Chapter 120: Casting Pearls Before Swine

The white fire ox, seeing Liang Yan’s bewildered expression, rolled its bovine eyes upward and retorted impatiently:

"Why play the fool, boy? You came here seeking the master’s legacy, didn't you? Consider yourselves lucky; this Path of Divine Fire is one of the easier ones among the seven trials. Had you entered the Black Water Path or the Extreme Yin Path, heh, you would have had a much harder time."

Liang Yan offered a bitter smile and replied, "Senior, to be honest, I was forced into this situation and arrived here quite muddled. I don't even know where this place is."

The fire ox glanced at him and said languidly, "I care not whether you came willingly or not; I am only responsible for guarding this pass. Enough talk—will you attempt the trial or not? If not, head back the way you came and stop disturbing my peace."

Liang Yan exchanged a look with Zhao Xunzhen, who gave a slight nod.

"Very well. Since this is the only way out, we have no choice. May I ask how we are to attempt this trial?" Liang Yan stepped forward and bowed to the ox.

"It’s simple!"

As the ox spoke, it pushed its hoof forward into the void. Two larger, cyan stone stools slowly moved to face it, forming a tripod-like formation with the rock it sat upon, enclosing the cluster of Samadhi True Fire in the center.

The ox then waved its hoof again, and two white jade teacups materialized out of thin air, hovering above the two cyan stools.

"You two shall sit here and discuss the Dao over tea with me. Survive for the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn, and you shall pass!"

"Discuss the Dao over tea? Is it that simple?" Liang Yan muttered to himself.

It was not that he was overly suspicious, but the power of the fire spirits in the previous two trials had been overwhelming. Since this fire ox was far more formidable than those spirits, he found it hard to believe the trial could be so straightforward.

However, the fire ox ignored them, content to pick up its pipe and puff away in silence.

"Since you are so kind as to invite us, Senior, we shall not decline!"

Liang Yan bowed, stepped forward, and sat on one of the stools. Zhao Xunzhen hesitated for a moment before following suit.

"Heh, you two are sensible. The tea in these cups is 'Yangyan Silver Monkey,' said to be collected and stored by spirit monkeys on Mount Yangyan. It is not the highest grade of tea, but it has the effect of slightly refining one’s spiritual power. Please, enjoy."

The fire ox gestured with its hoof. Liang Yan glanced at the floating teacup; it was filled with a pale green liquid, steaming hot.

"Given his immense cultivation, if he wanted to harm us, he wouldn't need to resort to poisoning the tea," Liang Yan reasoned. He reached out to take the hovering cup.

However, the moment his hands touched the cup, his heart skipped a beat. He looked toward the ox beneath the tree.

The fire ox was gone. In its place sat an old man in hemp robes, wearing a high-crowned hat. His eyes were tightly shut, and he sat cross-legged, grinning at Liang Yan with a sinister expression.

"Blind Yan!"

Liang Yan gasped, leaping backward. The teacup fell to the ground, and the emerald liquid hissed as it touched the stone, clearly highly toxic.

The man before him was the very same "Fire Yama" known as Blind Yan, the man whose conflict with fellow practitioners had led to the massacre of over three hundred people in Huaiyuan Town.

Although Liang Yan was no longer the child he had been seven years ago and knew this man had not personally killed his father, his nature was as extreme as ever. He believed that if not for this man’s greed for treasure, the people of Huaiyuan would never have died.

He had harbored this hatred deep within his heart for seven years, and now, seeing his enemy, he glared with fury. "Blind Yan! You’ve finally appeared. Today, you shall pay in blood!"

Golden light gathered in his hands as he stepped forward and threw a punch—the "First Fist of Appearance," a secret technique taught by the old monk.

Having grasped the realm of "Appearance Born from the Heart," this technique was his most powerful weapon, save for his newly upgraded Red Pine Needles.

Yet, "Blind Yan" merely chuckled, formed a seal with his right hand, and suddenly vanished.

Liang Yan’s punch erupted in golden light, shattering half the stone platform into rubble, but there was no sign of his enemy.

"Heh, is that all the strength you have?" A voice came from behind him.

Liang Yan spun around, only to see Blind Yan standing behind him, "looking" at him with a mocking expression.

"Die!"

Liang Yan roared and struck again. This time, he pulverized the rest of the platform, but Blind Yan simply formed another seal and vanished once more.

With eyes burning crimson, Liang Yan swung punch after punch, never touching even a corner of the man’s clothes. Instead, the stone platform beneath him grew smaller and smaller until it was little more than a pillar.

Boom!

With his final blow, the platform gave way completely, and Liang Yan plummeted into the endless abyss below.

Suspended in the void, Liang Yan flailed his limbs, his mind a chaotic blur. He had forgotten where he was, throwing punches wildly in a desperate attempt to vent his rage.

Just then, two distinct energies surged within him.

First, a golden radiance erupted from the Golden Glazed Lamp inside his storage pouch, striking him directly between the brows.

A cool stream washed through his consciousness. Liang Yan’s eyes snapped open, clear and sharp, the chaos instantly dispelled.

Next, a purple radiance emanated from the black sphere marked with the character "Demon" within his Heavenly Secret Bead, surging directly into his dantian.

As the purple light entered his core, a surge of immense power flooded his body. He let out a piercing cry and, turning around, struck a punch toward the dark abyss below.

Rumble!

The seemingly infinite, bottomless abyss shattered like a spiderweb.

Liang Yan had not expected that in his hour of greatest peril, the two latent powers within him would save him in their own ways.

The next moment, the world spun, and the surrounding environment crumbled into dust.

Liang Yan’s spirit flickered. When he regained his senses, he found himself still sitting on the cyan stone stool. Everything remained exactly as it had been; his hands were still held out in the posture of taking the teacup.

The cup was intact, unspilled and unbroken.

He turned his head to see the white fire ox sitting opposite him, smiling.

"Not bad, little one. This cup of 'Yangyan Silver Monkey' may not be the highest grade, but that is merely my own modesty. Even ordinary Golden Core cultivators would struggle to get a taste of it if I were unwilling."

The ox tapped its pipe against the stone and added, "If you had not passed that trial, heh, there would have been no point in wasting my tea."