"We can't wait any longer."
When walking out of the Ghost King Clan, Cui Jue frowned, glanced at the street in the distance, and said this.
He was still wearing the same simple dark blue robe as before, but in his hand he was holding an ancient scroll tied with a thin rope, on which one could vaguely see the words "Ding Zheng" written vertically.
There are only ten days left until the second round of the competition begins.
Cui Jue brought Zhang Tang to the Ghost King clan today and got the final confirmed list of the Ghost King clan. So far, the people from the City of the Dead who will be selected to compete for the tripod have almost been decided.
Even the competition for the 18th floor above ground was drawing to a close, with only one spot remaining undecided.
At this moment, the scroll recorded the names of dozens of people from the City of the Dead who were participating in the competition for the tripod.
But…
The only person missing is the one that the Eight Directions Hell Palace wants.
Thinking of this, Cui Jue was quite helpless.
He stood on the long street and looked back to his side. Zhang Tang had been with him recently because it was ordered by King Qin Guang to give him a chance to gain some experience.
Cui Jue knew that King Qin Guang thought highly of Zhang Tang, no less than he did in the past.
After all, with this murderous aura in him, he can never escape the position of the Grand Judge.
He said, "Jianchou has been in seclusion for nearly seventy days. You and I have visited her several times and have always been polite. But now it is no longer possible. The longer she is in seclusion, the stronger she will become. The Yama Lords only want her to participate in the cauldron competition at the level of the smallest soul bead. If you let her practice for a long time, her soul power will be strong and her soul bead will become larger, I am afraid that the gimmick will no longer exist."
"So what does Mr. Cui mean?"
Zhang Tang had already figured out the reasons and consequences of Cui Jue's search for Jianchou, so he was relieved now.
But he knew that Jianchou was not the kind of person who would retreat for no reason, and who knew what might have happened, so he gave Cui Jue a slight suggestion that it would be better not to disturb him unless it was a critical moment.
Obviously, there are only ten days left until the competition, and we can’t wait any longer.
Cui Jue retracted his gaze and walked over: "Knock on the door forcefully, inform them of this matter first, and then make plans."
Zhang Tang responded but did not object.
He was just planning in his mind, and after a while, he thought it would be better to knock on the door himself, so as to avoid...
He had his own plans in mind, but he didn't show it on his face.
Zhang Tang glanced at the scroll in Cui Jue's hand, then looked back at the huge mansion of the Ghost King's family. Somehow, the image of Li Han suddenly popped up in his mind.
He was wearing a navy blue robe and standing in the Ghost King's clan hall, with an air of arrogance.
Every time Zhang Tang met him before, he always had a feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't put it into words.
On the eighteenth floor, this man killed Yu Chen from the Fish Gill Clan with one move. He was very powerful.
Now he has a feeling of being unable to see through...
I’m afraid that if the fight for the cauldron ends, Li Han will be a formidable enemy!
Slowly retracting his gaze, Zhang Tang saw that Cui Jue had already walked away.
He suppressed the many thoughts in his mind and followed, walking towards Jianchou's mansion.
More than sixty days have passed since Jianchou first tried the Soul-Reversing Pill.
There was peace and tranquility in the old mansion.
The study was empty except for countless books; in the pill formula, a blue lotus spirit fire had gradually dimmed.
Jianchou's face looked particularly pale, and his lips were even a little chapped and cracked, but his eyes were bright and clear, without a speck of dust, and he was in great spirits.
She had failed in her first attempt at refining the elixir, and she had already analyzed the reasons for her failure.
Having missed once, I will not allow myself to make the same mistake again.
Therefore, when she refined the reincarnation pool water for the second time, she took the copper ball filled with elixirs in her hand early on and raised her spirits to the extreme. She could sense clearly any slightest flow of gas around her.
Under such circumstances, Jianchou naturally did not miss the changes taking place in the water of the reincarnation pool.
The moment the last wisp of gray air dissipated, she did not hesitate and dropped the copper ball directly into the water of the reincarnation pool, which no longer had any trace of death.
Mysterious changes occurred at that moment.
At the moment when the water in the reincarnation pool was transforming towards its extreme, Jianchou threw the copper ball in. In this extreme purity, the elixir could be considered an impurity.
So, it did not turn into purple ice crystals like before, but remained its original viscous liquid state.
Then things became simple.
What is needed is carefulness, perseverance and persistence.
The refining lasted for more than sixty days, controlling the temperature, and constantly exhausting the mind...
The purpose is to absorb all the power of the pure reincarnation pond water into the pill.
After being prepared with the elixir, the overbearing medicinal properties will become milder, more suitable for the user, and can function better in the soul and body.
Now, it is the end of the sixty-third day.
The water in the reincarnation pool in the alchemy furnace has become less and less, leaving only a small ball, and the color is becoming lighter and lighter. As its power and medicinal effects penetrate into the elixir, it is becoming more and more transparent.
Jianchou knew that the critical moment would soon arrive.
She pursed her cracked lips and watched the changes in the furnace without blinking.
finally…
The last wisp of deep purple breath slid in through the gaps around the copper ball like a small snake.
The pool of water remaining in the furnace had now turned completely transparent, just like ordinary water!
Jianchou's mind was immediately shocked, and he made a hand gesture in the air!
“Crash!”
The hand gesture with a faint white light hit directly on the hanging copper ball. The whole chain trembled immediately and was pulled out of the water.
At the same time, the green lotus spirit fire burning at the bottom of the furnace was shocked and turned from a piece into a flower, and flew back to Jianchou's fingertips!
“Bang!”
Jianchou stretched out her empty right hand, and the two-inch hollow copper ball fell into her palm.
There is no burning temperature, nor does it feel cold.
There is only a kind of warmth that everything has settled.
Circles of ancient patterns are hollowed out, and you can vaguely see the light purple cortex of the moutan inside.
At this moment, Jianchou's heart began to beat rapidly.
A strange elixir fragrance faintly overflowed from the hollow holes, and it had a power that could make people intoxicated.
The fragrance of the elixir penetrated into her heart and made her feel as if all her internal organs were cleansed by the fragrance, becoming transparent and clear!
She actually...
Success!
This thought suddenly came to my mind.
Jianchou's outstretched palms trembled a little. She took a deep breath, trying to force herself to calm down, but it didn't work.
Fearing that his final excitement would mess things up, Jianchou simply packed up the recipe and took the copper ball for alchemy and returned to the study.
Two months have passed, and the study door is still ajar.
When Jianchou pushed open the door, a deep and bright color suddenly came into his sight.
Those are two windows diagonally opposite the door.
At this moment, the dim sunlight shines in from outside, and against the backdrop of the white window paper, it has a certain clear and cool feeling.
The plum vase, which was seven-tenths filled with water from the Reincarnation Pond, was quietly placed on the windowsill, with the line of words that Jianchou had discovered earlier still next to it.
The three plum branches in the vase had, under the magical effect of the pond water, turned their skin into a grayish-white with a hint of dark green.
There was only one red plum blossom left on the branch. Its bud had swelled up into a round shape, and several petals were folded together with great effort, as if it would break and bloom with just the slightest touch.
I want to...
This plum blossom is in the polar region and has not encountered a suitable environment, so it blooms so slowly.
When I saw Chou, I suddenly became excited.
I wonder what it looks like when it blooms
Her heart, which had been beating rapidly, miraculously calmed down when she saw the flower bud.
With a slight smile, the pale and haggard face that had been tortured by more than sixty days of alchemy seemed to glow with a strange spirit.
Jianchou turned around, closed the door, walked into the room, came to the table, and put down the bronze ball.
He lightly tapped the top with his finger, and the originally tightly closed copper ball opened with a "pop", revealing the "world" inside.
It was a purple pill.
It is only about an inch in size and looks very delicate.
The round cortex of the moutan tree does not have any rough particles. Instead, it has many light white cloud patterns imprinted on its surface, large and small, densely packed, as if following some mysterious arrangement method.
The atmosphere it exudes is thrilling.
That is…
Danwen!
Jianchou's heart trembled violently, and even the corners of his eyes couldn't help but twitch: Only elixirs of certain grades would have elixir patterns!
However, none of the Danwen she knew had such a pattern. The rules were so strict that it seemed as if they were painted on.
So, for a moment, Jianchou was not very sure.
The only thing she was sure of was her feeling—
Soul-reversing pill!
How can a pill that can repair the soul be of ordinary quality
Now, I can actually refine this elixir after two experiments...
That book of prescriptions really played an important role.
Jianchou slowly exhaled, then held the pill between his fingers and sat down cross-legged on the ground, facing the two open windows.
Refining the elixir, plus the previous research on the owner of this study, took Jianchou a long time.
Zhang Tang and Chen Tingyan were both going to participate in the fight for the tripod. As their friends, it would be a bit inappropriate for her to remain in seclusion for a while.
Besides, when the crisis first emerged, she had to go out and investigate.
Therefore, we need to seize the time to deal with the sorrow at this moment.
After refining the elixir, the next step is naturally to test the elixir.
She closed her eyes and regulated her breathing, then swallowed two ordinary pills to make up for the energy consumed in the previous alchemy and nourish her soul.
After a period of meditation, breathing regulation and absorption of the medicine, her pale complexion gradually became rosy and her chapped lips automatically returned to their original plump appearance.
Jianchou keenly discovered that although her spirit and soul were consumed greatly during the sixty days of refining the elixir, the gains were also huge.
During this period of meditation and cultivation, the soul power that had been exhausted suddenly poured in with great force, even breaking through the limit that she could bear, and soared all the way up!
The soul bead with cracks on top of his head emerged, and soul power visible to the naked eye was drawn out from between Jianchou's brows and poured into it.
After a while, the originally small soul bead actually grew a bit bigger.
It was inevitable that Jianchou felt a little surprised, but he suppressed it and felt it quietly.
After a quarter of an hour, this "growth" slowly slowed down and stopped.
At this moment, Jianchou's soul bead was already half an inch in size.
"no pain no gain… "
It is true.
Every time you are about to give up, but you still grit your teeth and persevere, God sees it.
Jianchou opened his eyes and smiled.
Then, his eyes fell on the purple soul-reversing pill.
The moment that really matters has only just arrived.
Jianchou was full of curiosity but also fear about the owner of this old house.
Until now, the other party has not set a single trap related to the reincarnation pond water, and even the effectiveness of the pond water has been fully demonstrated on the three plums.
Logically, she shouldn't have any more doubts about this person.
But...
The other party is too mysterious.
It is so mysterious that Jianchou can hardly touch any of its secrets, let alone uncover its mysterious face.
But the soul-reversing pill is in her hands.
The only chance she had encountered to repair her soul since she started practicing was right in front of her.
Can you refuse
Jianchou let out a long sigh in his heart: Even if there is a cup of poisoned wine in front of him, who can refuse it
It's just a risk of life, that's all!
She thought to herself that even if she put the matter before Fudaoshan, there would probably be no conclusion, so she decided to go all out and eat it on the spot.
Thinking of this, Jianchou no longer hesitated.
The Soul-Resisting Pill was in her hand, a small pill, and she put it into her mouth.
When the tip of his tongue touched the pill, he immediately felt a cold shudder rolling over him, and Jianchou felt that his entire soul was shaken!
Boom!
The moment the entrance of the pill was cut open, a ball of deep purple light burst out from Jianchou's spiritual platform and spread throughout her body!
If there was a third person present at this moment, he would probably be dumbfounded by the scene before him!
Jianchou's entire body suddenly turned transparent, with only a ball of purple light shining high above her spiritual platform. After completely covering her spiritual platform, wisps of purple light flowed from her head down through her entire body!
Her entire body, in an instant, seemed to be woven from countless purple lights and became dazzling.
A layer of gray mist, which was almost invisible, actually emerged from all over her body.
This scene is somewhat like removing impurities when refining an elixir.
A half-inch soul bead was suspended in the purple light of the spirit platform, like a swaying boat that could be swallowed up at any time.
After traveling through Jianchou's body, wisps of purple light all flowed back from his feet, fingertips, back, and even the ends of his hair!
Crash!
Just like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea!
Countless purple rays of light flowed back to the spirit platform like flowers!
The suspended light white soul bead is like a narrow well.
A torrent of purple light suddenly rushed towards the "wellhead"!
Jianchou suddenly groaned.
It was a pain that pierced the soul, as if there were a million needles stabbing it!
His complexion, which had originally improved, turned pale again.
The narrow well mouth was covered with countless cracks.
At this moment, hit by the purple light, the pale white light shook violently and was about to break.
Unexpectedly, the purple light that pierced through was like a needle and thread, automatically shuttling through the gap, as if trying to mend the gap.
Once, once, and again...
In the blink of an eye, thousands of strands of purple light flowed into Jianchou's soul bead, immediately igniting a terrifying cold flame inside the soul bead, so that her entire soul bead with mixed soul power actually burned wildly!
A cluster of bright white flames mixed with purple flames instantly ignited from the soul bead!
The remaining habits shuttle between cracks.
Every time a ray of purple light disappears, one of the countless cracks on the soul orb will disappear.
Amidst all kinds of painful torture, Jianchou was surprised to discover this. After being stunned for a moment, infinite ecstasy surged from his heart!
It can actually repair the soul!
She could feel that wonderful feeling.
The purple light did not seem to penetrate the soul orb, but instead seemed to pass through her entire body.
As the purple light and cracks on the soul orb became fewer and fewer, her senses unexpectedly became sharper. She didn't even have to deliberately perceive it. She could "see" the earth's power floating in the air with her eyes open!
this…
Is this the perception of the complete soul
I was so sad for a moment that I almost forgot everything else.
She still remembered all the magical things she experienced when she first started practicing in Yashan.
At that time, she had already felt the splendor and wonder of this world, but she had never expected that at this moment when her soul was gradually repairing, under such an extreme feeling, she could actually rise upwards!
It's like a patient with cataracts who can finally see the world clearly.
Jianchou was unable to describe the sudden feeling in his heart at this moment.
She could only keep her eyes open, letting her senses wander like a dragon, stretching out her claws in all directions, grabbing all the information she had never sensed before...
At this moment, time seems to be extremely fast and extremely slow.
Jianchou couldn't tell whether just a moment had passed or three or five hours had passed.
She only knew that the perception that had been climbing upwards began to slow down.
Within the spiritual altar, only a few wisps of purple light from the power of the Soul-Reversing Pill remained.
Jianchou's soul bead kept shrinking in the mad burning, and at this moment, it had become the size of a grain of rice!
But the originally pale white light has turned into pure snow-white.
There are not many cracks left on the soul bead.
A few wisps of purple light flicked their tails and then went straight up, blending themselves into the gap and filling it up with dots of purple.
Jianchou was actually a soul at the moment, and he could feel the soul bead as clearly as he felt his own body.
There is one last crack, one last purple light...
However, this last crack is bigger than the other cracks.
She suddenly became a little nervous and subconsciously clenched her palms.
The transparency around the body has completely disappeared.
The purple light also seemed a little hazy as Jianchou's body became opaque.
It seemed to be attracted by the gap in Jianchou's soul bead, swam quickly, and plunged into the abyss.
All I saw was this purple light constantly shuttling between the two sides of the "abyss".
The horizontally arranged purple light immediately turned into a scattered smooth area and completely merged into the crack. Then the color became lighter and vaguely became the same snow-white as the surrounding area.
One by one, one by one...
Jianchou kept an eye on Zi Guang's movements, but his heart was getting more and more anxious...
Almost there, almost there!
Only a small crack is left!
After completing this point, the whole soul will be complete!
However, when he paid attention to the length of the purple light again, Jianchou's burning heart suddenly turned cold.
The originally long purple light now only had a short tail left.
And there is only half of the crack left.
It seemed to feel the strain, as if there was an infinite suction force in the crack, which pulled the purple light over and stuck to the "cliff"!
“Bang!”
There seemed to be such a loud noise in the dark!
The last bit of purple light also completely sank into the crack, turning into a very short piece of snow-white light that filled the gap...
Little by little, slowly moving forward...
As slow as an old cow.
Jianchou suddenly felt like a piece of meat being cooked on a bonfire.
The feeling of waiting is extremely torturous.
Little by little…
Finally stopped...
At that moment, the perception of the sorrow that was still rising was frozen -
It was like a pot of boiling oil was suddenly poured into the boundless sea of ice!
After a sizzling sound, everything disappeared.
Nothing is left.
No perception.
No more tension.
There is no expectation anymore.
Yes, only the heart that was hanging high but suddenly fell to the ground and rotted into a pool of mud;
Yes, but it was a string that was stretched to the extreme, but was suddenly cut by someone.
Jianchou's straight body suddenly stiffened.
She raised her head, and the soul bead slowly flew out from the spirit platform. It was half an inch in size before, but now it was only half the size of a meter and returned to "dust".
It's brighter and whiter.
There was a faint strange purple color that shone through the previous cracks, sandwiched between the whiteness of the snow, like a winding trace in the snow.
It looks as if it has been reborn.
The countless cracks that were originally everywhere had mostly disappeared at this moment.
Jianchou's gaze was fixed on it, with no intention of moving away at all.
It rotates at an extremely slow speed.
It seemed to take a long time to rotate from this side to that side...
An ugly black crack slowly appeared.
Although the soul bead is small, Zhou Chou can feel the changes that have mostly been repaired, and can also clearly observe every pattern on it.
Including this crack.
It is like an ugly scar on the earth, like an abrupt gully in the snow field, like a hideous crack in the blue sky!
It tore apart the original deep white and light purple!
It's like, tearing open the sorrow -
The heart at this moment.
It is so inconspicuous, yet so eye-catching.
Like a gaping bloody mouth, calling for something to fill it...
Jianchou just stared at the soul bead, and at the half crack on it that ultimately caused the failure. The light in his eyes trembled violently, and suddenly, as if a landslide occurred, he felt a reversal of blood flow throughout his body.
"puff!"
She finally couldn't help it and raised her hand to press her chest.
There was actually dark white "blood" spilling onto the ground!
This is the soul power that has been purified by the Soul-Reversing Pill, and it is as sticky as blood!
A moment after it fell, it quietly turned into waves of thin smoke, floating and flying out of the window.
After a while, the "bloodstains" on the ground became much lighter.
Seeing the sad look on his face, he became depressed.
But she was still looking at the soul bead, looking at the only half crack...
"After all, it's still just a step away..."
It’s really just a fine line!
Perhaps with just one more ray of purple light, her soul would be perfect!
But in the end it didn't happen.
The thin line of difference is like a chasm and a moat, lying in front of us.
I can't get over the sorrow.
At least not at this moment.
One soul-reversing pill was not enough to repair her soul.
Jianchou couldn't help but sneer.
The soul bead that she cultivated with great difficulty and improved with great difficulty was refined into a small one. Perhaps it was because she was in a very bad mood, she always felt discouraged when looking at it.
The expectations that had been rising because of repairing the soul ended up in vain.
Under such great joy and sorrow, Jianchou's eyes became a little dazed and empty.
If the first soul-reversing pill had not failed to be refined...
If I had more opportunities...
She thought of the plum vase that she had filled to seven-tenths. There should still be enough water from the reincarnation pond in it for her to refine an elixir...
He slowly raised his head and looked towards the window sill in front of him.
The plum vase stood quietly.
Three plum branches are inserted diagonally in the vase, full of vitality, and a flower bud that is so full that it seems about to burst is dangling gracefully on the branch.
Other people's favorite things.
How could she destroy someone else's love to fulfill her own wish
Jianchou struggled in his heart and looked at her with flickering eyes for a long time, but finally he gave a bitter smile and gave up.
At this moment, she felt inexplicably weak.
It's better to have dashed hopes than to have no hopes at all.
He lowered his head and supported himself on the ground with his hands, trying to use the force to stand up, but his fingers just pressed on the white "bloodstain".
After evaporating for a while, the marks on it have become very shallow.
The last wisp of smoke floated up, like silk, pulling the white "bloodstains" from the ground.
So the ground was clean.
The wisp of light white smoke was also carried away by the air that drifted out of the window from inside the house.
Seeing the sorrowful gaze, he unconsciously followed the wisp of smoke.
It trembled like the smoke rising from an incense burner, and soon passed over the plum vase, penetrated into the three plum branches, and passed by the red plum bud that was about to bloom.
At that moment, it was as if the wisp of smoke brought up the wind, and it was also as if the sleeping red plum was attracted by the wisp of smoke composed of pure soul power.
There was actually a wisp of smoke that flew into the red plum blossoms!
Beep —
What a strange sound is that
Too subtle.
Jianchou couldn't even tell whether it was the sound he felt due to the enhanced perception caused by repairing his soul, or the sound ringing in his heart.
In the silhouette of this window, the bright red flower bud suddenly bloomed!
The five petals of the flower open in five directions, and the tender yellow stamens quietly emerge.
It was an extremely simple flower, and looked exactly the same as all the plum blossoms that Jianchou had seen in the human world.
But in this vast and barren land in the extreme region where no grass can grow, and on this branch that has been withered for decades, it can still bloom!
It is extremely simple, yet extremely moving.
It seemed as if there was a little bit of unyielding pride, as the plum blossom bloomed and the subtle fragrance flowed, quietly permeating her heart...
The subtle fragrance seemed to carry the deep red of plum petals, floating in front of the window.
A red plum blossom, placed in front of a window with snow-white window paper, is like a lamp lit at night...
At that moment, finally, deep and shallow reddish shadows emerged from the window paper, little by little, converging into strokes and words.
Jianchou raised his head in a daze, staring at the almost bizarre scene before him.
It's as if...
At the moment when the plum blossoms bloom, countless faint red plum blossoms also bloom on the snow-white window paper!
However, if you look closely, you will find that those are not trees of proudly standing red plums, but rather one piece of handwriting soaked in coldness!
The largest line of words -
"I will deceive God!"