Fire Not Bright

Stepping out of Zhuge Mountain, Liu Jin walked alone on the mountain path, his pace slower than before. The Samadhi Divine Fire had been ignited, and the path to rebirth through the Threefold Reversal was now open—this was a good thing.

But the secret of the automatic cultivation device, like a grain of sand dropped into his once calm lake, caused ripples on its surface. What was that energy? Where did it go? His cultivation speed over the past two years had far surpassed that of ordinary people, which he had always attributed to the automatic cultivation device's function, precisely controlling the flow of his cultivation techniques down to the smallest detail. But now it seemed there was more to it than that. There was something else. He found a clean rock by the roadside, sat down, and looked up at the slowly moving clouds in the sky. After thinking for a while, he stood up and continued on his way.

"I'll think about it slowly when I get back."

......

"The Samadhi True Fire has been successfully created!"

"This automatic cultivation device is amazing! What's this guy's setup now? Peak second level of Reverse Life with Samadhi True Fire. Is there anyone more powerful than him in the Republic of China era?"

"In terms of cultivation level alone, there are definitely not many, but am I the only one thinking that with automatic cultivation devices being so abnormal, if there were a Journey to the West manual or a perfect cultivation method, wouldn't it be able to defy the heavens?"

"Um, I've looked at a few advanced worlds, and it seems they don't directly take you to the advanced world itself; you have to slowly ascend from the smaller worlds below."

"There's a very scary guess."

"you say."

"Forget it, we're all just ants."

"Get out, riddle teller!!"

......

It was late at night when Liu Jin returned to Sanyi Gate.

A lantern still burned at the mountain gate. The light flickered, as if someone had just passed by. He pushed open the door to his small hut. On the table sat a plate of steaming hot buns and a small note from Lu Jin.

Liu Jin picked up a steamed bun, took a bite, chewed it twice, then picked up the note and looked at it. He then sat down, turned to a new page in his notebook, and wrote something down.

The source of power for the Golden Finger.

After writing this line, he leaned back in his chair and stared at the flickering oil lamp for a long time.

A few years later, Lu Jin and Li Muxuan were no longer the little kids who used to chop wood and fetch water in the lower courtyard.

Lu Jin had grown considerably taller, his features had matured, and his once innocent face had become more defined with a jawline. When he stood there silently, he already possessed a certain youthful vigor. Of course, he immediately lost his composure as soon as he opened his mouth, "Senior brother, shouldn't we replace the cushions we use for morning prayers? The one on the left is sagging, and I always end up leaning to the left when I sit on it."

Li Muxuan had grown taller, half a head taller than Lu Jin, with broader shoulders and a louder voice. When he stood in the training ground, the new junior disciples didn't dare to speak loudly. But when he smiled, he was still the same boy who sat on the steps calling for people to rest—arrogant and unrestrained, only no longer pretending.

Both of them had reached the peak of the first level of Reverse Life. Lu Jin's progress was as steady as ever, with each step taken firmly and solidly. Zuo Ruotong said of him: "He's not fast, but not a single step is wrong."

Li Muxuan did suffer a bit. He was exceptionally intelligent, but the Triple Reversal of Life disliked intelligent people the most. Several times, he was stopped halfway through his breakthrough by Zuo Ruotong, who said he was trying to "run away" again. However, Li Muxuan was no longer the mischievous child who would get angry when his secret was exposed. After being scolded, he would obediently go back to recuperate and occasionally seek advice from Lu Jin.

The two of them developed the same habit: every few days they would come to Liu Jin for sparring. Sparring was really just taking turns getting beaten up. At first, Li Muxuan was always the one catching Lu Jin, but later Lu Jin would urge Li Muxuan on.

"Senior brother, take this palm strike!" Li Muxuan stepped onto the bluestone slab, leaping into the air. His palm was wrapped in a layer of white Qi light, and he struck Liu Jin's face with a whooshing sound. The power, angle, and timing of this palm strike were all good, but unfortunately, he was facing a peak second level of the Reverse Life Realm.

Liu Jin dodged the palm strike, lightly placing his right hand on Li Muxuan's wrist and guiding him aside using the force of his forward momentum. Li Muxuan spun halfway through the air before crashing onto the bluestone slabs of the training ground with a thud. He rolled over and lay on the ground, panting heavily, his forehead covered in sweat, but his eyes were bright.

Lu Jin stood to the side, far more cautious than Li Muxuan. Before making a move, he would observe, probe, and plan his escape route. But once he was in the ring, he was no different. The moment his fist was thrown out, it was stopped by a finger. It wasn't a block, but a prediction. The finger was already there, as if it had known all along that his fist would come from this angle, at this speed, and with this force. With a backhand strike, Lu Jin was sent lying down next to Li Muxuan.

Lu Jin frowned and thought for a moment, then gestured a couple more times before saying seriously, "Senior brother, you're fast again. You know where I'm going to hit before I even exert my strength."

"Move your shoulders before you exert force."

"Then I'll start with my foot next time."

Li Muxuan got up from the ground, rubbing his lower back, looking indignant: "Senior brother, that sidestep you did just now, you deliberately waited for me to jump before letting me pass, didn't you?" Liu Jin didn't deny it. Li Muxuan gritted his teeth for a moment, then suddenly grinned: "I knew it. Next time I'll fake a jump, wait for you to sidestep before changing my move."

"Then you need to practice until you can fake jump."

Li Muxuan's smile froze on his face. Lu Jin chuckled softly beside him, but was glared at by Li Muxuan and quickly suppressed his laughter, though his shoulders were still trembling.

"Seriously," Li Muxuan said, brushing the dust off his clothes, his tone softening slightly, a mix of joke and seriousness, "Senior brother, you were cuter when you were that little Lu Jin. The Lu Jin of today isn't fun anymore."

Liu Jin said expressionlessly, "I miss the two of you when you were little kids."

Lu Jin paused for a moment, then nodded seriously: "I miss it too. Back then, I didn't have to get beaten up." Li Muxuan laughed heartily, his laughter echoing several times across the training ground.

......

"My youth is over! Little Lu Jin is really gone!"

"Lu Jin now has a mature air about him, but deep down he's still that serious person who's serious to the death."

"Li Muxuan hasn't changed at all, except he's grown taller, more handsome, and has a wider range of motion where he can get beaten up."

"Liu Jin said he missed the little bean sprout, but he always held back during their sparring sessions. Otherwise, a peak second level cultivator fighting a first level cultivator would have been over in one move."

"That's not called showing mercy, that's called sustainable stomping. Once you've driven them away, who will come to beat them up for fun?"

"Hahaha, that's wicked, Liu Jin."

......

Over the past few years, Liu Jin has lived a very structured life. Apart from being dragged along by his two junior brothers to spar every now and then, he has devoted most of his energy to two things. First, perfecting the theoretical framework of the third level of the Reverse Life Triple Technique; second, attempting to ignite his essence fire and qi fire.

The Essence Fire is the most basic layer of the Samadhi True Fire, which uses essence and energy as fuel. For this purpose, he also casually found a manual of external martial arts called "Iron Armor Skill". Anyway, with his cheat ability, he didn't need to cultivate anything miraculous. He just needed to strengthen his life force and improve his essence and energy.

The quality of Qi need not be a concern. No matter how many problems arise with the Reverse Rebirth Triple Technique, it does not prevent it from being the top-level technique capable of reshaping the physical body.

The theory was beautiful, but reality was harsh. He tried to ignite both the essence fire and the qi fire, but once the two flames were burning, they couldn't find a stable medium. His physical body couldn't withstand the simultaneous burning of two fires, so he could only feed both the essence fire and the qi fire to the samadhi fire as fuel.

The divine fire did grow stronger as a result, but it was still far from his ideal: the unification of the three fires to achieve samadhi. He pondered this problem for a long time but couldn't figure it out, so he had to put it aside for the time being.