?

  "Grandfather?" Mo Qingchen was shocked, and the cultivators took an oath with their heart demon. For a cultivator, this was a very serious oath, and they would not normally do so lightly. Otherwise, if they broke their oath, they would be trapped by their heart demon when they advanced to the next stage.

  Mo Danyan's face was solemn and he didn't say a word.

  Mo Qingchen gritted his teeth, his right hand pressed against his chest, and he recited in a clear voice: "I, Mo Qingchen, swear by the Heart Demon that before I form my Nascent Soul, I will never voluntarily reveal the master of the Clear Mind Luminous Fire to anyone."

  After listening to his granddaughter read out the words one by one, Mo Danyan finally let out a long sigh of relief, stretched out his hand and pulled up Mo Qingchen, gesturing for her to sit down beside him.

  "Girl, are you having trouble understanding why Grandfather wants you to make such a heavy vow?" Mo Danyan looked at his little granddaughter's pale and tender face, and a hint of worry flashed in his heart.

  Mo Qingchen nodded slightly.

  Mo Danyan cast his gaze afar and said slowly, "Originally, Grandfather wanted to wait until you grew up before telling you about the misfortune of our Mo family. But now that you possess the Clear Heart Crystal Flame, perhaps it's fate. A thousand years ago, a female ancestor of ours who possessed the Clear Heart Crystal Flame appeared in our Mo family. At that time, our clan was already considered a large and influential one, but with the emergence of this female ancestor, our clan's prosperity reached its peak. Do you know why?"

  "Is it because of that female ancestor, who was a great alchemist?"

  Mo Danyan nodded: "Not bad, at that time, our Mo family still had ancestors in the Yuan Dynasty, but the prosperity of the family was due to that female ancestor. That female ancestor was indeed a genius in alchemy, with an astonishing understanding of various spiritual medicines, combinations, and firing times. What's more, she also possessed the Clear Heart Crystal Fire, which had a chance to improve the quality of the elixir during alchemy. It was also because of this that the Mo family owned many top-grade elixirs that cultivators dreamed of, and those elixirs were exchanged for huge wealth. Remember, Lychee, being able to improve the quality of the elixir is one of the effects of Clear Heart Crystal Fire."

  Mo Qingchen nodded obediently.

  Mo Da's expression revealed a hint of nostalgia, as if imagining the grandeur of the Mo family thousands of years ago: "That female ancestor. Her temperament was calm and gentle, most of her time was spent immersed in alchemy, but she wasn't particularly enthusiastic about cultivation. Nevertheless, she still entered the Dan-forming stage. With the significant improvement in her realm and lifespan, her alchemy skills became even more refined, and after decades, she created a book on alchemy, specifically recording various methods of elixir refinement, containing comprehensive knowledge of alchemy, it can be said that this was her life's work, this is the Mo family's most treasured possession - the Jiuxiao Dan Book!"

  "Jiuxiao Dan Book!" Mo Qingchen had long been speculating, but hearing that the Jiuxiao Dan Book was personally created by that female ancestor still left him shocked and amazed, wondering what kind of extraordinary talent she possessed back then.

  "But one day, that female ancestor of ours disappeared!" Mo Dainian's tone became heavy.

  Mo Qingchen did not interrupt Grandfather's narrative, and upon hearing this, he only slightly widened his eyes.

  Mo Danyan continued: "The Mo family used all its power to search for her, and even several ancestors from the Yuan Dynasty personally took action, but they couldn't find any trace of our female ancestor. This went on for over 40 years, when that female ancestor suddenly returned. What shocked everyone was that she had already reached the level of a Yuan Dynasty cultivator, but her personality had become extremely cold and detached since her return. She locked herself in her room, rarely taking a step out, and refused to talk about where she had been or what had happened to her all these years. In the blink of an eye, over 100 years passed, and our female ancestor gradually became a mysterious figure within the clan. Most young people only knew of her by name, until the person responsible for regularly collecting medicine from our female ancestor discovered that the medicine hadn't appeared on time, and realized that she had disappeared again. However, this time, three things were left behind in her room."

  "What thing?" Mo Qingchen listened intently and couldn't help but ask.

  "Jiǔ Xiāo Dān Shū, liú xùn fú, yī duǒ lán sè zhū huā." Mò Dà Nián dào.

  Translation:

  "The Nine Heavens Dan Scripture, leave a message symbol, a blue bead flower." Mo Da Nian said.

  The first two were unexpected, but Zhu Hua... could it be...

  "Grandfather, that pearl flower, isn't it the one you gave me before?" Mo Qingchen asked with some disbelief.

  Mo Danyan nodded: "Not bad, it's that one. Unfortunately, since the female ancestor left, countless descendants of the Mo family have not been able to study the peculiarities of the pearl flower. Later, they thought it might be because the female ancestor had always worn it and left her thoughts behind when she passed away, so it was passed down like this. In order not to spread it outside, the rule has always been to pass it on to the daughter-in-law but not the daughter, until it was passed on to Grandpa, your father that stinky little boy delayed bringing a daughter-in-law back, and gave it to you."

  For some reason, Mo Qingchen thought of the blue liquid in his dantian. It had been inside him for several years, but suddenly disappeared when he entered the fifth layer of Qi Refining. Was it...

  Recalling that Zhu Hua appeared with an unexpected change, it was the day when the Mo family encountered a great disaster. Before she fainted, she seemed to have spat out a mouthful of heart's blood on Zhu Hua.

  Mo Qingchen thought for a moment and told Mo Danyan about it.

  Mo Danyan pondered for a long time, then let out a deep sigh and said: "So that's how it is! That female ancestor must have sealed the Clear Heart Luminous Fire within the stamen of the Pearl Flower, leaving it for a destined descendant. The key to obtaining the Clear Heart Luminous Fire is probably the Mo family bloodline, but ironically, the Mo family has always followed the tradition of passing it down through daughters-in-law and not daughters, causing the Mo family to miss out on this treasure for thousands of years!"

  Listening to Grandfather's sighs, Mo Qingchen also felt that the will of heaven was hard to predict and asked: "Grandfather, did our ancestors not think of a way to recognize the master through blood when they were researching back then?"

  Mo Danyan thought for a moment and said, "I'm afraid that to obtain the Clear Mind Liuli Fire from the Pearl Flower, having the Mo family bloodline is only a necessary condition. There may be other conditions as well, which are unknown. Anyway, it wasn't until today that Grandfather understood that the female ancestor of the Mo family had left behind not one, but two treasures! Unfortunately, Third Brother and the others will never know."

  "Grandpa, what did the letter say?" Mo Qingchen asked, changing the subject as he saw his grandfather's sadness.

  Mo Danyan looked at Mo Qingchen with a solemn expression: "Fu Zhong said that the Clear Heart Crystal Fire, apart from its extraordinary effect in refining elixirs, has another effect. Whoever possesses this fire, whether it's forming an elixir or forming a fetus, when suffering from heart demons, will have more resistance than others. Although it's not very obvious, having a slightly higher chance can make a world of difference. Do you know the benefits of this, little one?"

  Mo Qingchen nodded, and Jie Dan continued, "It's said that when forming the infant, the most difficult part is overcoming the heart demon's backlash. Most cultivators who attempt to advance fall at this stage. If they're lucky, their mind and spirit will be injured, and their cultivation will regress. If they're unlucky..."

  "Grandfather, if that's the case, then why can't you reveal the matter of possessing a clear heart and crystal fire?" Mo Qingchen asked.

  Mo Daxian sighed, "As the saying goes, good fortune and disaster are interdependent. If it were only these two benefits, that would be fine, but there's another use for Clear Heart Crystal Fire. The message symbol mentioned that when a cultivator with Clear Heart Crystal Fire advances in rank, their resistance to heart demons is not particularly effective. However, if an opposite-sex cultivator combines with one who possesses Clear Heart Crystal Fire before advancing... it greatly increases the chances of them passing through the heart demon's backlash!"

  Mo Danyan felt a bit uneasy at this point, after all, his granddaughter was still young, but for her future safety, he couldn't help but reveal the truth.

  "What!" Mo Qingchen was stunned for a moment. She wasn't really a little kid and naturally understood the implication of her grandfather's words in an instant.

  "After seeing the message left behind, our clansmen have been speculating that our female ancestor back then must have encountered something. Thinking that in the future, there might still be descendants who possess the Clear Mind Luminous Fire, they kept this matter a secret, only allowing each generation's clan leader and alchemist to know about it." Mo Daxian continued.

  Mo Qingchen only felt his throat dry, and he opened his mouth: "Grandfather, didn't the Xiuzhen realm know the purpose of the Clear Heart Crystal Fire in the past?"

  If it were known, how would that female ancestor be able to stay in the clan until the end of Dan period, she would probably have been taken away by high-ranking cultivators long ago. Book fans also like to read:

  Mo Danyan smiled wryly: "Foolish girl, do you think the Clear Mind Crystal Fire is something that can be found anywhere? The true fire refined by cultivators is not much different, but there are three great strange fires, namely the Scarlet Sun Creation Fire, the Clear Mind Crystal Fire, and the Taiyin Mysterious Fire. Cultivators who possess these three great strange fires are rare, with only one appearing in a thousand years. What others know about them is just the rumored effects that have been passed down, but some of the secrets are probably only known to themselves or those close to them. If our Mo family hadn't produced one, I'm afraid we still wouldn't know about the other uses of the Clear Mind Crystal Fire."

  It can be said that the efficacy of Qingxin Liuli Huo in alchemy is widely recognized, but what was mentioned in the words left by our female ancestors is a secret.

  Mo Danyan continued: "Nowadays, in the cultivation world, those who know about these three great strange fires are mostly sects or families with heritage. As for the other uses of Qingxin Liuli Fire, I'm sure some people must know about it too. So, girl, you must remember not to show your true fire to others."

  "Grandfather, Qingchen understands." Mo Qingchen's face didn't change, but his heart felt a bit heavy.

  Mo Danyan stretched out his withered hand and touched Mo Qingchen's face: "Later, the Jiuxiao Dan book was also lost, and for a thousand years, every generation of the Mo family has not stopped searching. Until twenty years ago, by chance, I learned that the owner of Huichun Valley, Huichun Sanren, had some techniques similar to those of our female ancestors, and it is likely that he possessed the Jiuxiao Dan book. At that time, your father's generation was the most suitable candidate, so he was sent to Huichun Valley as an undercover agent to investigate the truth. However, your father went there for over a decade without returning, and when he came back, he was seriously injured and only managed to mention you and your mother before passing away."

  Listening to Grandfather's account of things, Mo Qingchen felt a hint of inexplicable melancholy towards his father whom he had never met.

  "In the clan, we thought that bringing you here would put an end to things, but unexpectedly, it turned out that the roots of disaster had been buried long ago and ultimately led to the downfall of our family. It's indeed true that success and failure both stem from the same source. Girl, today I'm telling you about the clan's secrets not so that you can plot revenge in the future, but so that you understand that whether it's your possession of the Clear Heart Crystal Fire or the Nine Heavens Dan Book, they are all crimes worthy of death, and you must be extremely careful not to reveal them carelessly." Mo Danyan said sternly.