Ink-Clad Creator

Inside the cave, orange-gold light flowed slowly across the stone walls.

Li Xian lay on the stone bed, covered by Peng Shitao's plain-colored cloak. His eyes were closed, his breathing was steady and almost faint, and the flame mark between his brows was faintly visible in the dim light, like a sleeping star.

Five figures surrounded the stone bed.

Chunmeng stood with her arms crossed, her dark red dress appearing like congealed blood in the torchlight of the cave. She stared at Li Xian's face, her eyes filled with complex emotions—three parts scrutiny, three parts doubt, and four parts worry that she absolutely refused to admit.

Xiao Lingshan sat on the edge of the bed, her hand gently resting on Li Xian's wrist. The Green Wood Token was warm in her arms, conveying a chaotic sensation: two energies were intertwined within Li Xian's body. One was the familiar, gentle foundation belonging to Li Xian himself; the other... orange-gold, fiery and unfamiliar, was slowly transforming his meridians.

Binglan stood behind Xiao Lingshan, biting her lower lip. She recalled Peng Shitao's exclamation when Li Xian collapsed outside the Zhenhuo Cave three days ago, and the dark red markings on his back that hadn't completely faded when she rushed over—marks left by the administrators. Now those markings had faded considerably, replaced by fine orange-gold threads, like branches of a lava river.

Bingwei leaned against the opposite stone wall, the bandage on her left arm removed, revealing new, pale pink skin. She didn't speak, only looked at Li Xian, her eyes filled with something indescribable—gratitude? Guilt? Or something else entirely?

Peng Shitao was the busiest. She had just finished brewing a pot of medicine and was carefully skimming off the foam with a wooden spoon. The aroma of the medicine, mixed with the warm scent of the Earth Fire Lotus Heart, permeated the cave. Her medicine box was placed at her feet, the lid half open, revealing two pieces of debris wrapped in cotton cloth inside—the core chips of Batman and the Dark Knight, their outer shells shattered, leaving only the most essential components.

In a corner of the cave, three drones lay silent. The rotors of Daya and Erya drooped, their indicator lights completely off—their energy completely depleted, unable even to maintain standby mode. Only Superman remained suspended in mid-air, but its black shell was covered in scratches, and a noticeable crack was visible at the joint of one of its mechanical arms.

"Insufficient energy; computing power can only maintain basic observation mode." Superman's electronic voice echoed in the cave, much more muffled than usual. "Batman and the Dark Knight's self-destruction destroyed their outer shells and most of their sensors, but the core chips are intact. They require energy-conducting metal of the 'Rayon Iron' grade to repair—and someone with micro-teething-level precision control is needed."

"Thunder-patterned iron..." Chunmeng frowned. "The treasure of Han Family Fortress, how easy is it to get?"

Xiao Lingshan removed her hand from Li Xian's wrist: "His pulse has stabilized. That orange-gold energy... is circulating on its own. It doesn't seem like an external invasion, but rather like it's growing out of his body itself."

"Growing on its own?" Chunmeng raised an eyebrow. "Soaking in lava can generate new energy? If he soaks in it a few more times, can he just ascend to immortality?"

"Sister Chunmeng." Xiao Lingshan glanced at her helplessly.

"To be honest," Chunmeng walked to the stone bed, leaning down to stare at the mark between Li Xian's eyebrows, "Do you remember what he said before? 'Energy transformation is essentially the reorganization of information and the replacement of its carrier.' Now, is this body... still the same one that carried it?"

Silence reigned in the cave.

Li Xian, lying on the stone bed, trembled slightly.

dark.

Then there was light.

Li Xian felt as if he were floating in an orange-gold ocean. There was no up, down, left, or right; no passage of time; only a warm energy enveloping him. Memories, like shattered mirrors, floated and sank in the light.

A dilapidated temple, drones, and Xiao Lingshan's intoxicating fragrance.

The cold touch of Peach Blossom Village, the altar, and the alien remains.

The city of Tonghai, the banquet at Wangjiang Tower, and the sense of being irresponsibly detached when the administrator takes over the body.

Linghan Palace, Qingmu Order, and the oath taken when the Holy Gate was established.

Then... he self-destructed. He faked his death. Darkness descended.

"Am I dead?" he wondered.

No. Memories continued to surge: Flame Valley, subterranean fire, his own reflection in the lava river... and then a figure rushed over and hugged him.

"Shitao..."

He opened his eyes.

Five faces drew close at once, each carrying varying degrees of urgency and worry. Li Xian blinked, his vision clearing from blurry to sharp. He saw Xiao Lingshan's reddened eyes, Chunmeng's clenched fist despite her forced composure, Binglan's relieved expression, Bingwei's profile as she turned her face away, and Peng Shitao holding the medicine bowl, tears falling "plop" into it.

"I..." he began, his voice hoarse as if scalded by lava, "How long have I been asleep?"

"Three days." Xiao Lingshan helped him sit up, placing a soft cushion behind him. "How are you feeling?"

Li Xian looked down at his hands. The orange-gold lines on his palms had faded to almost invisible, but he could feel a new energy flowing within him. Warm, stable, like the purest flame deep within the earth's fire.

"What about the managers?" he suddenly asked.

Everyone paused.

Li Xian closed his eyes and looked inward. The dark area in his mind that belonged to the administrator... fell silent. There was no response, no threat, no reading from the energy monitor. Only a deathly silence and nothingness.

"He's asleep," Binglan said softly, "or rather... suppressed. The spiderweb pattern on your back is now almost entirely covered in orange-gold."

Li Xian tried to mobilize the new energy within his body. A wisp of orange-gold light spilled from his fingertips, meandered in the air, and then with a "poof," transformed into a small flame lotus, hovering motionless.

"This is..." Peng Shitao's eyes widened.

"The energy of the Earth Fire Lotus Heart has been fused with the spiritual code of the Holy Water, plus my original foundation." Li Xian looked at the lotus flower thoughtfully, "And... the residual energy of the Administrator. Although it has fallen silent, the 'neural network' he left behind is still there, and now it has been taken over and transformed by this new energy."

"Can you control it?" Chunmeng asked.

Li Xian nodded, then shook his head: "I can use it, but I'm not proficient yet. And..." He pressed his temples, "There are some things I can't remember. I remember the Sacred Gate of Creation, I remember you, I remember we wanted to change the world order... but the specifics of how it all started are a bit blurry."

"Memory impairment?" Xiao Lingshan became nervous.

"It might only be temporary." Peng Shitao handed over the bowl of medicine. "When the brain is impacted, there is protective amnesia. Drink the medicine first. The Earth Fire Lotus Heart can strengthen the body and nourish the vital energy, and it will also help repair the consciousness."

Li Xian took the medicine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. The warm medicinal power dissolved in his body, blending with the orange-gold energy, making him feel comfortable and allowing him to let out a long sigh of relief.

"And the others?" he asked. "The sisters of the Holy Gate?"

"They're all in the Burning Heaven Sect's guest quarters," Binglan said. "Xiaoman and the others are helping the Burning Heaven Sect tidy up their herb garden—wood and fire are mutually reinforcing, so our manpower is very valuable to them. True Person Zhurong is very polite and said we can stay a few more days."

"We can't stay here long," Chunmeng shook her head. "With so many of us, it's easy for our whereabouts to be exposed if we stay too long. The imperial court, the Daoist Kingdom, and the remnants of the Demonic Cult... who knows which pair of eyes is already watching this place?"

As they were talking, the Superman indicator light in the corner suddenly started flashing.

"Energy fluctuations." Superman's electronic voice became urgent. "Three hundred meters outside the cave, there is a high-energy signal source—similar to the resonant frequency of a communication crystal, but with a power more than ten times stronger than a regular communication talisman."

Everyone immediately went on high alert.

"Can you lock onto the location?" Chunmeng's hand was already on the soft sword at her waist.

"Scanning... Signal source is moving, very fast, heading towards the east coast." Superman's robotic arm pointed to the cave entrance. "And the signal characteristics... have an 87% similarity to the frequencies of the equipment from the Tusi Kingdom recorded in my database."

The Kingdom of Thirty-Three.

Li Xian lifted his cloak and got out of bed. His steps were a little unsteady, but he managed to stand firm.

"Superman, continue monitoring. The rest of you..." He looked at the five women, "Prepare to move. Since a signal has appeared, it means we've been exposed."

"But your health..." Xiao Lingshan said worriedly.

"I've almost recovered." Li Xian flexed his wrists. "And... I can feel that the new energy is repairing my body very quickly."

He walked to the corner, looking at the dimly lit fuselages of Daya and Erya's machines, then at the wreckage in Peng Shitao's first-aid kit: "Batman and the Dark Knight... are they really just chips left?"

"When they self-destructed, their outer shells blocked most of the shockwave, protecting Superman and us." Peng Shitao's voice choked with emotion. "The outer shells were completely shattered, but the core chip remained intact. Superman said it would require Raven Iron to repair it."

Li Xian paused for a moment, then reached out and gently stroked the cold fuselage of the Daya aircraft.

"They'll come back," he whispered. "I promise."

The innermost stone room in the guest quarters was temporarily converted into a laboratory.

On the stone table, the two small dolls lay side by side. A very faint orange-gold halo flowed over the surfaces of Mu Sheng and Ling Yu's bodies.

Li Xian picked up the wooden stick and closed his eyes to sense it.

Orange-gold energy seeped into the doll's interior, and he "saw" the string-like code etched into Boltzmann's brain years ago—now about one-tenth of it was activated. The energy circuit was operating slowly, like a heart that had just begun to beat.

"The Five Elements Resonance." Li Xian opened his eyes, his brows furrowed. "The notes are right. To fully activate them, the energies of the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—need to resonate at a specific frequency. We currently only have wood and fire; we're still lacking metal, water, and earth."

"What about earth element?" Bingwei suddenly asked. "Didn't you say that earth fire energy contains earth element attributes?"

"It contains it, but it's not pure." Li Xian shook his head. "Earth fire is a mixture of fire and earth energy. To separate out the pure earth attribute, a special refining method is needed—the Burning Heaven Sect should know this, but it will take time."

"What about the metal and water elements?" Xiao Lingshan asked.

"I have absolutely no clue." Chunmeng leaned against the stone wall with her arms crossed. "Han Family Fortress has Elder Feng, a master of the metal element, but he's far away. As for the water element... Binglan and Bingwei's techniques are a cold and yin variant, not pure water-based."

Peng Shitao took out a cloth bag from the bottom of the medicine box and carefully opened it—inside were holy water crystals, red earth fire essence, and a small piece of peach wood heart crystal.

"What if..." she hesitated, "what if we used these three things to simulate the five elements of energy? Holy water is the spiritual code of water, earth fire essence is fire and earth, and peach wood heart crystal is wood..."

"We're still short of gold," Li Xian said. "Besides, simulation is not the same as reality. The little puppet needs the infusion of energy of five pure attributes. The simulated energy structure is unstable and may collapse during the resonance process."

Silence fell over the stone chamber.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the stone chamber. Zhu Rong Zhenren and Zhu Tieshan walked in one after the other, both of them looking rather grim.

"Young friend Li Xian, I have some bad news." Master Zhu Rong cut to the chase. "An outer disciple of our sect has gone missing—he just joined the sect three days ago, claiming to be a fisherman who fled from the sea. But Tie Shan found him at his residence."

He opened his palm, and in his palm lay a black crystal.

The crystal was hexagonal in shape, with intricate patterns engraved on its surface and a faint radiance flowing from its center. Li Xian recognized it at a glance—it was similar to the communication crystal he had seen in Peach Blossom Village, the one used by Miss Chunmeng, but with more exquisite craftsmanship and more complex patterns.

"A communication crystal." Chunmeng's voice turned cold. "And the latest model at that. This kind of crystal requires a large energy source to activate, and it's usually only equipped at important military outposts of the Daoist Kingdom."

"Where is that disciple?" Li asked first.

"We can't catch up." Zhu Tieshan shook his head. "We found traces of a small boat leaving the shore, and we also found this—"

He handed over a wooden plaque with a distorted symbol engraved on it: "忉".

"As expected, he's a spy from the Tusi Kingdom." Binglan gritted her teeth.

"Not only that." Master Zhurong stroked his beard, his expression grave. "This communication crystal... I've studied its energy structure. Do you know its workings?"

Everyone looked at him.

"It doesn't operate on the principles of conventional communication talismans," Master Zhurong said slowly. "Communication talismans require a preset resonance frequency, have limited range, and are easily interfered with. But this crystal... its energy fluctuations point towards the sky."

"The sky?" Xiao Lingshan asked, puzzled.

"Yes, the sky." Master Zhurong walked to the window of the stone chamber and pointed to the sky outside. "Three hundred years ago, a wise man from beyond the heavens descended, leaving behind not only the methods of energy manipulation, but also laying down some kind of... 'net' in the sky. An invisible energy network that covers the entire continent. These communication crystals transmit signals through that network."

Li Xian was startled.

A satellite? Or an energy node suspended high in the sky?

"And what about the cost?" Chunmeng asked astutely. "This kind of long-distance instant communication can't be without a cost."

"It requires a tremendous amount of energy." Master Zhurong nodded. "Once a crystal is fully charged, it can only be used a maximum of three times, each time for no more than thirty breaths. Moreover..." He paused, "The craftsmanship for making this kind of crystal has long been lost. What remains in the world today are relics left by sages from three hundred years ago, and each one used is one less available. The fact that the Daoist Kingdom can produce something like this shows that they are determined to succeed in this operation..."

The atmosphere in the stone chamber became even more somber.

"So," Li Xian said slowly, "that spy has already spread the news that we're here?"

"Very likely." Master Zhurong nodded. "The residual energy in the crystal indicates that it was last activated two hours ago. The signal direction... is the east coast."

The east coast. The area where the Tusi (Tibetan) fleet may have already arrived.

"How much time do we have left?" Bingwei asked.

"It depends on the distance," Zhu Rong Zhenren estimated. "If the Tuoguo fleet is already waiting on the coast and will come at full speed after receiving the news... they could reach the outer edge of Yanming Valley as early as tomorrow evening."

One day.

Li Xian looked at the small doll on the stone table, then at the dim drone in the corner, and finally at the five people beside him.

Just then, hurried footsteps came from the entrance of the Zhenhuo Cave.

Xiaoman rushed in, panting, "Ice... Ice Sparrow!" She handed over an ice talisman.

Binglan took the ice talisman and infused it with a wisp of her Ice Soul Profound Technique. The talisman melted, revealing a line of small characters:

"Surround them from three directions by noon tomorrow. Capture Li Xian alive, and kill the rest."

The signature was a simple symbol—exactly the same as the one on the previous wooden sign.

"grieved".

"Three routes..." Zhu Rong Zhenren's expression changed drastically. "Could it be that besides the Tusi fleet on the east coast, there are two other groups of people?"

Li Xian looked at the ice talisman, then at the darkening sky outside the cave.

He thought of the imperial pursuers, the remnants of the demonic cult, and the sinister-looking eunuch Zhao he had met in Tonghai Prefecture.

"Perhaps there are more than three routes," he said softly.

Then he turned around and said, "Master, thank you for taking us in these past few days, Burning Heaven Sect." Li Xian clasped his hands in a fist salute, "But we should be going now."

"Go? Where to?" asked the immortal Zhurong.

Li Xian looked north.

"The capital city," he said.

Everyone was stunned.

"The capital is the central government seat, the location of the Imperial Workshop, and a place where various forces are deeply entrenched." Chunmeng frowned. "Going to the capital now would be like walking into a trap!"

"It's precisely because it's the central hub that it has the resources we need," Li Xian said. "Thunder-patterned iron, authentic water-based cultivators, complete sage inheritance materials... all of these are in the capital. And..."

He paused, a resolute glint in his eyes: "The resurrection of the little puppet requires the resonance of the five elements. Clues related to the metal and water elements are most likely to be found in the capital. More importantly—"

He took out a broken jade pendant from his pocket. It was left to him by Chu Huaizhou and had the words "Tiangong Academy" engraved on it.

"Some things must come to an end," Li Xian said. "The imperial court cannot tolerate the existence of the Creation Saint Gate, so let's show them right under their noses what true 'creation' really is."

"How do we get there?" Binglan asked. "The outside is definitely surrounded."

Li looked at Superman.

Superman immediately understood and projected a 3D topographical map of Flame Valley: "Analysis complete. There are energy fluctuations in the east, south, and west, but the signal is weakest in the north—the direction of the mountains leading inland. However, the terrain there is treacherous, requiring a 300-mile trek through uninhabited areas."

"Let's go north," Li said.

"But the sisters of the Holy Gate..." Xiao Lingshan said worriedly, "Twenty-eight people are too conspicuous, and it will be difficult for them to break through silently."

"We'll split into two groups," Chunmeng interjected. "Li Xian, Ling Shan, Shi Tao, Bing Lan, and Bing Wei, along with the drone, will travel light and head north. I'll take the other sisters and lead the other route to draw the pursuers away."

"No way!" Li Xian refused decisively. "It's too dangerous."

"This is the optimal solution." Chunmeng looked at him, a rare gentle smile on her face. "Don't forget, I am 'Lady Meng.' The Daoist Kingdom wants you, not us women. And... I have a way to make them believe that you are with me."

She paused, then took out a red pill from her bosom: "This is the Demonic Sect's 'Illusion Pill.' After taking it, it can change a person's aura and physique for three hours. I can find a sister with a similar figure to you to take the pill, disguise myself as you, and lead a large group eastward. By the time they realize they've been tricked, you'll already be deep in the mountains."

Li Xian wanted to say something, but Chunmeng raised her hand to stop him.

"Stop being so wishy-washy," she said. "You are the leader of the Sacred Gate of Creation; your life is more important than ours. As long as you live, the Sacred Gate lives. And..."

Her gaze swept over Xiao Lingshan, Binglan, Bingwei, and Peng Shitao, finally returning to Li Xian's face.

"They will protect you. I trust them."

The cave was quiet for a moment.

Then Xiao Lingshan stepped forward and took Chunmeng's hand: "Sister Chunmeng, be careful."

"Don't worry." Chunmeng smiled. "I'm 'Miss Chunmeng,' who came back from overseas. I'm not that easy to kill."

Binglan and Bingwei also came over. The three of them looked at each other, their eyes filled with complex emotions—from their initial wariness of each other to their current fighting side by side, they had unknowingly become true comrades.

"Take care," Binglan said.

"Come back alive," Bingwei said.

Peng Shitao took out several medicine bottles from the medicine box and handed them to Chunmeng: "These are Qingxin Pills, Hemostatic Powder, and Detoxification Pills. You'll need them on the road."

Chunmeng took the medicine bottle and nodded.

Then she looked at Li Xian, suddenly stood on tiptoe, and whispered something in his ear:

"Don't die. I'm still waiting for you to keep your promise—to change the world order so that we women can live with dignity."

Li Xian nodded emphatically.

"must."

That night, on the cliff on the north side of Flame Valley.

Li Xian and his group of five stood on the edge of the cliff, with unfathomable darkness behind them. Superman hovered in the air, while the temporary mechs of Batman and the Dark Knight were carefully stored in a medicine box by Peng Shitao.

"Route planning complete." Superman's electronic voice rang out in the night breeze. "According to the terrain data stored in the Dark Knight chip, there are three viable routes in the northern mountains. I suggest taking the middle one—although it's thirty miles longer, there are three hidden caves along the way where you can rest."

"I'll listen to you," Li said.

He glanced back one last time at the Burning Heaven Sect's encampment. It was brightly lit; Chunmeng must have already begun setting up a diversionary tactic.

"Let's go," Xiao Lingshan said softly. "It's almost dawn."

The five people slowly descended along the ropes at the edge of the cliff, with a drone scouting ahead.

As they descended to the bottom of the valley and disappeared into the dense jungle, the eastern sky was already beginning to lighten.

Just dozens of miles behind them, at the eastern pass of Flame Valley, three groups of people had quietly converged.

The first group consisted of black-clad swordsmen, led by Oni-Makoto—the vanguard commander of the Tushita no Kokuto sword-hunting clan.

The second group consisted of soldiers in blue armor, led by an old eunuch with a white face and no beard—Eunuch Zhao, a special envoy of the imperial court.

The third group consisted of a strangely shaped group of people, some with faces as pale as corpses, others with bloodshot eyes. The leader was a withered old man, leaning on a white bone staff—a remnant of the Demonic Cult, the Heart-Eating Ancestor.

The three groups of people looked at each other warily, but their goal was the same.

"Li Xian is inside," Guimianwan said in a hoarse voice. "My general wants him alive."

"His Majesty's decree is that life and death are irrelevant, but the extraterrestrial heritage must be brought back," Eunuch Zhao said in a shrill voice.

"Hehe... I only want his pure energy." The Heart-Eating Ancestor licked his lips. "If I drain him dry, I might be able to break through to the middle stage of the Divine Origin Realm."

The three parties each harbored their own ulterior motives.

Unbeknownst to them, the real target had already quietly departed.

On the mountain path, Li Xian suddenly stopped and looked back towards the direction of Flame Valley.

"What's wrong?" Peng Shitao asked.

"It's nothing," Li said. "I just feel... this road is still very long."

The flame mark between his brows glowed faintly in the morning light.

(End of Chapter 50)