Lights of a Thousand Homes

"That's true." Zhao Fengnian nodded, then frowned. "However, this is a scandal within the government. It's a miscarriage of justice made by the magistrate's own people, so it certainly won't be publicized everywhere."

It would be too embarrassing if we didn't hear a word of it after everything had passed. I'll keep a close eye on what the authorities are doing during this time, so I don't miss anything. I've been to a magic academy, after all; I'm pretty good at this kind of subtle information gathering.

Liu Jin nodded, and the two walked towards the north of the city under the moonlight. As they walked out of the alley, Zhao Fengnian glanced back in the direction of the Jiang residence. The candlelight shining through the study window was still flickering gently, and he could vaguely see two slender figures around the desk, one grinding ink and the other turning the pages of a book.

Tao Wangsan's voice drifted out from the crack in the window, seemingly reciting a passage from the Analects. The one grinding ink listened attentively, while the one turning the pages interjected with questions from time to time.

The two walked towards the northern outskirts of the city under the moonlight. After leaving the city, the trees on both sides of the official road gradually thinned out, and the view opened up. Liu Jin stopped on a small hillside and looked back in the direction of Jinhua City.

The city of Jinhua at night is not as bustling as it is during the day, but it is not completely dark either. Within the city walls, lights twinkle in a continuous line: lanterns from restaurants and teahouses, oil lamps behind window paper in residences, and lanterns carried by night watchmen, densely covering the entire city. The lights sway gently in the night breeze, appearing from afar like another starry sky reflected on the ground.

The prefectural and county government offices stood side by side in the city center, their lanterns larger and brighter than elsewhere. The surrounding streets were also unusually brightly lit, clearly indicating that this was the administrative center of Jinhua City, bustling with activity. Further north, in several alleys, a few faint lights flickered, one beside which the outline of a small pagoda could be vaguely seen, a string of copper bells hanging from its eaves, tinkling softly in the night breeze. At the foot of the western city wall, there was a particularly dimly lit area, with only one or two oil lamps casting blurry shadows on the window paper; this must be the old town area where the Jiang residence was located.

Zhao Fengnian assumed Liu Jin had stopped to admire the scenery, so he didn't disturb him. He simply stood quietly to the side, also gazing at the lights, his eyes slightly dazed. When he was a food delivery driver, he used to shuttle through such lights every day, and back then he only felt tired. Now, standing in the middle of nowhere, looking at other people's lights from afar, he found them beautiful.

Looking at the endless expanse of lights, Liu Jin suddenly had a thought. The Taiyin Fire is the essence of the moon, belonging to Yin; the Lingzhi Demon Fire is the vitality of plants, also belonging to Yin. In his current fire system, Yin energy dominates. But fire shouldn't be solely Yin; a true fire system requires both Yin and Yang. He had previously considered using the essence of the sun to condense solar fire, but in this world, ghosts and demons are rampant, Yin prevails over Yang, and the essence of the sun is so thin it's almost nonexistent.

But the fire of the sun doesn't necessarily come from the sun; fire has another source: the fire of humankind. Every oil lamp, every candle, every stove fire is a continuation of human life. Individually, these flames are insignificant, unable to even kill the lowest-ranking demon, but if these flames are collected and fueled by the warmth of human life, they can coalesce into a myriad of lights. That is not the fire of heaven and earth, nor the essence of the sun and moon, yet it still contains the will of humankind to make fire by friction and pass on the flame for millennia. This will itself is a kind of unwavering determination that can ignite a flame.

He further thought that if he were to travel to the borderlands in the future, the battlefields where war raged and the beacon towers once blackened by smoke would surely still contain fragments of flint. Flint is the oldest human fire, the first fire obtained by Suirenshi by drilling wood.

If a spark of fire could be gathered at the border, and then nurtured by the warmth of countless homes lit up with human smoke, perhaps this spark could be transformed into its original form, tracing back to the moment when Suirenshi drilled wood to make fire, obtaining that first, most primordial spark of fire. That was the first fire of humankind, more suitable than any fire of heaven and earth to be one of the foundations of its fiery ribbons.

However, these ideas are still too far off. He hasn't even been to Laoshan yet, and the beacon towers on the border are nowhere in sight; it's a matter of taking it one step at a time. He casually mentioned this idea to Zhao Fengnian, marked it in his mind, stored it in his inner vision, and placed it alongside his previous deductions about the fire of the sun.

Zhao Fengnian wasn't idle either. Seeing Liu Jin staring blankly at the lamplight, he sat cross-legged by the roadside, closed his eyes, and silently circulated the Qi Fire within his body. His essence fire was now stable, and the Qi Fire was gradually transforming the impure wizarding power within him. With each circulation, the Qi Fire would burn away impurities from a small portion of his power, purifying it into a more refined form, before merging it into the dark blue flame in his dantian.

Progress was slow, but steady. He could sense that the Qi Fire was only a few hurdles away from complete transformation: the residual magic power at the ends of the meridians, deep within the bones, and the stubborn dark red energy barrier surrounding the Gluttony Mark. With each layer of impurities burned away, the Qi Fire grew stronger.

What he lacks is a cultivation method truly suited to him. The Threefold Reversal of Life in the Three Ones Sect follows a pure path, extremely clear and pure, transforming the physical body with Qi, allowing no impurities whatsoever. But his path is exactly the opposite: the Gluttony Seal is about devouring, and the Dragon Transformation is about devouring. If he continues down this path of devouring, his cultivation will inevitably become impure and require repeated tempering, just like refining magical power with Qi fire.

The Reverse Rebirth Triple Technique is not suitable for him, but the Samadhi True Fire itself is the best cultivation method. The combination of the Essence Fire, Qi Fire, and Divine Fire is a thorough tempering of himself from body to soul. This system does not require him to change his origins, but can help him repeatedly temper the various impure energies absorbed by the Gluttony Seal during his cultivation.

Completely resolving the Gluttony Mark is his most pressing cultivation goal right now. Before the Gluttony Mark is fully refined, it will grow stronger along with his cultivation level. He can suppress it for now, but if he doesn't refine it from a curse into a supernatural power as soon as possible, the long-accumulated backlash from the Gluttony Mark will definitely come when he cultivates the fundamental techniques in the future, and it will be more intense than ever before.

The next morning, Zhao Fengnian changed into a clean Taoist robe and went into town alone. He first went to Zuixianlou Restaurant and got a serving of braised beef and two baskets of soup dumplings for breakfast, then entered the county government office just as it opened. Master Tao was organizing official documents and quickly got up to greet Zhao Fengnian when he came in.

Zhao Fengnian, without batting an eye, simply stated that the matter of the Jiang residence had been resolved, and that the two ghost girls inside had reached an agreement with the Sanyi Temple to cease harassing the nearby neighbors. As for the details of this agreement, Zhao Fengnian did not elaborate, only vaguely using phrases like "Taoist methods" and "cannot be discussed in detail" to evade the issue.

Master Tao, being tactful, did not press for details. He simply nodded meaningfully and then subtly inquired whether the Taoist priests of the Sanyi Temple had ever witnessed a scene of humans and ghosts living in harmony.