Night of the Broken Gliph

Beyond the dark city of Southern Ping stood the brightly lit Southern Mountain. Since this was a matter that only affected the clans, the commoners in the city remained clueless about the situation. Just then, a figure appeared in a deserted sector of the city.

A soundless scream followed the appearance of the figure. The shadowed figure raised his head, looking at the sky. Nothing was heard but invisible waves were emitted, causing many small animals like dogs and cats around him to explode.

“Bastard…” he said solemnly with his hatred-filled voice. A full moon shone above him. 

Time’s running out. 

The figure disappeared once more, leaving only blood and pieces of flesh splattered all over the place. 

Chui Yim woke up to a girl standing outside his room the following day, staring at him with shiny eyes. “Morning, brother Chui.” 

Chui Yim had just woken up and wasn’t able to see clearly, but he could tell that this girl was somewhat familiar.

“Who are you?” 

Chui Yim walked side by side with Ping Ching. 

Chui Yim turned towards Ping Ching. Despite being only twelve, Ping Ching held the demeanour of a clan disciple. 

“It must be troublesome, right? To be a girl,” Chui Yim spoke up suddenly. 

“Mhmm.” Ping Ching trembled slightly, but she kept her cool as she replied softly. “Even with Man Chin Hung, a thousand-gliphic female gliphist, females are still discriminated against. It’s societal prejudice, that’s why I pretended to be a boy.” 

Chui Yim shook his head. The sight of Lam Ming appeared in his head. Ping Ching turned towards him with a smile, her braids swinging in the wind. “Thank you for saving my life yesterday, brother Chui. I don’t know how brother Chui managed to make the enemy retreat, but it definitely came with a cost. It would be rude if I continued to use a fake identity in front of brother Chui after yesterday.” 

Chui Yim decided not to comment, shrugging. “Aren’t you afraid that people will find out? You're being very obvious right now.” 

“I made use of an ancient gliph tool to camouflage my gender. My appearance and aura will change according to my preference for different people. Brother Chui can be at ease. I’m just an ordinary disciple to them.” 

”Alright, I’ll send you off here. Master asked to see you personally, so I won’t follow you in. No words can express my gratitude for you, brother Chui. I, Ping Ching, owe brother Chui my life. I’ll repay you someday.” 

Chui Yim didn’t care much about that. He had saved Ping Ching out of instinct, not because he wanted a reward. 

However, Chui Yim’s focus was diverted in no time. 

“Brat, state your conditions!” Ping Chi said, slamming the table in his courtyard. 

“I have one condition,” Chui Yim said lazily. “I have a heart deficiency. If you can treat me, calling you master is nothing, I’ll even call you grandpa!” 

“Heart deficiency?” Ping Chi raised an eyebrow, stepping forward as he felt Chui Yim’s pulse. His gentle energliph seeped into Chui Yim’s meridians, moving towards the heart. Chui Yim felt a part of his heart thumping slightly when Ping Chi's face suddenly fell as he rapidly retreated three steps! 

Boom! Boom! Boom! 

Every step he took left a burned mark on the ground. Smoke twirled upward from the three marks. 

“What on earth was that?!” 

“Heaven’s Flame,” Chui Yim answered, slightly disappointed with how things had unfolded. He had a love-hate relationship with the Heaven’s Flame, which had weakened him physically in his twelve years here. Chui Yim once hoped to be rid of it as soon as possible. But after inserting energliph into it, he could feel many distinct changes to the Heaven’s Flame. Even though he was still sick of it, he had gained many weird supernatural abilities as a result. He would have died to the mysterious black figure if not for the flame. 

“Heaven’s Flame?” Ping Chi mumbled to himself solemnly. This was how Doctor Odd worked normally. His mad and careless self was just the side that he showed the world. When Ping Chi worked on his speciality, he turned into another man. “In the far forgotten past, there was a legend of a flame called the Heaven’s Flame. It was the most fiery and bold flame, and it could burn anything. Because of its invincibility, the world couldn’t contain the Heaven’s Flame. It will disappear shortly after it appears, and nobody has ever seen a Heaven’s Flame that didn’t burn itself out." 

Ping Chi frowned so hard that his wrinkled face looked like a dried river bed, Chui Yim sitting at the side silently. He might be well-read, but he hadn’t read all the books in the South. Some secrets weren’t easily accessible to him, just like the legend of the Heaven’s Flame that Ping Chi mentioned. 

“Who told you that it was the Heaven’s Flame?” 

“My father,” Chui Yim replied calmly. “I want to know more about the Heaven’s Flame in detail, not for you to find out about my family.” 

Ping Chi understood Chui Yim’s response as if it was him; he would be unhappy to have others trying to dig out his past too. “I dare not confirm if it is indeed the Heaven’s Flame inside you…” Ping Chui hummed. “But seeing how scary it was… it should be.

“I can’t do anything about it. The Heaven’s Flame is the strongest fire of all the fires in this world, and this flame is only produced when Celestial Lightning descends. Heaven’s Flame has had many names in the past, Lightning Flame, Celestial Flame… but Heaven’s Flame is the most common name. There aren’t many records about it, there is a saying that everyone who has seen it has lost their life because the lightning that produces this flame wasn’t simple either. It was… the Heaven’s Test Lightning. 

“ Heaven’s Test Lightning?” Chui Yim looked up in shock. He remembered that in his past life, as the best metalsmith of the Sallow Continent, he had made a divine weapon, followed by boundless lightning and thunder; a great storm appeared when he did so. 

“You’ve never heard of it?” Ping Chi was surprised too. “The nature of gliphism goes against the natural order. It’s incompatible with the world itself. Five-chambered gliphers and thousand-gliphic gliphists will attract the Heaven’s Test Lightning, because they are so powerful that they can affect heaven and earth. It’s the greatest test for any cultivator, and that’s why there aren’t many five-chambered or thousand-gliphic state cultivators. Besides talent, you need to face this deadly lightning, a test called down because their power is too much for the world to accept. One must pass this test in order to survive.” 

Chui Yim might be well educated, but he was no competition when it came to Ping Chi who had lived for a hundred years. “Some very talented cultivators will encounter the Heaven’s Test Lightning at the four-chambered stage, just like the Tse Clan ancestors centuries ago. He was revered as the strongest four-chambered glipher, and he managed to finally reach the five-chambered stage, becoming extremely powerful.”