Jiang Li dragged Cang Yaochen back into the bowels of the narrow alley. Behind the pharmacy counter, the one-eyed old man watched them approach, drenched in blood. When his gaze landed on the vibrating blue needle buried in the nape of Cang Yaochen's neck, his eyelids twitched violently.
"You took it... You actually survived the Ghost King." The old man's voice shook.
"Lead the way." The tip of the Heart-Piercing Crossbow pressed against the old man's brow. "Take us to the one you said could fix the mirror."
The old man swallowed hard and tremblingly pulled open a hidden door behind the medicine cabinet.
"I'm warning you now—Lord Iron Slave has a foul temper. Ten thousand years ago, that man personally severed his arms and nailed him into the earth. If you want his help to save a life, you're asking for the impossible."
They descended a bottomless spiral of stone steps. The walls grew scorching to the touch, every inch of stone etched with dark red suppression runes. Jiang Li could feel the atmosphere here instinctively repelling the demonic nature surging inside Cang Yaochen.
At the end of the stairs stood a raw iron door weighing ten thousand tons.
THUD—THUD—
Muffled strikes echoed from within. Every blow felt like a hammer to the heart, vibrating through the sea of consciousness until it went numb.
The one-eyed old man knelt at the threshold, fearing to even lift his head. "Lord Iron Slave, the guests are here."
"Get out."
A low voice rumbled from behind the door. The iron portal groaned open, releasing a heatwave so intense Jiang Li had to shield her face with her arm.
At the center of the forge stood a burly man, bare-chested. He had no arms. Instead, two massive, golden mechanical hands gripped a heavy hammer wreathed in lightning, relentlessly pounding an ore on the anvil.
Across his spine, dozens of Soul-Settling Needles were driven in at jagged angles—he was a prisoner shackled to the mortal dust by iron.
"Girl, three thousand years, and you still haven't died in the Heavenly Dao's machinations."
Iron Slave turned slowly. He had no facial features; his face was a brass mask covered in ancient incantations. His breathing behind the metal was heavy and suppressed, like a beast on the verge of a rampage.
His gaze lingered for a split second on the Mirror of Profound Inquiry in Jiang Li's arms before locking onto Cang Yaochen's deathly pale face.
"Cang Yaochen! It's you! Ten thousand years ago, you cut off my arms and banished me, the 'God-Smith of the Nine Heavens,' to this sunless City of Sin. Today, you dare show your face here?"
Cang Yaochen leaned against the stone wall, forcing his spine straight. "The one who took your arms wasn't me—it was the Buddha-God. Besides, back then you forged too many gods. Their divinity was unstable, and your divine weapons fell to corruption, causing an uprising in the Heavens. You deserved the blade. If that monk hadn't been merciful, you wouldn't even have a life to complain about."
"Merciful? I'm supposed to thank you?" Iron Slave erupted into a jarring, manic laugh. "I don't care who held the blade; I only recognize the face. Since you're here, stay and rot with me!"
Jiang Li stepped forward to speak, but Cang Yaochen's hand blocked her path.
"I know where the half-scroll of the Scripture of Creation is—the one the Heavens struck from existence." Cang Yaochen stared at the brass mask. "You've been hammering here for ten thousand years. Isn't it because you want to rebuild your divine body and slaughter your way back to the Nine Heavens?"
Iron Slave froze. The flames in the furnace leapt violently, casting flickering, jagged shadows across his mask.
After a long, suffocating silence, Iron Slave spoke raspy: "State your price."
"Repair the Mirror of Profound Inquiry."
Iron Slave considered this. "I can fix it. But the mirror seals the last three souls of this girl. To bring it back to life, I need 'Divine Bone' as the catalyst and 'Demon Blood' to quench the flame."
He extended a golden mechanical hand, pointing directly at the needle in the back of Cang Yaochen's neck.
"I need that needle. And I need half of the essence-blood from your Asura origin."
Jiang Li's heart lurched. Taking half of the Asura origin was no different from taking his life. "Why do you need his essence-blood?"
Iron Slave paused, letting out a heavy sigh. "We cannot outrun the Heavenly Dao. I cannot tell you. If I do, the Heavens will sense my plan before it begins."
"Done. No more words," Cang Yaochen said without a shred of hesitation.
"Cang Yaochen!" Jiang Li grabbed his collar. "What if you lose control? I finally remembered... I finally found you."
Cang Yaochen looked down at her. "It's alright. You have to trust me. We still have to tear down the Heavens together."