Chapter 101: Once the Apprentice Is Trained, the Master Goes Hungry

From that day on, Ji Youfeng and Hong Jian found every possible way to amuse themselves in their misery.

The Black Tortoise Prison seemed to have returned to calm on the surface, but in truth Ji Youfeng’s cell was often in an uproar. With nothing more than a scrap of rag or a cup of muddy wine, Hong Jian could conjure all manner of tricks. The oil lamp was moved to a distance, and she and Ji Youfeng lay side by side on the bed, each thrusting up their backside and blowing at the flame to see who could make it leap highest.

Ji Youfeng won again, sat up, and laughed aloud. Hong Jian admired him sincerely. “Senior, your cultivation is higher and your breath lasts longer. That’s just cheating.”

Only then did she remember to ask about the day he had formed his nascent soul. “Senior, there was such a commotion when you broke through that day. How did it turn out?”

Ji Youfeng smiled. “If I hadn’t formed it, would I have broken both my legs for nothing?”

So many Spirit-Transformation and Nascent Soul cultivators had been dispatched against him, and with Ji Youyun, who knew him through and through, closing in from every side, he had still found a chance to form his nascent soul. Hong Jian ought to have found that astonishing, but because the man was Ji Youfeng, it all somehow seemed perfectly natural.

Hong Jian was living merrily, and so was Ji Youfeng. He even joked, “Girl, if I didn’t bear the surname Ji, I’d be determined to cling to you and find a way to snatch you home as my wife.”

He was a Ji by birth, and from the day he had learned the Great Calamity Scripture, his fate had already been sealed: he could never live the ordinary life of a proper cultivator.

Hong Jian learned to play the flute and to duel with finger-guessing games. In return, she taught Ji Youfeng the “Voice Across a Thousand Li” and “Private Voice Transmission” that she had learned from Lu Yanchang.

When Ji Youfeng heard that she had picked up these two skills from a fellow prisoner she had never even met face to face, he only smiled, unbothered. Then he warned her, “Don’t think those little tricks of yours can fool Ji Youyun. Everything that happens in this Demon Refining Prison is still under his control. It never hurts to learn more, but don’t come to rely on it too much. Otherwise there will come a day when you suffer for it and regret it.”

Hong Jian grew solemn. She did not have the ability to fathom the mind of the deep and cunning Ji Youyun, but right before her eyes was someone who knew the secrets of both Ji Youyun and the prison.

“Senior, let me ask you something. How did you escape last time?”

“Last time? Didn’t I tell you already? Neither Ji Youyun nor I mastered this half of the Great Calamity Scripture in full. For this scripture, water spiritual roots are easiest to cultivate, followed by earth and wood, and only after that come people like me with metal spiritual roots. Fire spiritual roots cannot cultivate it at all. With that advantage, Ji Youyun has always kept the upper hand over me. Later, after he subdued several elders of the Demon Refining Prison and locked me up here, I had even less chance to compete with him. The last time was right after he had just reached the late Nascent Soul stage, becoming the most powerful person in our Ji clan apart from our ancestor. He thought he could toy with me, a mere peak Core Formation cultivator, as he pleased, and strip from my mind every memory related to the Great Calamity Scripture.”

“I simply went along with him and fed him a false image. He had been invited by Dai Mingchi to the Talismant Sect, and he could not bear to leave me behind, so he had no choice but to take me with him. Hmph. Once you leave this damned place, finding a chance to run is hardly difficult.”

Hong Jian was burning with curiosity. “This prison is that formidable? Even you had no way to escape?”

Ji Youfeng gave her a sidelong glance. “You still don’t understand what this prison really is, do you? How did you get in here?”

Hong Jian looked embarrassed. “I passed out at the time.”

Ji Youfeng did not laugh at her. Instead, he wore an expression that seemed to say, just as I thought, and said, “Then you don’t even know where this place is.”

In truth, apart from Ji Youfeng, neither the prisoners nor the guards knew more than that they were somewhere in the northern part of the continent. No one knew the exact location.

What Ji Youfeng said next was startling: “We’re beneath the polar glaciers.”

Seeing Hong Jian’s baffled shock, he went on, “This place had been untouched for millions of years, and there once dwelled a Soul-Transformation beast here. That beast could already take human form and called itself Devour. Back when our ancestor was still alive, he had intended to build a prison for demonic cultivators to suppress disorder and stop slaughter. After his death, Shang Qingzui slew Devour, refined its soul, and sealed it into a magical artifact. That artifact was named Demon Refining.”

Hong Jian cried out in amazement. “So we’re actually inside a magical artifact now?”

“It’s no ordinary artifact. The iron chain on me is called the Heartbreak Chain, and this cell we’re in is the most impregnable place in all of Demon Refining. Even if I exhausted my true essence, I still could not blast a hole through these walls. And that soul, though it has lost its consciousness, still instinctively devours spiritual energy. Even if we managed to gather everyone in the prison and deceive Ji Youyun, we still could not escape the control of that soul, let alone break free.”

“So that’s how it is. Then all we can do is drink ourselves into forgetfulness and drift through the days as they come?”

Ji Youfeng laughed heartily. “Who says otherwise? Come, let’s make another wager. This time you are not allowed to cheat.”

Thus time flew like an arrow, and days and nights passed like shuttlecocks. The two of them laughed and bickered their way through the years. Gradually, Hong Jian could no longer remember how much time had gone by. Perhaps it had been more than ten years, perhaps over twenty.

During that span, Ji Youfeng suffered a grave illness. At its worst, he was unconscious for several days. The guards grew very anxious, fearing he might not make it, and the matter eventually reached Ji Youyun.

Ji Youyun came in person to the prison to see his brother.

He did not mind using his powers in the Black Tortoise Prison. After Hong Jian was “politely asked” out, Ji Youyun sealed off the brothers’ conversation with his spiritual power. No matter how hard she strained her ears and tried to eavesdrop with her “Voice Across a Thousand Li,” she could hear nothing at all.

In the end Ji Youyun left in anger, and as he departed he shot Hong Jian a vicious glare.

Ji Youfeng’s condition dragged on for nearly a month before he slowly began to recover. He explained to Hong Jian that this had been a hidden danger left behind from the day he had hastily formed his nascent soul using the inner core of a beast. After forming his nascent soul, he had been severed from both legs and hauled back to the Demon Refining Prison. He had not even been able to stabilize his new realm, let alone find a way to eliminate the hidden flaw. As a result, the problem had grown more and more serious, until it was even threatening his life.

Hong Jian grew deeply worried. Only then did she understand why Ren Chen and the others had outwardly complied with Ji Youfeng’s every demand and had merely coaxed him to drink two more bowls of medicine.

If Ji Youfeng died like this, the portion of the Great Calamity Scripture he knew would vanish from the world forever. Even if Ji Youyun found half a scripture on the demonic cultivators’ side, he still would not be able to assemble the complete art, and the plan to find the Mirage Divine Palace would come to nothing.

For all these years, the two Ji brothers had relied on each other while also fearing each other. Though Ji Youyun held an overwhelming advantage, when it came to Ji Youfeng he was like a mad dog biting a hedgehog: there was nowhere to sink his teeth.

Only then did Hong Jian understand the sinister purpose behind Ji Youyun’s tolerance of her, or rather his decision to send her here to keep Ji Youfeng company.

After more than ten years, perhaps even longer, the two of them lived side by side in such circumstances, seeing one another from dawn to dusk. Every word they could speak had to be spoken to each other, and every joy and sorrow could be shared with no one but the other person. In such a setting, deep feelings would naturally arise. And beyond that, Ji Youfeng and Hong Jian already had such a profound bond between them.

Hong Jian was young and healthy, an ideal candidate for cultivating the Great Calamity Scripture. To Ji Youfeng, looking at her was like looking at the continuation of his own life. Could he truly endure keeping all the learning of his lifetime, including the Great Calamity Scripture, from her until he carried it to his grave, thereby allowing that earth-shaking art to vanish forever?

But if Ji Youfeng ultimately failed to restrain himself and taught Hong Jian the Great Calamity Scripture, then in Ji Youyun’s eyes he would lose all value as a living person. And to Ji Youyun, a young Hong Jian with low cultivation would be far easier to handle than Ji Youfeng.

That was the true meaning of teaching the apprentice and starving the master.

What Hong Jian could understand, Ji Youfeng naturally understood even better. In recent years he often pointed out little cultivation tricks to her in passing, but regarding how she should continue practicing that spiritual-awareness art, he never uttered a single word.

Hong Jian no longer thought much about what the future might hold. She only wanted to make Ji Youfeng smile as much as she could. Though she herself could not cultivate, she carefully memorized everything he taught her.

At least in these years, Ji Youfeng’s condition had not continued to worsen.

Just when Hong Jian thought this deadlock would last forever, Ji Youyun suddenly appeared again.

That day Hong Jian had just served Ji Youfeng his meal. The two of them were lying side by side on the bed, chatting idly, when they suddenly heard footsteps approaching from afar.

Perhaps it was the subtle sense that only blood brothers possess, but Ji Youfeng immediately fell silent, his face darkening.

Anyone who came uninvited could hardly have good intentions.

At first Hong Jian did not recognize the footsteps as Ji Youyun’s, but in that instant she felt as if the Ji Youfeng beside her had abruptly turned cold, erecting a barrier that shut even her out. She could not help feeling tense.

Unexpectedly, Ji Youyun wore a smile. He seemed to be in excellent spirits. He even tolerated Hong Jian remaining nearby and first asked with apparent concern whether Ji Youfeng had eaten well, slept well, and felt any discomfort lately.

Ji Youfeng said coldly, “Don’t you already know how I’ve been living? Rest assured, I’m in good spirits and won’t die anytime soon. The only thing that feels uncomfortable is seeing you again.”

Such a cutting reply seemed entirely within Ji Youyun’s expectations. He did not flare up, but nodded and said, “It seems my brother is doing quite well too. Looks like sending this young lady here to keep you company was indeed the right choice.”

Hong Jian drew a deep breath beside them. Looking back, everything had seemed perfectly logical. Yet for all these years Ji Youfeng had never taught her even a single word about the Great Calamity Scripture, so Ji Youyun must have long known that his arrangement and intent would not remain hidden from others. Today he simply admitted it openly.

When Hong Jian was mentioned, Ji Youfeng did not continue provoking Ji Youyun. Instead, he glanced at her in silence.

Ji Youyun smiled. “You’ve treated her quite well, brother. Eighteen years, and such a lovely young girl is still untouched. Heh. I never would have thought my brother could become such a gentleman.”

After twenty years of imprisonment, words far nastier than that would not have moved Hong Jian much at all. She met Ji Youfeng’s gaze and, with a raised brow at this taunt, said in surprise, “Senior, we’ve already been together for eighteen years? Time really does pass so quickly!”

Ji Youfeng’s expression turned interesting.

Ji Youyun choked briefly, then went on to Ji Youfeng, “How about I let you two out?”