The Sword of the Five Elements: Chapter Ninety-One, the Martial Phoenix and the Divine Phoenix
Shopkeeper Hu arrived, carrying with him a line to set the mood: listen to the wind and hear refined melody; over cups of wine, meet a true kindred spirit.
“Shopkeeper Hu, your business ethics leave much to be desired,” Su Ye said at once, spoiling Hu’s pleasant mood.
Hu stroked his goatee, his narrow eyes curved with amusement as he said in mock indignation, “I have run my doors for centuries, and no one has ever accused me of lacking integrity in business.”
“That’s only because they fear your power and dare not speak plainly.”
“I have never bullied anyone merely because I am the emperor’s in-law,” Hu said with a laugh. “And yet you little scoundrel have pinned that black pot on me.”
“You already signed a trade contract with me, and now you still want to lure Hong’er into the bargain too. If that isn’t the conduct of a shrewd merchant, what is it?”
Luo Jinghong listened quietly from the side and said, “It wasn’t Shopkeeper Hu’s idea. I simply needed a cauldron for artifact refinement... Following Brother Su’s method, exchanging the future for the present.”
Su Ye’s expression changed in an instant. “A wise choice.”
“You shameless little brat,” Hu said, half laughing, half exasperated.
“Face can’t be eaten,” Su Ye replied with a smile. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Money is still more practical.”
“May I ask something impertinent... if the mortal realm falls into turmoil, would you be willing to part with your wealth generously?”
Hu brushed it aside. “We’ll talk when the time comes.”
He summoned a guqin from his jade gourd and shifted the subject. “I calculated that the two of you would be refining soul jade today, so I prepared a tune to add to the occasion.”
Luo Jinghong looked at Su Ye with excitement. “I heard you bested the Observatory Bureau in the alchemy contest at Dragon Virtue Hall. Since we have nothing else to do, why not compare skills?”
“Exactly what I was thinking.” Su Ye agreed readily.
The outcome did not matter.
He wanted to see how capable Luo Jinghong truly was at artifact refinement.
A flash of gold burst from the jade gourd at Hu’s waist, and a low, antique table appeared beside the stone table.
Seated cross-legged on a felt mat, he lowered his fingers and lightly touched the strings.
Two artifact-refining cauldrons appeared several paces apart in the courtyard, standing side by side.
The Taiyi Creation Cauldron was a deep blue-green throughout, covered in dense cloud patterns.
Both its front and back bore a taiji design, and on either side were hollow square handles about half a foot high.
Beneath the yin-yang fish on its front were three ancient seal characters: Taiyi Cauldron.
The moment it appeared, faint ripples spread through the air like water.
Su Ye’s Cosmos Jade Cauldron dimmed slightly, then soon returned to normal.
“Your Creation Cauldron is rather domineering.”
“The spiritual artifacts of the Creation line inherit the laws of heaven themselves; they are the aristocracy among magical treasures. Forget your immortal-grade jade cauldron—even a numinous treasure of the same rank would have to bow its head before it,” Luo Jinghong explained with practiced ease.
“As for the artifact-refining cauldron, that’s fine,” Su Ye said casually, though his words were deliberate. “But the alchemy furnace for refining pills is my prized treasure. In the end, I still need to find a good furnace.”
Hu plucked a string lightly, testing a note.
As if he had heard nothing.
Luo Jinghong took up the thread. “When my artifact-refining skill becomes a little more polished, I’ll help you forge a pill furnace.”
“Agreed.”
Hu nearly laughed aloud.
“Then let’s begin.” Luo Jinghong did not notice anything amiss.
Su Ye summoned the demon deity statue made from soul jade from the jade gourd.
The Primordial Sword landed in his hand, automatically shedding its scabbard.
Buddhist power surged from the hilt upward, wrapping itself around the blade.
With his left hand, he curled his fingers and drew the Buddhist-bone prayer beads that suppressed the statue into his palm.
A golden arc cut straight through the statue.
Before the demon deity could even open its eyes, it was split in two by the Primordial Sword, which was enshrouded in boundless Buddhist power.
He set aside the half intended for Luo Jinghong, using a spell to seal away its malevolent force.
Refining liquid entered the cauldron, and the demon deity statue slowly sank.
The bubbles it released were absorbed by the numinous cauldron.
The ancient seal characters on the front of the Taiyi Creation Cauldron gave off a pale golden light, instantly shattering the remaining demonic power.
So overbearing.
—
Su Ye had the opportunity to receive instruction from the Meditation Master and had thoroughly mastered the Heart Sutra of Wisdom Beyond the Shore.
Luo Jinghong had learned the Scripture of Avalokiteshvara from the Compassionate Abbot of Pure Water Nunnery.
Pale white sword qi coiled within the true fire, threaded through with strands of golden Buddhist power.
The red innate true fire shone with a faint pink haze along its outer layer.
The Buddhist power, thin as a silk thread, penetrated the copper walls of the artifact-refining cauldron.
It slipped into the spiritual liquid and adhered to the surface of the soul jade.
A gratified smile appeared on Hu’s face. He moved his fingers across the strings and played one of Great Qian’s most famous love songs, The Phoenix Seeks Its Mate.
It had been hundreds of years since he last played it.
Yet there was not the slightest trace of rustiness.
The music was distant and ethereal, yet carried a subtle tenderness.
It drifted slowly into the sea of consciousness, becoming the stirrings of young love and flowing into the heart.
Su Ye had never refined materials while accompanied by such elegant music, and he did not feel disturbed in the least. Instead, as though he stood amid a wild and open expanse, his thoughts became all the clearer.
He turned to look at Luo Jinghong several paces away, and met those brilliant star-like eyes.
The two smiled at each other.
Their minds were in harmony.
At the same moment, the jade gourd flashed with golden light, and two pendants drifted out.
They hovered beside the pair, each surrounded by a soft golden glow and a pink radiance, respectively.
From Luo Jinghong’s jade gourd floated two top-grade mystic crystal stones, used to enhance the quality of spiritual artifacts, and each was added to one of the two refining cauldrons.
They melted into liquid and surged into the demon deity statues...
Su Ye had no intention of competing for superiority. With the distant music as his guide, the rhythm of his control over the flames matched his dao companion’s perfectly.
The joy within his sea of consciousness washed away all sorrow and weariness.
In that instant, it felt like eternity.
The demon deity statue in the spiritual liquid melted down and returned to its liquid soul jade form.
Flames soared upward.
In the blink of an eye, the liquid jade turned into a current of air.
Drawn by the phoenix pendant, it flew out from the artifact-refining cauldron.
It merged into the pendant and spread evenly throughout it.
Pale gold and pink brilliance bloomed.
The light condensed into the shape of a phoenix and rose into flight several yards above the courtyard.
It circled in rings, its wings scattering a glistening energy.
Its clear cry echoed, distant and otherworldly.
The two pendants slowly descended, landing respectively in Su Ye’s and Luo Jinghong’s palms.
“There are words on them,” Su Ye said, his voice calm but touched with surprise.
“What is engraved on yours?”
“Martial Phoenix.”
“Divine Phoenix.”
With those four characters, they immediately understood from whom the phoenix pendants had come.
The dragon was reserved for the imperial house alone; common folk could not presume upon it.
So these treasures, paired as phoenixes calling to one another, had been used to bless devoted lovers.
This was certainly not Feng Yu’an’s own invention.
Hu lightly pressed the strings and let the lingering note fade away.
“Senior Hu, were these phoenix pendants bestowed personally by Her Majesty the Empress?” Su Ye asked, turning to look at Hu, who seemed lost in old memories.
“These pendants were personally selected by the Empress, blessed by the Human Sovereign, and then handed over to you by the palace eunuch Feng Yu’an,” Hu said with a smile, looking at Su Ye and Luo Jinghong as he explained the whole affair. “Today, their soul-binding properties have officially been confirmed... and I may even relay the Human Sovereign’s decree, granting the two of you a marriage alliance.”
Su Ye glanced uncertainly at Luo Jinghong, silently asking, Do we need to offer thanks?
Luo Jinghong gave a slight nod.
The two of them turned to face Hu, bowed, and cupped their hands in unison.
“We thank Your Majesty for your boundless grace.”
Hu put away the low table, the guqin, and the felt mat, then thumped the back of his neck with his fist as he rose.
“Pretending to be profound is really tiring...”
Su Ye hung the Martial Phoenix pendant at his waist, put away the Cosmos Jade Cauldron, and hurried over to Hu’s side to massage his shoulders.
“You little rascal, you really know how to smooth things over,” Hu said with a laugh. “Do you still think I’m a crooked merchant now?”
“How could I? You’re the wisest shopkeeper in the whole of Great Qian, from the neighboring villages to the farthest reaches, the greatest steward of the Treasure Pavilion.”
“And outside Great Qian?”
“Still number one.”
Hu tapped him lightly with a forefinger and smiled despite himself. “Such silver-tongued nonsense.”
Seeing Luo Jinghong standing motionless before the Taiyi Creation Cauldron, Su Ye immediately reined in his smile.
Hu seemed to see through his thoughts. Covering his mouth with one hand, he said softly, “She used to be clumsy with artifact refinement.
“It was only because you guided her that her talent in the craft truly awakened.
“From now on, you need not worry about her anymore.”
Su Ye looked at the phoenix circling above Luo Jinghong’s head and suddenly understood.
They were celebrating the unblocking of Luo Jinghong’s spiritual aperture.
The sound entered the sea of consciousness like celestial music.