They began doing what Cao Ying had suggested. Their best option was to look for the earth flame, since the chances of actually obtaining a new Earth Flame were slim, even one of low-grade quality.

Even so, only Luo Mei could go outside to search for the High-Grade Earth Flame. Wu Yue couldn’t do it because she was bound by the restriction Lin Tian had placed on her.

If she tried to force her way out of the sect’s territory, the restriction would activate and immediately harm her body, potentially destroying her cultivation base.

An Yue felt sympathetic. She invited Ya Fei to team up with Luo Mei and search for the Earth Flame together.

She didn’t want to pull in Yun Yun or Ji Xue since they were both focused on their cultivation, working toward a breakthrough.

The sadness in her heart eased a little when her friends agreed to help. She wiped her tears and asked them to start the search that same day. They agreed and set off on their flying qi swords.

What can I even do? The restriction on my body is keeping me from going anywhere.

Am I just supposed to sit here and do nothing while they search? I’m completely useless.

Wu Yue stood in silence, watching Luo Mei and the others leave the Lingxian Sect. She had no idea how to help, and she was reluctant to keep depending entirely on Luo Mei’s search.

But asking Lin Tian to lift the restriction would be incredibly difficult. He had flat-out rejected her apology without a second thought.

Cao Ying noticed the lost look on Wu Yue’s face but had no intention of stepping in. She would let Wu Yue figure out her own best solution for tracking down the earth flame.

As Luo Mei and the others headed outside the sect, Wu Yue trudged into the Pill Refinement Hall with a heavy expression.

Cao Ying didn’t head back. She turned and fixed her attention on the sect’s main hall. With her cultivation base, breaking through the array Lin Tian had put up was no trouble at all.

In a flash, she was inside. The woman in the red robe looked ahead and found Lin Tian sitting cross-legged in the middle of his cultivation.

"What is it, Cao Ying?" Lin Tian asked.

"Is that Earth Flame really gone?" Cao Ying asked, genuinely curious.

"Why do you ask?"

"I’m just curious. That was a High-Grade Earth Flame. There are only three of them in the entire world, and you managed to get one," Cao Ying replied.

"I was pretty shocked when Wu Yue smashed that glass jar," she added.

Lin Tian opened his eyes and paused his cultivation. He raised his hand and touched his forehead with one finger.

In an instant, the flame appeared in Lin Tian’s palm, which shocked Cao Ying.

"Y-You... still have it?" Cao Ying asked, stunned.

"This flame is called the Severing Azure Flame. I wasn’t just going to stand there when that woman smashed the jar. Fortunately, I managed to recover it," Lin Tian replied.

"Then why not just forgive her?" Cao Ying asked.

He stored the flame back inside his soul, then stood up straight and stepped forward with both hands clasped behind his back. He stopped right beside Cao Ying.

"Because I want them to take responsibility," Lin Tian said simply.

"If I forgave her and handed over the flame, Wu Yue would never learn."

"But because of you, Luo Mei is hurting," Cao Ying said.

"That’s the consequence of what Wu Yue did. That woman cares for Luo Mei like her own sister. She won’t be able to stand watching Luo Mei stay upset."

"That moment is what will teach Wu Yue how to think with more maturity."

Cao Ying smiled and let out a breath, hands on her hips, shaking her head slowly. She hadn’t expected Lin Tian to have planned all of it. He had used Wu Yue’s own arrogance as the tool to change her.

"I didn’t think you were playing them like that."

Lin Tian turned back and settled onto the hall altar, his eyes meeting Cao Ying’s with a serious look, "Don’t tell them. Don’t help them."

"Of course. I’ll just keep an eye on them from the rocky hill."

Just before Cao Ying said her goodbye, Lin Tian raised his hand and summoned the flame in his palm. He stopped her for a moment.

"If you don’t mind... I have a task for you, Cao Ying," Lin Tian said.

"A task?" Cao Ying asked, curious.

"Yes."

"I’ll keep it brief. So listen carefully."

***

The next day.

"Please, Master Lin Tian, lift my restriction!"

In the dead of night, past midnight, a woman’s voice rang out from outside the main sect hall. In the quiet stillness of the night, he could hear it clearly.

The voice didn’t sound like Cao Ying. It sounded more like Wu Yue. In the entire sect, only the two of them had been placed under Lin Tian’s restriction array.

His eyes opened. He activated his qi aura vision and directed it outward.

In front of the main sect hall, he saw a woman prostrating on the courtyard floor, pressing her forehead to the ground repeatedly, pleading without stop for Lin Tian to lift the restriction from her body.

"Please, Master Lin Tian, lift my restriction!"

She kept repeating the same words, the same voice, even the same tone. Lin Tian watched and chose to ignore it.

Either way, this was a problem Wu Yue had to solve herself, because she was the one who had to take responsibility for it, not Luo Mei.

Wu Yue was still out there even as time passed and the cold night air cut through to the bone. She kept pressing her forehead into the ground until it turned red.

There was no sign she was going to stop. It seemed like she intended to keep going even into the daytime, when the courtyard would be full of disciples training and cultivating.

Time kept moving through the night until sunlight finally broke across the eastern sky, flowers and leaves holding onto their morning dew, birds taking flight in search of the warmth of the early sun.

Lin Tian noticed morning had arrived, but he had no intention of going outside. He turned toward the front and activated his qi aura vision.

He had assumed Wu Yue would give up and leave after a full night of pleading, but when he looked outside the main hall, she was still in the exact same spot, performing the same prostration, speaking the same words.

She’s stubborn, I’ll give her that.

But responsibility can’t be paid off just by bowing your head to the ground.

An Yue was startled and rushed over to ask Wu Yue to stand up. But the woman refused.

"Leave me be, Yue’er. I’m staying right here, asking for forgiveness and begging Master Lin’s pardon."

"It’s the only thing I can do," Wu Yue said.

An Yue went quiet, a sadness settling over her. She took out a handkerchief and dabbed at the blood on Wu Yue’s forehead, which had gone red from hours of hitting the ground through the night. Wu Yue smiled and thanked her.

"Please, Master Lin Tian, lift my restriction!"

Wu Yue went right back to it, and now Luo Mei was watching too. Her heart broke seeing Wu Yue like this. The restriction left Wu Yue with no other choice.

An Yue noticed Luo Mei was crying again. She walked quickly over and wrapped her in a warm hug.

Watching Wu Yue prostrate herself without end pushed Luo Mei to make up her mind about finding that Earth Flame, no matter what it took.

"I won’t rest either," Luo Mei said.

"I won’t cultivate and I won’t eat until I find that Earth Flame," Luo Mei declared, her voice full of conviction.

"Don’t push yourself too hard, Mei’er," An Yue pleaded.

Luo Mei turned and wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes, "I have to. I can’t let Master Wu keep prostrating herself like that for too long."

"I’m going to make Master Lin forgive Master Wu."