Black Dragon caught his look and raised her eyebrow. “Were you going to eat it? Sorry. It is tasty.”

“Ah, no, no. Please, Senior, go ahead,” Hui said, waving his hands. Would it count as cannibalism if I ate lotus seeds right now? Especially my own lotus seeds? In any case, I don’t want to, I don’t want to!

She licked her fingertips. “It was delicious. How did you know someone had hidden snacks here?”

“Ah… a coincidence!” Hui said, nodding furiously.

“Are there any more?” Black Dragon asked, a hand on her lips. Despite her closed eyes, Hui got the impression she was eyeing up the hole he’d reached into.

Hui stiffened. Er… should I put another lotus seed in there? After a moment, he coughed. “My apologies, Senior. There was only one.”

“Hmm. I’ll have to come back and take a peek later,” she murmured, raising her eyebrows at the hole.

Ah! Do I have to continue stocking the hole for Senior? Senior, I’m a busy man! I can’t keep your snacks replenished! I already have enough goals of my own!

Shaking his head, Hui turned back to the phoenix fire. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind, preparing himself to handle the fire. I can’t fix the Underworld as it is now. It’s too broken. There’s no point in patching it up; no matter what I did, it would only break down again. Without the support of the Heavenly Dao, it’s too broken down to continue operating for long, even if Zhu Diyu wasn’t deliberately destroying it.

The only thing to do… is to completely destroy it. Once I destroy the Underworld, I can escape to help my children.

Hui looked at Black Dragon. “Senior, I need to ask you to do something insane.”

“Ah? For another roasted lotus seed, I’ll do it,” Black Dragon promised.

Hui blinked. “But I haven’t even said what it is…”

She held her hand out.

Hui sighed. He rubbed his hands together, forming a lotus seed, then tucked it into the nook in the rock. “It’ll be ready in a few minutes, Senior.”

“Good, good,” she said, nodding. “So, what did you want me to do?”

Licking his lips, Hui bowed slightly on reflex. “Senior, could I trouble you to keep the residents of the Night Market safe? I’m about to do something slightly absurd.”

She held up two fingers.

Hui nodded. He rubbed his hands together, forming another lotus seed, and tucked it into the rock cavity as well.

Black Dragon smiled. She patted Hui on the back. “You’re a good child.”

“Ah? Senior, I’m an adult.”

“You’re a child to me,” she said.

Hui opened his mouth, then nodded. Fair enough. My life can still be counted in the double digits. Compared to Seniors whose lifespan requires four digits or more to count, I’m an antlike existence, a mayfly!

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“I’m glad my son had a friend like you,” she said quietly.

“No, no. I’m the one who’s grateful to have encountered Zhubi,” Hui said earnestly. He’s the one who taught me how to fake my death. Without him, I’d be nowhere, nowhere at all!

Black Dragon waved her hand. The lotus seeds flew into her sleeve. Tucking her hands against her chest, she turned and flew away. “Give me the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. I’ll have everyone safe by then.”

Hui saluted to her, cupping his hands. “It will take me at least that long to properly comprehend handling this phoenix fire. Rest assured, Senior. You will have at least that much time.”

Cupping her hands back, Black Dragon flew off, her skein of silk undulating after her.

He watched her go, then stood. Hui turned to the ball of phoenix fire. It burned lower, now, already beginning the cycle anew. Excellent. Perfect timing.

Hui pressed his hands to the outside of the orb and closed his eyes. He sent his qi over the orb’s surface, searching for weaknesses. A soft spot in the orb’s underside caught his attention, and Hui sent his death qi into it. The soft spot decayed into a hole, but he stopped it before it grew any larger. I don’t want to unleash her, unlike Han Qin. I just want to investigate the phoenix fire for now. Get used to handling it. He threaded his qi through the hole and created a disk on the far side of the hole, then once more drew out a thread and drew it toward the ashes. The ashes laid dead, seemingly inert, but even in such a state, they still emanated an immense heat. Hui’s thread curled in on itself, the death qi unwilling to approach any closer.

Huh? The death qi doesn’t want to come closer? But it should be in a ‘death’ state right now. Isn’t that when the death qi should be the strongest? Curious, he forced his qi to grow closer.

The immense heat struck his qi thread. A bright white light burst before his mind’s eye. Hui startled. Life qi? The ashes are full of life qi? But why? The ashes come out when the phoenixes die. So why…?

His eyes widened. Unless! Could it be?

Flames sparked in the depths of the ashes. A fetus emerged, forming from the ashes into a baby, then a young girl, rapidly aging into a woman. Hui hovered his thread nearby, just out of the range of the flames, monitoring her growth through his thread. As she grew, the life qi turned into death qi. Both life and death qi coexisted inside of her. Although they should nullify one another, they instead sat beside one another like oil and water. Without mixing, without attacking one another, they peaceably sat side by side.

But how? If I could figure that out, I—no! It’s essential that I comprehend that! In order to complete my plan, I don’t have another option. I must gain this technique for myself!

Sitting beside the orb, Hui immersed himself fully in meditation, putting his all into comprehending the phoenix fire. The flames filled the orb. He pulled his qi back to the very border, hiding inside the walls of the orb, but still watched. I can’t miss a second. I must comprehend this! For my children. For the realms!

The flames died. Ashes emerged. Yet again, Hui snuck deeper into the orb, watching from closer. What is it? How do they exist like that? Surely I can accomplish it, too!

The flames grew stronger once more. The woman was reborn, surging out of the ashes. Hui fell back, but didn’t leave. His meditation grew deeper. Without realizing it, his death qi circulated in sync with the woman’s. The death ducks emerged from his dantian and swam around him.

I’m missing life qi… but there’s life qi right here! I’ll just siphon some of her life qi for myself. Carefully, Hui drew at the life qi with his death qi. Life qi flew toward it, drawn by his pull. Before it touched the death qi, he flinched it back, refusing to let the two touch. Bit by bit, he drew the life qi out of the orb.

Without anywhere to store the life qi, he left it circulating over his palm. Letting it spin on autopilot, he sent his consciousness back into the death qi thread in the orb.

As it spun over his palm, the life qi took on the form of a songbird. It flapped its wings and chirped, adjusting its golden feathers, then flew into the air, circulating on the opposite axis of the ducks in the opposite direction.

Hui’s brows furrowed. He fell deeper into his meditation. His breathing slowed, while the ducks and songbird circulated faster. What is it? What is the secret to life qi and death qi coexisting? The phoenix fire has accomplished it, so there must be a way. Something I can comprehend…!

In order to manipulate phoenix fire, I must first comprehend it. That’s what Master taught me. If I want to burn down the Underworld… First, I must comprehend phoenix fire!