Chapter 189 — Blood

The two of them fell into silence for a time, not knowing what to say. After a long while, Jin Pingyue seemed to think of something; she raised her head, about to speak, when suddenly her expression changed—and Ming Li's brows had already knit. He whirled about, and in the blink of an eye darted to the side of Xiao Hui, who was playing nearby, scooped the monkey up in one arm, and then his form rose into the air. Moments later, he had vanished into the darkness above the hall of the Xuanhuo Altar.

Jin Pingyue watched his figure vanish into the darkness in a few swift movements, smiled faintly, and then floated up as well, likewise disappearing into the dark.

A moment later, with a creak, a dull sound echoed through the hall of the Xuanhuo Altar.

The door had been pushed open...

Footsteps sounded at the doorway; by the sound of it, there were quite a few people. Yet a voice of some authority came faintly from among them, and after a few words, all fell silent. Then, through the open door, three figures walked in.

The foremost was none other than Yun Yifeng, Valley Master of the Fenxia Valley. Half a step behind him to the right was his junior brother, Shangguan Lue. And the last, several paces behind the two ahead, was Yun Yifeng's prized disciple, Li Xun.

After the three entered the Xuanhuo Altar, Li Xun, walking last, turned and shut the heavy door. The light was at once shut outside, leaving only that faint dimness flickering slowly within.

Deprived of its former formation spiritual power, the top three levels of the Xuanhuo Altar, once bitterly cold, had long since lost that piercing chill. What remained was only the cold indifference of huge, hard rock. In the darkness, Ming Li and Jin Pingyue silently passed through that pitch-black opening and looked down from the dark.

As though it too knew this time was unlike before, the ever-restless Xiao Hui seemed to have quieted; it lay obediently at its master's side.

Yun Yifeng and Shangguan Lue walked slowly to the center of the Xuanhuo Altar and stood upon the former Eight Ferocious Mystic Fire Formation. Seen from afar, his face too seemed shrouded in shadow.

The three below stood there and were silent for a long while, saying nothing; the atmosphere was faintly strange. And above them, Ming Li, as if sensing something, glanced toward Jin Pingyue—and happened to see that Jin Pingyue was looking at him as well. Both saw in the other's eyes that faint trace of bewilderment.

Yun Yifeng appeared to wear a gloomy expression—and perhaps his mood ought indeed to be so; anyone who saw the foundation he had built over many years reduced to such a state would surely be in foul spirits. Only, at first glance his face seemed expressionless; look a little longer, and it gave one a vague sense of shifting endlessly, a thousand transformations—yet if you observed closely, you would find that his expression had never changed at all. What changed was merely your own mind.

At least during those days on Canglan Mountain, no one in the world would see him wearing such an expression.

For a long while, Yun Yifeng's drifting gaze kept moving over the strange red stone carvings on the floor of the Mystic Fire Altar, from one end to the other, from one image to the next, until at last he walked slowly to the small, blackened stone dais that rose in the center of the carved images, reached out a hand, and gently stroked the stone.

"How long has it been?" Yun Yifeng suddenly spoke, asking in a low voice this abrupt and inexplicable question.

Shangguan Lue stood beside him. His expression showed no surprise at this sudden question from Yun Yifeng; clearly he seemed to understand certain matters well. Yet he showed no inclination to answer. Instead, rather strangely, he turned his head and glanced at Li Xun, who stood three paces behind the two of them.

Li Xun's head was slightly bowed, his manner respectful, his eyes half-closed, and he said not a word.

Without turning his head, Yun Yifeng nevertheless seemed to know everything behind him, and said indifferently, "Xun'er is no outsider. In the future he too will take charge of the Burning Dawn Valley, so there is no need to keep these matters from him."

Shangguan Lue's body gave a slight tremor, then quickly steadied. After a moment of silence, he said, "Counting from the time all was made ready and the formal summoning began, it has been exactly thirty days to this day, and the 'Venerable Lord of the Crimson Flame' has never once responded."

Yun Yifeng's expression did not change in the slightest; at most, his eyes flickered a few times, yet the impression he gave was as though he had in an instant grown a shade more somber. Meanwhile, above the Mystic Fire Altar, Ming Li's heart stirred—not because he was surprised that the Burning Dawn Valley too was vexed by its inability to repair this uncanny formation, but because Shangguan Lue's words had mentioned the so-called "Venerable Lord of the Crimson Flame," which touched a certain place deep in his memory. Almost instinctively, he sensed what it was that Shangguan Lue referred to.

That gigantic beast, its whole body wrapped in flame, fierce and wild—could it be that this was in truth the key to the legendary Eight Fiends Mystic Fire Formation, with its long history and uncanny origins?

The atmosphere in the Mystic Fire Altar was somewhat strange. Yun Yifeng's face was grim, and he said nothing, only pacing back and forth in the great hall as though pondering some problem. Shangguan Lue likewise only watched the figure of his senior brother and did not speak, while Li Xun, standing to one side, seemed merely to maintain his respectful posture, silent throughout.

As time passed, Yun Yifeng's brows gradually drew together, and a fierce light began to show faintly in his eyes, as though some matter were raging in fierce contention within his heart. At last, however, he abruptly halted his steps, drew a long breath, and turned his head to look toward Shangguan Lue and Li Xun behind him.

Shangguan Lue glanced at Yun Yifeng and called out in a low voice, "Senior Brother?"

Yun Yifeng seemed to have made up his mind and hesitated no longer. He said coldly, "Shangguan, my junior brother, there is no need for me to say how important this formation in the Mystic Fire Altar is. No matter what, it must be restored; otherwise we shall have no other means to deal with him!"

Shangguan Lue nodded without a word, but in the darkness high above, far from the three of them, Ming Li and Jin Pingyue both started at once.

Him?

Who was he?

Who was the person the Burning Dawn Valley meant to deal with by means of this uncanny formation?

Within the silent Mystic Fire Altar, what seemed to flow now was an invisible air of gloom. Yet the words Yun Yifeng spoke next turned that faint, elusive darkness around them into cold, hard ice:

"When the lava erupted that day, the damage to the formation was too great. The spiritual energy that our Burning Dawn Valley has gathered and stored here over several hundred years is now utterly spent, and on top of that we have lost the formation's key, the 'Mystic Fire Mirror.' That is why we cannot summon the Venerable Lord of the Crimson Flame to restart the formation. Had that person not appeared, this would of course not have mattered; we could simply have begun gathering energy anew. But as things stand, the time has come when we urgently need this formation." Yun Yifeng gave a cold snort, and three deep furrows slowly appeared between his brows; a murderous intent was faintly visible, and his voice grew colder and colder.

Shangguan Lue's brows too were deeply knit, yet a trace of joyful surprise showed on his face as he asked in astonishment, "What? Does that mean you already have some other method, Senior Brother?"