The peak of Ashen Pulse Mountain was an active crater, its heat enough to blister the skin of ordinary mortals.
Sulfurous steam billowed from the cracks in the rocks, creating the atmosphere of a miniature hell.
Yet Yan Kesh walked into the Ashen Hall with blue lips and a violently trembling body.
He wore a thick fur cloak usually reserved for the northern winters, yet his teeth still clattered.
Clack. Clack.
Upon the throne, Qiu Moren slowly opened his eyes. They burned crimson, veins of fire crawling along his neck. Today was the peak of his pain cycle. His body was burning itself from the inside.
"You…" Qiu Moren hissed, hot vapor spilling from his mouth.
"Why are you wearing such thick clothes in my crater? Are you mocking me?"
Yan Kesh did not answer.
He couldn't. His jaw was too stiff, struggling to contain the 5,000 units of Yin Energy raging through his meridians.
Yan Kesh walked forward, his movements stiff like a wooden puppet, stopping right in front of Qiu Moren.
"Heal me…" Qiu Moren groaned. His hand crushed the armrest of the bone throne into dust.
"Take this pain away! Transfer it to your disciples!"
Yan Kesh shook his head slowly.
With trembling hands wrapped in thick leather gloves, Yan Kesh removed his fur cloak.
Beneath it, his body was covered in a thin layer of frost. Cold mist immediately billowed as it met the scorching air of the hall.
"Today…" Yan Kesh's voice was hoarse and weak.
"…we're not throwing away trash. Today… we're recycling it."
Yan Kesh placed his corpse-cold palm directly against Qiu Moren's blazing chest.
[INITIATING CROSS-TRANSACTION]
[Source A: Yan Kesh (Pure Yin – In Transit)]
[Source B: Qiu Moren (Impure Yang – Host)]
[Method: Total Neutralization]
"Take this," Yan Kesh whispered.
He opened the valve within his soul-root.
WOOOSH!
There was no explosion of fire, no eruption of ice.
What erupted instead… was steam.
The cold energy stored within Yan Kesh burst forth, crashing directly into the wild, raging heat within Qiu Moren's heart.
HISSSSS!
A piercing sizzle filled the hall. Thick white fog engulfed both of them in an instant.
Qiu Moren's eyes flew wide open.
Normally, Yan Kesh merely siphoned away his pain, leaving his body hollow and weak.
But this time… it was different.
The cold did not hurt.
The cold embraced his raging fire-heart, soothing it, caressing it—like red-hot iron plunged into cooling oil.
"Ahhh…"
Qiu Moren tilted his head back, his mouth open.
It was not a scream of pain, but a groan of pure ecstasy.
The burning sensation in his organs extinguished.
The itching in his bone marrow vanished.
The haze of fury and agony clouding his mind suddenly cleared, becoming crystal-pure.
On the other side, Yan Kesh also felt overwhelming relief.
The heat from Qiu Moren's body spread into his own, melting the ice in his blood, warming his frozen bones.
This was perfect symbiosis.
Yin devoured Yang.
Yang devoured Yin.
They annihilated each other, leaving behind a peaceful point of zero.
[BALANCE ACHIEVED]
[Transaction Status: Complete]
[Residual Yin: 0%]
[Target's Residual Pain: 0%]
[Broker Commission: +200 Units of Pure Vitality (Fusion Yield)]
The steam slowly thinned.
Qiu Moren remained seated upon his throne, breathing steadily. His usually pale, translucent skin now carried a healthy flush. He looked at his own hands.
They were steady.
Strong.
He felt as if he had been reborn.
"Yan Kesh…" Qiu Moren whispered, staring at the man standing before him. There was no more frost clinging to Yan Kesh's body, no more trembling.
"What did you just do?" Qiu Moren asked.
"This… this feels a thousand times better than simply discarding the pain."
Yan Kesh straightened the damp collar of his clothes, his expression flat and professional.
"I've found a new 'medicine,' Sect Master," Yan Kesh replied calmly.
"Instead of dumping your fire into the trash heap, I extinguish it with water from a special source."
"A special source?" Qiu Moren's eyes gleamed sharply.
"Where is it? Bring me to it! I want it every day!"
Yan Kesh smiled faintly.
This was the key moment.
"The source is unstable, Sect Master. If your wild fire were to touch it directly, the source would explode and destroy this entire sect—along with you."
Yan Kesh tapped his own chest.
"Only my body… a hollow body without cultivation… can act as a safe filter. I am the only vessel that can mix your poison with that antidote without detonating."
It was a technical lie.
In truth, Qiu Moren could absorb Su Ran directly—at great risk.
But Yan Kesh needed to make himself irreplaceable.
"So…" Qiu Moren stared at Yan Kesh intently.
"I need you."
"And I need you, Sect Master."
Qiu Moren laughed. A powerful, commanding laugh—no longer the laughter of a sick man. He rose to his feet, his Core Formation aura erupting outward, shaking the entire hall.
"Good! Very good!"
Qiu Moren tossed a black jade token toward Yan Kesh.
Yan Kesh caught it. The token was heavy, engraved with a dragon skull.
[Token of the Vice Sect Master's Authority]
"From this day on, you are no longer a Guest Elder," Qiu Moren decreed.
"You are the Vice Sect Master of the Ashen Pulse Sect.
You hold power over the life and death of every disciple, full access to the treasure vault, and veto rights over the decisions of the other elders."
"There is only one condition: keep that 'medicine' flowing. Never let me feel that hellfire again."
Yan Kesh clenched the token. Cold. Solid.
"Transaction accepted," Yan Kesh said as he bowed.
He turned and walked out of the blazing hall.
At the gates, he lifted his gaze toward the star-filled night sky. His breath no longer froze in the air.
He had just sold Su Ran—without the girl's knowledge—and purchased the Ashen Pulse Sect without spending a single coin.
Inside his mind, The Audit closed its ledger for the day with a single footnote:
[NOTE: MONOPOLY ACHIEVED]
[Supply: Controlled (Su Ran)]
[Demand: Controlled (Qiu Moren)]
[Market Position: Absolute]
Now, Yan Kesh possessed soldiers, resources, and a powerful puppet at the top of the hierarchy.
It was time to look outward—toward the world that had once cast him aside.
"He Qiu," Yan Kesh murmured softly, though the youth was nowhere in sight.
"Prepare the forces. We're expanding."