Chapter 8: The Weight of Ambition
The interior of the Nine-Chamber World Cauldron was no longer a silent void. With the unlocking of the Third Chamber—The Earthen Forge—the entire dimension felt anchored. If the First Chamber was the lungs of this world and the Second was its mind, the Third was its bones.
Ye Jun stood on a ridge of obsidian glass, looking down at a valley of bubbling magma and black basalt. The air here was heavy, pressing against his skin with a gravitational force that made every breath a struggle. This wasn't just a place to store treasure; it was a crucible designed to temper the soul.
"The Amber was but the fuel, Master," the ancient voice resonated through the heat. "But the gate... the gate opened because the Ice Phoenix's fate has intertwined with yours. Her Yin Essence acted as the catalyst. You have saved her life, and in return, the Cauldron has granted you the Earth."
Ye Jun looked at his hands. They were trembling, not from fear, but from the raw density of the Qi now flowing through his veins. He wasn't a "Foundation Establishment" master yet—that was a mountain too high to climb in a single night—but he had broken through the bottleneck of the 7th Level of Qi Condensation. In the Azure Mist Sect, that put him on par with the senior outer disciples, a far cry from the "trash" he had been forty-eight hours ago.
He walked to the edge of the magma pool and opened his hand. The stalks of Bone-Strengthening Grass and the Spirit-Stone Marrow he'd snatched from the vault floated in the air, caught in the cauldron's invisible pull.
"I can't go back empty-handed," Ye Jun whispered, the heat of the forge reflecting in his dual-colored eyes. "If I return to the Frozen Bamboo Peak without a way to justify my growth, the Law Hall will dissect me. I need to refine something that looks impressive but hides my true strength."
He threw the ingredients into the heart of the magma. Normally, this would incinerate the herbs, but the Earthen Forge was different. The lava didn't burn; it purified. Under Ye Jun's intent, the magma formed a liquid sphere around the herbs, stripping away the impurities.
He wasn't making a Grade-5 pill. That would be suicide. Instead, he refined a Heavy-Essence Supplement—a Grade-2 pill that enhanced physical strength. It was exactly what a "talented" Level 7 disciple should be able to produce.
For the next "ten days" inside the dilated time of the cauldron, Ye Jun lived in a cycle of physical conditioning. He ran across the black basalt under the crushing gravity of the Third Chamber, swinging a heavy iron bar to hone his muscles. He practiced the Chaos Circulation until the golden spark in his heart was as solid as a walnut.
When he finally emerged from the cauldron, the sun was just beginning to bleed over the horizon. He was drenched in sweat, but his posture was different. He stood taller, his shoulders broader.
He stepped out of his hut and was immediately met by the cold bite of the mountain air—and the even colder presence of steel.
Surrounding the clearing were a dozen Law Hall Enforcers, their crimson robes stark against the white snow. Han Feng stood among them, his face twisted in a mask of smug satisfaction. But at the center of the confrontation stood Su Yan. She looked pale, her white robes fluttering in the wind, her eyes fixed on Ye Jun's door.
"Ye Jun!" Han Feng shouted the moment he saw him. "There he is! The thief has finally crawled out of his hole!"
Ye Jun ignored Han Feng. He walked straight toward Su Yan. The Enforcers moved to block him, but Ye Jun didn't slow down. He didn't use his Qi to blast them away; he simply walked with the momentum of the Earthen Core. The guards felt a strange, heavy pressure as he approached, an invisible weight that made them instinctively step aside.
He stopped in front of Su Yan. Up close, he could see the faint dark circles under her eyes. She had been standing here all night, shielding his hut with her own authority.
"Elder Su," Ye Jun said softly. "I'm sorry for the trouble."
"Ye Jun..." Su Yan whispered, her pale blue eyes searching his. She noticed the change immediately. "Your cultivation... you've reached the Seventh Level? In one night?"
"I had a moment of insight in the graveyard," Ye Jun lied easily, his voice steady. "The 'trash' I've been breathing for ten years finally settled into a foundation."
"Insight?" A Law Hall Magistrate stepped forward—a man named Magistrate Chen, a subordinate to the man Ye Jun had pinned in the warehouse. "Insight doesn't explain the robbery of the South Warehouse, boy. Magistrate Zhao is currently in the infirmary with Frost-Fire wounds. Wounds that look exactly like the techniques practiced on this peak."
The Enforcers drew their swords. The atmosphere in the grove turned electric.
"Magistrate Zhao was attacked by a masked thief," Su Yan intervened, her voice like cracking ice. "To accuse my assistant without a shred of evidence is an insult to the Alchemy Hall. Unless you have the stolen goods, you have no case."
"We don't need the goods if we have the suspect," Chen sneered. "Search him!"
Two Enforcers lunged forward, grabbing Ye Jun's arms. Ye Jun didn't resist. He let them pat him down, let them search his sleeves. They found nothing. The Nine-Chamber Cauldron was hidden within his soul, a place no Qi-Condensation cultivator could ever reach.
"Nothing, Magistrate!" one of the guards called out, sounding confused.
Han Feng stepped forward, his voice shrill. "He must have buried it! Search the hut! Search the woods!"
"Enough!" Su Yan's Qi flared, sending a wave of frost through the clearing that made the Enforcers shiver. "You have searched his person. You have found nothing. Now, leave my peak before I report this harassment to the Sect Leader."
Magistrate Chen gritted his teeth. He knew he was losing his grip on the situation. He looked at Ye Jun, who was standing perfectly still, a calm, almost bored expression on his face.
"The warehouse was robbed of Deep-Earth Amber," Chen said, his eyes narrowing. "A material used for high-level earthen pills. If this boy is as talented as you say, Elder Su, perhaps he can prove his innocence through the Alchemist's Alibi."
Ye Jun tilted his head. "The Alchemist's Alibi?"
"A tradition," Su Yan whispered to him, her brow furrowed. "If an alchemist is accused of a crime, they can prove their 'purity of heart' by refining a pill of their current rank with 90% purity. It is believed that a thief's heart is too chaotic to achieve such perfection."
It was a trap. 90% purity was nearly impossible for a Level 7 apprentice. Most achieved 60% or 70%.
"If I do this," Ye Jun said, looking at Magistrate Chen, "the Law Hall will leave me and Elder Su alone? No more 'shadow' visits? No more harassment?"
"If you achieve 90% purity," Chen promised, a cruel smile touching his lips, "the Law Hall will issue a public apology."
"Fine," Ye Jun said. He turned to Su Yan. "Elder, may I borrow your travel furnace?"
Su Yan hesitated, then nodded. She waved her hand, and a small, elegant silver furnace appeared in the snow.
Ye Jun sat down. He didn't use the Chaos Spark to its full extent. He didn't use the Frost-Fire mutation. He used the most basic, standard fire technique taught to outer disciples. But inside the furnace, he allowed the Earthen Forge of his third chamber to provide the "weight" needed to crush the impurities out of the herbs.
The disciples and Enforcers gathered around, watching in a tense silence. For three hours, Ye Jun worked. He moved slowly, methodically, playing the part of a talented but struggling student.
When the furnace finally clicked open, a single, humble brown pill rolled out.
Elder Ma, who had been summoned as a neutral witness, stepped forward with a testing stone. He placed the pill on the crystal.
The stone glowed. Then it turned a deep, solid blue.
"Purity... ninety-two percent," Elder Ma whispered, his voice trembling. "A Grade-2 Strength Pill... with ninety-two percent purity."
The clearing went silent. Even Han Feng looked horrified.
Ye Jun stood up, brushing the snow from his robes. He looked at Magistrate Chen, whose face had turned a sickly shade of gray.
"I believe you owe the Elder an apology," Ye Jun said.
As the Law Hall retreated in disgrace, Su Yan looked at Ye Jun. She didn't look relieved. She looked... suspicious. She knew how hard it was to hit 90%. She knew he was hiding a mountain behind his back.
"Ye Jun," she said, her voice soft as the falling snow. "Come inside. We need to talk about what you really found in that graveyard."