Chapter Twenty-Five: Five Artificial Brain Cores

Lei Xiang ultimately chose to give up. He flung out his black Swift Steed, pressed a spirit stone into the drive, and soared away in his carriage across the sky.

At the three-zhang-wide volcanic crater, a flash of black light appeared as a black carriage drawn by eight horses surged upward. A young man, revealing a pair of small tiger-like teeth in his smile, patted his horse’s head lightly, and Swift Steed circled before hovering in the air.

Lei Xiang shook his head. Now the temperature at the crater was only one hundred degrees—reduced to a third of its former heat—attesting to the power of the Xuantian Leaving Fire. Once it was taken, even the volcano’s temperature dropped.

Turning Swift Steed around, Lei Xiang flew toward the grand hall of the Leaving Fire Kingdom’s imperial palace; the plaza was already in sight.

Landing amidst a grove of trees, he stowed away Swift Steed, tapped his own Jianjing acupoint to activate the Imprisonment Seal, sealing off part of his spiritual power. Emerging from the forest, Lei Xiang reverted to the appearance of a fifth-layer Qi Refining cultivator.

Before the Physical Examination Formation, citizens of the Leaving Fire Kingdom queued for inspection. General Cheng led a squad of soldiers overseeing the proceedings. When Lei Xiang approached, everyone fell to their knees. “Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Lei Xiang waved his hand, and they all rose. “General Cheng, is there any problem with the examination array?”

“None at all.” But when Lei Xiang looked into General Cheng’s eyes, he was shocked: the sharpness that once filled them was gone, replaced by hollowness, helplessness, and even a trace of mockery.

Lei Xiang instantly understood; General Cheng too had been controlled, his mind replaced. “The Black Chancellor is ruthless indeed, sparing not even the empire’s most important ministers.”

Returning to his palace, Lei Xiang found Niu Jin anxiously awaiting him. Upon Lei Xiang’s entrance, Niu Jin immediately stepped forward to salute. “Your Highness, have you obtained the Xuantian Leaving Fire?”

Lei Xiang smiled. “I handled it myself—there’s no problem. Now, go guard the door for me. I want to conduct an experiment. If it succeeds, you’ll get a perfect mind-core.”

Overjoyed, Niu Jin hurried out. Lei Xiang sealed off the grand hall with the Imprisonment Seal, then produced a Thunder Nail, suspending it mid-air with a spell. Carefully, he took out a jade box, opened the lid, and flicked out the Chu Tian Comb. Thirteen comb teeth emitted an apricot-yellow glow, combing through the Xuantian Leaving Fire within the jade box from a distance.

After three breaths, a wisp of pale blue flame was separated by the Chu Tian Comb. Lei Xiang pointed at the Thunder Nail, sending it into the blue flame.

A spell struck out, and the pale blue flame surged high, engulfing the Thunder Nail, beginning the refining process. Lei Xiang observed the Xuantian Leaving Fire’s burn—the outer flame now over five hundred degrees—while the Thunder Nail slowly blackened and softened.

When the moment was right, Lei Xiang tossed out a beast-hide tent, covering the refined Thunder Nail, which now supported one side of the tent as a rib.

He repeated the process, forging three more Thunder Nail ribs and a ringed bow, assembling them to fully prop up the beast-hide tent.

Next, he transferred the Xuantian Leaving Fire beneath the tent, using its outer flame for the final refining, fixing, and shaping process. The Thunder Nail framework and beast-hide tent fused perfectly. Thus, the beast-hide tent was upgraded, its defense raised by two levels, transformed into a beast-hide defensive system.

Lei Xiang let out a long breath. Just as he had calculated, the Xuantian Leaving Fire could indeed substitute for base fire in crafting magical tools, opening up a broader path for future refinements.

With a thought, he summoned Niu Jin and informed him the experiment had succeeded, instructing him to acquire a large chunk of refined iron for the final step in reconstructing his mind-core. Niu Jin departed happily, already envisioning his new mind-core.

Lei Xiang sat in meditation, fortifying his fourteenth-layer cultivation and restoring his spiritual energy, while drafting a plan for the mind-core reconstruction.

It felt good to be the Crown Prince—everything was so convenient. Just an hour later, Niu Jin returned with a massive chunk of refined iron, weighing over two catties.

The mind-core reconstruction began.

Niu Jin and Lei Xiang sat face to face in meditation. Niu Jin gathered his essence, free of distractions, while Lei Xiang, calm and focused, performed a rapid series of incantations. Blue light-strings shot forth, spiraling to slice off a quarter of the refined iron.

Lei Xiang then unleashed the Xuantian Leaving Fire to envelop the refined iron, refining it as the blue flame swelled and contracted, softening the metal. Lei Xiang did not idle; with the Imprisonment Seal, he sealed Niu Jin’s virtualized mind-core.

A great hand reached out, extracting the virtual mind-core, which hovered above Niu Jin’s head. Lei Xiang slapped his storage pouch, summoning a copy rune, and pressed it onto the virtual mind-core, duplicating all intelligence and memories.

At this point, the iron was sufficiently soft. Removing impurities, Lei Xiang compressed and kneaded it into the size of a walnut, then invoked the Endless Divine Sea technique to partition the new mind-core.

At last, he crushed the copy rune, and all of Niu Jin’s memories scattered into the iron mind-core like stars. The first ever artificial mind-core in the cultivation world was thus born in Lei Xiang’s hands.

With a change of spell, the artificial mind-core instantly descended, sinking into Niu Jin’s skull. Lei Xiang wrapped the virtual mind-core with the Imprisonment Seal before awakening Niu Jin.

“The new mind-core is complete. I have also sealed your original virtual mind-core; we’ll retrieve it after leaving the Leaving Fire Kingdom to avoid arousing the Black Chancellor’s suspicions. Search your memories and see if anything is missing.”

Niu Jin’s eyes shone with excitement as he closed them to sense the new mind-core. When he opened them again, tears brimmed in his eyes.

He turned and prostrated before Lei Xiang. “Your Highness, no matter who you are, I, Niu Jin, will follow you to the end. Through fire and water, at your word, I would die a thousand deaths without regret!”

Lei Xiang grinned, showing his small tiger teeth. “Your new mind-core is refined from iron essence—rustless and everlasting—the first artificial mind-core in the cultivation world. It gives me new direction; in the field of metallurgy, I will open a whole new realm.”

“All right, tell me what’s been happening these days. Any changes in the Leaving Fire Kingdom?”

Niu Jin scratched his head. “Not much really. Oh—right, the Black Chancellor has returned, in a particularly good mood. I heard he captured someone who seems to have been struck by a blood curse.”

Lei Xiang’s heart stirred. Could it be the Ten Thousand Demons Blood Curse? Who exactly is this Black Chancellor? Lei Xiang remembered that although he had broken the curse, if the other party belonged to the Blood Fiend Sect, they might have other ways to identify him.

“Understood. You may go; I’ll call if I need you.”

Once Niu Jin had left, Lei Xiang could not stay put. Packing his storage pouch, he changed his clothes with a wave of his hand, slapped a Concealment Talisman onto himself, and vanished on the spot.

Night had fallen deep.

Yet the Chancellor’s residence was brightly lit. The Black Chancellor sat upright in a grand chair; before him, a woman knelt.

To be precise, it was a girl, about fifteen or sixteen. Her skin was like creamy jade, her long hair cascading like a waterfall.

The Black Chancellor habitually wiped his mouth. “I don’t care who you are, nor do I need to know how you offended the Blood Fiend Sect. As long as you cooperate with me, I can lift the Ten Thousand Demons Blood Curse from you.”

Hiding behind an artificial mountain outside the window, Lei Xiang sneered inwardly. “As expected, the Black Chancellor is also of the Blood Fiend Sect. Their reach truly knows no bounds; I must be vigilant from now on.”

The girl, unconcerned, tossed her head. “Tch—so many generous offers, yet you went through all this trouble to capture me? Let me warn you, Black Chancellor, don’t get any funny ideas.”

“Lan Xi, my terms are simple: tell me the location of the Xuantian Leaving Fire Array’s eye, and I’ll let you go.”

The girl, named Lan Xi, suddenly turned her head. “And if I refuse?”

That glance sent a tremor through Lei Xiang’s heart, for he saw those eyes—deep blue, like the sea. Lei Xiang loved blue, loved the blue of the ocean—he had grown up in a coastal city in his previous life...

“Should I rescue this girl, whose eyes are so shockingly beautiful?”

On the other side, the Black Chancellor was unsurprised, as if he had foreseen her reply. “Lan Xi, you and the Crown Prince are as close as siblings. In the Leaving Fire Kingdom, only you and he know this array. You know I have at least thirty forms of torture that can make a man confess even his wife’s secrets, but I haven’t used any on you…”

Unexpectedly, Lan Xi cut him off. “I only know that with a single thought, I could destroy the secret of the Xuantian Leaving Fire Array. Though you’ve sealed my spiritual power, I have a natural ability to erase my own memory. Do you believe me? Want to gamble?”

A flush appeared on the Black Chancellor’s dark face; he felt suffocated. He dared not gamble, for Blood Fiend Sect headquarters awaited the array. If he failed, his end would be grim.

At that moment, Lei Xiang felt a strange attraction to this girl named Lan Xi, though he could not say what it was.

Silence. A long pause.

The Black Chancellor habitually wiped his mouth once more and smiled slyly. “My little beauty, let’s not be like this. After all, we are friends. Take your time considering my offer—go rest and think it over; tomorrow we’ll talk again.” With a wave of his hand, “whoosh,” a monkey bounded in.

No, it was a skinny youth, but nine and a half out of ten would have thought him a monkey.

The skinny monkey escorted Lan Xi away, leaving the room empty. Lei Xiang felt he had gained much tonight—such astonishing secrets, and now, knowing that Lan Xi understood the Xuantian Leaving Fire Array, he resolved she must be saved. As for how, that would require careful planning. After all, the Black Chancellor was at the Foundation Establishment level—not someone Lei Xiang could confront lightly at present.

Just as he was about to quietly withdraw, he witnessed an even more shocking secret.

The Black Chancellor slowly turned his back to Lei Xiang, beginning to remove his court robe and official boots, then his underclothes and undergarments, finally pulling out the golden hairpin binding his hair, letting it fall loose.

“Is he going to bathe? Or sleep? Does he also sleep naked?” Lei Xiang was still wondering when something even more startling happened.

The Black Chancellor grasped his hair with one hand and, pulling hard downward from head to toe—“rriiip!”—peeled off a layer of skin.

Human skin.