[Vol. 1, Fragment X: Ministry of Works ? Accident Report]

  "The Dragon Kiln suffered a chamber explosion, destroying three thousand pieces of imperial porcelain. On-site investigation: The fire lost control, suspected cause... the fuel was overly 'active'. Note: That madman stuffed the kiln master inside. Does this count as a workplace injury or a fuel expense?"

  — Directorate of Astronomy ? Miscellaneous Division ? Reimbursement Form (Rejected)

  [Internal Note / Directorate of Astronomy] "Fire Wastage": Refers to the unavoidable loss of material during the firing process. But in the Miscellaneous Division, this usually refers to the process of "burning the enemy to ash."

  The conflict erupted without warning the exact moment Xie Bi’an shouted the word "requisitioned."

  Though the half-finished porcelain humans lacked feet, they dragged themselves across the ground with astonishing speed. Emitting a grating, bone-scraping friction, they swarmed toward the two men from all directions like a tide of white, porcelain-shelled grubs.

  "Commander Shen, get to work!"

  Xie Bi’an took a step back, dodging directly behind Shen Wu with a fluid motion entirely devoid of shame. "Don't hack them to pieces! This is firewood! Kick them into the kiln!"

  Shen Wu’s mouth twitched.

  The demand was absurdly tricky.

  But the blade in his hand was already moving. With a clear, resonant hum of steel, the black blade-light carved a perfect semicircle in the dim factory. Shen Wu didn't use the edge to cut; instead, he used the flat of the blade, slapping it precisely against the porcelain human charging at the very front.

  A dull thud resonated as the immense force sent the porcelain figure flying like a white meteor across the air, landing accurately into the pitch-black maw of the kiln behind them.

  "Ah—!!"

  The moment the porcelain human fell into the kiln, it was swallowed by the roaring flames. It let out a shrill scream before instantly turning into a bright fireball, causing the flames at the kiln mouth to surge significantly higher.

  "Beautiful! It’s in the fire!" Xie Bi’an applauded from behind, waving his folding fan frantically. "The fire is roaring! Keep feeding the material!"

  The hunched kiln master was stunned.

  He had fired kilns his entire life. He had seen people terrified of death, and he had seen people fight for their lives, but he had never seen anyone... help him add firewood and stoke the flames.

  "You are... courting death!"

  The old man roared, violently slamming both hands onto the ground. The earth shuddered with a deafening rumble as countless red-hot iron chains erupted from the dirt. Like glowing pythons, they tightly bound Shen Wu’s legs and his saber hilt. At the same time, the porcelain humans went utterly mad. A red glow surfaced on their bodies as they actually began to self-destruct.

  "Damn it!" Shen Wu tried to break free, but the iron chains carried intense heat and toxic resentment, sizzling his flesh and rendering him completely immobilized.

  But there were too many porcelain humans. A figure with a bulging, glowing belly was already lunging toward his face, ready to detonate.

  "Anu, cut the threads!" Xie Bi’an ordered calmly.

  A streak of silver chill swept rapidly through the air, precisely carving a 'cross' in the dim factory.

  No one saw exactly what happened; there were only a few crisp, metallic chimes. The red-hot iron chains wrapping Shen Wu instantly severed into several pieces and dropped to the ground.

  The silver cat, Anu, landed gracefully on Shen Wu’s shoulder. She shook non-existent dust from her claws in disgust, her cold voice echoing in their minds. "So dirty. These chains taste like the old man's spit."

  Regaining his freedom, Shen Wu was inwardly horrified. What exactly are this cat's claws made of? Slicing through black iron chains like tofu?

  But there was no time to marvel. The explosive porcelain humans were right in front of him.

  "Fatty, extract the fire!" Xie Bi’an calmly flicked his sleeve.

  "Meow—!!"

  A golden blur shot out from Xie Bi’an’s sleeve. Expanding in the wind, Xianchan opened his massive jaws and actually bit directly onto the head of the porcelain human that was about to explode.

  A muffled gulp rumbled in his throat. Xianchan looked as if he had just swallowed a scalding soup dumpling—his cheeks bulged and deflated—before he forcibly swallowed the explosive "fire energy" from within the porcelain body.

  Burp... Xianchan spat out a puff of black smoke, making a disgusted spitting sound. "This fire has gone sour! There's corpse oil mixed in! Anu, you were right, it really is dirty!"

  The two cats operated in perfect tandem—one handled crowd-control removal, the other absorbed the explosive damage.

  Xie Bi’an stood in the center, commanding with absolute composure. "Now! Commander Shen, clear the floor! Sweep all this garbage inside for me!"

  Seizing the opportunity, Shen Wu moved like lightning. He sheathed his saber and switched to using his legs. Amidst a rapid succession of heavy thuds, he kicked the porcelain humans one by one—like dumping dumplings into a boiling pot—precisely into the gaping mouth of the kiln.

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  "Ah! So hot!" "Don't burn me!"

  Countless mournful screams echoed from within the furnace. As "fuel" was continuously thrown in, the flames inside the kiln shifted from dark red to bright yellow, finally taking on an eerie blue-white hue.

  Watching his "life's work" being burned as kindling, the kiln master trembled with rage. His grayish-white skin began to crack inch by inch, revealing magma-like veins flowing beneath.

  "Destroying my foundation... I will refine you into ash!!"

  The old man roared, his body suddenly expanding. He actually merged with the massive Dragon Kiln behind him. Countless bricks and stones flew up and attached to his body, turning him into a three-zhang-tall magma giant.

  "Interesting."

  Looking at the giant, Xie Bi’an wasn't afraid. Instead, he pulled out the list from his robes and checked a box in the "Fuel" column with his brush.

  "Couldn't find a millennial locust tree heart, but this 'Kiln Ghost'... seems to have a much more vigorous fire."

  He turned to Shen Wu, a mad, calculating gleam in his eyes.

  "Commander Shen, Anu. Hold him off for ten breaths."

  "What are you going to do?" Shen Wu panted heavily, the blade of his saber already chipped.

  "I am going to... alter the fire."

  Xie Bi’an extended his freezing Liuli hand and strode toward the kiln mouth that was spewing raging flames.

  It was an insane decision.

  The kiln mouth, a hellscape normal people would avoid at all costs, was, in Xie Bi’an’s eyes right now, simply a massive operating console.

  "Fatty, protect the Dharma!"

  Xianchan roared, blocking Xie Bi’an’s side. He used his golden body to forcibly tank a smash from the magma giant's fist. With a deafening boom and sparks of golden light scattering, Xianchan was knocked skidding backward for several zhang, plowing two deep trenches in the ground, but he fought to the death and refused to retreat.

  Xie Bi’an stood before the kiln mouth.

  The heatwave rushed over him, instantly curling his eyebrows and hair, searing pain radiating across his skin. Yet, under this intense temperature, his Liuli right hand emitted a dazzling light. The gold threads inside flowed frantically, as if coming alive.

  He reached out his right hand. Although it had just been "repaired" at Su Xiaoxiao's place, the moment he channeled his spiritual energy, the blinding golden Liuli light resurfaced beneath the skin.

  The bone-deep chill that had just recently receded surged up again like a tidal wave.

  Xie Bi’an gritted his teeth, cursing inwardly. Having to risk my old life right after maintenance... I'm definitely billing this to the Mirror Demon Division later.

  He strode toward the spewing flames and plunged his hand directly into the fire.

  "Turn... for me!"

  Xie Bi’an shouted, his Liuli hand viciously gripping the Qi aperture hidden in the void of the kiln mouth.

  With this grip, the chaotic, violent fire of resentment inside the kiln was suddenly and forcibly redirected by a far more domineering power.

  With a massive whoosh, the color of the flames changed. It shifted from blue-white to a pure, transparent Liuli color.

  "Ah—!!"

  The magma giant let out a miserable shriek. He realized the flames on his body were no longer under his control; instead, as if caught in a vacuum, they were being continuously sucked back into the kiln.

  "What... what kind of fire is this?!" the old man roared in terror.

  "This is a simmering fire."

  "Don't look at me like I'm a madman. I used to patch kilns for the Ministry of Works."

  Xie Bi’an’s face was deathly pale, his cold sweat evaporating the second it beaded, but he smiled with unbridled arrogance. "Firing porcelain requires a 'reducing flame.' Your fire is too manic; everything you fire is brittle. I'm just helping you... bring the temperature down."

  "Shen Wu! Kick him in!"

  Seizing the opening, Shen Wu leaped high into the air. Using his momentum, he brought both feet together, carrying his entire cultivation base and body weight, and viciously dropkicked the magma giant squarely in the chest. At the exact same moment, Anu transformed into a streak of silver light, severing the final magma tentacle the giant used to try and grab Shen Wu’s ankle.

  "Get in there!"

  Accompanied by a thunderous crash, the magma giant lost his balance. His massive body toppled backward, falling perfectly into the kiln mouth that had expanded due to the roaring fire.

  "No—!!"

  The old man let out one final, despairing howl.

  Xie Bi’an was quick. His Liuli hand violently slammed the mechanism beside the kiln door. With a heavy, metallic crash, the thick iron gate slammed down, securely sealing the old man and the raging flames inside.

  "Seal the kiln!" Xie Bi’an shouted.

  Immediately after, his entire body went limp, collapsing to the ground as he panted heavily. His right hand was currently as red as a branding iron, the golden lines in his veins throbbing madly—a clear sign of his "old injury relapsing."

  The furnace vibrated violently. Muffled, heavy thuds echoed from within, like a behemoth struggling for its life. But as time passed, the impacts grew weaker, eventually vanishing completely.

  A strange fragrance then wafted out and spread through the air.

  It was neither meat nor flowers. It was the scent of earth after rain, mixed with the smell of cooling metal and stone.

  "Is it over?"

  Shen Wu limped over, leaning on his saber. His cloud-pattern uniform was scorched to rags, his face covered in black soot, looking utterly miserable.

  "Not yet."

  Xie Bi’an pointed at the kiln mouth. "There's still the final step... opening the kiln."

  Half an hour later.

  The kiln temperature had cooled.

  Shen Wu forcefully pushed open the heavy iron gate.

  But no heatwave rushed out.

  The kiln was empty. The porcelain humans, the magma giant, and the sky-blotting resentment had all vanished.

  All that remained was a bead the size of a fist, lying quietly in the very center of the kiln bed.

  The bead was entirely crimson, its surface flowing with magma-like patterns, yet it felt as warm and smooth as jade to the touch, carrying not a trace of fiery heat.

  "This is..." Shen Wu picked up the bead, feeling a warmth in his palm.

  "Fire Essence."

  Xie Bi’an walked over, taking the bead with a complex look in his eyes. "The refined essence of hundreds of wronged souls and a piece of dragon vein dregs. With this, the Emperor's 'heater' is finally sorted."

  He tucked the bead into his robes, then turned to look at the Beauty Vases in the shop across the street, whose eyes were now closed and no longer weeping.

  With the kiln master refined, the resentment in those vases had largely dispersed. Most of the souls had probably moved on; those that remained would, at the very least... no longer feel pain.

  "Let's go."

  Xie Bi’an scooped up the shrunken Xianchan—the cat was currently hiccuping from eating too much fire energy, spitting tiny sparks with every hic.

  "This five thousand taels was not easy to earn," Xie Bi’an sighed. "I have to make the Prefectural Office add extra pay. This counts as a workplace hazard."

  Shen Wu looked at this man, face covered in soot yet still calculating his ledger, and suddenly felt that this guy was even more terrifying than the magma giant from moments ago.

  He had refined a person into an elixir.

  And he had done it using the most professional, impeccable "manufacturing process."

  "Xie Bi’an," Shen Wu sheathed his saber, his tone complicated. "What exactly... did you do before all this?"

  Xie Bi’an stopped walking.

  He looked back at the cooled Dragon Kiln, a faint, self-deprecating smile hooking the corner of his mouth.

  "Me?"

  "I was just... a scavenger."

  By the time they walked out of Porcelain Street, the sky had turned dark.

  Xie Bi’an sat in the carriage, his right hand aching fiercely. He looked down at his palm. Because of the excessive use just now, the golden thread had drilled another inch deeper toward his wrist bone.

  "Broken right after getting fixed..." he complained softly. "I doubt Su Xiaoxiao's after-sales service covers this."

  And by his ear, the familiar melody of Fur Elise began to play again.

  But this time, amidst the melody, he also heard a distinct, crisp cracking sound.

  Xie Bi’an abruptly whipped his head around.

  Behind them, the towering chimney of the Dragon Kiln had, without any warning, split open with a massive fissure down the middle.

  And deep within that fissure, there seemed to be a gigantic eye, staring coldly through the smoke and dust at his departing back.

  Xie Bi’an touched the scalding "Fire Essence" in his robes, knowing clearly in his heart:

  This wasn't a spoil of war.

  This was the chip... for the next gamble.