Chapter 2

The moment he made his name, he became the genius everyone praised.

And with him rose the old sect that had once been my junior's, riding the crest of Blaze's fame.

His betrayal had left me grieving for days.

On the seventh day, I woke to a roar and a blaze of fire on the mountain.

Still sealed in seclusion and unable to show myself, I could only bear the tearing pain in my spiritual veins and send out a thread of spirit-consciousness to see what was happening.

The lingzhi grass that had covered the mountain was pulled up to the last blade, the spirit-fungus and immortal herbs that had grown there for ages pried out root and all, and every trace of spiritual energy in the mountain range drained dry.

The countless small spirits who had cultivated here fled in a panic just to save their lives, and overnight my Mount Yuheng became a barren waste.

The one leading it all, the cause of every bit of it, was Blaze.

Shaking with fury, I cried out sharply: "Wretched disciple, stop this!"

But the moment he saw it was me, the cold severity in Blaze's face gave way to open disgust, undisguised.

"Before this, I was blind."

"I've changed masters now. You, beast, have no right to call me disciple anymore."

"When I remember how a mangy fox like you used to call me disciple, it makes me sick. I'd have been better off eaten by that fierce beast than suffer that humiliation."

His words spared nothing, and they lanced my chest with a sour, swelling ache until even my soul trembled with it.

I lowered my eyes, forced back the surge of blood rising in me, and answered with what patience I had.

"That day, I was gravely wounded sealing the fierce beast. I took my true form only because I didn't want you to worry."

Doubt flickered through Blaze's eyes.

A woman's soft laugh drifted over. She came riding on the clouds, planted herself close beside Blaze, and slid her arm through his, standing shoulder to shoulder with him.

Their sleeves were embroidered with twining silk-tree blossoms, the very dress of a pair who cultivated as lovers.

"What a joke. If you truly had the power to seal a fierce beast, why is your soul so unstable, why can you not even show your own face, why did you never once tell your own disciple your name?"

"In the old days, when immortals sealed a fierce beast, every one of them poured in the full weight of their spiritual instruments, dozens of immortals sealing it together."

"These past days every immortal of any standing has been at the Immortal Sword Tournament, and not one of them has heard of anyone going off to help seal a fierce beast. If you truly had such power, you'd have founded your own sect long ago, its incense never dying, so why hide in this ruined mountain with a single disciple to your name? Plainly you can't bear the light. You don't dare let your true self be seen."

I saw the woman's face clearly, and my heart sank.

"Serena. After all these years, you still haven't changed."

She lifted her chin in triumph, her eyes full of resentment held down for a long, long time.

"Neither have you, senior sister. Still the same. Still can't stand the light."

I was silent a long while, then let out a long sigh.

"It's been thousands of years, junior sister. Why can't you let it go?"

"Let it go? I worked so hard, and Master doted only on you. Back then you wouldn't take over the sect, so he'd rather close it and disband every disciple than pass it to me."

She raised the sword from the story and gloated: "See this? With the immortal sword Master handed down, I've come to all I am today. Only I was ever worthy of his regard."

I opened my mouth, but I didn't know where to begin.

A thousand years ago I was simply bored, so I found some sect at random, disguised myself as an ordinary disciple, took a master, and cultivated.

The old man who became my master had diligence to spare but not the talent to match, and under his teaching many disciples with fine spiritual roots and real gifts could never bring out their true strength.

I could see, too, that the blessed grotto-paradise the sect had chosen for cultivation had run dry, its spiritual veins withered, no longer fit to cultivate in.

I couldn't bear it, so I spoke up to guide them. To my surprise, though the old man's own ability was ordinary, his eye was uncannily sharp, and he knew at a glance that my true form was an ancient auspicious beast.

He knelt on the spot and begged me to take over the mountain sect, to keep teaching these disciples in his place.

But the laws of heaven and earth press down upon us, and the balance may not be broken. I could point the way, but I could not overstep and meddle in their affairs, and so I refused him.

Still, out of kindness for his good heart, I packed a bundle of immortal artifacts from my grotto, whatever came to hand, and gave them to him.

For him to pass to the disciples with talent.

Three days later, the sect closed its doors for good.

Some of those disciples founded their own sects, some went about the Three Realms subduing demons and slaying monsters and won no small renown, and some took up the sword and roamed the world, carving out a place of their own.

Scattered to every corner, those disciples all bore remarkable fruit.

In Serena's mouth it had all turned into my crime.

Even the spirit-sword in her hand, the sect's treasured spirit-sword, was mine.

I'd usually used it as a poker, particularly handy for stirring the coals.

Only I couldn't say any of this.

Seeing me drift off, Serena at once wove an immortal incantation and struck at me: "Blaze, teach this treacherous wretch a lesson, for your master."