Liu Xiaolou’s knack for judging the quality of a earthfire came from his time at Jinting Mountain. He’d spent so much time at Tang Song and Diao Daoyi’s sides that he’d learned about thirty percent of their skill. A quick look at the flame’s color and a feel of its warmth, and he could pretty much tell what he was dealing with.

This was top-grade earthfire, a whole rank above the Nine-Star earhtfire at Xingde Mountain. He remember when he brought Green Bamboo to Xingde Mountain; Green Bamboo praised the Nine-Star and even thought about setting up a separate dwelling there. That alone proves how exceptional the Vermilion Bright Cave fire on Jade Goose Peak must be.

Such a fine earthfire, yet it had been sealed away for who knows how many years. The Luofu sect was truly wasting a treasure.

Then again, their family might be enormous. Maybe they have many fires of this quality.

“This fire is excellent,” Liu Xiaolou said with genuine approval. “I’ll need some supplies. Please bring me paper and a brush.”

“That’s good,” Zhao Ruyu said. “How do you plan to repair it?”

Liu Xiaolou thought for a moment. “Steward Zhao,” he said carefully, “do you mean we should leave the flaw that makes the formation malfunction at dawn in place? Are we setting a trap?”

Zhao Ruyu smiled. “You are very clever.”

Liu Xiaolou lowered his posture. “You are the wise one,” he said, then his eyes brightened and he offered two plans. “My first idea is to arrange the formation so that once an intruder gets inside, they will lose track of time and grow fond of staying, effectively trapping themselves. The second is to set a killing formation within the formation to severely injure the intruder so they can be restrained and captured.”

Zhao Ruyu encouraged him. “Good. You really put some thought into this.”

Liu Xiaolou forced a smile. “Isn’t this my chance to atone and win merit for my crimes? I have to do my best for Steward Zhao.”

Zhao Ruyu stroked his beard and considered. “Is there a difference between the two?”

Liu Xiaolou said, “Either way the goal is to capture whoever breaks the formation. The first is an illusion formation. It’s simple and quick to make, and with the Vermilion Bright Cave fire as a base it would take less than a month and only a few spiritual materials. The downside is we might need extra tricks when it comes time to seize the intruder. The second is a killing formation. It’s harder to make and needs rarer materials. It would take at least two months to refine, but capturing the enemy would be much easier once it’s in place.”

“So the enemy would already be badly wounded inside the formation?”

“Exactly, Steward Zhao. Brilliant idea.”

“What kind of illusion would keep someone lingering like that?” asked Zhao Ruyu.

Liu Xiaolou tested the waters before answering. “An illusion based on methods of dual cultivation.”

Of course he wanted to get down the mountain as soon as possible. The longer he stayed, the more could go wrong. To the great sects, a lone cultivator like him meant nothing. Their decision could be life or death, and his safety was not guaranteed. He was willing to offer his secret illusion formation if it meant earning merit quickly and leaving.

He had never actually refined a killing formation himself. He had only watched other formation masters work on Jinting Mountain. He could read what they were doing, but he had never done it with his own hands, and he did not feel confident.

The most important thing was that this would let him get the pine resin essence back. He could first refine Bewildering Fragrance Tendons. If Steward Zhao had any ill intentions, those tendons would give him his best chance to survive.

“Methods of dual cultivation?” Zhao Ruyu pressed.

Liu Xiaolou said, “The illusion would look very beautiful. It would stir the heart of anyone who entered the formation.”

Zhao frowned and shook his head. “No. That is too base. It is not something a reputable sect would do. If word got out that the Luofu sect’s formations included such filth, our reputation would be ruined. Nobody here can afford that.”

He slapped Liu Xiaolou on the head again and barked, “Keep your wild cultivator tricks to yourselves. This is Luofu Mountain, not one of your backwater hills!”

Dazed from the blow, Liu Xiaolou hastily admitted his fault. “I was ignorant. I understand. Then we will refine a killing formation. Yes, a killing formation.”

Zhao Ruyu fetched paper and ink and told Liu Xiaolou to draw up a list of spirit materials. Liu spent a day designing a killing formation and then wrote down everything it would require.

In truth the idea was not entirely his. He had copied and adapted a formation plan that Xing Bujiao once submitted, removing the parts he could not do himself and simplifying the rest.

Although the Earth Gate Formation looked like an earth-type formation, its formation core was actually water. Xing Bujiao excelled at water formations, so the plan fit perfectly.

Zhao Ruyu warned him, “This is your last chance. Double-check for mistakes. These materials are costly. If you mess up, you will pay with your life.”

Frightened, Liu Xiaolou snatched the list back and checked it again. After careful thought he added extra quantities to several items . Golden leaves, king-lotus seeds, watery-milky quartz, spring-essence jade, and so on, each increased by one share.

Zhao Ruyu’s eyelid twitched when he saw that. He told him to stop adding more, grabbed the list, and turned to leave.

Liu Xiaolou’s list of spiritual materials was divided into four batches: seven in the first, five in the second, eight in the third, and nine in the fourth. That made twenty-nine kinds in total. If the refinement succeeded in a single attempt, the materials would be worth between forty and fifty spirit stones. But since he had doubled and even tripled the amount, the total value shot past a hundred. Even Zhao Ruyu, a mountain patrol steward of the Luofu Sect, couldn’t just pull that out on his own. He would have to report it to the sect first.

Liu Xiaolou waited patiently by the Vermilion Bright Cave fire, watching the shifts in the earthfire and familiarizing himself with its nature. After four hours, he gave a silent nod. The quality of this earthfire was excellent: not only was the heat extremely high, it was also remarkably steady. It was definitely superior to the earthfire at Xingde Mountain, and even three points better than some of the earthfires at Jinting Mountain.

The higher the heat, the less true qi it consumed; the steadier it was, the easier it became to control.

On top of that, the Vermilion Bright Cave fire carried a faint, elegant pine fragrance. He wasn’t sure if it came from the flame itself or from its closeness to the ancient pine that had stood there for ten thousand years.

Strictly speaking, refining Bewildering Fragrance didn’t require an earthfire. Liu Xiaolou could do it with the True Mysteries Technique alone. Still, if he used it alongside the Vermilion Bright Cave fire, its potency could become even stronger.

Taking a few steps back, Liu Xiaolou slipped under the pavilion to escape the rain. He looked out at the mountains, veiled by sheets of pouring water, where it was almost impossible to see more than thirty feet ahead.

His heart stirred again. If he were going to run, this would be a good moment. But after a brief hesitation, he didn’t dare act. Instead, he stayed under the broken eaves of the ruined pavilion until the second half of the night, waiting for the clouds to clear and the rain to stop, until the sky filled once more with glittering stars.

Zhao Ruyu returned with the first batch of spiritual materials. They weren’t hard to gather. Mostly the basic five metals and eight stones. All the amounts had been doubled, packed neatly into a small bamboo box, which he set down beside Liu Xiaolou.

After checking everything, Liu Xiaolou said, “Steward Zhao, I’ll begin now. As for the second batch of materials, please see if you can gather them within half a month. If the timing is delayed, I hope you won’t hold it against me.”

“Don’t worry about the materials. Just focus on the refining,” Zhao Ruyu replied.

Liu Xiaolou gave a slight bow. “Steward Zhao, please remove the binding.”

Zhao Ruyu untied the Eightfold Restriction Cord wrapped around him. Liu Xiaolou took a deep breath, sat cross-legged by the mouth of the earthfire well with his eyes closed, and meditated for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Then he picked up a jade ring from the pile of materials and began tracing out the talisman's markings.

Zhao Ruyu stood beside him, watching. He didn’t know the art of formations, and since the start of his cultivation, he’d rarely had the chance to witness a formation master refining a formation disk. His curiosity was more than a little piqued.

Liu Xiaolou held the jade ring in one hand, his fingertip moving as if wielding an invisible brush. Fine specks of powder faintly scattered from the jade as he worked. Zhao Ruyu couldn’t follow the intricacies of the craft, but even so, he could see the ease and precision in Liu Xiaolou’s engraving. The practiced skill with which he carved each talisman. The strokes carried a hidden rhythm, a sense of continuity that seemed broken yet unbroken, not unlike the principles of swordsmanship. At that, half his doubts quietly fell away.

This Li Mu really was a genuine formation master!

But since he couldn’t make sense of the details, he soon grew restless after watching for a while. Rising to his feet, he stepped out of the pavilion and wandered down to the edge of Yellow Dragon Ravine, gazing across at Jade Goose Peak. He stood there for a long time before circling around to a more secluded spot among the rocks. Crouching low, he pressed down with his foot. A mechanism clicked open beneath him, dropping him down before shifting him sideways into the hollow inside the stone.

The rock was hollow, its walls pierced by small openings in several directions. For the past few months, he had hidden here, keeping watch over Yellow Dragon Ravine, until at last he caught sight of the intruder “Li Mu.”

But when would he finally catch the one he truly wanted?

....

T/N: "Li Mu" literally means blackthorn. It could be a nickname, or maybe it's a cultural reference I'm not familiar with.