txolops Chapter 167 The Sword-Forging Scandal, The Theft of Heavenly Fire
Chapter 167 The Sword-Forging Scandal, The Theft of Heavenly Fire
Morning light pierced through the purple bamboo forest, casting dappled shadows.
Inside Tingquan Pavilion, the spring water gurgles, and the water vapor condenses into a thin mist in the air.
Gu Yan sat cross-legged on the jade bed and slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
His spiritual energy was contained within him, and the Divine Demon Golden Core in his dantian was slowly circulating at a stable frequency.
Last night, he re-analyzed the rune cores of the two paper sword servants, and now he is just waiting to use the Yin-Yang Heavenly Fire of the Cangxuan Sect to melt the accompanying space meteorite iron into it, and then he will be able to complete the task.
Gu Yan glanced at the daylight outside and, realizing it was already noon, stood up, straightened his black Taoist robe, and tucked the piece of iron covered in verdigris into his sleeve.
Light footsteps could be heard outside the courtyard gate.
Gu Yan pushed open the wooden door, about to greet her, when he saw Li Qingge standing outside with a worried expression, hesitating and clutching the hem of her blue dress tightly in her hands.
The quick-witted Gu Yan immediately sensed that something was amiss.
He wiped the smile from his face and quickly stepped forward to meet her.
"Fairy Li, did the breakthrough at the Spirit Cleansing Pool yesterday leave some hidden dangers? Why do you look so pale?"
Li Qingge looked at Gu Yan, her cool eyes filled with apology.
She bowed slightly, clasped her hands in front of her, and performed a very deep Taoist bow.
"Senior Brother Gu, I have failed you. I'm afraid we must cancel today's sword-forging agreement."
Gu Yanxu gently helped her up, his brows furrowed slightly, his tone gentle and calm.
"Please, my fairy, do not stand on ceremony. Forging artifacts is not something that can be rushed. If you are unwell, please rest well. Why blame yourself like this?"
Li Qingge shook her head, her delicate eyebrows furrowed tightly.
"It's not that Qingge is unwell. Rather, something happened at the Cangxuan Sect's sword-forging platform last night. The array core beneath the platform was forcibly broken open, and the Yin-Yang Heavenly Fire used to forge all things disappeared last night."
Upon hearing this, Gu Yan's pupils contracted.
The Yin-Yang Heavenly Fire was stolen?
It should be noted that the Cangxuan Sect is the largest sect in the Eastern Continent and the most powerful and influential sect.
The Sword Forging Platform, a core and important location, is not only surrounded by overlapping protective formations, but also has several Nascent Soul stage elders taking turns to oversee it year-round.
Let alone stealing the most crucial Heavenly Fire Seed, even an outside fly that flies in would be instantly annihilated.
With such defenses, how could the heavenly fire simply disappear for no reason?
Gu Yan quickly started calculating in his mind.
Without the Yin-Yang Heavenly Fire, the piece of companion space meteorite iron in his sleeve is just a piece of scrap iron, impossible to smelt, and his plan to upgrade his paper sword servant will also be in vain.
This is his trump card for survival in the future, and he absolutely cannot let it go like this.
Moreover, the theft of firewood is no small matter.
If it were an invasion by foreign enemies, the Cangxuan Sect's protective formation would not have remained completely unaffected.
The only explanation is that this was a premeditated crime committed by an insider.
Looking at Li Qingge's guilty face, Gu Yan immediately came up with a plan.
He not only wanted to retrieve the Heavenly Fire to complete his own smelting, but also wanted to take this opportunity to further deepen the Cangxuan Sect's debt to him and their dependence on him, in order to seek more benefits.
"Heavenly fire stolen? How is that possible?"
Gu Yan deliberately feigned a shocked expression, then his face turned serious.
Li Qingge bit her lower lip lightly, her voice filled with deep helplessness.
"This is absolutely true. Elder Sun, who was on duty at the sword-forging platform last night, was ambushed and has been unconscious ever since. When the elder on duty found him, the Yin-Yang Heavenly Fire had already been completely drained."
"The Grand Elder of Law Enforcement was furious and ordered the entire Cangxuan Main Peak to be sealed off."
"Now everyone around the Sword Forging Platform is on edge, and all the inner sect elders and true disciples without alibis are being considered suspects."
Li Qingge looked at Gu Yan, her eyes filled with even deeper guilt.
"Senior Brother Gu even gave up a top-grade spiritual treasure to save his fellow cultivators in Dongzhou. Qingge originally wanted to use this opportunity to help Senior Brother Gu forge a waist token as a keepsake, but unexpectedly, this unexpected turn of events occurred. Qingge is truly ashamed to face Senior Brother."
Looking at Li Qingge's self-reproachful expression, Gu Yan sighed inwardly. This fairy, cultivated by the Supreme Forgetfulness Record, could be quite stubborn when she was being inflexible.
He sighed softly, took half a step back, and his expression became extremely solemn and sincere.
"Fairy Li, what do you take Gu Changsheng for? Since we have been through life and death together, and now that the Cangxuan Sect has suddenly encountered a crisis, Changsheng, as a guest, is eating and staying here for free and has received the sect's elixirs as a favor. How can he stand idly by because of his own trivial matter?"
Gu Yan took out the iron piece from his sleeve, threw it into his storage ring without even looking at it, and then stared intently at Li Qingge.
"If the waist token cannot be forged, I can always seek another opportunity later. However, the Heavenly Fire concerns the foundation of the Cangxuan Sect, and I cannot stand idly by. My master once taught me a secret technique for finding the source of Qi, and I have considerable experience in tracking the aura of spiritual objects. If you do not mind my low cultivation level, could you take me to the Sword Forging Platform for a look? Perhaps I can be of some small help."
Li Qingge suddenly raised her head, her eyes sparkling.
At a time when everyone was avoiding the mess of stealing heavenly fire, Gu Yan actually offered to help take the risk.
This courage and sense of responsibility caused a crack to appear once again in the frozen, isolated mountain in Li Qingge's heart.
"I will remember Senior Brother Gu's great kindness. The Sword Forging Platform is now under the control of the Enforcement Hall. With me leading the way, no one will dare to stop us. Please follow me, Senior Brother."
Without further delay, the two transformed into two streaks of light and sped toward the sword-forging platform behind the main peak of Cangxuan.
……
The sword-forging platform of the Cangxuan Sect is built on a solitary peak that has been leveled by a sharp sword.
A massive basalt platform soars into the clouds, with eight bronze pillars, each requiring ten people to encircle, positioned in eight directions, each carved with intricate fire-gathering patterns.
The cliffs on all four sides are barren, with only thick iron chains hundreds of feet long crisscrossing, locking this solitary peak firmly in the center of the mountains.
Normally, the area is filled with the heat of the furnaces, and the red glow can be seen from hundreds of miles away.
Today, however, the entire sword-forging platform is as cold as an ice cellar, lifeless and desolate.
Gu Yan followed Li Qingge down onto the high platform and immediately felt the extremely tense atmosphere around him.
Hundreds of sword cultivators from the Enforcement Hall, dressed in black and wielding unsheathed swords, surrounded the entire sword-forging platform.
Those most arrogant swordsmiths were now all kneeling at the edge of the square, their faces pale, undergoing severe interrogation.
Beside the Bagua Fire Pool in the very center of the high platform, Zhou Chongyue, the Grand Elder of Law Enforcement, paced back and forth with his hands behind his back.
His beard and hair stood on end, and his entire body exuded the invisible pressure of a Nascent Soul expert, causing ripples in the surrounding space under his violent aura.
Several elders who held high positions within the sect stood silently to the side, not daring to even breathe loudly.
"Elder."
Li Qingge stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
Zhou Chongyue stopped and turned around to see Gu Yan behind Li Qingge. Her brows furrowed tightly, and a hint of dissatisfaction and wariness flashed in her eyes.
"Qingge! The sect has suffered a great upheaval, and this place has been designated a forbidden area. What are you doing here with an outer sect disciple? Quickly take your nephew Gu back to Tingquan Pavilion to rest!"
His tone suppressed his anger as much as possible, but it exuded an unquestionable authority.
The theft of the Heavenly Fire is, after all, a family disgrace of the Cangxuan Sect, and must not be made public.
Li Qingge knew the Grand Elder's concerns, but she did not back down; her tone was calm and firm.
"Reporting to the Grand Elder, Senior Brother Gu was deeply concerned about the safety of our sect upon hearing of the theft of the Heavenly Flame. He possesses the Source-Tracing Secret Technique passed down by a Nascent Soul senior and has come specifically to help investigate clues. Qingge believes that as long as the Heavenly Flame can be recovered, every additional person adds to the hope."
Upon hearing the words "Senior Nascent Soul cultivator," Zhou Chongyue's expression softened slightly.
Although he disdained Gu Yan's cultivation level, he was deeply wary of the fictitious Nascent Soul expert behind Gu Yan.
Nowadays, the elders of the Cangxuan Sect are suspicious of each other and no one trusts anyone. Perhaps if an outsider with no vested interests and profound secret techniques were to take a look, they might be able to discover some clues.
Thinking of this, Zhou Chongyue withdrew his oppressive aura and forced a smile at Gu Yan.
"Nephew Gu, your kindness is admirable! On behalf of the Cangxuan Sect, I thank you. However, this villain's methods are extremely clever. He not only bypassed the outer protective formation of the sect, but also used some kind of secret magic treasure to drain the source of energy from the Fire Eye. My fellow disciples and I have investigated for a long time, but we have not found even the slightest trace of spiritual energy left."
Zhou Chongyue pointed to the bottomless Bagua Fire Pool next to him and made a promise in a heavy tone.
"If you have any methods taught by a senior Nascent Soul cultivator, feel free to try them. If you can retrieve the Heavenly Fire, you are free to enter and exit the Cangxuan Sect's treasure vault."
Gu Yan bowed respectfully, his face solemn, and said, "Senior is too kind. I will do my best."
He strode toward the Bagua Fire Pool in the center of the high platform.
As Gu Yan got closer to the fire pool, he could clearly feel the surrounding temperature drop to freezing point.
The place that once gave birth to the Yin-Yang Heavenly Fire, capable of melting all things, is now nothing but desolate ashes.
Gu Yan stood at the edge of the fire pool, closed his eyes, and made a profound gesture as if he were communicating with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. He slowly formed a series of dazzling but useless hand seals in front of his chest.
The disciples and elders of the Law Enforcement Hall around them all held their breath, staring intently at this young prodigy of the Flowing Cloud Sect who was famous throughout the Eastern Continent.
In fact, Gu Yan's mind had completely sunk into his dantian.
He mobilized the fragment of the Taixu Demon-Suppressing Tower that he had refined.
In an instant, a wisp of spatial law power, so blurry that even a peak Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't detect it except for himself, gathered in his right eye.
Gu Yan suddenly opened his eyes.
A hidden, iridescent light flashed deep within his right eye.
Under the gaze of this spatial law, the Bagua Fire Pool, which was originally flawless in the eyes of ordinary people, completely changed its appearance.
Gu Yan saw that directly above the fire pool, there was a barely perceptible point of spatial collapse.
This collapse point was perfectly hidden in the natural spatial fluctuations. If he hadn't mastered the spatial laws of the Taixu Fragment, he would never have been able to discover that the space here had been forcibly folded.
The thieves neither broke through the formation nor entered through the main gate.
He used a special escape talisman of extremely high quality, which even touched upon spatial magic, to directly break through the spatial barrier above the fire pool, instantly descended, drew away the heavenly fire, and then instantly left.
This kind of method is something that ordinary inner sect elders could not do.
This requires a thorough understanding of the operational nodes of the Cangxuan Sect's protective formation in order to accurately pinpoint the weakest point in the spatial defense at the moment the formation changes.
A mole working together!
It was definitely a high-level mole who colluded with a powerful enemy from outside.
Moreover, when this traitor tore through space, he did not completely smooth out the spatial rift, but left behind a wisp of extremely bleak and strange aura.
Gu Yan probed the remaining trace of aura with his divine sense, trying to discern it carefully.
The aura was cold and damp, like the immense, crushing water in the deep sea, with a faint, ink-like fragrance mixed in between.
Heavy water? Ink-wash sword intent?!
A sudden thought flashed through Gu Yan's mind, and the image of Zhou Tianqi from the Guixu Sect appeared in his mind.
The Heavy Water Formation that Zhou Tianqi, the chief of the Guixu Sect, led the way in setting up a few days ago on the barren wasteland had this very feel to it.
Is the Heavenly Fire stolen, and the culprit the Guixu Sect?
Gu Yan's fingers tapped lightly on the ribs of the folding fan, his mind racing.
No, that's not right. The flaw is too obvious.
If the Guixu Sect truly had the ability to bribe the higher-ups of the Cangxuan Sect and steal the Heavenly Fire using such a top-tier spatial escape talisman, then they would surely have erased all traces of it.
How could such an obvious aura of martial arts be left at the crime scene?
This is clearly a premeditated frame-up.
Someone wanted to throw this dirty water on the Guixu Sect, using the Cangxuan Sect to provoke a full-scale bloody war between the two dominant sects in the Eastern Continent.
interesting.
It seems that while the various sects appeared to be on good terms at the cliffside plaza yesterday, there were already undercurrents swirling beneath the surface.
Gu Yan withdrew the spatial laws from his right eye, and the solemn expression on his face gradually faded.
He pretended to be suffering from surging blood and excessive spiritual energy, and almost stumbled.
Seeing this, Li Qingge immediately stepped forward and helped him up.
"Senior Brother Gu, have you found anything?"
Li Qingge asked anxiously.
The elders, including Zhou Chongyue, gathered around, their eyes filled with anticipation.
With Li Qingge's support, Gu Yan steadied himself, took a deep breath, and tapped the folding fan in his palm.
"Elder, my master's secret technique tells me that when the thief stole the Heavenly Fire, he used some kind of spatial array to forcibly break through the void, leaving behind a wisp of turbid spatial energy in the place."
"Spatial turbidity? Nephew Gu, do you mean this thief has mastered the art of spatial travel?"
This left Zhou Chongyue utterly shocked.
According to the legends of the cultivation world in Dongzhou, those who can control the power of space are all at the Nascent Soul stage.
If someone of that caliber were to make a move, let alone a single Heavenly Fire, even if the entire Cangxuan Sect were emptied out, they would have no choice but to silently pray that their Nascent Soul Sect Master would end his wanderings and return to the sect as soon as possible.
Gu Yan shook his head, dispelling Zhou Chongyue's concerns.
"That's not the case. If they had truly mastered spatial techniques, this turbid energy would have dissipated long ago. The thief must have used a one-time high-level space-breaking talisman. However, although the talisman was of high quality, the thief's cultivation was insufficient to fully control it, which is why a flaw was left."
At this point, Gu Yan paused, his tone becoming meaningful.
"Within this lingering turbid air, there is a subtle scent of heavy water mixed with the fragrance of ink. I have sensed this scent on fellow Daoists from the Guixu Sect before."
Upon hearing this, the surrounding elders all gasped in shock.
Guixu Sect? That's the overlord of Dongzhou, on par with Cangxuan Sect.
Zhou Chongyue's wrinkled old face did not immediately erupt with the expected thunderous rage.
He was, after all, an old fox who had lived for nearly a thousand years, with a mind as deep as an abyss.
He stared intently into Gu Yan's eyes, as if trying to find a flaw in the young man's face.
The Guixu Sect stole the Heavenly Fire? This accusation is too great; a single sentence could bring devastation to the entire Eastern Continent.
"Nephew Gu, do you know the weight of your words?"
Zhou Chongyue's voice was terrifyingly low, and a faint killing intent was locked onto Gu Yan.
"The Guixu Sect and my sect have always kept to themselves. They just left yesterday, and today the Heavenly Fire has been stolen. If you misjudge the situation and provoke a war between the two sects, even your Nascent Soul master might not be able to protect you."
Faced with such terrifying pressure, Gu Yan remained unfazed, instead straightening his spine and looking directly into Zhou Chongyue's eyes.
"Chang Sheng is just a junior, and is only responsible for truthfully reporting what he saw through the secret technique. As for the truth, that is naturally up to the Grand Elder to decide."
Gu Yan raised his hand, pointed his folding fan at the spatial ripple that only he could see, and slowly traced it outwards, finally settling on a mountain peak in the southeast of Cangxuan Sect.
"Besides the aura of the Guixu Sect, the lingering turbidity of the space did not escape far away, but instead settled in the southeast of your sect, on that mountain peak covered with red maples."
Upon hearing the words "Red Maple Peak in the Southeast," the expressions of all the Cangxuan Sect elders present changed drastically.
That is the Daoist temple of Wang Tianying, the second elder of the Cangxuan Sect: Luofeng Peak.
Zhou Chongyue's eye twitched violently and uncontrollably.
He glanced at Gu Yan, then looked in the direction the folding fan was pointing towards Luofeng Peak.
A terrifying hypothesis took shape in his mind.
If it really is true that Second Junior Brother Wang Tianying colluded with the Guixu Sect, then the Cangxuan Sect is truly in danger this time.
But what if... what if this is a trap?
Zhou Chongyue took a deep breath, put his natal sword back at his waist, turned around, and gave a stern order to everyone present.
"If even a whisper of what Nephew Gu said today were to leak out, the Enforcement Hall will execute him without mercy! All disciples, remain where you are. Qingge, you and Changsheng will accompany me to Falling Maple Peak. The rest of you, secretly seal off the outer perimeter of Falling Maple Peak. I'm going to check if my good junior brother is still fast asleep."
The team was broken up into smaller groups, without any fanfare or fanfare.
Zhou Chongyue, along with Gu Yan and Li Qingge, transformed into three hidden streaks of light and silently landed on the mountainside of Luofeng Peak.
The red maple leaves covering the mountains and fields burned like fire, and a gentle breeze rustled through them.
The entire mountain was eerily silent.
The outer disciples who were usually responsible for cleaning and patrolling have all disappeared.
Gu Yan followed behind Zhou Chongyue, stepping on the stone steps covered with fallen red leaves. His nose keenly caught a strange scent mixed with the fragrance of grass and trees.
It was a very faint smell of blood.
The three arrived at the main hall of the Second Elder at the top of the mountain.
The heavy vermilion gate was ajar, and there was no sign of any spiritual energy fluctuation inside.
Zhou Chongyue frowned, raised his hand, and shot out a beam of spiritual light to push open the door.
The door creaked and slowly opened to both sides.
After seeing the scene inside the main hall clearly.
Even Zhou Chongyue, a Nascent Soul cultivator who had seen countless life and death, couldn't help but gasp.
Li Qingge's face paled, and she subconsciously gripped the hilt of her sword at her waist.
Gu Yan stood behind the two, his eyes narrowed, his expression solemn.
In the center of the empty hall, a dripping sound could be heard.
Drops of heavy, pitch-black water were slowly dripping down the beams of the dome and hitting the bluestone floor.
And right in the center of that puddle where heavy water had accumulated.
Wang Tianying, the second elder of the Cangxuan Sect, was kneeling on the ground in a strange posture. His head was nowhere to be seen, and the cut on his neck was as smooth as a mirror, without a drop of blood flowing out.
When Gu Yan walked in, he saw that Wang Tianying was tightly clutching a black jade tablet with the words "Gui Xu" (Return to the Void) written on it...
Explore the genres of Xianxia novels; there's bound to be one that suits you.