40: Chapter 40 Someone coming

The next morning. Just as the sun climbed over the courtyard wall, someone arrived at the door.

Three of them. All wore grayish-blue robes with cloud patterns embroidered on the cuffs—the mark of the Xuantian Sect. The leader was in his forties, with a long face and high cheekbones. His eyes weren't large, and his pupils remained fixed when he looked at people—scanning from head to toe as if appraising the price of an object.

Qi Refining Level 7. His aura was very steady. It wasn't an ostentatious steadiness—it was the kind that didn't need to be. Standing there, the Spiritual Qi in the courtyard seemed to lean toward him.

The two behind him were younger. One was tall and thin, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. The other was short and stout, arms crossed over his chest, with thick knuckles—a boxer.

"Lu Chen?"

The leader spoke. His voice wasn't loud, yet the leaves of the old locust tree in the courtyard trembled.

Lu Chen sat on a wooden chair under the locust tree. He didn't stand up. "Elder Fang."

Elder Fang's eye twitched. "You know who I am."

"The Loose Cultivators Alliance isn't the Danding Sect. I have no tea here."

The sword-wielding youth behind Elder Fang took a step forward. Elder Fang raised a hand—not to stop him, but to signal him to wait. The movement was light and natural, as if he were in his own home.

"The Sect Head said you were a smart man." Elder Fang sat down on another wooden chair. The two faced each other, separated by the shadow of the locust tree on the ground. "A smart man should know—when the Xuantian Sect looks for someone, no one can hide."

"I wasn't hiding."

"Then why didn't you stay at the Danding Sect to wait?"

"Because the one you're looking for isn't the Danding Sect. It's me."

Elder Fang looked at him.

A breeze blew past. A few locust leaves fell between the two of them.

"You know why we're looking for you."

"I know." Lu Chen's voice was just as flat. "The matter of Elder Sun. The matter of the Restriction. The matter of the Inverted Tower. And—the matter of Li Xuanyi."

Elder Fang's face didn't change, but the fingers of the sword-wielding youth behind him tightened. The scabbard bumped against his belt, making a soft clack.

"The name Li Xuanyi—" Elder Fang spoke very slowly, "where did you hear it?"

"The fifth floor of the Inverted Tower. He died there."

Elder Fang was silent for a few breaths. It wasn't that he was frightened—he was calculating. Calculating how much of this sentence was true, how much was false, and how much was a bluff.

"The fifth floor," he repeated. "In the three hundred years since the Danding Sect was founded, no one has entered the fifth floor. You're saying you went in."

"It's not just me saying it." Lu Chen pulled something out from his robe.

A fifth finger bone. The black bone did not reflect the sunlight. The deep golden light within the marrow was even clearer in the daylight—it wasn't light, but a liquid-like substance flowing inside the bone.

Elder Fang looked at the bone. He looked for a long time.

"Li Xuanyi's finger bone."

"His remains. He passed away in meditation on the fifth floor. His last words are carved on the wall."

"What last words?"

Lu Chen tucked the finger bone back into his robe. "I will tell you during the negotiations."

Elder Fang smiled. It wasn't because he found it funny—he found it interesting.

"You want to negotiate. A Qi Refining Level 5 Loose Cultivator, negotiating with the Xuantian Sect."

"Qi Refining Level 5 Peak," Lu Chen corrected him. "And I am not a Loose Cultivator. I am of the Danding Sect's Alchemy Hall."

"The Alchemy Hall—"

"You planted Elder Sun in the Danding Sect for thirty years for the sake of the items in the Inverted Tower." Lu Chen cut him off. "But Elder Sun didn't even enter the second floor. You spent thirty years and got zero in return."

Elder Fang did not refute him.

"I went in. All five floors. I know what the Inverted Tower is. I know how Li Xuanyi died. I know the complete truth of the Love-Refining Furnace. And I also know—" Lu Chen stopped.

"Know what?"

"Know why you don't dare enter yourselves."

Elder Fang's eye twitched again.

The courtyard went quiet for a while. The sword-wielding youth's breathing grew slightly heavier—he was suppressing it. The stout boxer hadn't moved from start to finish, but his palms had opened—not clenched into fists, but open. For a boxer, an open palm is more dangerous than a clenched fist.

"Your conditions?" Elder Fang said.

"A recommendation letter. A recommendation letter to join the Hehuan Sect."

Elder Fang stared at him. His cheekbones seemed even higher in the sunlight.

"The Hehuan Sect does not accept Grey Spirit Roots."

"They will with a recommendation letter from the Xuantian Sect. Senior Bai Jie told me."

"Who is Bai Jie?"

"You don't know Senior Bai Jie?" Lu Chen said. "It seems your intelligence isn't that sharp after all."

Elder Fang stood up. As he did, the Spiritual Qi in the courtyard shifted—it didn't lean toward him, but scattered. Like the surface of water being shattered by a stone.

"Tonight. Right here. I will tell you the Xuantian Sect's conditions."

"Not tonight."

Elder Fang turned his head.

"Tomorrow," Lu Chen said. "You need time to relay the news back to the Xuantian Sect. Regarding the fifth floor—you cannot make the decision alone."

Elder Fang looked at him. He looked for a good while.

"You are very smart." This time when he said "smart," his tone was different. It wasn't sarcasm—it was confirmation. Like an appraiser confirming the age of an object. "The Sect Head was right—someone like you is either a friend, or must be dealt with right now."

Dealt with.

The atmosphere in the courtyard changed. The sword-wielding youth drew his sword half an inch—the blade let out a low hum within the scabbard. The stout boxer's palms flipped over, facing downward. Spiritual power gathered in his palms into a tiny vortex—a wind the size of his hand.

Lu Chen didn't move.

Qin Wu walked out of the house. He was bare-chested and still dripping with sweat—he had been practicing boxing inside. He walked up behind Lu Chen and stood still. He didn't speak, but the white line on his wrist was glowing.

Elder Fang looked at Qin Wu, then back at Lu Chen. He looked at both their wrists—two white lines, the same glow.

"Interesting."

He turned and walked out. He stopped at the courtyard gate.

"Tomorrow morning. I will come to hear your bargaining chips."

The three of them left. Their footsteps grew distant in the alleyway.

Qin Wu let out a breath. It wasn't a sigh of relief—he had just been holding it in. "Qi Refining Level 7. If he had made a move..."

"He wouldn't move," Lu Chen said.

"Why?"

"Because he hasn't heard Li Xuanyi's last words yet. The Xuantian Sect has searched for the Inverted Tower for thirty years—now someone has come out alive with the full truth. He won't kill me before he hears it."

"And after he hears it?"

Lu Chen didn't answer.

He looked down at his wrist. The white line was still glowing. From the moment Elder Fang said he would "deal with" him, the line had lit up. It wasn't that he made it glow—it was the line itself. The line had sensed killing intent.

Qin Wu's line was also glowing. Two lines, the same reaction.

"This line—" Qin Wu looked at his wrist, "it can even sense killing intent?"

"I don't know." Lu Chen pulled his sleeve down. "But it's faster than we are."

Senior Bai Jie walked over from the end of the alley. He was still in the same grey robe. He paused at the courtyard gate, glancing in the direction Elder Fang had gone.

"The one named Fang is Fang Jing. Deputy Hall Master of the Xuantian Sect's External Affairs Hall. Qi Refining Level 7 Peak. The two he brought—one is named Song Qi, Qi Refining Level 5, a Sword Cultivator. The other is Iron-Hand Zhang, Qi Refining Level 4, a Body Cultivator."

"Iron-Hand Zhang."

"His surname is Zhang; no one remembers his name anymore. They only remember his hands." Senior Bai Jie walked into the courtyard. "This Fang Jing—he does things very steadily. He won't touch you before hearing Li Xuanyi's last words. But after hearing them—it depends on what you say."

"I'm telling the truth."

"The truth is sometimes more dangerous than lies." Senior Bai Jie sat down. "How much do you plan to tell him?"

"Everything," Lu Chen said. "The five floors of the Inverted Tower. The Love-Refining Furnace. The Ten Finger Bones. The reversal."

Senior Bai Jie glanced at him. "Including the fact that the Grey Spirit Root will shatter after the reversal?"

"Including that."

"Why?"

"Because he'll find out sooner or later. Better he hears it from me than from someone else. A bargaining chip is only a bargaining chip when it's on the table. If you hide things—the other party will think you have even more."

Senior Bai Jie was silent for a while. Then he nodded. Slowly, as if confirming something.

"You are like him."

"Who?"

"My Master," Senior Bai Jie said. "Li Xuanyi was the same—he'd lay all his cards out during a negotiation. The opponent wouldn't know how to play their hand instead."

He stood up. "Tomorrow. I will observe."

"Your reason for being present?"

"The fifth Disciple of Li Xuanyi. Is that reason enough?"

It was enough.

Qin Wu poured a bowl of water and handed it to Lu Chen. Lu Chen took it but didn't drink. He placed it on his knee, looking at his own reflection in the water.

"What are you thinking about?" Qin Wu said.

"I'm thinking about what Fang Jing said just now. 'Either a friend, or must be dealt with right now.'"

"But he didn't make a move, did he?"

"He didn't. But he used the word 'deal with'—not 'kill,' not 'eliminate.' This word proves one thing."

"What?"

"The Xuantian Sect has a specific way of handling Grey Spirit Roots."

Qin Wu's hand stopped in mid-air.

Lu Chen's reflection in the water bowl wavered. It wasn't the water shaking—it was his hand. It wasn't nervousness. His sense of touch was disappearing. He couldn't feel the temperature of the bowl. He couldn't feel the coolness of the water. He couldn't feel the pressure of the bottom of the bowl against his knee.

He looked down at his fingers. They could still move. They could still grip things. But he couldn't feel the grip.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Lu Chen placed the bowl on the ground. "My sense of touch has receded a bit more."

Qin Wu looked at him and said nothing.

tianxuan calendar, taiping Year 19, Spring.

Loose Cultivators Alliance. Senior Bai Jie's stone courtyard.

Fang Jing of the Xuantian Sect has arrived. Negotiations tomorrow.

Lu Chen prepares to lay out all his cards—including the full price of reversing the Love-Refining Furnace and the shattering of the Grey Spirit Root.

Sense of touch continues to vanish. Fingers can still move. But he cannot feel the bowl. Cannot feel the water.

Cannot feel the grip.