Chapter 83: Divine Lamp

The princes and nobles swarmed into the Medicine Department, and Hua Changxi felt this was not a good sign.

The Medicine Department, after all, was just a technical office, specializing in medical arts; with the nobles coming, could conflict be far behind?

No, conflict had already begun—wasn't there already a death in the Chores Hall?

Yu Gui saw that Hua Changxi was having some trouble moving the screen alone and took the initiative to help: "Let me help you deliver it to the Chores Hall."

Hua Changxi wanted to ask more about the Chores Hall, so she didn't refuse.

Just as they were about to reach the gate of the Chores Hall, Yu Gui suddenly stopped, signaling Hua Changxi to quickly move to the side, and whispered, "The people from the No. 1 Medicine Shop on Second Street are here again."

Hua Changxi looked ahead and saw that the visitor was actually Gu Jinfan. She quickly lowered her head and used the screen to cover most of her body: "Isn't this the young lady from the Duke's Mansion you mentioned before? What is she doing here?"

Yu Gui: "There's a small dilapidated courtyard over by the square, do you know about it?"

Hua Changxi immediately thought of the old courtyard facing the stone tripod on the square and nodded.

Yu Gui: "That's where she's going. A hunchbacked old man named Gu lives in that little broken courtyard. She seems to know him and often visits him."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi's eyes flickered: "Does Miss Gu go there often?"

Yu Gui gave an "mm": "She goes every few days."

Hua Changxi squinted her eyes. The stone tripod seemed to have some connection with the Divine Farmer's Cauldron. Could Gu Jinfan's visits to the old courtyard be related to the stone tripod?

"She's gone, let's go."

After Gu Jinfan's figure disappeared, Yu Gui urged Hua Changxi to move the screen.

Hua Changxi kept this matter in mind and decided to find an opportunity to probe what Gu Jinfan was doing at the old courtyard.

"Brother Yu, thank you for your help. I'll treat you to a meal when I have the chance."

"Sister Changxi, my godfather still wants to cooperate with you in refining medicine..."

"Brother Yu, this time being punished to the Herb Village made me think a lot. I'm just a handyman; cooperating with Eunuch Yu in refining medicine is really too much. I don't want to continue."

Hearing this, Yu Gui looked regretful: "Alright, when my godfather asks about you, I'll tell him."

Hua Changxi smiled again: "Brother Yu, if you need any pills, as long as you prepare the herbs, I can help you refine them."

Yu Gui's face lit up with joy: "Sister Changxi, since you said that, I won't stand on ceremony. Martial artists consume too many pills, and I don't know any alchemists. With you here, it's a huge help to me. I thank you in advance."

Hua Changxi chuckled: "Brother Yu, please don't say that. You've helped me a lot, and I remember it all."

After a few more polite exchanges, the two parted ways.

Hua Changxi pushed the screen back to her quarters, placed it between the two beds, directly splitting the room in two, then hung a cloth curtain at the foot of the beds, creating a private little space.

That evening, when Du Ruo returned to the room and saw what Hua Changxi had done, she frowned but said nothing, washed up, and lay down to sleep.

Hua Changxi was already lying on her bed, starting her cultivation. When she heard the noise, her eyelashes fluttered. Seeing that Du Ruo wasn't making any big commotion to disturb her, she was quite satisfied with her roommate and continued to focus on her cultivation.

In the middle of the night, at the hour of Zi, Hua Changxi suddenly opened her eyes.

In her dantian, the black flame suddenly grew a bit larger, and the tongues of fire flickered in one direction.

"What's going on?"

Hua Changxi looked inward at the direction the black flame was flickering, thought for a moment, quietly got up, walked out of the room, and moved toward that direction.

Soon, she arrived outside a courtyard.

"Isn't this Eunuch Lu's courtyard?"

Hua Changxi frowned at the courtyard, took out an invisibility talisman from Elder Jiang's storage ring and attached it to herself, then leaped up and entered the courtyard. She glanced around and finally stopped at the door of the eastern wing room.

Inside the eastern wing room, Steward Leng was sitting cross-legged, hands palms-up resting on his lower abdomen. Above his palms, a piece of black jade lotus petal was floating clearly.

Seeing the black jade lotus petal, Hua Changxi's eyes lit up.

She had always remembered the matter of finding the Rakshasa Sect, but she knew very little about it and hadn't yet figured out where to start searching.

Seeing that Steward Leng actually had a black jade lotus petal made her overjoyed.

Since Steward Leng could control the black jade lotus petal, there was a high chance he was a member of the Rakshasa Sect.

At the same time, inside the eastern wing room, Steward Leng was focused on his cultivation when he suddenly felt a pain in his palm. Opening his eyes, he saw that the black lotus had ignited with black flames, and his expression instantly changed.

"Who is it? Come out!"

Without her ignition, the Black Jade Lotus would not burn with Black Flame. Since the Black Flame is now burning, it can only be due to some other influence.

Someone is outside the house!

"Creak," the door opened, then with another "creak," the door closed again.

Overseer Leng stared at the empty doorway, her wariness reaching its peak.

The visitor is a cultivator!

"I wonder which fellow Daoist honors my humble abode? Please come out and meet me."

As Overseer Leng spoke, she stood up and was about to put away the Black Jade Lotus petal when, with a "bang," a surge of spiritual power struck, directly knocking the Black Jade Lotus petal to the ground.

"What is the meaning of this, Daoist? Are you trying to snatch my magic artifact?"

The palm struck by the spiritual power felt a splitting pain. Overseer Leng's face turned pale, realizing the intruder's cultivation was far above hers.

"Are you from the Shura Sect?"

A deep voice sounded in the room.

After hearing this, Overseer Leng's eyes flickered. Although the speaker deliberately lowered her voice, it was clearly recognizable as female, and she even detected a hint of familiarity: "Are you from the Chores Hall?"

"Bang~"

A surge of spiritual power shot out, directly knocking Overseer Leng to the ground.

"Answer my questions honestly, and don't force me to kill you."

Overseer Leng suddenly laughed: "As soon as you approached, you ignited the Black Jade Lotus, so it seems the Yin Flame within your body has been lit."

"Bang~"

Seeing that Overseer Leng kept trying to seize control of the conversation, Hua Changxi sent another surge of spiritual power, this time directly making Overseer Leng spit blood.

Wiping the blood from her mouth, not willing to be captured, Overseer Leng glanced at the distant Black Jade Lotus petal, knowing she couldn't take the sect's artifact away. She only wanted to crush her teleportation talisman and escape.

Unexpectedly, as soon as her hand moved, another surge of spiritual power struck.

Overseer Leng cried out in pain. Just then, a pill flew into her mouth. Before she could react, the pill had already gone down her throat.

"What pill did you feed me?"

Feeling her spiritual power sealed within, Overseer Leng finally showed a look of terror.

"I ask, you answer. Don't test my patience any longer."

"You have a Black Jade Lotus petal in your possession, so your position in the Shura Sect must be high. I ask you, what exactly is the Black Jade Lotus petal? And what is the Black Flame burning on it?"

Overseer Leng pursed her lips and said nothing.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi frowned: "I know you're not afraid of death. I won't kill you, but I will cripple your spiritual meridians and cut off your path of cultivation."

Overseer Leng's expression changed drastically: "You wouldn't dare."

Hua Changxi couldn't be bothered with more words; she sent a surge of spiritual power straight at Overseer Leng's dantian.

She had almost finished reading all the books left by Old Daoist Jiang, learning a lot of cultivation common sense, and knew the importance of a cultivator's dantian.

Overseer Leng also knew that once the dantian was destroyed, she could no longer cultivate. Feeling the violent tremor in her dantian's sea of qi, she finally yielded: "I'll talk, I'll talk."

"The Black Jade Lotus is the Shura Sect's guardian artifact. It uses the seven emotions and six desires of humans as fuel, and can ignite the desires within people's hearts."

"The Black Flame, also known as the Yin Flame, looks like fire but is actually human desire."

"As long as a person has desire, the Black Flame cannot be extinguished."

Hua Changxi's brows knitted together. She didn't doubt these words. Comparing the Black Flame to her own emotions, she found that it really seemed to be the case.

Who would have thought, the Black Flame is desire!

"If the Black Flame can't be extinguished, can we only let it grow?"

Overseer Leng: "I told you, the essence of the Black Flame is human desire. If you don't want the Black Flame to grow, then learn to control your desires."

Hua Changxi: "What if one can't control it?"

Steward Leng chuckled. "Then you'll be controlled by desire."

As his words fell, another surge of spiritual force struck her.

Hua Changxi gazed coldly at him. "You're not telling the truth. Your people of the Asura Sect cultivate using Black Jade Lotus Petals. I don't believe everyone can control their desires. You must have another way to solve this problem."

Steward Leng, enduring searing pain, glared resentfully into the air. "I'm not lying to you. The only way to control the Black Flame is indeed to control your own desires. As for how to control your desires, that's for you to figure out yourself."

Hua Changxi still didn't quite believe him. "You'd better not deceive me or hide anything from me, or no matter where you flee, I can kill you."

Steward Leng was startled. "You won't kill me?"

Hua Changxi said, "Didn't you say I need to control my desires? I have no grudge against you. Why would I kill you? But if you've deceived me..."

Steward Leng's eyes flickered. "You mean it? You really won't kill me?"

Hua Changxi said, "The Black Jade Lotus Petal can nourish and expand the Black Flame. You can dawdle a little longer until I can no longer control my killing urge."

Steward Leng hesitated for a moment. "There is another way to control the Black Flame: ignite the Yang Flame inside the body, that is, the White Flame."

Hua Changxi said, "You mean besides the Black Jade Lotus Petal, there is also a White Jade Lotus Petal?"

Steward Leng hummed in affirmation. "The White Jade Lotus Petal is harder to ignite than the Black Jade Lotus Petal. Many people, even if they possess a White Jade Lotus Petal, cannot ignite the Yang Flame."

Hua Changxi said, "Where is your White Jade Lotus Petal?"

Steward Leng shook his head. "I don't have one."

Hua Changxi said, "How could you possibly not have one?"

Steward Leng said, "Of course I don't. In the entire Asura Sect, only the Sect Master and the Yin-Yang Left and Right Envoys have a piece of White Jade Lotus Petal." As he spoke, his eyes shifted. "The factions that possess the most White Jade Lotus Petals are the Imperial Family and the Celestial Master Mansion."

Hua Changxi sent out another surge of spiritual force. "You're lying again. The Black Jade Lotus Petal and White Jade Lotus Petal sound like they appear in pairs. The Asura Sect has Black Jade Lotus Petals, so how could it not have White Jade Lotus Petals?"

Steward Leng felt his body was almost numb with pain and gritted his teeth. "I really haven't lied to you. The Black Jade Lotus Petal and the White Jade Lotus Petal are indeed lotus petals that fell off the Divine Lamp."

"Although the Divine Lamp belongs to the Asura Sect, the Imperial Family coveted it. During the conflict, the Divine Lamp shattered, and both the Black Jade Lotus Petals and the White Jade Lotus Petals scattered everywhere."

"The Asura Sect searched for hundreds of years and only found a limited number of Black Jade Lotus Petals. The White Jade Lotus Petals are almost all in the hands of the Imperial Family, the Celestial Master Mansion, and other factions."

Hua Changxi listened in some confusion, then sorted through Steward Leng's words.

The Asura Sect possessed a Divine Lamp composed of black and white jade lotus petals. This lamp was highly valued by the Imperial Family, who wanted to take it for themselves, resulting in a great war with the Asura Sect.

During the war, the Divine Lamp shattered, and the black and white jade lotus petals scattered everywhere.

The Asura Sect found some, but more ended up in the hands of other factions.

She had no way to tell whether this was true or false, but she did pick up some key points.

"The black and white jade lotus petals can aid cultivation. According to what you're saying, then the Asura Sect, the Imperial Family, the Celestial Master Mansion, and other major factions have had cultivators since a long time ago?"

"I don't know about that."

"Then when did you start cultivating?"

"I only started cultivating last year."

"What about the others in the Asura Sect? When did they start cultivating?"

"As far as I know, most of them started only in the past two years."

"Why did the Asura Sect send you to go undercover in the Chores Hall?"

"My mission was to investigate information about the Black Jade Lotus Petal and the White Jade Lotus Petal."

Steward Leng noticed there was no sound in the room, thought for a moment, and then said, "Actually, igniting the Black Flame isn't entirely a bad thing."

"The Black Flame can stimulate a person's desires. With desires, a person can unleash their potential. When potential is unleashed, sometimes unexpected benefits can be gained."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi thought back to the scene when she was trapped by the Buddha Hand. Had the Black Flame stimulated her fear of death, which then gave birth to a destructive desire to resist the Buddha Hand?

Hua Changxi did not fully believe what Steward Leng said. Seeing that she could extract nothing more from him, she didn't stay any longer.

Steward Leng watched the door open and close. After confirming that the invisible cultivator had left, he heaved a huge sigh of relief. Seeing the Black Jade Lotus Petal left on the ground, he looked surprised.

They didn't kill him and take the treasure. It seemed the Black Flame inside that cultivator must not be very strong yet.

Who could that person be?

The thought that the Chores Hall actually harbored a cultivator whose cultivation was above hers made Steward Leng uneasy. Especially after having just skirted the edge of death, she was even more terrified.

"The Medical Department is becoming more and more bustling these days."

Thinking about the task assigned to her not long ago by the sect, to steal the Rebirth Pill refined by the Medical Department, gave her a headache.

Before tonight, she thought that as a Qi Sea realm cultivator, even if she couldn't swagger through the Medical Department, she could at least move freely in most places.

But as it turned out, the Chores Hall was hiding a cultivator even more powerful than her.

If the Chores Hall was like this, what about the nine streets ahead? Were there even more powerful cultivators waiting for her?

After returning to her residence, Hua Changxi was unable to calm her mind and continue cultivating.

That the black flame could not be extinguished was something she had not anticipated. Even though Steward Leng said the existence of the black flame was not necessarily a bad thing, it still couldn't reassure her.

"A divine lamp that uses the seven emotions and six desires as fuel..."

Hua Changxi looked inward at the black flame beneath her inner core, somewhat troubled.

As things stood, what she could do was, first, control her desires, and second, find a white jade lotus petal to ignite the white flame.

With the white flame, she should be able to neutralize or prevent the growth of the black flame.

But where could she find it?

Hua Changxi thought of the imperial family and the Heavenly Master Mansion that Steward Leng had mentioned. Both of these places were beyond her reach.