Chapter 56: Choosing Forgiveness, What Is Truth?

  Yan Que clenched his fists and shouted: "Master, we can start all over again!"

  Yu Ya shook his head and sighed, "At the moment of enlightenment, I tried to gather my anger and hatred towards Zhong Qi, but it didn't work. Only then did I understand my own heart. Perhaps Zhong Qi is indeed a despicable person, but in my eyes, he will always be that guy who drank with me, shouted loudly when I was troubled and depressed, trying to comfort me, but kept saying nonsense."

  "He said with great expectation that he wanted to be the world's number one martial arts master. He had run around for me, searching for hope to cure my injuries. Maybe he was acting all along, maybe he was deceiving me, maybe he was laughing at me behind my back. But indeed, he became my beacon of light, giving me spiritual strength in my most desperate moments."

  The expression on his face changed from confusion to relaxation, and Yu Ya's eyes grew brighter as he spoke. He suddenly seemed to have shed a thousand pounds of weight, and said with a relaxed face: "To be honest, since the incident occurred, I really hated his betrayal. But in my heart, there was still a glimmer of luck, perhaps he had a good reason for it. I didn't want to believe that he was that kind of person."

  "Perhaps." He pointed at the Ruby Secret Gate, saying, "I passed through this gate and saw his true self. The one who swallowed the Tianling Zhenxin Dan, the incredibly powerful him. But he is not the Zhong Qi in my heart. The Zhong Qi I remember is my brother! The one who forever supports me, accompanies me and wine in the dimly lit blacksmith shop."

  In the end, he smiled wryly at Chu Yun and the others: "You can't accept it, right? Call me weak or call me afraid. I don't want to continue anymore."

  "Yu Ya Master..." Yan Que's eyes were already red and puffy.

  "Everyone has a sun in their heart, that is the harbor of the soul and the source of power." Jin Bi Han also sighed, "Opening up requires emotions from the bottom of one's heart. The light pillar is so thin, proving that Master, your anger is rare, but more of it is doubt? I can understand you, Master, this challenge has lost its reason to continue whether we win or lose."

  "Master, you are the true master. Your broad-mindedness makes me admire you." Yan Que bowed solemnly to Yu Ya.

  "Choosing forgiveness has preserved the beauty in my heart. On the other hand, Zhong Qi gained power but lost the sun in his heart. This challenge, Master, you have won." Jin Bi Han sighed deeply.

  "Winning or losing isn't important." Yu Ya shook his head, looking at Chu Yun. "Just like you said, life is like a wave, with its ups and downs. I've been glorious, and I've fallen. The truth of life isn't about winning or losing, but about keeping that beauty in your heart. When I'm on top, this beauty doesn't make me arrogant. When I'm in the valley, this beauty doesn't make me lose hope. Can we just drop it here? Although this request is a bit presumptuous. Still, please forgive an old weak man like me."

  "No." Chu Yun lowered his head and remained silent for a while before finally lifting it up and saying, "It's still far from being over."

  "Master..." Yan Que's voice was a soft whisper, his eyes filled with anticipation. He knew that seeing Zhong Qi at this time was no longer the main point. Since Yu Ya had chosen to forgive, then seeing the real target, Zhong Qi, would likely destroy the sun in his heart and truly bring down this old man.

  "Chu brother, the task reward's academic points are many, but no need to be too insistent." Jin Bi Han also said. On Yu Ya master's body, she felt the beauty of royal struggle, which was not present in the deceitful and cunning world.

  In her opinion: Forgiving someone who has hurt you is not weakness, but rather magnanimity. It requires not only courage.

  "Don't you think it's strange, Yu Ya Shu?" Chu Yun continued to say, but the words made the person in question stunned on the spot. "According to the medicinal effect of Kuang Bao Dan, it should have worn off long ago. Do you feel weakened now? Is your strength still at its peak?"

  "Huh?! What's going on?!" Yu Ya's face immediately showed shock and joy, "I, my strength has recovered again?!"

  Chu Yun smiled slightly and said the second sentence, which shocked everyone present: "If I'm not mistaken, the elixir in this crucible should be the Tianling Zhenxin Dan."

  "Is this the Panacea of Heaven and Earth?!"

  "Isn't that Kyorakuden?"

  "It looks like it, but in fact it's another kind of elixir." Chu Yun pinched the elixir in his hand, and a divine light flickered in his eyes.

  "He said with a smile: 'Don't you think it's strange? This matter is full of strangeness everywhere.'"

  "If I were Zhong Qi, I would have truly betrayed and seized the precious Tianling Zhenxin Dan formula. I would not have stopped at just that, but would have also killed Yu Ya, so that no one in the world would know about the Tianling Zhenxin Dan."

  "Moreover, since you've taken the Tianling Zhenxin Pill, when presenting the challenge letter, shouldn't you be open and honest, and severely strike Yu Ya? Why did Zhong Qi need to go through the trouble of sending a secret arrow?"

  "When I just arrived at the gate of the barracks, the door was tightly closed. You also suspected Zhong Qi at that time, wondering if he had really come back. The gate was blasted open by me, with the arrogant momentum shown in the letter, how could Zhong Qi tolerate it?"

  "Deep in the casting room, selecting materials, forging, tempering, and opening light, step by step, Zhong Qi abandoned the demonic beast, but instead strengthened Yu Ya's uncle's power. Is this really about abandoning the past?"

  "The strangest thing is this dan furnace. It's loaded with violent dan, and a dan bottle would have been enough. Why are there dan furnaces in every large hall, all identical, and their only function is to hold one violent dan?"

  "That's right, I've always felt that something was off. The casting room is completely deserted, it's dead quiet." Yan Que slapped his forehead, and after being suddenly enlightened, he discovered many strange things.

  "This is Tianling Zhenxin Dan, isn't it...?" Jin Bi Han thought of something and a look of shock appeared on his face.

  "Chu Yun, what exactly do you want to say?" Yu Ya suddenly felt her heart racing wildly, almost as if it was going to jump out of her chest.

  Chu Yun sighed and changed the subject, saying slowly: "When I received this task, I had collected intelligence in the library's scripture storage room. There are many rumors about the Tianling Zhenxin Dan. The most famous and credible ones are only two."

  "One was Jiangyue Wang, whose queen consort had refined the Tianling Zhenxin Dan for him, indirectly preserving the Jianghan Kingdom. Another was Jiugui Wang, whose mother had refined the Tianling Zhenxin Dan, thereby establishing the Jiuyou City. People's attention is often drawn to the Tianling Zhenxin Dan, but I found it strange at the time. The two great contributors who refined the elixir should have been favored and respected, yet information about them abruptly stopped. No matter how hard one searched through records, not even Jiangyue Wang himself could find any leads on his queen consort, despite mobilizing a large number of people to search for her."

  "This doubt has been plaguing me. Until just now, a bold conjecture suddenly emerged in my heart - does the refining of Tianling Zhenxin Dan require the life of an alchemist?"

  A bolt from the blue!

  Everyone's heart was shocked, and for a moment they all stared blankly at Chu Yun, unable to speak.

  "I may not be good at refining soldiers, but I have some insights on refining elixirs." Chu Yun continued, "Refining elixirs means seizing the essence of heaven and earth to cultivate one's body. Generally speaking, the more precious the medicinal materials used to refine the elixir, the better its medicinal properties will be. However, the Tianling True Heart Elixir defies this logic."

  "Jiangyue Wang was already beaten and wandering in the wilderness at that time. The nine demon kings had a very poor family background when they were young, where did they get the precious medicinal materials to refine the legendary Tianling True Heart Dan? However, the Tianling True Heart Dan has a significant effect on improving the body, soul, and spiritual light of the Onmyodo masters. The only explanation is that it was refined using human beings! The essence of an Onmyodo master was condensed into the dan medicine, and when another Onmyodo master took it, they absorbed the essence and got promoted."

  "Refine elixir using humans?" Yan Que's eyes widened in shock and he was speechless.

  "How is this possible..." Jin Bi Han muttered to herself, staring at Chu Yun in shock.

  "Could it be... could it be..." Yu Ya's soul was gone, she thought of something and her whole body trembled uncontrollably.

  "You must have heard of the phrase 'refining soldiers with human life.' The legendary Mo Ye couple, a pair of refining masters, were said to have thrown themselves into the refining furnace, sacrificing their lives to create an ultimate, peerless demonic soldier. Why can't we refine elixirs in the same way?... The cauldron is evidence, and the elixir inside it is the best proof. And that ruby secret door behind it is even more conclusive. I'm almost certain that Zhong Qi is no longer alive. Behind that secret door should be the Dingxing Bow he took away."

  Everyone was speechless, deeply shocked by Chu Yun's bold assumption.

  "Don't believe me? Let me open the Ruby Secret Door, and everything will be clear." Chu Yun's eyes sparkled with intensity as she walked straight to the secret door, her hands pressed against its surface. She began to concentrate, using the spiritual light within her body.

  This is a small trick that was once popular in Chu Yun's memory. It mainly involves shaking the Lingguang inside the body to deceive the treasure chest.

  The essence of the treasure door is also a demon soldier. The reason why it can distinguish conditions is that it has a certain spiritual light and understands specific Taoist laws, so it can be simply identified.

  A moment later, a red vortex formed in front of the secret door.

  "Shall we go and take a look?" Chu Yun stood at the door and invited them.

  Yu Ya took the first step into the whirlpool, and Yan Que and Jin Bi Han both cast astonished glances at her. Chu Yun's small move had unexpectedly exceeded their imagination. However, they were being drawn to an even greater mystery, and they passed through the secret door together.

  Chu Yun was the last one to go in.

  This is a sealed room.

  The last location, there is no other treasure secret door.

  On the table at the end of the secret room, a bow and three ownerless sacks were placed. There was also a letter, which was currently clutched in Yu Ya's hands, the paper shaking violently to the naked eye.

  Indeed, there is no sign of Zhong Qi's figure.

  ;