Chapter 119

The last time Hua Changxi was kidnapped and brought here for a blood sacrifice, she had been watched by the kidnappers and dared not look around. After being rescued, her father took her away directly, so she had never really seen this underground city.

Exiting the inheritance platform led to an empty plaza.

Hua Changxi looked around the plaza. There was nothing in the plaza except a stone stele standing against the rock wall directly opposite the inheritance platform.

Perhaps because the years were too remote, the characters on the stele were completely blurred, leaving only a few incomplete traces of strokes.

Hua Changxi stared for a long time but couldn't piece together a single character.

In this underground city, apart from the inheritance stone on the platform, only this stele might have any research value.

So she didn't give up immediately.

Recalling the scene when she had fished out the inheritance stone earlier, Hua Changxi condensed flames in her right hand and flung them out. With a *boom*, the stele was engulfed in blazing fire.

Hua Changxi continuously channeled spiritual power into the flames while operating the Vermilion Bird Breathing Method.

Under the burning fire, the stele gradually changed from its original black-gray color to red, looking somewhat like an iron ingot heated red by flames.

When the stele became completely bright red and translucent, Hua Changxi felt the ground trembling beneath her feet.

The tremors grew more intense, accompanied by a rumbling sound, as if something was about to break through the earth.

The ground shook so violently that Hua Changxi could hardly keep her footing and had to keep stepping back.

Amid the violent shaking, Hua Changxi saw the stele rising—no, not rising, but a stele platform was emerging from underground, lifting the stele so that it appeared taller.

Just as Hua Changxi felt her internal spiritual power was nearly exhausted, the stele platform fully revealed itself, and the ground stopped shaking.

The stele platform was pyramid-shaped, with nine tiers of steps, and the stele stood at the topmost level.

When the platform was completely revealed, the stele also changed. Atop the previously bare stele, a lifelike Vermilion Bird now appeared.

Sensing that the stele was suppressing the flames she had produced, Hua Changxi decisively withdrew her spiritual power.

Once the spiritual power was retracted, the stele began to cool. When it turned back to black-gray, several lines of characters gleaming with a red luster appeared on its surface.

The first thing that caught her eye were five large characters — 'Vermilion Bird Inheritance Stele'.

"Before the Vermilion Bird's spirit, I reverently swear. I shall inherit the Vermilion Bird's might and guard the peace of the four directions. With the power of blazing sun, I will cleanse the world of evil; by the radiance of crimson feathers, I will bless all living beings.

...I will protect the peace under heaven, guard the prosperity of the era. This body shall never decay, this resolve shall never waver. Should I break this oath, may both spirit and gods strike me down. The sacred might of the Vermilion Bird bears witness to my original heart."

Hua Changxi looked at the words on the stele and couldn't help reading them aloud. After finishing, she stared in stunned amazement as the characters flew out one by one and sank into the center of her brow.

Only after all the characters had entered did she snap back to reality.

Then, she felt like crying but had no tears!

She had struggled and fussed, unearthed the stele, and then put a restraining curse on herself.

The content of this stele inscription was clearly a Heavenly Dao Oath!

According to her deduction, the normal procedure to obtain the techniques within the Vermilion Bird Inheritance Stone would be to first take an oath before the stele, and then enter the inheritance platform.

She had luckily obtained the techniques first without swearing the oath, essentially exploiting a loophole. But now she had come back to plug that loophole herself.

Hua Changxi stood at the foot of the stele, looked up at the lifelike Vermilion Bird on top, and felt the imposing aura emanating from it. She covered her face and sighed.

Expel evil, protect peace...

She considered herself a righteous person; if she encountered evil, she wouldn't turn a blind eye. But choosing to do so voluntarily and swearing to do so gave her completely different feelings.

Having taken the oath, she felt an added burden of responsibility on her shoulders.

What she yearned for was to live freely, not to be fettered by too many things.

This heavy responsibility came too suddenly; she was completely unprepared.

After standing under the stele for a while, Hua Changxi prepared to leave this heartbreaking place. As she walked toward the exit, she noticed a bright red glow from the inheritance platform side and quickly went over.

Reaching the stone cave entrance, she saw the Vermilion Bird Inheritance Stone, which she had thrown into the lava, now standing steadily at the center of the inheritance platform.

Hua Changxi fell into thought and turned her head to look at the stele.

It was probably because she had just sworn the oath that she could now enter and receive the techniques.

Hua Changxi's eyes flickered. She had already received techniques twice before—could she receive them again?

Thinking this, she stepped onto the transmission platform and placed her hand on the Transmission Stone.

Inside the Transmission Stone, a Vermilion Bird emerged again. But this time, Hua Changxi only took one look at the Vermilion Bird before feeling an overwhelming force pressing down on her like a mountain collapsing or a sea overturning.

"Whoosh~"

Sensing danger, Hua Changxi flew off the transmission platform on her cloud as fast as she could and rushed out through the stone door.

"Thud~"

In the instant she charged out of the stone door, she was still grazed by the immense force emanating from the transmission platform, and then fell flat on the ground, prostrate.

"Boom~"

The stone door closed, blocking that overwhelming force.

Hua Changxi lay on the ground, not moving for a long time. After a good while, she crawled up, grimacing in pain.

As soon as she stood up, she saw many bloody cuts on her body.

Just now, merely being grazed by that immense force had caused her to fall so hard her skin was torn and flesh exposed. If she had been hit directly, she feared she would have been crushed into a pulp.

Hua Changxi endured the pain and took a Recovery Pill. What was going on? The first two times she touched the Transmission Stone, there was no danger!

Recalling the tests she had faced when touching the Transmission Stone before, Hua Changxi thought: "Could it be that the techniques in the Transmission Stone are given in stages? Only when one's cultivation reaches a certain level can they receive the next stage's techniques?"

Moreover, the techniques in the Vermilion Bird Transmission Stone were not easily obtained; one had to undergo a trial before receiving them.

She was now a Nascent Soul cultivator, possessing some strength, and could withstand the trial for receiving the next stage of techniques. However, the trial for the stage after that was beyond her ability to endure.

Hua Changxi looked at the tightly shut stone door, pressed her hand to her chest, and felt her heart pounding violently. Just thinking about that immense force still filled her with lingering fear.

Well, better leave quickly.

Limping, Hua Changxi left the square. Following her memory of how she had come in, she threaded through the underground city for a while. When she reached the end of the tunnel, what she saw was not the original underground entrance but a stone door.

Hua Changxi walked up to the stone door, which opened automatically. She passed through it, and the stone door closed automatically again.

The previously half-collapsed, dilapidated temple was gone, replaced by a magnificent hall.

The hall was very empty. The statue that had only its base remaining was gone. Instead, in the north corner stood a rectangular offering table made of an unrecognizable material, and in the middle of the hall, suspended in midair, was a red jade pendant shaped like a Vermilion Bird.

Looking at the jade pendant, Hua Changxi instinctively reached out her hand, but just as she was about to touch it, she pulled it back.

Even obtaining the techniques from the Vermilion Bird Transmission Stone required making a Heavenly Dao Oath. Who knew what price she would have to pay for taking this jade pendant?

Hua Changxi stared at the jade pendant for a long moment. In the end, her longing for a free life overcame her fear of shouldering responsibilities, and she chose to give up the pendant.

Shifting her gaze away from the jade pendant, she circled the hall once more. Finding nothing else, she walked out of the hall.

"Lingguang Hall!"

Hua Changxi looked at the plaque above the hall's door: "So this wasn't a temple at all—it's actually a Daoist hall."

When she had been captured by cultivators, it was evening. But now it was broad daylight, and from the sky, it seemed nearly noon. Hua Changxi hadn't expected to have spent an entire night in the underground city. She hurriedly headed toward the capital city.

Shortly after she left, several cultivators appeared outside Lingguang Hall.

All of them were from the capital and were fairly familiar with this area. Seeing this suddenly renovated hall, they quickly sent messages back home.

An hour later, a prince, two dukes, and three marquises arrived here one after another.

Hua Changxi rushed as fast as she could and managed to return to the Hua family just before noon. Today was her birthday. Half a month ago, she had been informed that her family would celebrate her birthday. Unexpectedly, she herself had almost been late.

"Mother, I'm back."

Hearing Hua Changxi's voice, Lady Yao quickly walked out of the kitchen and looked at her with affectionate reproach: "Why are you back so late?"

Hua Changxi smiled and stepped forward: "I ran into something unexpectedly. Mother, what delicious food have you made for me?"

Lady Yao looked helpless: "Oh, you. Don't worry, most of today's dishes are your favorites." She then glanced toward the main hall, "Go quickly and greet your grandparents. The food today is all paid for with their silver."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi looked surprised: "Is the sun rising from the west?"

In the past, on her birthday, the family would only provide two eggs. If she wanted anything else, her parents had to spend their own money to buy it.

Lady Yao glared at Hua Changxi: "Watch your mouth. Today is your own birthday. Behave yourself and don't go looking for trouble."

Hua Changxi was displeased: "Mother, trouble always finds me. I hate trouble and never go looking for it, okay?"

Yao retorted, "Aren't you already causing enough trouble at home?"

Hua Changxi corrected her seriously, "That's not causing trouble; I'm rebelling."

Yao looked at her and said, "We're all one family—what are you rebelling against?"

Hua Changxi replied, "I rebel against you forcing me to do things I don't like. I rebel against you imposing your thoughts on me."

Yao didn't want to argue with her. "The more you talk, the more worked up you get." As she spoke, she pushed her toward the main hall. "Go greet your grandparents quickly."

Hua Changxi was well aware of the generation gap between her and her family. Some things just couldn't be reasoned through, and she didn't feel like arguing anymore. She walked into the main hall. "Grandfather, Grandmother, I'm back."

When Grandpa Hua and Grandma Hua saw her enter, their expressions were good. They showed no dissatisfaction with her late return. Grandma Hua even smiled and waved at Hua Changxi.

"Jiuniang, come here quickly. Your Great-Uncle Huatai knew it was your birthday today and specially sent you a birthday gift. The He family also sent you a congratulatory gift. Come see if you like them."

The gifts from the Huatai family and the He family were both placed in the main hall. Hua Changxi walked over to take a look. The gifts were things a young lady would like—clearly both families had carefully chosen them—but her impression of both families was really bad.

In the room, all the younger generation like Hua Liulang were present. Even Hua Silang, Hua Qiniang, and Hua Shierniang, who were cultivating at the Earl Manor, had returned.

Hua Sanlang understood his sister's temperament well. Seeing her silent, he knew she wasn't interested in the gifts from the Huatai and He families. Not wanting to spoil their grandparents' mood, he smiled and walked over.

"Jiuniang can't use all these things by herself. Share some with the other younger sisters."

Hua Changxi glanced at him. She knew exactly why the Huatai family and the He family had sent her gifts. After thinking it over, she decided to express her thoughts directly.

"Grandfather, Grandmother, I don't like the Huatai family or the He family, and I don't want to have too much involvement with them."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room who had been talking fell silent.

On hearing this, Grandma Hua looked at Grandpa Hua.

Grandpa Hua was silent for a long time. "Your Great-Uncle Huatai is, after all, an elder of the clan, and Third Master He is the husband of your Fifth Sister. How can there be no involvement?"

Hua Changxi said, "I have no objection to how you interact with them. I'm only speaking for myself: I don't like them."

Grandpa Hua furrowed his brows, suppressing his anger. "Jiuniang, today you are turning fifteen and becoming an adult. How can an adult act solely on personal preference?"

Hua Changxi replied, "If I had no ability, I'd bear it and it wouldn't matter. But now I have the power to say no, so I don't want to endure anymore."

Hua Liulang and the other younger ones heard her words and cast admiring glances at her. They didn't have that kind of confidence.

Grandpa Hua's brows knit even tighter. "Jiuniang, a person must have magnanimity, or your path will only get narrower."

Hua Changxi disagreed with this. "Grandfather, I think I'm quite magnanimous. As long as people don't cross my bottom line, I won't beat them to death with one blow. But Great-Uncle Huatai and Third Master He—they suck others dry for profit while putting on a face of benefactors. It's truly nauseating."

Grandpa Hua wanted to say something more, but Grandma Hua stopped him.

So the room fell quiet.

Hua Changxi didn't want to ruin everyone's good mood, so she took the initiative to break the silence by asking about everyone's cultivation progress. After learning their approximate cultivation levels, she said,

"Cultivators can't just practice cultivation; they also need to learn skills. They must learn at least one of alchemy, formations, talismans, or artifact refining."

Then, looking at Hua Silang, Hua Qiniang, and Hua Shierniang, she asked, "You three are at the Earl Manor. Have the people there let you study these things?"

Hua Silang shook his head. "Cultivator Fang, who teaches us, only tells us to focus on improving our cultivation."

Hua Changxi said, "When it comes to cultivation, having guidance is good, but you can't blindly follow others. Do any of you have your own thoughts on this?"

Everyone had only been introduced to cultivation for a few months at most, so they still didn't understand many things. When Hua Changxi asked this, they were somewhat at a loss for an answer.

Hua Liulang asked directly, "Jiuniang, what do you think we should study?"

Hua Changxi replied, "Then let me share my opinion, just for your reference. After all, cultivation is your own business. In the end, you have to decide for yourselves what to do."

"Third Brother and Fourth Brother, who have Wood spirit roots, and Eleventh Brother—learning alchemy is the best for you. Of course, talisman-making and formation-setting are also fine."

"Qiniang, you have Fire and Wood spirit roots, so you're most suited to alchemy."

"Shierniang has a Five Elements spirit root, so your cultivation speed will be slower. You can learn any of alchemy, formations, talismans, or artifact refining—it depends on what you like."

"Sixth Brother, with a Fire spirit root, is suited to artifact refining."

"We're one family, so it's best if the skills we choose to learn don't overlap. That way, in the future, we can help each other and share what we have."

When Grandpa Hua heard this last remark, he looked pleased. "That's right. You are one family and must support and help each other. Only then can our family's people go farther and farther."

Ever since he started body tempering, he had clearly felt his body improving day by day. Now that his grandchildren were so accomplished, he seemed to see the day when the Hua family would prosper more and more.