Chapter 122

The great dragon blinked, chuckled, estimated the heat, and threw in various spiritual fruits one by one, muttering to himself:

"It's been three whole days and nights. The heat for boiling this human elixir is particularly important. Fortunately, I've been boiling it for so many years, so I'm already well-versed in it."

"This human race is truly ruthless, willing to use such younger generations to refine elixirs. No wonder we have never been able to compete with them. If it weren't for the conflicts of interest and mutual hostility, there would be no place for us to survive."

Touching the sword scar under his scales that had been aching faintly for three hundred years, deep and intense fear surfaced in the great dragon's eyes. He clenched his hand tightly, releasing several strands of pale green light.

"It's been over three hundred years. I have cultivated from the early Zifu stage to the peak of Zifu, yet this wound has never healed... Li Jiangqun..."

A face with a crescent mark on the forehead suddenly appeared before the great dragon. His green vertical pupils shrank suddenly, and he gritted his teeth:

"It's a good thing this person is dead."

Stunned for a moment, the great dragon hurriedly sent the spiritual fruits in his hand into the furnace. Calculating the time, a trace of anticipation appeared in his eyes. Refining elixirs was one of his few hobbies, and this elixir would be one of his most outstanding works.

Gently opening the furnace, the scene of glowing light filling the room and elixir fragrance wafting about that the great dragon had imagined did not appear. He frowned, waved his hand, and an earthy-yellow elixir flew out of the furnace.

The great dragon was full of disbelief, muttering:

"This shouldn't be! It should be snow-white! How could it be like this... Could it be that the medicinal power is too strong, returning to simplicity?!"

With his heart full of doubt, the great dragon shook his head awkwardly. He took out a silver needle, scraped the surface of the elixir lightly, and the silver needle immediately emitted a faint glow.

"It's ruined!"

The great dragon looked annoyed, his heart full of regret, and he asked suspiciously:

"How could it be like this?! This medicinal power is too shallow! If this elixir is sent out, that old ghost Chi Wei will definitely fight me to the death!"

"Hundreds of years have passed, how could I have made such a mistake!"

The great dragon's vertical pupils turned slightly. He took out a box of bright white liquid from his storage bag, hooked his finger, and smeared it on the elixir. From time to time, he took out a dozen kinds of herbs to mix in, and returned it to the furnace to refine for another hour.

Opening the furnace again, glowing light burst forth, and fragrance filled the room. The great dragon looked sullen, thinking to himself:

"Forget it, forget it. If he dies from eating it, he dies. I can only make it look good on the surface! Anyway, if that old ghost fails to break through, he's dead for sure. How could he call someone to find trouble for me? I've already got the goods, let him be!"

So he packed the elixir, leaped out of the pool, and handed it to the green-robed cultivator.

————

Lijing Mountain, backyard.

The cyan-gray magic mirror floated quietly above the stone platform, shrouded in moonlight like smoke and mist, just as quiet and peaceful as it had been for three years. The mirror surface lit up slightly, and the twelve engraved incantations flickered like breathing.

"Finally succeeded."

Lu Jiangxian finished merging the mirror fragments. His spiritual sense swept across the surroundings, divine light flickering on the mirror body, and many insights surged in his heart.

His spiritual sense sank into the mirror. A gray and defeated world appeared before his eyes. Layers of gray mist floated high in the sky, and beneath it was a riddled earth and countless ruined gray-white buildings, with piles of crescent-white rubble toppling over one after another.

"Within the mirror... a world of its own."

This mirror fragment was attached to a small world spanning a thousand miles. In the center was a towering mountain, with countless moon-white building ruins gathered like stars scattered on the mountain, becoming denser toward the foot of the mountain.

Lu Jiangxian's spiritual sense stirred, and rich Taiyin moonlight emerged from thin air, rapidly gathering at the foot of the mountain, condensing into a white-haired man draped in a robe with crescent patterns on the cuffs and collar. He moved his body, and a strong sense of unfamiliarity arose.

A mirror with flowing water light condensed rapidly in front of Lu Jiangxian. Facing this face he hadn't seen in decades, a strong sense of loss emerged. The face was still the same face, only the eye sockets were deeper, and there was a shallow scar on the left cheek.

"Who am I?"

A sense of weightlessness suddenly rushed into his mind. Lu Jiangxian's spiritual sense swept across the entire world like a storm.

He walked step by step along the jade bricks on the mountain. After walking for who knows how long, he climbed to the platform at the highest point.

In the center of the platform grew a huge tree with white leaves, its roots intertwined. Beneath it was only a stone table and a stone chair, with a figure kneeling in the center.

The man was dressed in white, wearing brocade silk jade boots and a jade crown. His features were handsome, and there was a crescent-shaped mark on his brow. He looked up at Lu Jiangxian and said softly:

"Prefecture Master."

Lu Jiangxian's mind went blank, his heart inexplicably complex, but he spoke unconsciously, replying:

"Jiangqun."

The young man in white smiled slightly. Lu Jiangxian's heart was filled with thoughts. He opened his mouth to speak, but the man scattered like flying sand in the wind, leaving only a pale white halo remaining in place.

Lu Jiangxian stared blankly for a moment, not realizing he was already in tears. He stretched out his hazy, white-jade-like arm, took the halo, and his vision brightened, sinking into a shallow dream.

————

"Li Jiangqun!"

Lu Jiangxian sank into Li Jiangqun's memories as he had several times before, standing bowed in a vast, boundless great hall. Beside him was pale white moonlight like smoke and mist, and huge white jade pillars carved with patterns rose on both sides, supporting this overly large hall.

His perspective was always fixed on the complex patterns on the jade bricks on the ground, as if trying to see a flower in them.

"Do you know your crime!"

"Disciple knows his crime!"

Li Jiangqun knelt down lightly and looked up slightly. Only then did Lu Jiangxian see a person sitting upright on the dragon-carved and phoenix-painted white jade seat at the head. Long white hair hung down, extending all the way to the seat. The face was all too familiar—it was Lu Jiangxian himself!

Only, the version of him at the head looked much more mature. When he had died suddenly, he was only in his twenties, but that version of himself looked at least thirty or forty, his expression indifferent, watching Li Jiangqun quietly.

"I will punish you by sending you to the South Bank. Take those clansmen of yours, and don't come back until you have broken through to Zifu!"

"Disciple accepts the punishment!"

Li Jiangqun replied respectfully, and he saw the Lu Jiangxian at the head frown and say gently:

"Emotion does not establish affairs. You are too trusting of others and place too much weight on promises. This leak of information is a small lesson. If you cannot correct this in the future, I fear you will die at the hands of those so-called friends of yours."

"Disciple understands!"

Li Jiangqun nodded, his eyes clear and bright. He looked up at Lu Jiangxian and smiled:

"In this disciple's view, they are all the same. If I cannot be loyal to my friends, how can I let Master rest assured? Since I can deceive my friends, what does it matter if I deceive Master? If I, Li Jiangqun, were the hypocritical type who acts one way to your face and another behind your back, Master would not be at ease entrusting such matters to me."

The Lu Jiangxian at the head shook his head slightly and said softly:

"Qun'er, this world is never just black and white. Murderous villains have loyalty, flowery-tongued merchants have unwavering feelings, high-and-mighty cultivators have slaughterous evil, and lowly commoners have noble friendship. You see things too purely. Although cultivation is twice as effective with half the effort, it is truly too dangerous."

Li Jiangqun was stunned and nodded, not knowing if he had listened. Lu Jiangxian, however, observed the version of himself at the head carefully, wanting to see something familiar in him.

The version of him at the head looked somewhat lonely, appearing particularly cold against the backdrop of the vast hall behind him, and said softly:

"I have founded the Moon Flower Origin Prefecture for so many years now. Look at the people below; none of them look like they are of one prefecture, united in spirit. They are all busy with intrigue. My temperament is lazy, and I was never suited to be the master of this prefecture; I just had to do it."

"The Prefecture Master's cultivation in both arrays and talismans is admired by the world, and holding the magic mirror, few in the world are his match. Yet no one has ever dared to think that way!"

Li Jiangqun hurriedly cupped his hands. The world in Lu Jiangxian's eyes, however, became increasingly blurred; this memory was about to end.

Everything before his eyes faded slowly. Lu Jiangxian stood alone in place, the world around him gray and dark.

His mind was in chaos. Was his twenty-plus years of modern life just a fleeting dream, or was the Master of the Moon Flower Origin Prefecture just a past life in his dream?

He opened his mouth, but Lu Jiangxian found himself all alone, with no one to confide in and nowhere to speak. He was an optimistic person, but the loneliness he had been avoiding for decades finally surged into his heart.

His fingers lifted slightly, wanting to pass through the mirror into the backyard of Lijing Mountain, but great terror rose in his heart. Illusions of lightning, fire, north wind, and more shuttled through his mind. Lu Jiangxian smiled bitterly and muttered:

"At least this prison is much larger."

Unless it ends, Lu Jiangxian will not manifest from the mirror^

(End of chapter)