Chapter Eighteen: The Lamp of Fire

“You are a disciple of the Ascendant Immortal Sect; what’s wrong with offering incense? If he counts as someone from another sect, then what does that make us?” Xiao Shijing asked in confusion.

“You have a point. After all, within the Ascendant Immortal Sect, you always make the most sense,” Chu Tiange nodded, finding himself with nothing to refute.

Since even the Sect Master’s own nephew said so, Chu Tiange had no reason to refuse further.

With great respect, Chu Tiange offered incense before the three statues of Lu Shiqi, though he felt an indescribable awkwardness inside—as if Lu Shiqi had long since ascended, and he was praying for her blessing before her memorial as if she were a spirit watching from the heavens.

“May Fairy Lu bear witness: today, I, Chu Tiange, a disciple of the Ascendant Immortal Sect, borrow the blessed grounds of Chaoyun Hall. From this day forward, I vow to cultivate diligently!”

When he had finished, Chu Tiange turned to Xiao Shijing and said, “I’ve finished. May I go now?”

“Wait—why did you offer incense to Lu Shiqi?” Xiao Shijing was utterly baffled.

“Didn’t you tell me to honor Fairy Lu and express my gratitude?” Chu Tiange replied.

Xiao Shijing rolled his eyes and pointed behind him. “I meant the Patriarch, not Lu Shiqi.”

Only then did Chu Tiange turn and see, behind the three statues of “Lu Shiqi,” another statue rising up. This one stood only about a foot high, hidden behind the long legs of the other statues—anyone looking from his previous angle would have had a view right up Lu Shiqi’s skirt.

Chu Tiange recognized the statue at once: it was the Patriarch of the Ascendant Immortal Sect, the Immortal Ascendant.

Two thousand years ago, before the Azure Profound Continent was even called that, the Immortal Ascendant left the Sacred Sect to found his own mountain and establish the Ascendant Immortal Sect.

At that time, he was only at the Divine Pill Realm—a common stage in the cultivation world, with tens of thousands at that level. Thus, at its founding, the Ascendant Immortal Sect was a minor, unremarkable school.

In those chaotic times, the Patriarch survived by cunning and craft, forging ties with the elders of the Eight Great Sects, and most crucially, by sheer luck, he accepted several exceptionally gifted disciples. Through their rise, the sect flourished.

Thanks to his disciples, the Patriarch brought the Ascendant Immortal Sect unprecedented glory, earning worldly acclaim.

With Xiao Yicai’s emergence, the Ascendant Immortal Sect was propelled into the ranks of the Nine Great Immortal Sects.

In the millennial review of the Azure Profound Continent, the record reads: “Though the Immortal Ascendant died as a mere Divine Pill cultivator, he was no ordinary one—he had a host of disciples at the Carefree Realm! This is a miracle in the cultivation world, unmatched in the ages.”

Chu Tiange again knelt to offer incense, paying his respects with utmost reverence.

Perhaps the Immortal Ascendant could never have dreamed that, a millennium after his ascension, a peerless genius with immortal bones would appear in his sect.

_____The Blessed Grounds of the Ascendant Immortal Sect.

Here, the spiritual energy was several times richer than the world outside—such an environment would be hard to find even across the Azure Profound Continent.

Chu Tiange stood in the blessed grounds, silently feeling the surging spiritual energy that surrounded him.

With spiritual springs, formation arrays, and an abundance of energy, it was a veritable celestial court. Such handiwork was truly awe-inspiring.

If a disciple of the Immortal Ascendant were to cultivate here for years, their strength would grow at a breathtaking pace, as if reborn.

“With resources like this, Xiao Shijing is still only at the Spirit Gathering Realm? He really is wasting his potential, lost in his obsession with Lu Shiqi,” Chu Tiange muttered in disdain, feeling both contempt and envy toward a man for the first time.

“Still, I suppose not everyone is like me—able to spend a century beside a peerless beauty like Lu Shiqi and remain steadfast, caring only for the world’s people.”

Chu Tiange checked the blessed grounds to ensure there was no surveillance from the Azure Sky Mirror, then sat cross-legged on a meditation mat, exhaled deeply, and took out his remaining four superior spirit stones, three bottles of spirit-gathering liquid, and a single Foundation Establishment Pill.

He intended to break through all four stages of the Spirit Gathering Realm in one month!

He took a bottle of spirit-gathering liquid, poured it into his mouth, then clamped a superior spirit stone between his teeth and struck a match to ignite it.

The spirit-gathering liquid was like fuel, the spirit stone like firewood—when fire met the spirit stone, it blazed fiercely.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Chu Tiange swallowed the burning spirit stone. In moments, his body trembled, his face flushed, sweat beaded on his brow, and he felt as though he were trapped inside a furnace.

“Good heavens—he’s actually swallowing a spirit stone whole.”

Outside, a pair of eyes watched the scene in the blessed grounds, wide with astonishment.

Above Chu Tiange’s head, a tiny black stone hovered. Magnified a hundredfold, it was a triangular, black crystal with a central eye that could rotate three hundred and sixty degrees.

This was the Azure Sky Mirror!

After countless refinements by the Sect Master, it had been iterated for generations—sometimes even a passing fly might be the Azure Sky Mirror in disguise.

Xiao Shijing sat in the secret chamber of Azure Cloud Hall, surrounded by countless surveillance screens. One of them displayed the scene inside the blessed grounds.

Watching Chu Tiange’s reckless actions, Xiao Shijing felt his scalp crawl with dread.

“So this is the legendary immortal bone, able to leap entire realms and suppress all rivals! Truly a chosen one, terrifying to behold!”

That rainy night, Xiao Shijing had witnessed Chu Tiange leap an entire cultivation stage and devastate Ning Wuque, confirming his suspicions and prompting him to send Chu to Filial Son Town.

It was said only one with true immortal destiny could see through the illusions of the underworld and recognize the true nature of the Yin Pearl—and now, seeing this, Xiao Shijing was certain: Chu Tiange possessed the legendary immortal bone!

Such madness could not be found in ordinary men.

Within the blessed grounds, Chu Tiange’s entire body was flushed red, clouds of heat rising from his skin and spreading outward.

The moment the spirit stone entered his stomach, it ignited, burning fiercely.

It transformed within him into pure elemental energy, which his immortal bone absorbed and rapidly refined into spiritual power. The spiritual power coursed through his meridians, tempering flesh and bone, finally converging in his dantian...

At that moment, within his dantian came a thunderous rumble, spiritual power condensing into a miniature thunderball, slowly rotating and exuding an aura of might.

His immortal bone was ignited!

Chu Tiange’s eyes flew open.

He began to circulate the Heaven-Devouring Creation Scripture.

Instantly, the spiritual energy within the entire blessed ground—and within a ten-zhang radius—surged toward Chu Tiange like a tidal wave, pouring into his body, being refined, and fueling the blaze of his immortal bone.

To “ignite the lamp” meant to burn one’s own bones into a beacon.

And this lamp, shining alone in the darkness, would attract all the moths to its light—the brighter the lamp, the more moths would gather.

Here, the spiritual energy was the moths.

But to keep the lamp burning, it required a massive and constant supply of spiritual energy—otherwise, no matter how fiercely it burned, it would soon be extinguished.

Right now, Chu Tiange was enduring excruciating pain.

His skin began to crack, beads of blood seeping out. Every inch was covered in fine fissures, like a spider’s web, flames bursting forth from each one.

“The fire isn’t hot enough!” Chu Tiange grabbed the last two bottles of spirit-gathering liquid and drank them both.

Now, he truly looked deranged—consumed by roaring flames that engulfed his entire body, the blood on his skin vaporizing into mist.

Within the blessed grounds was an ocean of spiritual energy, unclaimed and free for Chu Tiange to command.

He shouted, summoning all the energy to incinerate his immortal bone completely.

The entire blessed ground shook as if beset by a great storm, waves crashing to the sky.

Even the Azure Sky Mirror fell to the ground, unable to record what transpired within.

Time passed. Then, with a thunderous boom—

From his dantian, a shackle seemed to snap, unleashing a terrifying surge of power.

With that, he broke free from the limitations of the Mortal Bone Realm.

Three feet above, the gods bear witness!

Now, he was one with the divine.

In his inner world, a radiant bone spun amid a galaxy, shining with dazzling light that illuminated all directions.

In the outer world, a faint golden light appeared between Chu Tiange’s brows, like a star, brilliant and resplendent, as if a deity had descended to the mortal world.

At last, Chu Tiange had taken a critical step forward.

With this step, he was a true cultivator, able to ascend to the heavens or escape into the earth.

Gradually, his consciousness returned and clarity dawned.

He sucked in a breath at the searing pain.

Taking out a healing pill gifted by Zhao Yiren, he swallowed it and fell into a heavy sleep.

Outside, Xiao Shijing was annoyed.

With the Azure Sky Mirror fallen, he could no longer see what was happening within the blessed grounds.

“If only I’d installed a few more mirrors in there, with no blind spots,” he sighed. “Still, for a mere Spirit Gathering breakthrough to cause such commotion—it’s almost terrifying.”

He could hardly imagine what would have happened if the formation hadn’t sealed off the blessed grounds—what an uproar it would have caused.

Chu Tiange’s breakthrough was nothing short of extraordinary.

Though Xiao Shijing hadn’t witnessed it in person, he could envision how earth-shattering that scene must have been.

Such an immortal bone—perhaps even among the Three Schools’ top prodigies, few could compare.

“It seems the Ascendant Immortal Sect finally has hope of rising to the ranks of a great sect,” Xiao Shijing mused as he left the secret chamber and gazed up at the rare, clear sky above Chaoyun Hall.

The usual mists had vanished—Chu Tiange had devoured all the spiritual energy over Chaoyun Mountain by himself.

“Let me help him once more,” Xiao Shijing said, rising into the blue sky. With a wave of his sleeve, sixteen beams of spiritual light shot out, spanning hundreds of miles, each landing on one of the sixteen peaks of the sect.

“Sixteen Peaks of the Ascendant Immortal Sect, heed my command: summon the spirits of heaven and earth, direct them to Chaoyun Hall!”

At once, heaven and earth trembled, all things stirred.

The sixteen mountains burst into radiant light, weaving together into a vast net that shrouded the sky above the sect, stunning everyone.

“What’s going on? Why is the spiritual energy so turbulent?” A meditating disciple jolted awake.

“It’s coming from Chaoyun Hall!”

“Is it the Sect Master?!”

Amid the radiance, the outlines of the sixteen peaks appeared, each crowned with palaces and towers. Except for Maiden’s Peak, the four main summits, figures soared into the air to witness the sight above Chaoyun Hall.

“Is the Sect Master finally breaking through?”

He had lingered at the peak of the Carefree Realm for centuries, distracted by his hobbies and his so-called “scientific” pursuits, neglecting his cultivation. Was he now returning to his path?

After all, only a breakthrough would require mobilizing the entire sect’s spiritual energy.

“Hurry and record this! Today, the Sect Master of the Ascendant Immortal Sect breaks through—he enters the Divine Crossing Realm! Report this to the Cultivation Alliance!”

Such an event would rock the Azure Profound Continent—the first Divine Crossing expert in the history of the Ascendant Immortal Sect.

Their position would rise above the other eight great sects.

At once, torrents of spiritual energy rushed toward Chaoyun Hall.

Overhead, the sky darkened, sunlight blotted out as if the sect had sunk beneath the sea.

The whole sect was jubilant—musicians and singers among the disciples began to perform, praising the Sect Master.

Within the blessed grounds,

Chu Tiange knew nothing of the events outside.

He seemed to have entered a dream, becoming a fish swimming in the vast ocean.

It was a wondrous sensation—he felt a comfort and ease he had never known, rolling and gliding through the water, relishing the peace and serenity of the sea. All worries seemed to melt away; even the pain in his body was forgotten.

Time passed as he swam for who knew how long, his senses sharpening, feeling every change in temperature, diving ever deeper into the ocean.

In the depths, the water seemed to carry a strange power that soothed his entire being. His flesh, meridians, and veins grew stronger, more vital—some places even seemed to be transforming.

Chu Tiange let out a soft moan.

Suddenly, the water around him surged into his mouth.

Visibly, the fish that was Chu Tiange swelled, growing from a small fish into a fat one, swelling endlessly, while streams of dark, viscous matter were expelled from his body.

Perhaps in the dream, he felt no pain—his body did not burst, but only grew more comfortable, filled with boundless energy.

With his belly distended, Chu Tiange kept swimming—out of the sea and into the sky.

Stars twinkled, scattered across the heavens in mesmerizing splendor, leaving him breathless and intoxicated.

Tiny lights drifted down, falling into the fish’s mouth and dissolving into sweet nectar.

How long he swam, he did not know. At last, exhausted, the fish stopped to rest upon a meteorite, feeling the power surging within.

Time passed, and the fish’s form grew ever more ethereal, dissolving into starlight, becoming an imprint that merged with the meteorite.

Within Chu Tiange’s dantian, a new mark appeared.

There, a translucent Wheel of Fate slowly spun, radiating dazzling starlight like a celestial lamp.

The Four Realms of Spirit Gathering: Ignition, Gathering, Condensation, Foundation.

One long dream—four stages!

Now, Chu Tiange had established his foundation.