Love Burning Amidst the Ashes. - Chapter 25 - The Awakening of Wind and Thunder

**Beneath the Lei Yu Gate, Battle Slave Camp**

The air hung thick as coagulated blood, saturated with the stench of rust, sweat, festering wounds, and a despair so dense it seemed impossible to dispel. Cheap spiritstones were embedded in the rough cavern walls, casting sickly green light that sliced the honeycomb maze of iron cages into shifting patches of living darkness.

Inside Cage Ding Wei No. 76, **Xu Qing Feng** sat cross-legged upon the freezing stone floor. His bronze, bare torso was a patchwork of newly healed crimson flesh and charred black scars, intertwining like the fangs of some monstrous totem. On his right arm, the spiderweb-like black mark of the Demon Seed stood out vividly beneath the dim light. It pulsed faintly with every deep breath he took, each beat releasing a bone-chilling cold that clashed violently against the scorching pain caused by his forced circulation of the *Thunder Fiend Art*.

The cooling medicinal power of the **Mending Paste** trickled through his body like a gentle stream, painstakingly repairing the web of cracks across his dantian and soothing the burns along his meridians, granting him a fragile thread of clarity.

Yet the vicious fiendish aura born from the *Thunder Fiend Art* lingered like an incurable poison deep within his Sea of Consciousness. Every cycle of cultivation felt as though countless icy needles were being driven into his soul, bringing excruciating agony and an almost uncontrollable thirst for slaughter.

The brief respite earned through ten consecutive victories was nothing more than the deceptive calm before a storm.

From the tunnel beyond the cages came the heavy rhythm of approaching footsteps. Chains scraped across the stone with a metallic *clatter*, sounding like the drums of an execution march.

Two **Lei Yu Gate** enforcers, clad in dark violet uniforms and radiating fierce, intimidating auras, stopped before his cage. Their cold eyes swept over Xu Qing Feng’s scar-covered body before settling on the pulsing Demon Seed mark on his right arm.

“Ding Wei No. 76.”

The leading enforcer spoke in a flat, emotionless voice that nevertheless carried unquestionable authority.

“Effective immediately, you are reassigned to the **Ore Seizure Unit**. Your destination is the **Black Iron Mine** in **Qi Xue Valley**.”

*Qi Xue Valley.*

Xu Qing Feng’s bloodshot eyes snapped open. A flash of silvery-white lightning flickered deep within his pupils before he forcibly suppressed it.

Just hearing the name was enough to tell him it was no ordinary place.

His elder brother’s secret talisman letter resurfaced vividly within his mind.

*Lei Yu hides dark secrets. Leave immediately.*

Every distorted rune burned with desperate urgency.

And now… he was finally being sent outside.

Could this be the opportunity to escape **Lei Yu Gate**?

“Black Iron Mine?” Xu Qing Feng’s voice was hoarse and dry. “This disciple’s injuries have yet to recover. I have only recently begun cultivating the *Thunder Fiend Art*. I fear I am unfit for such a task.”

He spoke only to test whether he could gain even the slightest advantage, despite knowing it was probably futile.

“Hmph.”

The other enforcer sneered, his eyes filled with naked contempt.

“A battle slave with ten straight victories, and you’re pretending to be weak?”

“The mine in Qi Xue Valley has caught the attention of those Blood Wolf Gang mongrels. The sect doesn’t just want the ore—we want the heads of every last one of those bastards.”

He paused, his gaze slithering over the Demon Seed mark on Xu Qing Feng’s arm like a venomous serpent.

“Besides… don’t you have a grudge against them? Your lightning is perfect for clearing the battlefield.”

“As for your injuries…” He smirked.

“You’ll have all the **Blood Boiling Pills** you need. The *Thunder Fiend Art* is forged through slaughter.”

“This is an order—not a negotiation.”

Before his words had even faded, a crimson **Blood Boiling Pill**, its surface engraved with pill patterns within which ominous black wisps drifted, was launched from a pair of iron tongs straight into Xu Qing Feng’s slightly parted mouth as he drew a breath.

*Gulp.*

The instant the pill slid down his throat, it exploded into a torrent of molten magma that rampaged through every limb and organ.

It ruthlessly squeezed every remaining ounce of his life force, flooding his body with a feverish heat and a twisted surge of strength.

Cracks spread across the walls of his dantian with faint *crack* sounds under the violent impact of the medicine.

The burning pain deep within his meridians was temporarily numbed, replaced instead by a bloodthirsty exhilaration.

The black Demon Seed mark on his right arm pulsed wildly as though injected with a powerful stimulant. It greedily devoured the violent medicinal energy, while a dark crimson glow gradually seeped from the depths of its intricate pattern.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the murderous fiendish intent of the *Thunder Fiend Art* erupted like a raging wildfire, spreading with terrifying speed.

“Urgh—!”

A muffled roar escaped Xu Qing Feng’s throat.

His body tensed uncontrollably as blue-violet lightning fractures flickered once more beneath his skin.

Blood seeped from his gums as he clenched his teeth with all his strength, using every ounce of willpower to suppress the savage killing intent threatening to burst from his body.

Amid the overwhelming tide of fiendish thoughts, his elder brother’s warning stood firm like a divine pillar anchoring the sea—a final line of defense that refused to break.

**Clang!**

The iron gate of the cage was yanked open with brutal force.

“Get out!” the enforcer barked. “Move it!”

Xu Qing Feng staggered to his feet, dragging the heavy shackles chained around his ankles. Step by painful step, he disappeared deeper into the shadows of the corridor.

As he passed the cage occupied by Scarface, the old battle slave with the centipede-shaped scar across his face remained curled in the corner, slowly chewing on a dark green root. His cloudy eyes lifted ever so slightly, furtively lingering on the Demon Seed mark pulsing with a crimson glow on Xu Qing Feng’s right arm. The corners of his withered lips twitched upward into an almost imperceptible smile.

A faint scent—an unsettling blend of damp earth, decaying vegetation, and bitter herbs—drifted through the foul air with every slow chew.

Xu Qing Feng’s footsteps paused for the briefest instant.

An inexplicable chill crept into his heart.

Without looking back, he continued forward, the chains scraping against the stone as he merged into a column of battle slaves. Some wore expressions of complete numbness, others burned with fanatical bloodlust, but all carried the same murderous aura. Like livestock being herded to slaughter, they marched toward the massive stone lift leading to the surface.

With every step, he drew closer to his elder brother’s warning…

…and closer to the unknown horrors awaiting him in **Qi Xue Valley**.

—

### The Surface – Outskirts of **Nu Lei Gorge**

Heavy lead-gray storm clouds hung so low they seemed almost within reach.

The distant thunder was no longer background noise.

It was the endless roar of some colossal beast directly overhead, reverberating through the heavens and shaking one’s blood and qi with every deafening peal.

Violent winds whipped sand and gravel through the air, lashing against exposed skin like countless tiny blades.

Xu Qing Feng stood among a formation of battle slaves whose bodies radiated the scent of blood and slaughter.

His muscular upper body remained bare, his bronze skin resembling cast metal beneath the dim sky.

The medicinal effects of the Blood Boiling Pill grew increasingly violent under the relentless wind.

Within his body, the fiendish aura of the *Thunder Fiend Art* collided relentlessly with the savage power of his Lightning Spirit Root, crashing through his meridians like opposing torrents. Beneath his skin, blue-violet lightning fissures flickered in and out of existence.

The Demon Seed mark on his right arm pulsed even more violently as it resonated with the thunderous fiendish energy saturating the surroundings. The black pattern bulged faintly beneath his flesh like a living creature, tormenting him with an agonizing blend of scorching heat and bone-deep cold.

Ahead lay the entrance to **Qi Xue Valley**.

Two towering crimson cliffs, split apart as though by a divine axe, stood facing one another. Their weathered surfaces were carved into grotesque ravines resembling countless gaping mouths waiting to devour the living.

Within the valley drifted a crimson mist tinged with the metallic scent of blood.

The clanging of steel echoed faintly from its depths, accompanied by beast-like roars.

Even through the howling wind, the overwhelming smell of blood remained unmistakable.

“Our objective is the Black Iron Mine at the bottom of the valley!”

The **Lei Yu Gate** overseer leading the operation was a middle-aged cultivator with a sinister expression, his cultivation already at the peak of the Qi Refinement Realm.

His voice, amplified by spiritual power, rang clearly through every battle slave’s ears.

“Kill every last bastard from the Blood Wolf Gang.”

“Bring back the ore.”

“Anyone who retreats… dies.”

“Anyone who delays the mission… dies.”

“Anyone who hides ore for themselves… dies.”

His icy gaze swept across the formation before stopping briefly on Xu Qing Feng.

“Ding Wei No. 76.”

“You lead the assault.”

The order struck like a frozen whip.

A flash of savage violence ignited within Xu Qing Feng’s eyes.

Driven by both the Blood Boiling Pill and the murderous intent born from the *Thunder Fiend Art*, an overwhelming urge to kill nearly shattered the last remnants of his reason.

With a low, beast-like growl, he abandoned all hesitation.

His figure exploded forward, transforming into a blur wrapped in crackling strands of blue-violet lightning as he charged straight into the blood-soaked mist at the valley entrance.

—

The interior of **Qi Xue Valley** looked like hell made real.

The dark crimson rocks had been stained black by years of dried blood.

Broken weapons lay scattered across the ground alongside shattered bone armor and pools of dark red blood that had yet to dry.

The steep cliffs on either side bore countless scars from fierce battles—charred marks left by lightning strikes, rock walls sealed beneath frozen ice, and enormous craters blasted open by overwhelming force.

The thick odor of blood mixed with sulfur, scorched metal, and the rancid musk of wild beasts, forming a nauseating stench that clung stubbornly to the back of the throat.

Then—

The battle erupted.

Bandit cultivators of the **Blood Wolf Gang** burst from jagged boulders and narrow crevices like hyenas scenting fresh prey.

Most wore ragged leather armor.

Madness and greed blazed within their eyes as they charged forward, swinging rust-covered axes and sabers or wielding filthy spirit-infused artifacts wrapped in corrupt spiritual energy.

“Kill them!”

The valley instantly descended into chaos.

“RAAAAH!”

A beast-like roar thundered from Xu Qing Feng’s throat.

The *Thunder Fiend Art* surged into motion.

Violent thunder fiend energy merged with the explosive medicinal power of the Blood Boiling Pill, becoming an uncontrollable torrent that flooded into his right fist.

The flesh covering his arm instantly blackened and cracked apart.

Blue-violet lightning intertwined with strands of dark purple fiendish qi, unleashing a terrifying aura.

Without slowing for even an instant, Xu Qing Feng drove his fist toward the first attacker—a mid-stage Qi Refinement bandit wielding a massive battle axe.

**BOOM!**

Lightning exploded outward.

The massive battle axe—and the upper half of its wielder’s body—were instantly carbonized before shattering into countless blackened fragments. Chunks of charred flesh and thick blood sprayed in every direction as the violent shockwave blasted several nearby bandit cultivators off their feet, hurling them into the cliff walls with the sickening crack of breaking bones.

That single strike ignited the battlefield.

The two forces crashed together in a frenzy of slaughter.

Roars, screams, clashing steel, and the thunderous detonation of spiritual techniques echoed wildly through the narrow valley, deafening all who fought within it.

Empowered by the *Thunder Fiend Art* and the Blood Boiling Pill, the battle slaves of **Lei Yu Gate** fought without fear of death.

The cultivator bandits of the **Blood Wolf Gang**, however, relied on superior numbers and the valley’s terrain, launching a savage counterattack.

Severed limbs flew through the air.

Scalding blood splashed across the crimson rocks, evaporating into a suffocating crimson mist.

Xu Qing Feng was like a tiger unleashed among sheep.

Driven by the thrill of slaughter, the *Thunder Fiend Art* accelerated with every passing moment. Fiendish qi corroded his Sea of Consciousness, bringing waves of dizziness alongside an intoxicating pleasure born from killing.

The Demon Seed mark on his right arm greedily absorbed the escaping spiritual energy and blood essence of every fallen enemy.

It pounded like a war drum.

The dark crimson glow within its veins grew brighter with every heartbeat.

Wherever his fists or kicks landed, thunderous fiend energy erupted.

Ordinary mid-stage Qi Refinement bandits died the instant they came into contact with him.

Yet every full-powered attack came at a terrible price.

The cracks spreading across his dantian groaned beneath the combined strain of the Blood Boiling Pill and the violent fiendish qi.

His meridians felt as though red-hot branding irons were burning through them again and again.

“Watch out! It’s an ambush!”

The desperate warning of a battle slave from **Lei Yu Gate** ended abruptly.

A streak of black light shot from behind an eagle-beak-shaped boulder high above, piercing straight through the man’s throat.

Xu Qing Feng’s head snapped upward.

His pupils contracted.

Several shadowy figures were concealed behind the enormous rock.

Their auras were vastly stronger than the ordinary bandits fighting below.

One of them had even reached the peak of the late Qi Refinement Realm.

They had never intended to join the battle directly.

Instead, like venomous serpents lurking in the darkness, they patiently waited for the perfect opportunity, striking from afar with poisoned crossbow bolts and sinister spells aimed at the battlefield’s most dangerous opponents.

“Ding Wei No. 76!”

The sinister overseer’s furious voice rang across the battlefield.

“Take care of the bastards firing from above!”

He himself was locked in fierce combat against two late-stage Qi Refinement leaders of the Blood Wolf Gang.

The killing intent in Xu Qing Feng’s eyes intensified.

Under the combined stimulation of the order and the Blood Boiling Pill, the murderous frenzy inside him exploded.

With a violent stomp, the crimson stone beneath his feet shattered into a web of cracks.

Wrapped in roaring thunder fiend energy, he shot skyward like an arrow released from its bow.

The Demon Seed mark on his right arm blazed crimson.

A terrifying force gathered within his fist.

Just as he reached the apex of his leap—

Everything changed.

A faint…

Almost undetectable…

Utterly frigid fluctuation of spiritual power erupted from behind him.

It did not come from the Blood Wolf Gang.

It came from one of his own companions—a silent battle slave from **Lei Yu Gate**, his face marked by a long scar.

A chilling glimmer, eerily identical to the one Scarface had displayed earlier, flashed through the scarred man’s eyes.

Between his shriveled fingers, a tiny droplet of dark green liquid shot forward without a sound.

Its target…

The very center of the Demon Seed mark on Xu Qing Feng’s right arm.

The liquid carried an overpowering stench of rotting vegetation and decaying herbs.

**Sssst—!**

The instant the dark green fluid touched the Demon Seed—

It was like pouring boiling oil onto ice.

An indescribable poison erupted.

A soul-freezing darkness flooded his body.

The Demon Seed mark twisted violently, swelling as though about to burst apart.

A force far colder and far more sinister than the fiendish qi of the *Thunder Fiend Art* exploded from within it.

It was a torrent of chaos, malice, and corruption.

Like a collapsed glacier, it surged through his meridians before slamming directly into his dantian.

“Pugh—!”

Xu Qing Feng felt as though he had been struck by heavenly lightning.

His body froze midair.

A mouthful of black blood, mixed with shattered fragments of his internal organs and tiny crystals of frost, erupted from his lips.

The thunder fiend energy he had gathered instantly spiraled out of control, rebounding into his own body.

A sharp—

**Crack!**

—echoed from within him.

The walls of his dantian fractured like shattered crystal.

Unimaginable agony engulfed his entire body.

Darkness and crimson light consumed his vision.

“AAAAARGH!”

His anguished scream echoed through the valley.

Like a kite with its strings cut, his body lost all control and plummeted toward the ground.

“Now!”

“Kill him!”

Behind the eagle-shaped boulder, the peak late-stage Qi Refinement leader of the Blood Wolf Gang bellowed with savage delight.

Several pitch-black blade arcs, saturated with dense blood qi, shot through the air like venomous serpents.

Shrieking as they tore through the atmosphere, they descended mercilessly toward Xu Qing Feng’s completely exposed back.

The timing…

Was flawless.

An attack from within.

An attack from without.

A perfect killing trap.

Below, the scar-faced battle slave who had launched the betrayal remained utterly expressionless.

Another dark green root, still damp with the scent of fresh earth, crumbled silently between his shriveled fingers.

His cloudy eyes watched Xu Qing Feng’s falling body as though staring at a corpse.

Death wrapped itself around Xu Qing Feng’s heart like an icy hand.

Everything inside him had descended into complete chaos.

The backlash of thunder fiend energy.

The berserk Demon Seed.

The soul-devouring poison.

The collapse of his dantian.

His Sea of Consciousness drowned beneath endless agony and uncontrollable fiendish intent.

Then—

At the very brink of death—

**Bzzzzz—**

The strange marking upon his left shoulder suddenly emitted a gentle radiance.

A phantom Yin-Yang jade pendant emerged from within his body.

Without warning, it erupted with a dazzling gray-white light.

A cold…

Chaotic…

Yet strangely protective aura spread outward in an instant.

**Bang! Bang! Bang!**

The deadly black blade arcs struck the gray-white radiance.

Instead of cutting through it, they slowed dramatically before dissolving as though sinking into an endless sea.

Most of their destructive power vanished.

Only the remnants of the blade qi reached Xu Qing Feng.

They carved a charred wound across his back so deep that bone was exposed.

But they failed to tear him apart.

Even so, the overwhelming impact hurled him away like a broken rag doll.

His body flew toward the far side of the eagle-shaped cliff…

Toward the bottomless abyss known as **Duan Hun Cliff**.

“No!”

The furious roar of the sinister overseer rose from below—

Only to be swallowed by the deafening chaos of battle.

Xu Qing Feng’s consciousness sank deeper into darkness beneath endless waves of agony.

His body tumbled uncontrollably as he plunged toward the crimson abyss.

The wind screamed past his ears, filling his mouth and lungs with the suffocating stench of sulfur and blood.

Weightlessness mixed with the catastrophic turmoil raging inside him, threatening to tear him apart.

He fell.

And kept falling.

Endlessly.

Just before his consciousness vanished completely…

His fading eyes seemed to catch sight of something deep beneath the rolling crimson mist.

Far below the jagged blood-red cliffs lay a vast wall of dark stone, impossibly smooth, like the surface of a mirror.

Ancient symbols…

Massive beyond imagination…

Were carved across its surface.

Their intricate lines appeared and disappeared within the crimson fog, radiating an aura of immeasurable age and desolation.

Yet somehow…

That ancient presence resonated faintly with the gray-white radiance emanating from the Yin-Yang jade pendant upon his shoulder.

The next instant—

Cold darkness, heavy with the stench of blood, swallowed him completely.

Like a falling meteor, Xu Qing Feng crashed toward the unknown depths of the abyss.