions about what planesrending did, but nothing certain. He also had very little idea how he was supposed to pursue Space. Anren had also mentioned it was one of the hardest Concepts to pursue. Maybe the Ardent Light Sect will have something on it? It was a Yellowrealm sect, after all. That was something he'd have to look into. Jieyuan wasn't too worried, though. At least not at the moment. Concept pursuit was something that took time. Lots and lots of it. Usually years, if not decades.

His absurd heavenly affinity would help, but he should still be looking at months of dedicated pursuit to raise his affinity with any Concept by a single order. And speaking of long-term… There was one other advantage to his new heavenly affinity. Although he wasn't sure, he strongly suspected that Violetrealm wasn't the end. That there were more realms beyond it. His tenth-order heavenly affinity would almost certainly come in handy if he turned out to be right about that.

Jieyuan glanced down at Meiyao, confirming she was still in deep meditation. He'd wait for her to wake up to tell her. He turned his mind to a matter that had been weighing on him for a while now. Feihuan and the Ardent Light Sect. He still meant to take the Yellowsoul up on her offer—just earlier he'd been thinking of what he'd do once they were in the sect—but it wasn't that simple. There were a few things he needed to confirm first. One of them being whether there was any way of masking your heavenly affinity.

This would've already been a problem, given Meiyao's and Daojue's heavenly affinity, and with this latest development, it had only become an even greater issue. Otherwise, Jieyuan reckoned a very delicate conversation with the Yellowsoul would be in order. A conversation that might very well decide his, Daojue's, and Meiyao's futures. —∞—"All right," Feihuan said, taking the seat opposite him. She looked at him expectantly.

"What's the matter?" They'd just arrived in one of the Xiyunfeng Palace's many conference rooms: a drab stone square chamber with nothing in it besides hard, high-backed chairs and a rectangular wooden table. Jieyuan, Meiyao, and Daojue sat across from the Yellowsoul; Jieyuan directly opposite her, Meiyao and Daojue at his sides. Xiaohu was perched on his shoulders. Three days had passed since Jieyuan had killed Zixuan and met Feihuan. Since he had discovered his true heavenly affinity.

A few minutes ago, Feihuan had called him, Meiyao, and Daojue over to tell them everything was in order and that they could finally leave for the Ardent Light Sect. Jieyuan had told her there was something they needed to discuss first, and she'd easily acquiesced. And now here they were. Jieyuan took a breath. The next few moments might be some of the most important ones in his life. He glanced right, at Meiyao, then left, at Daojue.

He'd consulted them both, as well as Maeva, before deciding on this course of action. He'd needed to make sure they were on board with his plan, because he was about to put a lot of things on the line. Meiyao and Daojue weren't looking at him; they both had their eyes on Feihuan. Wary. Attentive. They had ultimately agreed with his plan, but they obviously recognized the risk for what it was. Though Meiyao's attention was on the Yellowsoul, she was holding his right hand. Gripping it tightly, in fact.

She'd already been very tactile before (ever since they'd gotten together, his personal space had become their personal space, really), but ever since they'd reunited in the Xiyunfeng Palace, she had refused to let go of him. He could think of scant few moments these past few days when they hadn't been touching. Though she'd refused to talk about it, he knew she was still processing what had happened with the Liangshibai and Taishou not even a week ago. How she'd lost all her family, one by one.

With Wanxin and Yunzhu having disappeared with Qingshi into the depths, she had nobody else. He suspected that his being abducted by Zixuan right afterward had only made it worse. Xiaohu was also hanging off him more often than not nowadays. He had no idea how to help Meiyao through this besides being there for her; Maeva hadn't been much help, either. For all that his sister had been a genius, the Maeva he could call on was still nothing more than a hallucination of her, a product of his own mind and bondskill.

And the real Maeva had never been that skilled with people, anyway.

"Ah." Across from them, Feihuan sat up straighter, her eyes narrowing, and he focused back on her. The easy nonchalance she so often affected bled off her, a solemn regard replacing her.

"This is a serious matter, then."

"Yes," Jieyuan said.

"You could say that. There's something we'd like to ask of you. We cannot have our affinities measured." He'd checked with Meiyao and Daojue. There was no known way to fool an affinity gauge. The best you could do was test another affinity and pretend it was your heavenly affinity, like how Qingshi had pretended to be a Metalsoul. That simple fact was the reason for all of this. For this conversation. Everything else, they could've hidden or explained away. But not their heavenly affinities.

They'd also tried to replicate the way their heavenly affinities had been previously sealed, but no amount of meditation, soul-searching, or experimenting had produced any results. Feihuan's eyes narrowed further. She looked between the three of them.

"When you say we, you mean the three of you?"

"Yes," Jieyuan said.

"And when you say you cannot, you mean you'd rather not?"

"Yes."

"Hmmm." Feihuan now fixed her gaze on him, staring deeply into his eyes. Her eyes shimmered, like the space in front of them was being warped, the light distorted. He knew what that shimmer was now; he'd asked Feihuan about it two days ago. It was one of her bondskills, Ardent Light Blessing. It formed an almost-sentient, shimmering aura around her. This aura was normally invisible, but it responded to her mental state, reflecting it, especially over the eyes.

"I already know that you're a soulburner, that you've got seventh-order heavenly affinity," Feihuan said slowly, her hawk-like gaze on him, like she was trying to catalog his every reaction.

"And I also know that Meiyao and Daojue here have fourth-order heavenly affinity, from both your own words and information I've gotten from the Mysterious Night House. It can't be that you want to keep your affinities a secret, as I already know them. Unless…" She leaned closer, over the table.

"Unless I don't know them." Jieyuan stared evenly back at her. He wasn't surprised in the least she'd taken the time to investigate them; she'd never left the palace, as far as she knew, but she'd certainly have subordinates she could use to gather information. If anything, he'd have thought less of her if she hadn't looked into them. Feihuan maintained both her position and stare for a few crawling seconds. Then she closed her eyes before rocking back into her chair.

The previous gravitas she'd summoned was lost to the wind as she sighed explosively, dramatically. She crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back in her chair and tipping her head back, face halfway toward the ceiling. She stayed that way for a good while before she gave a slow nod and opened her eyes.

"All right," she said, regarding them again.

"Since you haven't said anything, I won't press, either. I'll admit I'm curious, but I'm a curious person in general. I suspect you raised your affinities with your purported alignments past fourth-order?" It took Jieyuan a moment to understand what she was talking about. She must've thought they had done it like Qingshi, passing another Concept as their alignments. That he wasn't really a Firesoul, nor Meiyao a Woodsoul, nor Daojue a Metalsoul.

And that the reason why they couldn't have their affinities tested was that they must have raised their affinities with Fire, Wood, and Metal. Before Jieyuan could say something, Feihuan continued, as if the answer to her earlier question was a given, "Anyway, I knew from the start there was something up with the three of you, so I can't say I'm too surprised." Daojue and Meiyao both tensed. Jieyuan frowned.

"You knew?"

"Hmmm?" Feihuan squinted her eyes at him.

"Of course. You mean, you don't— Oh, Heavens, you really don't. My dear apprentice-to-be, do you have any idea what the likelihood of a single Redrealm sect recruiting, in the same year, three individuals with fourth-order heavenly affinity? Actually, do you even know how rare a single individual with fourth-order heavenly affinity is?" Jieyuan's frown didn't slip.

"I know it's improbable—""Improbable? It should've been impossible," Feihuan said.

"I've also looked into the Gleaming Stone Sect. It was an exception among exceptions with how often it produced cultivators above second-order. It's a good thing none of them ever showed any interest in leaving their sect, or the Incandescent Serenity Sect would've long surpassed us all. I see being recruited there skewed your perception. I'll give your first lesson as your master and set this straight for you." Feihuan put her hand over the table and lifted one finger.

"One. That's the number of disciples with fourth-order affinity currently in the Ardent Light Sect under thirty years old." She put her other hand over the table and raised two of its fingers." Two. That is the number of disciples with third -order affinity in the sect in that same age range. That's only three disciples with heavenly affinity over second-order we have in your generation." Jieyuan stared at the three raised fingers, uncomprehending.

"That little?"

"Not little," Feihuan corrected him.

"That's average for a thirty -year cycle. Now, the Ardent Light Sect's a Yellowrealm sect. We scout from all the dozens of Orangerealm and Redrealm under us. And two third-orders and one fourth-order are all we could produce. Meanwhile, the Gleaming Stone Sect supposedly had…" She balled her hands back into fists before raising three fingers of her right hand.

"You three, all supposedly fourth-order." She raised two fingers of her other hand.

"Qingshi and Yongyi, two third-orders. All of that, in a single Redrealm sect. The same number of third-orders and four times the number of fourth-orders the Ardent Light Sect has. And that's not considering the absurdity that was the previous generation's Liangshibai Wanxin, with her fifth -order heavenly affinity." Meiyao was gripping his hand even tighter now. She'd almost crushed it at the mention of Yongyi.

She'd made it clear she didn't want to talk about the Liangshibai so soon, so Jieyuan had been avoiding the subject. But Meiyao's face didn't betray any of it, and Feihuan didn't seem to have noticed. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Except," Feihuan continued, "you, Jieyuan, don't have just fourth-order heavenly affinity. Likewise for Qingshi, who managed to hide his true affinity." She looked between Meiyao and Daojue.

"And now, it seems, that also goes for the two of you." Jieyuan was about to speak, but Wanxin cut him off.

"But even by the frankly absurd standards of the Gleaming Stone Sect," she said, "three fourth-orders at once is already unprecedented. So yes, I knew from the start something was up with the three of you. Even more so since I'd already been aware you were a soulburner and that Daojue had bonded Searing Anthem, a Yellowrealm artifact that can normally only be bonded by my clansmen. And also about Daojue and Meiyao here having chromal bloodlines. Do you know how rare a chromal bloodline is?"

Jieyuan had to admit he'd completely lost control over the conversation. But this was good, too; so far, Feihuan had given no indication she meant to move against them, and what she was telling him were things he needed to know. She'd been right; starting out as a cultivator in the Gleaming Stone Sect really had left him with some misguided notions. He wondered how Feihuan would react if she knew his, Meiyao's, and Daojue's true heavenly affinities.

If three fourth-orders were already this big of a deal, then about three tenth- orders? He really had been right to have this conversation with her before they left.

"Terribly rare?" he ventured.

"Our four Yellowrealm islands are rather isolated from the rest of the Greenrealm domain we're part of," Feihuan said.

"And in our little corner of the domain, the only other chromal bloodline I know of is the Miwanxue Bloodline, from the Immaculate Blood Cult. That's out of thousands of sects, Redrealm through Yellowrealm." Jieyuan paid close attention to Meiyao and Daojue. They both grew even more tense at the mention of the Miwanxue. Especially Meiyao; he'd caught her shuddering slightly at the mention of it, a dark look on her face. He'd told her what Zixuan had said about the Miwanxue Clan.

How the Orangesoul had suspected Meiyao was a Miwanxue because of her ability to resonate with a beast. Meiyao had also made the connection between that and Taishou's words about a Miwanxue having been the one to abduct her mother. Meiyao had spent the next few hours in silence. Xiaohu jumped off Meiyao's shoulders and settled around Jieyuan's. The little beast was trembling a little; Jieyuan couldn't help but recall how Xiaohu was attuned to her master's emotions and feelings.

He lifted his free hand, the one Meiyao wasn't holding, to stroke her fur—only to freeze as all he felt was this hollow, phantom itching. And then he realized. Remembered. Rot. His left arm. Or rather, his left stump. It wasn't the first time he'd forgotten about it; he doubted it'd be the last. The day he recovered it couldn't come soon enough; Feihuan had already promised him there'd be a pill waiting for him as soon as they were back in the sect.

"So, yes, I am not surprised you three have secrets," the Yellowsoul said, and his attention snapped back to her.

"I had an idea of what I was getting into when I scouted you, even if it's clear now I underestimated the matter. I'm sure the Incandescent Serenity Sect didn't snatch you three right up for the same reason; they must've been suspicious there was more to you than met the eye." Feihuan nodded at them.

"You want to keep your heavenly affinities a secret? Not a problem. If anyone asks, I'll say I already verified them. Nobody will insist on it. In the first place, I was already planning on having you hide yours, Jieyuan."

"You were?" Jieyuan asked, surprised.

"Yes," she said.

"Before we left, I'd have told you to pretend it was fourth-order. A soulburner, someone with seventh-order heavenly affinity, is too big a matter. I only informed those who needed to know and whom I trusted back in the sect. The other sects—and the Nobles—absolutely cannot learn of it." She was looking serious again, straight-backed, and Jieyuan mirrored her. Something she said had caught his attention. What was this about nobles?

He didn't like the sound of that; the last time he'd gotten caught up in a conflict involving noble clans, it hadn't ended up well for anyone involved.

"Fourth-order affinity is one thing," she said.

"A future Greensoul isn't too much of a threat. The four sects have members who have gone on to join Greenrealm sects, even Bluerealm ones. If a Greensoul or even a Bluesoul tries to throw their weight around here, we can call on their ties to these other Greenrealm and Bluerealm sects to intervene. A Violetsoul, on the other hand?" Feihuan shook her head.

"None of us have any ties to a Violetrealm sect, and even if we had, no such sect would ever take the side of a handful of Yellowrealm sects over a Violetsoul. The worth of a single Violetsoul is just too great. Do you know how many Yellowsouls there are in your average Yellowrealm sect? Less than a hundred. Tens of thousands of Redsouls, hundreds of Orangesouls, but less than a hundred Yellowsouls."

Jieyuan would've been more surprised if Feihuan hadn't mentioned just now how few third-orders the sect currently had. He still hadn't thought the ratio would be this bad, though. And if it was already like this for a Yellowrealm sect…

"It's worse the higher up you go," Feihuan continued, confirming his suspicions.

"A Greenrealm sect won't have more than fifty Greensouls; a Bluerealm sect will have two dozen Bluesouls at most. And a Violetrealm sect? No more than a handful of Violetsouls. Violetsouls are the most precious resource in existence. That, Jieyuan, is how valuable a soulburner is. That is how valuable you, who can reach Violetrealm, are." Jieyuan swallowed thickly. Only now was it dawning upon him just what kind of status he held now. But then he recalled something else, something that gave him pause.

There had been a lot of Violetsouls in the Absolute Sword Trials. There had been a hundred from the Absolute Sword Sect alone. But he couldn't question Feihuan about that without telling her about the Trials.

"I always meant to keep your heavenly affinity a secret," Feihuan continued, "because if our enemies find out about it, they'll do everything in their power to kill you. If you grow to your full potential, if you reach Violetsoul, you'll be untouchable, and the sect that holds your favor will rule over the others absolutely. Your survival is directly tied to the fate of our four sects." Feihuan sighed.

"If anything, I'd have preferred to pass you three's affinities as only third-order, but it's already known that your affinities are fourth-order. Like I said, that's already highly suspicious, but there's little that can be done about it. I also only told those I trusted about the matter of Daojue being able to bond Searing Anthem. That's not as major a matter as a soulburner, but still unusual enough to warrant secrecy. The less attention you three draw, the better." Jieyuan gave a slow nod, taking it all.

He gave it some serious thought. The situation was even worse than he'd originally assumed. But at least it seemed like Feihuan had apparently had had the discretion to keep the two greatest oddities about them—him being a soulburner, Daojue bonding an artifact he had no business bonding—on a need-to-know basis, so it wasn't all bad. Feihuan remained silent, observing him, giving him time to digest all she'd said. Meiyao glanced at him, squeezing his hand. He squeezed back.

"You mentioned something about nobles earlier," Jieyuan eventually said. He wanted to get a clearer idea of the situation first.

"What's that about?" Feihuan winced. Jieyuan wasn't particularly reassured by that reaction.

"Ah, that. I was hoping… No, I guess this is something you should know before we get into it," Feihuan said, suddenly looking rather uncomfortable.

"There are two factions in the Ardent Light Sect, the Royalists and the New Nobility. These are not official factions, even though they might as well be. The Royalists are the royal clan, the Yaojianhui—my clan—and one of the noble clans. The New Nobles are the four other noble clans. We are… at odds." Rotting Heavens. Jieyuan didn't even bother biting back his groan. Feihuan looked awfully sheepish for a Yellowsoul. Jieyuan had to keep himself from slamming his head against the table.

He lifted his left hand to his face, to massage his brow—only to remember, again, that half of said arm was still missing. Rot. He forced his focus back to what Feihuan had told them. Royals versus nobles. He'd worried it'd be something like this. Was this rot a problem in every sect or something?

"Our Yellowsouls are split between the two factions," Feihuan said as soon as his eyes were back on her, picking back up her explanation.

"We have one hundred and twelve of them—that's a bit more Yellowsouls than normal Yellowrealm sects because the Silent Saber Sect mostly leaves us alone and doesn't scout from our four islands. Fifty-five are Royalists; fifty are new Nobility. The remaining seven are independent."

"These New Nobles… You said before we also had to keep my identity as a soulburner a secret from them," Jieyuan said.

"If it's revealed that I'm a soulburner, what will be their stance on it?"

"I don't know," Feihuan said.

"That's the problem. There's a chance they'd decide to protect you with all their might, focusing on how much of a boon you could be to our sect as a whole. But it's just as likely they'll decide that they'll see you as a threat, that because of you the balance will forever be tipped in the Royalists' favor, and so do everything in their power to eliminate you."

"I see," Jieyuan said dryly.

"I…" Feihuan seemed to hesitate. Then she sighed.

"Look, my earlier offer, that's still on the table."

"What do you mean? What offer?"

"The one I gave you when we met, three days ago," Feihuan said. She looked resolute now. Serious.

"I told you that you had two options. You either joined the Ardent Light Sect as my apprentice, or I arranged for you to be taken to another Greenrealm domain. That's still an option. There'll be some fallout for me, but nothing I can't take." Jieyuan looked into her eyes. No shimmer in them; they were clear, earnest. Honest. She really meant what she said. He glanced at Meiyao and Daojue out of the corner of his eyes; Meiyao glanced over at him, said nothing. Daojue also gave him a silent look. And Jieyuan sighed.

He didn't even have to mind-link them; he knew their thoughts. All the things that Feihuan had just revealed, while important, ultimately changed nothing. He'd already had this talk with Daojue and Meiyao. They had to go to the Immaculate Blood Cult. Daojue, for the Tianzijun that Taishou's mother had supposedly imprisoned. Meiyao, for her abducted mother. And they weren't willing to delay it; they weren't willing to go to another domain, get strong, and then return.

And if they stayed here, their only option was joining the Ardent Light Sect. They'd already drawn the enmity of the Obscuring Shadows Sect by killing Jiahao and Zixuan; the only reason why they were still alive was that Feihuan had shielded them. They also need Orangerealm and Yellowrealm hymns. Joining one of the other local Yellowrealm sects was an option, but Jieyuan felt like he'd lucked out big time with Feihuan. He doubted the other sects would be much better, either.

Besides, he really wanted his left arm back as soon as possible, and Feihuan had already promised a pill that'd regenerate it for him.

"No," Jieyuan said.

"We're joining the Ardent Light Sect." Feihuan's eyes lit up; the shimmer also returned, further lighting up her gaze.

"You're certain?"

"I am," he said. He glanced at Meiyao and Daojue.

"We are." Feihuan grinned now, bright and full, perfect pearly teeth in full display.

"You won't regret it. Honestly, some of the things I said might have sounded bad, but you'll really only have any problems if it gets out you're a soulburner. And I'll make sure that doesn't happen. You'll see, you'll reach the peak of Yellowrealm without any problems." Somehow, Jieyuan doubted that.

"And there's something else," Feihuan continued.

"I'm actually not supposed to share this with anyone, but… Well, I can make an exception for you three. I told you, three days ago, that you joined the sect at the right time, that something big would happen too. Something involving the four local Yellowrealm sects. We've discovered a trialworld. It's a—" Jieyuan froze—and Feihuan cut herself off, her eyes narrowing at him. And Jieyuan realized he'd just given away that he knew what a trialworld was. Something a Redsoul had no business whatsoever knowing.

Something Feihuan had been about to explain before she noticed his reaction.

"Hmmm." Feihuan gave him a long, assessing look before shifting her gaze to Meiyao and Daojue.

"Hmmm." But then she nodded, and that was it.

"Well, then," Feihuan said.

"As I was saying, we found a trialworld. Well, the Immaculate Blood Sect found it, actually, but they've shared it with the other three sects. From what our diviners have been able to ascertain, the trialworld's divided into realms; only a hundred cultivators from each realm can enter, and only under a certain age." Jieyuan leaned forward, very interested. He'd gained a lot from the Absolute Sword Trials. If this new trialworld was anything like it, that wasn't the kind of opportunity they could pass up on.

He glanced at Meiyao and Daojue; both were also looking at Feihuan intently. Sure enough. They might be in a hurry to storm the Immaculate Blood Sect, but they'd need to be sufficiently strong to pull it off. This trialworld could very well be a shortcut to power.

"The Immaculate Blood Sect took half of all the slots for each realm," Feihuan continued.

"We, the Ardent Light Sect, got seventeen for each realm. Out of those, I'll make sure to get you three slots for the Orangerealm Trials." Jieyuan nodded.

"Thank you." Feihuan really was going all the way for them. She seemed like a genuinely good person, but kindness only went so far; he'd have been more suspicious if she hadn't already been clear about her reasons. She wanted the favor of a future Violetsoul.

"What else do you know about the trialworld?"

"I'm not too clear on the details myself," Feihuan admitted.

"I spent years searching for Searing Anthem. I only ever returned to the sect just once in all that time, precisely when the news of the trialworld was shared with us. All I know is that there's still some time before it's opened. But I'll look into it as soon as we're back in the sect, and I'll pass on to you three whatever I find." Jieyuan thanked her again; Feihuan waved it off.

"Anyway, was that it?" she asked.

"Or is there something else?"

"Actually, there is," he said.

"I… would rather delay our return to the sect for another week." He'd spent most of his time these last three days. When he'd soulburned, he'd sacrificed a full prismful of his attuned chroma, leaving him as an eighth-step again. With his tenth-step heavenly affinity, he was cultivating at a frankly absurd rate, but he'd still need a week before he could reach ninth-step again. And he needed to do so before they left for the Ardent Light Sect.

"A week?" Feihuan frowned.

"I don't particularly mind. But why?" Jieyuan considered it, then shrugged.

"It's complicated." Feihuan hummed softly to herself, then shrugged back.

"Fine. A week, then. Anything else?"

"Actually, yes," Jieyuan said.

"I was hoping you could share with us some Orangerealm coalescence hymns." Coalescence hymns. Breakthrough hymns. He'd asked Feihuan about it before, still that first day, but she hadn't been too comfortable sharing them as they hadn't been inducted into the sect yet, and hymns were a big deal to sects. But after their conversation just now, he'd felt like it was worth another shot. At the very least, he needed one he could use before they left the Xiyunfeng Palace. There was something he needed to test.

"That… can be done," Feihuan said, after a moment's hesitation.

"But I only know ones for Fire, Air, and Light. Hymns of other alignments will have to wait until we're back in the sect." Jieyuan frowned; that meant Meiyao and Daojue would have to postpone their breakthroughs. Again, he glanced at the two; Daojue was expressionless, whereas Meiyao was frowning. But she nodded at him. She knew of his concerns. Knew this was important. He wouldn't have been willing to postpone regenerating his arm for a whole week, otherwise.

Turning back to Feihuan, he said, "I'll take Fire, then." —∞— Jieyuan sat on his bed in the room he'd claimed for himself and Meiyao in the Xiyunfeng Palace. Meiyao was sitting across from him, her body bare except for the sheets pooled around her. She held his right hand over her lap. Normally, he wouldn't be able to take his eyes off her, but nothing about this situation was normal. Here and now, Jieyuan only had one all-consuming concern. His breakthrough. Today marked their tenth day in the Xiyunfeng Palace.

He'd finally reached ninth-sign Redsoul again. Had just had his breakthrough, in fact. Just had his little brush with the Second Pain. It'd been insignificant. Something that before would have him anxious, something that before would have consumed all his being, plunged him into a fiery hell, and left his mind raw for hours—it had been barely an inconvenience. He hadn't even sweated. He wouldn't say he was grateful for Zixuan. That'd be a lie among lies.

But he'd also be lying if he said he didn't benefit from his time in the sadistic Orangesoul's tender care. Unending hours under the Third Pain had utterly elevated his tolerance for suffering. That he'd soulburned right afterward and experienced an even greater pain had only added to it. Jieyuan took a deep breath, bracing himself. Not for the pain, though. For disappointment. He'd tried to cultivate after advancing to ninth-step, and he'd found that just like before, he couldn't.

His soul remained a touch darker than it should've been. Soulburning might have burned his soul, but it hadn't burned the dark thing inside it. Though it wasn't like he'd expected to He recalled the four words Feihuan had told him seven days ago. The Fire coalescence hymn she'd gifted him. This was the only avenue he'd found. If this didn't work, then he honestly had no idea what he was supposed to do. He nodded at Meiyao. She squeezed his hand, her eyes green and intent.

And then he chanted, " In ashes it flickers." Something shifted inside him as he held his breath. Inside his soul. And then a burning rush of PAIN washed over him. The Third Pain, raw and frenzied, a fiery inferno blooming inside him, a thousand-thousand explosions of pure agony spreading throughout his being, consuming him. Jieyuan laughed. He howled—with joy. Pure and unbridled joy filled him, even as the Third Pain plunged into his depths of agony. He laughed and laughed in glee.

In utter jubilation, far stronger than the Third Pain could ever hope to be. Because it worked. He was breaking through. Advancing to Orangesoul. He ignored the pain—pain that could've shattered the mind of any other cultivator—and focused on his soul. And he saw it as the red chroma infusing it turned orange. It was happening in a rippling wave of shifting color, the new color spreading outward. As the particles of red chroma merged into one another. Ten to one. Ten red to one orange.

Tenth-density red chroma, turning into first-density orange chroma. Merging. Coalescing. This new orange was darker— far, far darker than first-shade orange should've been—but he didn't care. It was rotting orange, and that was all that mattered. The Third Pain rose and rose, infinite explosions rocking his shivering body, as more and more of his chroma was converted. Until all of it had been transformed. Until not a single red chroma was left in his soul. That was when the Third Pain should've stopped. It didn't.

Jieyuan's mind, sharpened to a razor by the agony, immediately pinpointed the problem. All his chroma was orange now. But he didn't have a full prismful of orange chroma. He had nine-tenths of a prismful, because he'd only had nine prismfuls of red chroma originally. He wasn't a first-step an Orangesoul; a first-step Orangesoul had one full prismful of orange chroma imbued in their soul. Rot. Rot. Out of all the things that could've happened.

Distantly, he could hear Meiyao calling for him, but he couldn't pay her attention right now. What now? Was he supposed to cultivate, draw the remaining chroma into his soul to complete the prismful—something that'd take days —all the while under the Third Pain? Rot rot rot. How was even supposed to do that? Could he use an Orangerealm harvesting hymn, or did he have to use a Redrealm— His soul rippled. Pulsed. Jieyuan's focus latched back onto him. The imbued chroma in his soul was glowing.

Only its light wasn't orange. It was black. A pitch-black radiance, the opposite of light, emanated from his soul, like an aura. Like a mantle. And suddenly red chroma rushed into his soul. Unbidden. It just streamed into his body, penetrating directly into the shell of the soul, like he was imbuing it. Skipping the harvesting and the attuning. The ambient chroma around him turned into a whirlpool, his black-lit soul as the center of it, devouring the chroma.

Barely an instant later, and a full prismful of red chroma had imbued his soul, which was now a halfway between very dark red and very dark orange. Just as that threshold of one prismful was reached, the black glow died down. So did the whirlpool; no more chroma entered his soul. But no more was needed—because the red chroma in it was already turning orange. Coalescing. Moments passed, and that new prismful of red chroma was converted, and the amount of orange chroma imbuing his soul reached exactly one prismful.

The Third Pain vanished, gone in a snap-second. Jieyuan opened his eyes, blinking. Meiyao was staring at him, green eyes wide. Her hands were on his shoulders.

"Jieyuan?" she asked, her eyes frantically looking him over, her voice anxious.

"Are you all right?"

"I… I think so?" he said, a little dazed.

"What— What was that? Your breakthrough took way too long. And just now, the ambient chroma—""I'm not sure," Jieyuan said, trembling a little.

"But I'm fine now." Meiyao narrowed her eyes but otherwise seemed to relax. She settled back onto the bed.

"You've broken through, then?" Xiaohu jumped down from where she'd been perched on the headboard and onto his shoulders, wrapping herself around his neck. Jieyuan absently ran his hand through her fur before taking a deep breath and sending his focus inward. And with his soulsenses, he saw it. His soul. It was orange. A very dark orange, but still orange, which was what mattered. His soulprism had also changed; its size had decreased slightly, and it was no longer ninth-shade red but rather first-shade orange.

He shifted his attention to the Fatebloom Heart and— AWAKE, surged through his bond with Huaxin, and Jieyuan couldn't help but grin. With his soulsenses, he saw that the Fatebloom Heart's spirit was orange now. Not quite first-shade orange—the silvery sheen was still there—but much closer to it than his soul was. And together with its advancement to Orangerealm, Huaxin had also woken up from its slumber. Good news all around. So good to have you back, buddy. Jieyuan opened his eyes.

He was still wrapping his head around just what had happened there at the end of his breakthrough, with the dark glow and the whirlpool of chroma. But whatever it was, he'd done it. He'd broken through. He was an Orangesoul. And just like that, he was back in business.