Deep within the Hall of Returning Silence, a draft of moldy, frigid air squeezed through the crack of the door, swirling the dust on the ground and brushing against Cang Yaochen's tattered monastic robes.
Lin Yuan stood in the shadows of the corridor, clutching a dark jade pendant. The light and shadow from the jade flickered erratically, dancing across Cang Yaochen's neck. Lin Yuan folded his hands behind his back, his voice calm but tinged with a trace of pity.
"Piled here are the 'Life-Wheels' discarded by the Black Hero Sect over the last three thousand years. Within every fragment of these Life-Wheels lies the Turbid Qi produced by a cultivator's corruption in their final moments."
He stepped aside, revealing the fragments of Life-Wheels shrouded in thick, murky Turbid Qi within the hall.
"This is the rot left behind when the Pure Qi collapses. Every month, the sect's rising stars come here to purify this Turbid Qi, but it is far too much. Generation after generation has tried, yet it remains uncleansed. Cang Yaochen, since you have entered my sect, you must prove your worth. Go, and sort through these Life-Wheel fragments inch by inch. Use your power to purify the Turbid Qi on them. Let me see what true ability you possess."
Bang!
The heavy doors slammed shut, cutting off the last sliver of light.
Cang Yaochen walked barefoot across the shattered crystals, the ground making a crisp sha-sha sound beneath him. The place felt like an ill-buried graveyard, the air so thick it was suffocating. It was the Turbid Qi left by the collapse of ten thousand cultivators' foundations—slithery, viscous black snakes that seemed to crawl up his ankles.
He crouched down and picked up a Life-Wheel snapped into three pieces. The fragment was covered in a layer of black grit—Time Sands. Beneath the sands, a black, water-like Turbid Qi oozed out, carrying a nauseating, metallic stench.
[Ding!]
[Mission Triggered: Repair the Life-Wheels in the Hall of Returning Silence.][Detection: Host has refused to seize Jiang Li's energy.] [Warning: Continuous loss of Buddha Power. Realm regression beginning.]
Cang Yaochen looked at the mass of black energy on his fingertips, his expression tranquil. He could sense the Red Sand Seal on Jiang Li, far away in the Northern Peaks, beginning to glow with heat. Closing his eyes to concentrate, he felt the little beggar struggling through the agony of clashing Turbid Qi.
"Has Li'er absorbed the power of the Chaos Jade?"
Amidst his realization, he sat down among the stench-ridden fragments of Life-Wheels suspended in the air and closed his eyes.
The Buddha Power within him was like a dam that had burst, flowing out uncontrollably. As the holy light drained away, a piercing pain shot up his spine. His face turned as white as paper, and his hands trembled from extreme weakness.
Outside, within Lin Yuan's sensing formation, Cang Yaochen's aura—previously undetectable—suddenly erupted into a crushing pressure of magical power that Lin Yuan could barely withstand. Startled, Lin Yuan immediately withdrew the formation and stared toward the door.
Cang Yaochen opened his eyes. With just a single touch of his finger, the once violent and chaotic Turbid Qi seemed to be sorted by an invisible hand, obediently returning to its proper place following the path of his touch.
The Time Sands vanished; the deathly aura faded. The fragments of Life-Wheels that had been soaked in filth began to reveal a faint, clean luster.
Outside the hall.
Lin Yuan leaned against the wall. The jade pendant in his hand suddenly turned scalding hot, searing his skin.
"Who exactly is he?" Lin Yuan stared at the crack in the door, waiting for Cang Yaochen to emerge so he could demand an explanation.
Suddenly, he sensed Cang Yaochen becoming weak—so weak he felt like an ordinary mortal with no cultivation at all. Yet, strangely, the oppressive deathly aura within the hall was disappearing in massive swathes.
It felt as if a mortal, armed only with a wooden stick, had effortlessly tamed a roaring beast into a common house cat.
"How on earth did he do it?"
For the first time, Lin Yuan felt that his own vaunted cultivation was somewhat laughable in the face of this monk.
Northern Peaks, Qiling Pavilion.
Jiang Li, deep in meditation, snapped her eyes open as a trail of blood slid from the corner of her mouth. She clutched her chest, staring intently at the burning Red Sand Seal on her finger. She could vaguely sense that Cang Yaochen had suddenly become dangerously weak.
In that brief moment, she felt that Cang Yaochen could have directly taken her energy to save himself—but he hadn't moved.
"What a strange monk."
Jiang Li rubbed her brow. "I don't even know who he really is. The one who saved me at the temple was clearly him, yet it felt like someone else." The faint, eerie scent of peach blossoms seemed to linger around her, making her shudder involuntarily.
"Regardless of who he is, I need to stay far away from him. He already abandoned me to save himself once, hmph."
"But what did this monk do to me? Why can I sense him? It's as if my energy is available for his use... this won't do."
A fierce glint flashed in Jiang Li's eyes. She flipped out of bed and walked toward the door, taking the little Suanni with her. Right now, she just wanted someone to vent her anger on. If anyone came looking for trouble, she would tear them apart.
The next morning, the doors opened.
Lin Yuan stepped inside and immediately saw Cang Yaochen sitting amidst the shimmering fragments of Life-Wheels. He looked exhausted to the core, with faint traces of blood on his lips. Yet behind him, ten thousand fragments that had once been corroded by Turbid Qi were now suspended quietly in the air, holy and bright.
The Turbid Qi accumulated over a thousand years had been purified in a single night.
Cang Yaochen stood up slowly, his voice somewhat hoarse. "May this monk remain within the sect?"
Lin Yuan looked at the Life-Wheels, speechless for a long time. Finally, he stammered, "You... you can stay."
He suddenly realized that this small temple of the Black Hero Sect would likely be unable to hold this man in the future.
"At the martial arena... that girl you brought back is about to tear the place down," Lin Yuan spoke, his tone carrying a hint of dread that even he hadn't noticed.
Cang Yaochen nodded without a word. Stepping over the crystalline debris on the floor, he slowly walked out. His steps were light, but in Lin Yuan's eyes, that frail, swaying silhouette felt heavier than the entire hall.