Chapter 327: Fire Official’s Sacred Edict! Immortal Opportunity! Southern Ember Sword! Target of All!

At this time, the spiritual energy within the Jade Altar Blissful Land was being absorbed by Li Yanchu.

Following the breathing and guiding method recorded in the

Yellow Court Classic

, he circulated it through his meridians, then drew it down into his sea of qi and dantian. Within him, his Longhu Golden Alchemy Method was gradually condensing step by step.

Beside him, Xu Ruoyun sat quietly, her eyes carrying a hint of a smile. The fact that he could cultivate with full focus right at her side meant that he trusted her, and this trust from Li Yanchu filled her heart with warmth.

She had heard countless flowery words before. The scions of noble clans, those so-called geniuses and refined young lords, were always trying to circle around her. Yet, Xu Ruoyun never spared them a glance.

Li Yanchu fearlessly placed her by his side, and such heroic confidence made her lips curve unconsciously into a smile. After recovering her strength, she no longer cultivated. Instead, she kept her guard up and watched the surroundings intently, voluntarily taking on the role of protector.

However, if she had known that, at this very moment, Li Yanchu carried upon him a five times-enhanced Five-Lightning Talisman for protection, and that he had also brought out his divine wooden token, so that should danger arise, the four great fierce beasts would immediately descend to slaughter his foes, then Xu Ruoyun surely would not have thought of herself as his shield.

At this moment, Li Yanchu’s spirit was tranquil and untroubled, and his spiritual platform was clear and luminous. Both his fleshly body and primordial spirit were steadily strengthening, filling him with a quiet joy.

As for the storms brewing in the outside world, he remained utterly unaware.

Suddenly, a scripture appeared within his mind. And simultaneously, that colossal stone statue of the Daoist cast its gaze down upon the ancient city.

“A inheritance!?” A ripple stirred in his heart.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

In a sudden flash of inspiration, he immediately began to copy down the scripture. The characters grew ever clearer, as if they were vivid and alive, and more and more of them appeared.

Very soon, a complete scripture had been copied out by Li Yanchu almost effortlessly, which surprised him somewhat.

It’s this simple? The scripture is being given away for free?

When he finally finished transcribing the mysterious scripture, he could clearly see its title,

The Fire Official’s Sacred Edict

!

He was a little stunned. An instant later, a surge of pure yang divine fire rose from his forehead. The heavens and earth blazed with crimson radiance, shrouding the entire room. Then, a streak of scarlet divine light shot forth from the massive Daoist stone statue, falling directly onto Li Yanchu’s body.

Yet Li Yanchu’s mind was unawakened and remained immersed in that profound state. He felt himself standing before the Daoist stone statue itself, overlooking the entire ancient city.

Suddenly, the stone Daoist came alive. It transformed into a stern yet awe-inspiring elder Daoist with snow-white hair and beard, towering like a colossus. The old Daoist’s hair and beard flared out, and his eyes blazed with flame.

Then,he turned to Li Yanchu and gave him a gentle smile.

“Young man, you share a fated bond with this old Daoist. Today, I pass on to you the

Fire Official’s Sacred Edict

, and give you a sword, the

Southern Ember Sword!

May you comprehend it swiftly, ascend to the Immortal Dao, and reopen the Heavenly Gate!” The immortal’s gaze was earnest and filled with encouragement.

After speaking, the old Daoist’s figure began to turn illusory, then dissipated like smoke, as though he was ascending to the immortal realm or vanishing into ashes.

With that, Li Yanchu’s consciousness returned. A complete version of the

Fire Official’s Sacred Edict

surfaced in his mind, constantly emanating a mysterious rhythm. At the same time, a surge of immense spiritual energy burst out from within his body, forming a vortex of qi!

The heaven and earth spiritual energy within the ancient city all rushed madly toward him, as if swallowed by a whale. This heaven-and-earth phenomenon that shifted sun and clouds, made Xu Ruoyun, who had been guarding nearby, show a look of astonishment.

“Is this... an immortal’s inheritance!? Could Yanchu be the reincarnation of an immortal? Why else would he so easily obtain an inheritance!?”

Her wide, watery eyes grew even rounder and brimmed with curiosity. At this moment, Li Yanchu looked ethereal and transcendent, and his robes fluttered about him, like a banished immortal descending into the mortal world. He was truly unrivaled in bearing!

A flicker of awe crossed Xu Ruoyun’s beautiful eyes, and her face held a look of admiration. Even a blind man could see that this marquis’s daughter, with her peerless beauty, had already fallen completely.

***

Within a secluded alley in the ancient city, Danyangzi suddenly snapped open his eyes, and killing intent burst forth. He was just a step away; he had been about to finish copying the scripture, but suddenly the scripture vanished. All his efforts were ruined. Even the portions he had copied earlier were completely wiped out, leaving only emptiness in his sea of consciousness!

“Who was it!!! Who stole my chance!?” Danyangzi roared in fury, and the violent surge of qi around him instantly shattered the house into rubble.

It wasn’t just him, the scripture had completely vanished from the seas of consciousness of all those who had been copying the mysterious scripture earlier. No matter how they tried to recall it, they could not remember a single word, as if they had never copied it at all. This was the uniqueness of an immortal’s inheritance!

Countless cultivators felt such pain in their hearts they could hardly breathe, and they started beating their chests and stamping their feet in frustration.

Compared to these people, Danyangzi had truly been only one final step away! In other words, he had schemed tirelessly and was only a single step away from obtaining the immortal inheritance of the Jade Altar. For this, he had plotted painstakingly, going so far as to slay the genius of the Fire Virtue Sect, Ye Hongyun, right in front of everyone’s eyes. He had gone so far, only to have the fruit snatched away at the final, most critical moment.

Who could endure such a thing!?

Thus, his fury exploded outright!

“Who is it!? Get out here!” Danyangzi’s grief and rage knew no bounds!

He immediately stepped onto his white crane. The crane, understanding its master’s intent, let out a shrill cry and spread its wings before soaring into the skies. It rose higher and higher, as he wanted to overlook the entire ancient city, and use the crane’s clairvoyant eyes to find the one who had stolen his opportunity.

As he rose higher and higher, Danyangzi suddenly felt something, and he snapped his head upward. Atop that enormous stone statue of the Daoist, an ancient sword had appeared, and it radiated a dense aura of pure yang divine fire. The ancient sword quivered ceaselessly, as if it were about to soar straight into the heavens.

Seeing this, Danyangzi’s eyes lit up. He could clearly sense the vast, majestic aura contained within that ancient sword. Controlling his immortal crane to fly closer, he formed a hand seal, and a stream of clear qi began to flow around him.

“Suppress!” Danyangzi cast a spell, and that ancient sword, which had just emerged into the world, was immediately bound by an invisible force.

Excitement flickered in his eyes as he stepped forward and grasped the ancient sword. On the blade were engraved several archaic words, “The three wonders of divine craftsmanship, the Southern Flame ignites on its own!”

“The Southern Ember Sword!?”

Seeing this, Danyangzi was overjoyed. His brows unknotted, and a wide smile spread across his face. This was a demon-slaying treasure recorded in Daoist texts. It wa forged from Western true gold and fused with the pure essence of Southern Ming[1] fire.

He clutched the immortal sword tightly to his chest. The moment it touched his hand, he felt a wondrous flame sweep through his body, purifying him once over. This immortal sword could refine the spiritual power within one’s body.

At this time, Danyangzi was elated. And not only that, from this immortal sword, he sensed a terrifyingly vast power sealed within, enough to make the heart tremble.

Unfortunately, it was also bound by a layer of a formidable, mysterious seal. It would require considerable effort to refine the sword. Even if he only wanted to take it away, it would still take some work.

Danyangzi smiled and thought,

With this sword in my hand, the seat of Mount Mao Sect Master will sooner or later fall into my grasp! After I refine this sword, stepping into the Yang Spirit Realm will be no difficult task either!

His smile grew increasingly wide. This young Daoist, who had long cultivated diligently and appeared to shun worldly struggles, in truth harbored boundless ambition. He intended to claim both power and immortal fortune for himself.

***

Meanwhile, in the long alley, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed everywhere, mixed with the rustle of robes cleaving through the air. One after another, prodigies,

jianghu

warriors, monks, Daoists, and heterodox cultivators were all converging on the alley where Li Yanchu and Xu Ruoyun were.

1. The Southern Ming, also known in historiography as the Later Ming, officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China and a series of rump states of the Ming dynasty that came into existence following the Jiashen Incident of 1644. ☜