Hearing Arthur's denial, Huoxuan finally let out a sigh of relief.
"That's good," she said. "Then I can call you little brother without any worries."
Arthur was momentarily speechless.
So you were asking all that just for this?
He quickly changed the subject.
"By the way, Sister Huoxuan—do you have any disciples in the sect?"
Huoxuan waved her hand dismissively.
"Nope. Why would I take in that kind of troublesome baggage? Living alone is much more comfortable."
"Then what do you usually do in the sect?" Arthur asked curiously.
To him, Huoxuan really didn't seem like the type who could stay cooped up in a cave heaven for long. After all, she'd even gone traveling all the way to Britain before.
"Don't even get me started," Huoxuan sighed.
"Every day it's either artifact refining or pill refining. It's driving me insane. Oh right—you don't know this yet, do you? I'm both the Artifact Refining Elder and the Alchemy Elder of the sect…"
She launched into a long rant, explaining her situation in detail.
Huoxuan herself was a rare genius. From a young age, she had an extraordinary affinity with flames—a special physique that allowed her to put her hands into fire without being burned.
After joining Mount Shu, this constitution immediately caught the attention of both the artifact-refining elder and the alchemy elder. In their eyes, she was a natural-born seed for either path.
The two elders argued endlessly over who should take her, and in the end simply decided to teach her together, letting her aptitude decide.
Huoxuan did not disappoint them.
She was brilliant, possessed an almost photographic memory, and showed astonishing talent in both refining and alchemy. In the end, the two elders poured all their effort into her, nurturing a rare genius proficient in both arts.
Perhaps recruiting Huoxuan had exhausted all their luck.
After her, the two elders never encountered another disciple with suitable talent in either field.
In any sect, artifact refiners and alchemists were priceless assets. Because both paths demanded exceptional talent, some sects had even suffered broken lineages after failing to recruit successors.
To protect such important figures, sects generally did not allow refining elders to wander freely.
The reason Huoxuan had been able to travel to Britain back then was because she was still a disciple undergoing external trials.
After the two elders passed away, Mount Shu recalled Huoxuan, and both positions—Artifact Refining Elder and Alchemy Elder—fell squarely onto her shoulders.
From then on, she rarely left the sect.
It wasn't that Mount Shu strictly forbade her from going out. She could leave—but every time, two elders would be assigned to accompany and protect her.
With people constantly following her around, traveling became far more stifling than relaxing. Over time, Huoxuan simply stopped going out altogether.
"If you find it so annoying," Arthur suggested, "why not go out and relax a bit?"
"I told you already," Huoxuan said irritably.
"With people tailing me everywhere, it just makes things worse."
Arthur thought for a moment.
"Then it all comes down to your dual positions. Why not just take a disciple and pass on the inheritance?"
That sentence struck Huoxuan like lightning.
"That's right!" she exclaimed.
"If I dump both positions onto someone else, I'll finally be free!"
Suddenly, taking disciples didn't sound so troublesome after all.
But her excitement quickly faded as she frowned.
Finding a suitable disciple—especially for artifact refining or alchemy—was no easy task.
Huoxuan even felt a twinge of regret. Why hadn't she participated when the sect last opened recruitment? Maybe she'd have found someone suitable back then.
Then, suddenly, she thought of something.
She turned to Arthur, eyes lighting up.
"Little brother—how about you all become my disciples?"
She set her sights on Arthur and the others.
In her view, if they could be this powerful at such a young age, and if they had any talent in refining or alchemy, they might even surpass her.
If she could take them as disciples, the inheritance might be passed down quickly—and she'd be unshackled.
"Sorry," Arthur replied calmly.
"I'm very interested in refining and alchemy, but Hermione and I already have teachers. As for Ranni… you can try convincing her."
They were only here to travel. They still had school to return to—it was impossible to stay long-term.
Huoxuan glanced toward the arena, where Ranni was holding the Carian Regal Scepter and utterly suppressing Dao Xuan.
The girl looked quiet and cold, but once she started fighting, she was even more ferocious than Huoxuan herself.
If I took her as a disciple… what if she snapped one day and beat her master instead?
Huoxuan shuddered and decisively abandoned the idea of taking disciples altogether.
By now, the battle on the field was nearing its end.
Ranni's relentless moon-based sorcery left Dao Xuan with almost no room to fight back.
Dao Xuan had already realized that his fa li and Ranni's magic were on completely different levels—he had severely misjudged her strength.
But this wasn't a life-and-death battle. There was no need to gamble everything on victory.
What he needed was to hold out just a bit longer—because he could already feel his long-stagnant bottleneck loosening.
Ranni, however, had no intention of indulging him.
She was here to vent Arthur's anger.
And having gone so long without a proper fight, she had finally found a perfect punching bag.
The longer she fought, the harder she hit.
In the end, she directly summoned her unique Dark Moon.
A full moon radiating deep,azure-blue light descended, dimming the entire cave heaven.
Ranni raised the Carian Regal Scepter—and the Dark Moon surged toward Dao Xuan.
The moment it appeared, every observing elder erupted in excitement.
Huoxuan even swore aloud,
"Holy shit—Dao Rhythm!"
"What's Dao Rhythm?" Arthur asked.
"You don't know?" Huoxuan stared at him in disbelief.
"Dao Rhythm is a law one comprehends from heaven and earth. Beyond the Refining Void–Union Dao realm lies the legendary Land Immortal realm. It's said that the prerequisite for becoming an Land Immortal is grasping one's own Dao Rhythm."
She frowned at Arthur.
"By all logic, you're stronger than that girl—how do you not know this?"
Arthur roughly understood.
What Huoxuan called Dao Rhythm was essentially what Ranni referred to as a Law.
Ranni's Law was the cold night—stars and moonlight. The Dark Moon was simply the manifestation of that Law.
"You mean… things like these?" Arthur asked uncertainly.
To confirm his suspicion, he raised his hand, gathering different powers within his palm.
Death from the Prince of Death.
Charm from Miquella.
Blood and curses from Mohg.
And the power of time absorbed from the Time-Turners.
Powers of different colors intertwined—mutually incompatible, yet perfectly harmonious.
Huoxuan stared, utterly stunned.
Dao Xuan sensed the disturbance and turned his head—then froze completely.
In that moment of distraction, Ranni's Dark Moon struck him head-on, sending him flying and knocking him unconscious.
Yet no one cared.
All the elders were staring dumbly at the powers in Arthur's hand.
From their expressions, Arthur confirmed his hypothesis.
Dao Rhythm.
Law.
Authority.
Different names—but all referred to the same thing: these special powers.
They could be obtained through comprehension, as Huoxuan described—but also through other means.
Arthur himself was proof.
Because of the Erdtree's nature within him, he bypassed comprehension entirely. By absorbing sufficient quantities of a corresponding power, he could directly master it.
And then another realization struck him.
From Huoxuan's words, becoming an Land Immortal required grasping a Dao Rhythm.
By extension… was the prerequisite for becoming a Divine Being the mastery of a special power?
Arthur had already answered that question through himself.
After becoming a Divine Being, he had indeed gained a unique power—one he had always regarded as an Erdtree trait.
The ability to absorb and assimilate other special powers.
With that realization, Arthur finally saw a path forward—for helping Hermione become a Divine Being.
He withdrew the powers in his hand, and everyone slowly snapped out of their stupor.
"Holy shit! Little brother—no, I'm calling you big brother now!"
Huoxuan grabbed Arthur excitedly.
"Brother, teach me! How did you do this? How did you master so many Dao Rhythms?!"
Nearby elders all pricked up their ears.
Arthur shook his head.
"My method can't be replicated. If you want guidance, you should ask Ranni instead."
Then he added calmly,
"And shouldn't you be checking on your sect master right now?"
He pointed to Dao Xuan, still unconscious on the ground.
Only then did the elders react, scrambling to carry their sect master to the healing hall.
Their panic was understandable.
Arthur had shocked them far too deeply.
Seeing Huoxuan still lingering beside him, Arthur asked,
"Aren't you the Alchemy Elder? Don't you need to prepare medicine for your sect master?"
Huoxuan waved her hand nonchalantly.
"No need. The healing hall already has plenty of pills I refined earlier. As long as they don't mess up the dosage, nothing will go wrong."
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
Judging by how flustered those elders looked…
He could only hope they really didn't mess it up.
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