Unstoppable (4)

The Superior Purple Lightning Fire’s flames engulfed the entire pill furnace, obscuring the scene within and leaving Xiao Lanle’s fate uncertain. Though the surging dark purple flames kept their distance, their scorching heat rolled forward with the air, piercing the skin with a searing pain as if scalded by boiling water. Even a cultivator like herself felt discomfort—let alone a mortal, whose flesh and bones would be reduced to ash in an instant if touched by the fire.

Liang Jingxuan’s cold-blooded decision to kill Xiao Lanle startled Lin Qianshuang. After all, in the original story, the male protagonist had always been lenient toward beauties, and Xiao Lanle had shared a past bond with him. How could he now act with such ruthless finality?

She realized she must hold significant sway in Liang Jingxuan’s heart. Despite her clear deception of him and the possibility of her entanglement with Xiao Lanle, his first instinct was to blame himself, feeling he had wronged her. His hatred targeted only Xiao Lanle, while guilt toward her simmered beneath.

Could this be be a bug unique to a White Moonlight figure?

Lin Qianshuang sealed Liang Jingxuan’s sleep acupoint to prevent mishap before Master Qingyun arrived to confront him. After all, as the world’s male lead, he might still wield unforeseen golden fingers. She then looped several lengths of Mystic Iron Chains around him, binding him tightly from head to toe, before departing with a sigh. Driving her demonic energy upward, she leapt onto the pill furnace’s peak.

The dark purple flames licked at her floating toes. Gazing into the furnace’s narrow, shadowy opening, Lin Qianshuang saw nothing but obscurity within. Only by transforming her essence into a wisp of demonic energy could she enter.

Xiao Lanle has been inside for a long time, but she has the Shark Pearl protecting her body, so she should be fine.

Lin Qianshuang was not in a hurry. At the furnace’s mouth, she used a thread of demonic energy to test for any sealing formations or hidden mechanisms at the entrance, ensuring they wouldn’t become trapped again upon exiting. She then carefully gathered her demonic energy to form a protective barrier around herself before slipping into the pill furnace.

Wave after wave of scorching heat surged through her from the mist, while vengeful spirits wailed and swayed within the Nine Cauldrons. Their blood-curdling echoes sent shivers down one’s spine.

Lin Qianshuang transformed into her true form using her demonic energy. As soon as her feet touched the ground, two spiritual locks as thick as arms plummeted from above, aiming to ensnare her neck. She sidestepped, avoiding their strike. The locks struck the furnace floor, gouging a crater and emitting a sizzling sound like iron scraping against stone. They twisted and writhed with sentience, arching and spinning to attack her limbs.

The spiritual locks, condensed from the furnace’s true energy, were intangible. Lin Qianshuang shattered the chains attempting to bind her limbs, but the fragments reformed instantly where they fell, swirling around her in an unyielding web.

She had a way to break the spiritual locks, but their rapid regeneration meant she’d eventually be ensnared by the chains.

A clear, cool female voice drifted down from above.

“The pill furnace is a righteous path’s magical weapon. All such weapons can dispel demons and subdue monsters. If you don’t wish to be locked and pressed into the black water below—where it melts bones and dissolves skin—restrain your energy. Lift your head and look toward my position. You may climb the hooks suspended along the furnace walls. The black water won’t reach this height for some time.”

Lin Qianshuang recognized Xiao Lanle’s voice, though her tone was colder than usual, almost alien. Without hesitation, she withdrew her cultivation energy, dimming the glow of the Spirit Conversion Stone.

Drawing her spiritual sword, the faint intent of the Floating Sword Technique rippled from its edge. The spiritual locks clinging to her garments dissolved into wisps of white mist, vanishing into the air. The crisis eased.

She exhaled silently, scanning the darkness above before inching upward with her sword. The furnace wall was slick as ice; every step forward slid her halfway back. Black water surged upward, its roiling surface bubbling like acid. Her fear of heights spiked as the corrosive hiss echoed—a sound like flesh dissolving. She dared not look down.

Xiao Lanle sat rigid atop a raised ledge near the furnace’s mouth, her ink-black robes and stern expression leaching the warmth from her normally luminous face. Though her eyes were closed, she’d anticipated Lin’s struggle. With a flick of her hand, she pinched the air, and a rope of coagulated true energy dropped from her fingertips. Its end looped around a hook, dangling precisely before Lin.

Lin Qianshuang’s taut nerves eased. She gripped the rope and climbed upward, glancing at Xiao Lanle. A faint smile touched her lips as she said, a trace of embarrassment coloring her voice, “Junior sister, I’d meant to come down and save you, but now it seems I’ve been rescued by you instead.”

Xiao Lanle’s eyes fluttered open. Her dark gaze, void of emotion, tracked Lin’s every movement—every tug on the rope, every step upward until she stood before her.

The unblinking stare made Lin uneasy. Xiao’s face was a mask of stiffness, her pupils deep and unyielding, yet her attention drifted elsewhere intermittently, as though she were a flawless yet uncanny stone statue.

The pill furnace’s interior was shrouded in darkness, save for the faint glow seeping through the opening Lin had created. The narrow ledge they occupied barely accommodated two sitting bodies. Lin shifted closer to Xiao, her sleeve brushing a pool of blood that seeped from Xiao’s garments, staining her own robes crimson.

A sudden thought spurred Lin to tug Xiao’s sleeve. Her palm met scarlet liquid. Startled, she reached forward to strip away Xiao’s outer robe, discovering it drenched in blood—its fabric corroded and frayed.

“Junior sister, why are you covered in blood?”

Lin Qianshuang grew more uneasy the longer she observed. She pressed her fingers to Xiao Lanle’s heart pulse—no beat stirred beneath her touch, her body cold and still as a corpse.

“Did the Shark Pearl fail to protect you? Have you already died?”

Lin Qianshuang recoiled in shock, her hand retreating from Xiao Lanle’s wrist, only to be seized again by the other woman.

Xiao Lanle gripped her hand, her expression steady as she noted Lin’s panic. Her gaze darkened faintly as she explained, “I was sucked into the pill furnace and plunged into the black waters. My physical form was shattered, but the Shark Pearl, to preserve me, awakened the Glazed Temple Gem within my body. My flesh is only now beginning to regenerate.”

The Glazed Temple Gem?

The Penglai Immortal Sect’s greatest treasure… is sealed inside Xiao Lanle’s body?

Lin Qianshuang’s brow furrowed as a memory surfaced. She recalled infiltrating Xiao Lanle’s memories and witnessing the woman from the extermination case transform the Glazed Temple Gem into a hairpin to adorn Xiao Lanle. However, subsequent memories had been blocked by Xiao Lanle’s own heart demons—perhaps holding clues within.

Xiao Lanle studied Lin Qianshuang’s contemplative expression, releasing her hand before probing her pulse. Her tone carried a faint edge as she spoke: “I’m too weakened to leave this pill furnace. Since you came to rescue me, there is a viable path.”

Lin Qianshuang stared at the faint red glow within Xiao Lanle’s body, her gaze fixed on the other woman’s movements. Something unnerving lingered beneath the surface. “What method?” she asked. “Speak plainly—I’m listening.”

Xiao Lanle compressed her lips, discomfort etched in every line of her face. Her eyes, devoid of emotion, met Lin’s. “I dislike this,” she said flatly, “but… we must practice dual cultivation. It’s the swiftest way.”