Chapter Twenty-Four: The Healer

This time, Feng Zimo was truly anxious, his brow tightly furrowed. After a long silence, he finally spoke.

“Do you think this grand hall might actually be an alchemical furnace?”

Hearing this, Lin Weiyan paused, as if something had just occurred to her.

“This is bad. That old man must be an alchemist. He intends to refine us into medicine.”

No sooner had Lin Weiyan finished speaking than an ancient voice echoed.

“That little fox is right. You are all top-grade ingredients. Be good and wait to be refined into elixirs.”

The voice seemed to come from outside the hall.

“Don’t even think about it! If you have the guts, set us free and fight us openly. If we lose and you refine us, we’ll accept our fate. Using such despicable tricks to turn us into medicine, aren’t you afraid of being ridiculed?” I retorted angrily.

The alchemist chuckled, “Heh, it’s the same for both sides. If you weren’t greedy and didn’t covet my Universal Cauldron, I wouldn’t have awakened. So you brought this upon yourselves—you’ve no one else to blame.”

With that, the alchemist stoked the fire beneath the hall, and the temperature soared severalfold in an instant.

I felt myself about to collapse; everything I saw blurred and doubled. Even though Feng Zimo and Lin Weiyan could use magic to resist, they fared little better than I.

“Master! Do you need help?” Suddenly, the Black Jiao’s voice echoed in my mind.

“Yes… hurry… help…” I replied desperately.

“Heh heh…” The Black Jiao gave a sly laugh. “But Master, you must truly acknowledge me before I can help you.”

I hadn’t expected it to seize this chance to bargain. It was certainly taking advantage of my predicament, but I had no other choice.

“All right! I agree,” I said.

No sooner had the words left my mouth than the Black Jiao, coiled around my pinky like a worm, shot forth. It began tiny as an earthworm but in moments stretched to several meters long.

Though its physical body had been destroyed, the power within its spirit was not to be underestimated. The Black Jiao circled the hall a few times, and the temperature immediately plummeted.

Once the heat subsided, the Black Jiao rammed open the hall doors and flew outside. We rushed after it, only to realize that the grand hall had somehow transformed into a colossal alchemical furnace.

Moreover, the furnace looked very familiar—precisely the Universal Cauldron Feng Zimo had described.

Not far away, the Black Jiao was already tangled in combat with a white-haired elder. Seeing this, the three of us hurried to join the fray.

With our help, the alchemist was quickly defeated. Looking at the injured man collapsed on the ground, I couldn’t help but seethe with the memory of nearly being burned alive. I wanted nothing more than to finish him off.

But then I recalled what he’d said: if not for our own greed, we’d never have suffered this calamity.

“Let him go…” I said quietly.

Feng Zimo, aware of his own guilt, offered no objection. Lin Weiyan glanced at me, signaling that she would let me decide.

I walked to the alchemist, helping him up from the ground.

“This was our fault to begin with. You may go,” I told him.

He brushed aside the white hair from his eyes and looked at me. “Are you sure you want to let me go? You won’t regret it?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t regret it,” I answered.

With that, I turned away. The Black Jiao returned to coil around my pinky.

“Wait…” the alchemist called after us as we walked away.

“Young man, take this,” he said, tossing the Universal Cauldron to me.

What?

“Why give this to me?” I asked.

The alchemist did not explain, only smiled faintly.

“You should leave this place quickly. If you linger any longer, it will be too late.”

With those words, he vanished. Yet his warning lingered in my mind.

I tossed the cauldron to Feng Zimo. “This is yours now—how’s that for generosity?”

Feng Zimo accepted the cauldron, scarcely daring to believe it. “Are you sure you’re giving this to me?”

“If you don’t want it, give it back!” I said.

He hurriedly stashed it away. “Who said I don’t want it? Of course I do.”

“Let’s get out of here. Now you have your treasure, it wasn’t a wasted trip,” I said.

“But… we haven’t found the secret technique,” Feng Zimo replied.

“You’re still thinking about that? Didn’t you hear the alchemist? If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late.”

Lin Weiyan agreed there was no reason to risk ourselves further.

She looked at Feng Zimo. “Then stay if you like. Brother Chuyun, let’s go.” With that, she led me toward the exit of Penglai.

Hearing her call me “Brother Chuyun” for the first time since Elder Jiang’s death stirred something in me.

“Wait for me…” Feng Zimo called from behind.

Soon, we reached the exit, and Feng Zimo caught up.

Turning back toward the immortal island suspended between heaven and earth, it was still as dazzling as ever.

A surge of emotion overwhelmed me—who knew if I would ever return?

We emerged from the great tree, finding ourselves on a lonely islet.

Half the sun had already slipped into the sea, and the fiery afterglow filled half the sky.

“Do you want to go back?” Lin Weiyan, admiring the sunset beside me, asked gently.

I nodded silently, lost in thoughts of our surreal days here.

“Well, what are you waiting for? If you want to leave, let’s go,” Feng Zimo said, strolling over.

“Easy for you to say! We’re surrounded by an endless ocean,” I replied.

“The reason we couldn’t leave before was that Lin Weiyan and I couldn’t fly across these waters,” Feng Zimo explained.

“And now?” I asked.

“We still can’t!” he said.

At that, I couldn’t help but curse. “You’re messing with me, aren’t you?”

If I could beat him, I’d have kicked him right then.

“Enough, let’s be serious,” Lin Weiyan admonished us.

She continued, “What Feng Zimo means is that while we can’t fly out, the Black Jiao can.”

Her words reminded me of what I’d forgotten. I called out to the Black Jiao in my heart, and it soon responded.

“Master, do you need me?” the Black Jiao asked.

“Black Jiao, can you fly us across this vast ocean?” I inquired.

The Black Jiao hesitated briefly. “It should be possible.”

“Don’t tell me ‘should be’—you need to be sure!” I insisted.

“All right, I’ll check,” it replied.

With that, the Black Jiao flew off into the sky.

A few minutes later, it returned.

“Can you do it?” I asked.

It nodded, signaling that there was no problem.

Mounting the Black Jiao, we soared swiftly into the clouds.