Chapter 180: One for One

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Elder Xue’s hands are inside a floating orb of magma.

The look on her face is one of intense concentration, and her Qi fills the laboratory with quiet purpose. Though not hostile or violent, it is still the Qi of an Emperor. The other experiments in the laboratory would have surely been ruined already were it not for the multiple barriers surrounding them.

Even Liu Jin finds it a little hard to breathe under the circumstances.

The magma shifts and bubbles as Elder Xue’s hands work inside it. It is clear to Liu Jin this is no normal magma Elder Xue is working with. That does not mean he knows either its nature or its purpose. Such things are beyond his comprehension.

“Pass me the salamander eggs,” Elder Xue says.

She takes one of her hands out of the magma and holds it towards him. Naturally, there is not a single injury on her skin. Liu Jin wordlessly takes the salamander eggs from the crate he is holding and places them on her waiting palm. The crate has many talismans attached to it to keep the eggs in stasis. It is a standard procedure to conserve time-sensitive ingredients. Now that the eggs are exposed to the heat generated by the magma, it is only a matter of time until they hatch.

Liu Jin’s eyebrows go up as Elder Xue places the eggs inside the magma before that happens. As the last of the salamander eggs goes into the magma, the sphere glows blue, then turns incandescent white. Its radiance is such that Liu Jin has to shield his face with his arms. When it fades, the magma is no longer magma. The sphere has become a flaming orb, almost like a miniature sun.

Elder Xue frowns.

“Another failure.”

A small head pokes out of the flames after she says that. The small, moist-looking body of a baby salamander follows it. Then another one and another one. The baby salamanders are bright red with black spots. They stick to the fire with their tiny, webbed feet, heedless of gravity.

Elder Xue waves her hand, and the salamanders are levitated off the sphere and forced back to the crate Liu Jin is holding.

“Still, there was some progress,” Elder Xue says pensively. Her eyes do not stray from the flames. “Take the salamanders to the pens. I no longer have any need for them.”

“As you command Elder Xue,” Liu Jin says. “However, before that…”

“Ah yes, you came here to discuss something.”

Liu Jin came to Elder Xue’s laboratory fully intent on discussing what Feng Zhi said. However, Elder Xue started ordering him around before he had even fully opened the door. After that, Liu Jin had been too engrossed in the experiment to interrupt.

“I talked to Young Master Feng Zhi today,” he says.

Elder Xue turns around and gives him a sharp, measuring look. She does not need to. Someone like Elder Xue can sense everything she needs without using her eyes, so Liu Jin guesses she is doing it only for the intimidation effect.

It is fairly effective.

“Continue.”

“We talked amicably enough,” Liu Jin says. Some would call that a bald-faced lie, but compared to how other enmities of his have ended, his relationship with Feng Zhi borders on friendly.

It is actually pretty sad.

“However, Feng Zhi said something that worried me. He said Elder Xue has been talking to Lord Feng Gui about the Storm Dragon Empire.”

“I see.” Both Elder Xue’s Qi and her face are completely unbothered by Liu Jin’s words. “I was hoping you would not find out about it until later. I did not imagine you’d go to the Young Master or that he was paying such close attention to his father.”

“Is it true then?”

Try as he might, Liu Jin cannot stop some suspicion from creeping into his tone. This matter is too close to his heart for him to keep calm, it seems.

“Child,” Elder Xue says, placing a hand on her hip. “Have I done anything to warrant being looked at with such distrust? Have I ever dealt with you unfairly? Have I betrayed your secrets? Have I ever reneged on any of our agreements?”

Each question hits him like an arrow and leaves him wincing, but Elder Xue is not done.

“Or have I empowered you? Have I not given you authority? Have I not shielded you? Have I not given you the tools to make your goals more accessible?”

Liu Jin looks away, guilty.

“Well?”

“I apologize,” Liu Jin says, bending his body a full ninety degrees with the crate still in his hands. “Elder Xue has shown me many kindnesses during my stay in the Eternal Flame Clan. The matter of the Storm Dragon Empire is just very dear to me, and hearing something like that worried me.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Your stay in the Eternal Flame?” Elder Xue echoes with amusement. “Is that how you see it?”

Liu Jin raises his head and blinks. “Huh?”

“It does not matter, I suppose,” Elder Xue says while raising several barriers around the flaming sphere to hide it from sight. “To answer your question, yes, I have been talking to Lord Feng Gui about the Storm Dragon Empire. The motive, however, is not something you will have any issue with.”

Elder Xue pauses. Liu Jin leans forward in anticipation. Only the newborn salamanders happily moving about inside the crate break the stillness.