Chapter 188 — A Sudden Appearance

The young Great Shaman paused, then said quietly, "If I too gave way to despair and grief, what would become of the people in Seven Mile Gorge? It is not that I do not grieve—it is that I cannot grieve!"

At that Ming Li was silent a long while, and then took his leave.

Once away from Seven Mile Gorge, Ming Li did not hurry on his way. He walked slowly, turning the young Great Shaman's words over and over in his mind, and that strange "Eight Wraiths Mystic Fire Formation" brought unbidden to his thoughts another person—Xiaobai.

She had left in anger that day, and there had been no word of her since. Her cultivation and powers were such that he need not worry overmuch on her account, yet when he thought of the purpose behind her going—most likely to find that "Eight Wraiths Mystic Fire Formation"—Ming Li felt a measure of guilt at heart.

The demonic power of the Blood-devouring Bead had plagued him for years, but not long ago, beneath the Wordless Jade Wall at the Fan Yin Temple on Mount Sumeru, he had come to understand the four volumes of the Heavenly Book, and had fused the Blood-devouring Bead's demonic power with the true arts of Buddha, Dao, and Demon alike—and even with the pure yang force of the Mystic Fire Mirror—until he stood at the very threshold of the Ten Thousand Arts Returning to One. As his cultivation advanced day by day, the Blood-devouring Bead's demonic power was no longer the mortal hindrance it had once been.

Yet somehow, with that sudden enlightenment beneath the Wordless Jade Wall, he had gradually come to terms with many things; matters he had once failed to see now slowly revealed themselves in recollection.

Xiaobai's treatment of him—surely it was not all on account of Bili and her own connection to her?

She had gone alone, returning to the southern frontier to seek the formation in the very thick of the beast-fiend's havoc, and now, heaven and earth so vast, there was not a single word of her. At the thought, Ming Li felt a pang he could not name—but the world was wide and the earth broad, and he truly knew not where to begin searching.

Ming Li brooded a long while, and at last resolved to go secretly to the Burning Cloud Valley first. Not for any other reason—first, because he had heard Xiaobai say that the Eight Wraiths Mystic Fire Formation had once appeared at the Mystic Fire Altar in the Burning Cloud Valley; that being so, if Xiaobai sought the formation, she would most likely go there too. And even if she were not there, it would do no harm to look for himself.

His mind made up, Ming Li set off for the Burning Cloud Valley.

The Burning Cloud Valley had once been one of the three great orthodox sects of the world, but in this calamity it bore the first brunt, standing squarely at the mouth through which the beast-fiend rampaged—its fate could well be imagined. Fortunately, on that day the valley master, Yun Yifeng, had led his disciples to the Central Plains ahead of the rest to join the Canglan Sect and other orthodox schools against the beast-fiend, and so, though the Burning Cloud Valley was utterly laid waste, the disciples of the sect itself did not lose their core.

Yet for a great orthodox sect to come to such a pass was no credit to them, and after the calamity many rumors and whisperings spread abroad, implying that the whole of the Burning Cloud Valley had been craven and timid, that a sect of orthodox renown had not dared face the beast-fiend's calamity alone but had hidden itself behind the Canglan Sect.

Now the Canglan Sect and Daoist Zhenren stood supreme in the hearts of the orthodox world, their prestige lofty and revered; against them, the Burning Cloud Valley folk seemed all too dim indeed. As great hosts of orthodox disciples poured into the southern frontier seeking the Beast Lord's whereabouts, the Burning Cloud Valley disciples naturally would not be left behind—though in their everyday dealings they had shed much of their former arrogance.

Even so, the Burning Cloud Valley was, after all, a renowned great sect, and its strength remained; for all the rumor and gossip, none dared insult it to its face. As for the valley itself, it was in truth a ruin—at least, that was what Ming Li saw when he slipped in secretly.

A valley once secluded and fair was now filled with a foul stench of scorching and rankness. Countless Burning Cloud Valley disciples hauled about all manner of rotting refuse and bones—some human, but many more the carcasses of beasts.

Observing in secret, Ming Li pondered a moment and then understood: on that night when he had slipped into the Burning Cloud Valley and was still discovered, it was not that every disciple there was of profound cultivation, but that they were skilled in rearing many strange creatures, against which no guard availed.

Yun Yifeng could lead most of his disciples to the Central Plains, but he could not take those creatures with him; and when the calamity came and that raging tide of savage beast-fiends swept through, those many creatures could hardly escape. With time the carcasses rotted, and the stench grew unbearable.

Yet now, with those grotesque creatures gone, it was to Ming Li's advantage; at least he need not fear some monster bursting out from a corner or a dark cranny to raise the alarm and betray his presence.

The Burning Cloud Valley had many disciples, but half had been dispatched to track the beast-fiend's whereabouts—what countless orthodox sects wished to do, how could the Burning Cloud Valley not wish as well? Of the remaining half, most labored sullenly in the valley clearing rubble and refuse; and though some elders and seniors remained with the valley master, figures like Yun Yifeng and Shangguan Lue could not be forever patrolling. Thus Ming Li met scarcely any difficulty in slipping into the Burning Cloud Valley.

It was only early evening now, far brighter than the deep night of his last visit to the Burning Cloud Valley—and yet his infiltration was easier by far than it had been then.

After Ming Li slipped into Fenxia Valley, he gave the matter no further thought and went straight toward the valley's vital precinct, the Profound Fire Altar. Xiaobai had been imprisoned here that day, and the Eight Fiends Profound Fire Formation had been laid out here as well, so this was naturally where he must come to search. Yet this place was, after all, forbidden ground to Fenxia Valley; in such turmoil as this, the guards and defenses about the Profound Fire Altar seemed, if anything, a shade tighter than on his last visit—whether because Xiaobai had escaped, or because an outsider had stolen in, he could not say.

But Ming Li's cultivation now was not what it had been in former days. Though Fenxia Valley kept the Profound Fire Altar closely guarded, by moving with careful stealth he at last slipped into the towering altar without a soul the wiser.

As he had expected, for all the tight guard outside, there was no one on watch within the altar. At a glance it seemed much as it had on his last visit: the strange dark-red formation still lay upon the floor, graven deep into the stone. Ming Li knew in his heart that this was the legendary Eight Fiends Profound Fire Formation, that uncanny and wondrous thing.

Still, the scars of the magma eruption that had burst forth when he and Xiaobai made their escape were faintly visible.

All about the walls were places scorched black where the magma had spattered and burned, and the spots where stone had collapsed were beyond counting. Even the Eight Fiends Profound Fire Formation on the floor showed, here and there, a slight warping from that searing fire.

Yet an ordinary place would long since have been destroyed by such a calamity; that the surrounding precinct should remain largely intact suggested that the formation had worked some strange efficacy and preserved it.