Confinement

The heat of the flame made the place feel small, in front of her an alchemical cauldron was releasing greenish and sparkling drops.

"1867..1868..1869.." Drops of sweat covered her forehead, she had her eyes closed while on her temple, an unusual stone shone with intensity.

Internal energy flowed from the tips of her fingers. She separated and crushed the herbs, placing them into the cauldron.

"1872..1873..1874.." she continued whispering so as not to lose count.

"Keep going, the alchemical body is in process. If you stop now everything will be over." a voice appeared in her head while she refined 2000 different plants.

"1878..1879..1880.." the woman's thin brows furrowed, she was almost at her limit but forced herself not to stop.

In the enclosed space, the sounds of drawers opening and closing were the only things that could be heard in the closed room.

When she reached the number 2000 she collapsed onto the floor, she could not do anything more.

"You did well." the voice in her head encouraged.

Zi Yuexi let out a dry laugh, shook her head and stood up, she approached the cauldron using her internal energy and moved the steaming lid.

Inside, the body of a 13–14 year old boy was in a fetal position with his eyes closed.

Zi Yuexi's eyes lit up. "I really did it.." she whispered before letting out a small cry of triumph and starting to dance in joy.

"Why are you celebrating so quickly, little one?" the voice in her head asked in a mocking tone. "Take him out of there. You will need him sooner than you imagine."

Zi Yuexi let out a snort but the smile remained persistent on her lips, she did not say anything else and took the body out.

"It is a great vessel." she whispered, taking from her sleeve a vial full of greenish blood and placing it on the boy's temple.

"Place him on the floor." the voice in her head ordered. "The Jing will create itself."

Zi Yuexi nodded, placing the boy on the floor, while the green and viscous blood from the vial spilled across the boy's forehead.

She waited for some time. She did not know how long she had really waited, maybe several minutes or maybe hours.

The muscles and veins on the boy's forehead began to protrude, it was a painful process but he continued with his eyes closed.

"Sister..?" another voice came from outside the door, Zi Yuexi paid no attention and continued observing the boy.

After receiving no response, a tall man with an imposing physique approached the woman, observed the boy and then her.

He wanted to say something but the words would not come out, he crouched beside her and watched as the Jing on the boy's temple was being created.

Neither of them spoke for a long time, they were immersed in the process.

"Do you really think it will work?" he finally asked.

"It will work." Zi Yuexi said without taking her eyes off the boy.

The man remained silent. The newly born gem continued forming on the boy's temple. Fine luminous lines traveled across his skin like roots spreading beneath the flesh.

It was impossible to know whether that could be considered life.

"If it fails…" he murmured.

"It will not fail."

The answer came immediately.

For the first time, the man turned his head to look at her.

Zi Yuexi's hands were trembling. Not much. Just enough for someone who knew her to notice. She was afraid too.

After years of research, countless failed attempts, and consuming enough resources to ruin several minor sects, this was her last opportunity.

"Do not despair, the Jing in his mind has already formed. It most likely worked." the voice in her mind said, reassuring her.

Two years later, Zi Yexue was dead.

Two years ago, a demonic cultivator had taken revenge upon a small city in the southern regions, protected by the orthodox Cloud Heaven Sect.

It was a bloody battle of thirteen years against the demonic cultivator named Zi Yexue.

He was a cold-blooded and inhuman demon, killing more than nine million people to refine his Jing.

One day, Su Tiayu managed to break through his defenses and behead him.

After the battle, Su Tiayu headed toward Zi Yexue's residence, searching for some clue or some secret he might have hidden.

After searching for a long time, he found a map folded very carefully inside a drawer in the corner of a desk.

The map was a representation of the southern region, deep within it, on a mountain not far from the Cloud Heaven Sect, there was an X crossed out in a rushed manner, almost desperate.

When Su Tiayu saw it, he felt a bad premonition, he searched for other maps, geographical ones, and discovered there was an ancient dungeon in that place.

"Why would a genocidal man need a dungeon? To escape?"

These questions circled in Su Tiayu's mind throughout the entire day, even knowing the villain had died, he did not feel safe. He would have to go and see it with his own eyes.

It was a strange feeling, it was one as if something was wrong, but he could not understand why. That same day he searched for his ally Lin Xianhe and headed toward the dungeon.

In the back hills of Jinling City…

Su Tiayu stood before the entrance of the dungeon, the wind blew over the trees and dry branches, the smell of burned stone persisted in the air.

Su Tiayu's robe shone faintly in the dimness, at his side walked the senior disciple Lin Xianhe, a cultivator of the orthodox sects and his martial sister.

Without wasting much time, they attempted to enter the dungeon, but strangely there was a barrier covered with inscriptions, although worn down, they caused the persistent feeling that something was wrong to grow inside Su Tiayu's chest.

Su Tiayu placed his fingers against his lips and called his sword in a whisper, Suiren.

BOOM!

With a loud explosion, the entrance, the dungeon, practically exploded, but what surprised Su Tiayu was that the dungeon, far from being completely damaged, contained an entrance with a vertical staircase leading downward.

The echo of their footsteps resonated through the cold and empty corridors, the farther they advanced the stranger everything appeared.

Lin Xianhe looked toward the walls and they were covered in inscriptions and traces of blood. She frowned slightly, feeling a chill run down her back.

"Something feels wrong, this place is very strange." she said, hugging her arms to dispel the cold. "What do you think is in here?"

They descended the spiral staircase downward until they arrived at a blackened door engraved with inscriptions and iron chains.

A growing discomfort formed in the hearts of the two disciples.

"Ancient inscriptions, they probably did not want anyone to leave nor enter either." Lin Xianhe said while touching the door and noticing layer after layer of inscriptions. "Do you think someone might be imprisoned in there?"

Su Tiayu frowned, raised his hand, causing the gem on his temple to shine while internal energy began concentrating in his fingers, he forced an inscription over another inscription. A wave of internal force destroyed the runes and the door groaned as it opened.

The smell of confinement and something dirty hit their faces, they did not care about the smell and entered.

Inside the area, it felt cold, unsettling, a solitary figure was chained to the wall farther away, with iron links sinking into her wrists and neck, ankles and torso.

Her clothing was made of rags and her skin, pale from years without sunlight, slowly, the figure raised her head, surprised that there would be someone in that place.

At first glance it could be seen that she was a thin woman, her black, jet-black hair spread across the floor, her cheeks were sunken and her ink-black eyes gave the image as if she were a specter in the dungeon chamber, it was a common appearance, one could even call it ugly.

But what shocked them the most was the gem on her temple, a purple gem the size of the tip of a thumb. It was not an ordinary gem, it meant it was an immortal gem, a Jing, but the woman appeared extremely weak so that, instead of looking like a threat, she looked more like a corpse.

Lin Xianhe covered her mouth in horror, but Su Tiayu had a much stronger internal conflict, because she looked very similar to the demonic cultivator they had just killed.

He called his sword once again, Suiren, pointing it at the chained woman's neck.

Lin Xianhe sharply drew in a breath, taking a step backward.

"It can't be, Brother Tiayu, what are you doing?" she asked in alarm.

Su Tiayu ignored her, intensifying the internal energy through his sword. His gaze was fierce, noticeably irritated by seeing that familiar face.

"Speak before I pierce your neck," he demanded while threatening her. "You are granted only a single breath to justify your existence before judgment falls upon you."

The words echoed through the dungeon chamber like a restrained roar.

"Young man, you are too hasty, why are you attacking me all of a sudden?" she asked in a hoarse voice because of the chains. "Who are you people? Where is my brother?"

The place fell into absolute silence for several more seconds, interrupted only by her strained breathing.

Su Tiayu showed not the slightest trace of doubt or pity toward the woman's questions. His golden eyes, devoid of any human warmth, while the tip of his blade pressed firmly against the skin of Zi Yuexi's neck.

"Your brother has been judged and executed for his crimes against Jinling," Su Tiayu declared with an icy voice that cut through the atmosphere like a knife. "His soul no longer inhabits this plane, and his bloodline is a stain that Light and justice demand be erased."

Zi Yuexi seemed to understand something, and her eyes narrowed. She said nothing more, she simply remained sitting there. After all, she could not move because of the chains.

Su Tiayu took a step forward, reducing the distance until his white robe almost brushed against Zi Yuexi's tattered clothing.

Behind him, Lin Xianhe kept her fingers near her lips, ready to summon her sword at any moment.

Divided between duty and the horror of seeing a prisoner so similar to the monster they had just destroyed. Su Tiayu, however, did not share such moral conflicts; to his logical mind, she was not a victim, but a dangerous remnant of a darkness that had to be eradicated at its root.

"Was it you who killed him?" she asked, completely serious. "Who are you?"

Zi Yuexi did not wait for any answer from him. The woman extended both hands and presented her chained neck.

"Free me," she ordered without the slightest shame.

Su Tiayu's jaw tightened, a display of his contempt toward the woman's audacity.

It was not common for a captive, standing at the edge of execution, to dare give orders to a disciple of the Cloud Heaven Sect, much less after confirming the death of a family member.

The glow in his golden eyes intensified, showing an imperceptible but genuine surprise.

"Your brother died beneath my sword because he is a genocidal monster, and the justice enforced by my sect recognizes no personal ties," he responded coldly. "You are not in a position to demand freedom. After all, you are imprisoned for a reason."

Su Tiayu did not withdraw his sword, but he allowed Lin Xianhe to step closer.

"Why should I free you?" he asked with cutting coldness. "How do I know that if I free you from here, you will not commit murder outside?"

Zi Yuexi's black eyes were expressionless, completely calm.

"I have no desire to fight, the only reason I am here is for my own cultivation." her voice was being forced to answer the disciple's questions, it was not comfortable at all to speak with chains on. "My brother's crimes have nothing to do with me."

Lin Xianhe was not convinced by what the prisoner was saying.

"If he is your brother, then why didn't you help him? It makes no sense." She paused for a moment. "How do we know you are not his accomplice?"

"Massacring, killing, don't you think that is very boring?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "It is too troublesome, it would be of no use to me."

Su Tiayu did not lower his weapon; the tip of the steel remained steady, although his logical mind processed every word the woman spoke.

Her answer was quite common, so common that it was unusual, her logic was simple, she did not want to get involved in trouble because she saw it as something "troublesome."

But his mind classified her in another way. After all, indifference was often the precursor to the most absolute cruelty. Or at least that was what he told himself.

Su Tiayu lowered the sword slightly, but did not sheath it; instead, with a quick and precise movement, Su Tiayu struck the shackles with the pommel of his weapon, imbued with spiritual energy.

The metal, forged with containment inscriptions, cracked apart and fell to the floor with a metallic crash that echoed through the stone walls.

"You are free from your physical chains." he said, taking a step back to give her space, although his hand remained firmly gripping the hilt of his sword. "If you truly have no interest in the affairs of men, you will walk out of this tower under my custody."

Zi Yuexi rose with inhuman effort, staggering and nearly falling several times. After all, it was difficult, even for her, it was not easy to stand in that condition.

"Simple mortals, giving me orders, it is quite amusing." she said, holding onto the wall, her breathing uneven from the effort. "Do not misunderstand me, it is simply not common."

Su Tiayu did not react to the dismissive comment about his mortality.

"You may find humor in our existence, but it is that same 'simplicity' that brought down your brother and the same one that today holds the blade that decides your fate." Su Tiayu replied with a direct and emotionless voice.

He made an imperative gesture toward the exit of the chamber while positioning himself behind her.

Zi Yuexi looked at him over her shoulder while leaving the dungeon chamber, holding herself against the walls until she reached the spiral staircase. A crooked smile appeared on her lips.

The Jing stone on her temple glowed faintly and internal energy seeped from her fingers into the walls, creating cracks until, upon reaching the threshold, the dungeon collapsed completely.

Zi Yuexi turned around once she was outside and stood at the front, signaling for them to lead the way. After all, the dungeon was located in the back hills of the city.

While the dungeon disintegrated into a cloud of fine dust beneath their feet, Su Tiayu maintained his position. It was a display of brute force, a silent warning that the woman before him was not a simple prisoner, but a force of nature restrained only by her own will.

"The destruction of property does not alter your status here, Zi Yuexi. It only confirms that the danger you represent is as great as I suspected from the very first moment I saw you." Su Tiayu said while looking at the road ahead.

He remained a few steps behind her, watching as the sunlight struck her malnourished figure.

The resemblance to Zi Yexue was disturbing; seeing her face was like looking at the ghost of the man he had just killed, but with an elegance and a coldness that the demonic cultivator had never possessed.

"Your power is a debt that you now owe this kingdom," he continued, pointing toward the horizon where the towers of Jinling City stood against the sky. "Lin Xianhe, fetch the horses. Our guest will ride alongside us."

Zi Yuexi nodded without saying many words. In her mind, it was unnecessary.

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