Chapter 37: The Game

When all the demon cultivators had gathered round, Hongyun was in no hurry to proceed. With the air of a seasoned sage, he simply observed. The Lord of Moonlight Pavilion had once remarked that anyone who failed to leave this demon vault when the time came would be trapped here forever, but Hongyun suspected this was not entirely true. It seemed more likely that if one missed the opportune moment, even the chance to escape would be lost.

In his perception, the dense mists within the vault were already spreading outward, and when he glanced about, he saw that the earth and rocks were now at least twice as solid and impenetrable as when he first entered. Moreover, whenever the living creatures in the surrounding soil came into contact with that rolling fog before him, their vitality was unwittingly drained away, leaving behind only desolation and death. If all the demon cultivators were to depart and only a few remained, under such corrosive influence, it would not be long before their lives were forfeit.

As the figure clad in silver armor within the mist grew ever clearer, Hongyun, undisturbed, settled into a meditative state, preparing himself for the tribulation of his Nirvana. He had already reached the late pinnacle of the Treasure Body realm, just a step away from Nirvana, and once he left this place, his tribulation would be assuredly within reach. Should he attain Nirvana, and drawing upon his insights into this Bottle World, he could command its energies at will; unless faced with a true Monarch of the Butterfly Metamorphosis realm, he would have little to fear.

Amid the beastly howls and strange phenomena outside, he remained unmoving. When the time to depart drew near, Hongyun opened his eyes once more and looked around—the entire vault was now shrouded in that dense mist.

“Is it... truly dead and barren now?”

Feeling the tug of vitality within himself, Hongyun raised his iron staff, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked deeper into the vault. The closer he got, the more he noticed that the sapling he had seen when first leaving had now grown into a towering tree. The slender branches he remembered had become nearly invisible; only a massive flower bud could be seen.

Beneath the tree still stood the silver-armored figure, utterly still even as Hongyun drew within a few dozen feet.

“The deathly elixir born from this tree—if it can truly bear fruit—will take only a few decades at most. To use a vault such as this and sacrifice dozens of Treasure Body demon cultivators just to forge a longevity elixir—is it truly worth it?”

Gazing at the figure under the tree, Hongyun spoke in an even tone.

A metallic clang rang out.

The silver-armored figure did not reply, but instead raised his massive sword with effort, pointing it diagonally at the ground. His voice was cold and clear:

“You are not of the demon clan, are you?”

Oh?

Hongyun’s heart stirred at these words. His brow arched slightly, his grip tightening on the iron staff. Before he could respond, the silver-armored figure swung the great sword down toward him. In that instant, his armor swelled to three or five times its size, and above him appeared a colossal phantom of armor, with two ghostly flames flickering in its eyes.

Hongyun knew full well that his physical body could not withstand such a blow. Channeling his own fiendish energy, he retreated quickly. Yet the giant sword pursued relentlessly; when it struck the ground, it sent shards of broken weapons and shattered bones, remnants of previous battles, hurtling at him like deadly projectiles. They shattered his protective aura and left fine, bloody wounds upon his flesh.

Once Hongyun had retreated far enough, the silver-armored figure withdrew as well, maintaining a constant distance. So, there was a range limit. Judging from the space between them, it was about thirty paces.

Rubbing his chin, Hongyun narrowed his eyes and began to ponder his options.

“It seems you have discerned the limits of my attack range?”

That icy voice again echoed from within the silver armor, unchanged:

“I can let you leave, but you must forget everything of this place. What say you?”

It sounded reasonable, and Hongyun had indeed gained much already; yet to leave so quietly—how could he be satisfied?

He retreated another dozen paces and pointed at the towering tree behind the armored figure.

“I can depart if you wish, but I want the remains of the tree, aside from the longevity elixir.”

At this, Hongyun could sense the armored figure’s gaze shift toward him. Suddenly, a snow-white rabbit appeared in mid-air, clutching a crescent moon in its paws, its eyes shining as it looked down.

The silver-armored figure now stood upon the rabbit’s brow, his armor enveloping the entire apparition. With a gesture, he handed the massive sword to the rabbit, whose claws gleamed with a brilliance that was hard to look upon.

“With your current cultivation, it seems you are in no position to bargain with me.”

So it was as he thought—a web spun by the Yinfiend Moon Rabbit, whose cultivation far exceeded the Treasure Body realm.

Hongyun regarded his opponent’s imposing aura and nodded slightly, a smile on his face.

“Indeed, it seems I am in no position to negotiate... but what about now?”

No sooner had he spoken than he saw a flicker of astonishment in the other’s eyes. Feeling quite pleased, Hongyun straightened his clothes and, within his mind, activated the panel within his sea of consciousness.

He saw that a reward was available: an indiscriminate elevation of his physical body by one full realm within the Treasure Body stage. He silently claimed the reward.

In a flash, his cultivation surged from the late pinnacle of the Treasure Body realm, rising step by step:

Early perfection of the Treasure Body realm!

Mid perfection!

...and finally, he reached the peak of the perfected Treasure Body realm, where the surge gradually eased.

With a faint inner sense, he could clearly perceive the impending Nirvana tribulation.

With an easy smile, Hongyun tilted his head back and stretched his neck a little.

“And now, at this level—what do you think?”

For a moment, the entire demon vault fell deathly silent. Even the silver-armored figure seemed unprepared for this turn of events. Standing atop his apparition, the fiendish energy rolling off him became nearly tangible.

“Do you understand what it is you seek?”

“I—”

Hongyun had just begun to reply when the tree behind him started to tremble. Petal by petal, the leaves fell; branch by branch, the tree withered, until only a massive bud remained.

Upon the white bud, fine crimson veins of fiendish energy surged like living blood. As the color turned gradually translucent, the bud peeled itself open, blooming in radiant splendor.

Watching this, Hongyun could not help but marvel at the flower’s ephemeral magnificence. As the petals withered and the fiendish veins drew together at the center, a single phrase surfaced in his mind:

A fleeting blossom—gone in an instant.