Just as the book had described.
Mu Cheng’s soul tore into thousands of fragments, transforming into snowflakes, into sweet rain, and falling upon every inch of land in Xiaoze State.
When Lian Yunzhi reached out his hand, he even saw star-like specks of light slipping through his fingers. He sensed them with his Divine Sense—there was spiritual power within, but not the slightest trace of the vitality that had belonged to Mu Cheng.
Mu Cheng was dead.
Completely and utterly.
.
The world spun around him until Lian Yunzhi suddenly collapsed to the ground. Fang Tianxin and Fu Qing shouted as they ran over, and only then did Lian Yunzhi realize that he had unknowingly advanced to the Soul Transformation stage. The side effects of absorbing too much Black Mist power in a short time manifested once again—his entire body swelled and ached, veins bulging, blood vessels protruding, and blood roiling ceaselessly within them, as if every meridian in his body was about to burst from that overwhelming force.
He felt so uncomfortable.
But this time, there was no one who would sit quietly by his bedside, massaging him while silently helping him channel his spiritual power.
“Yunzhi! What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Where are you hurt?”
Fang Tianxin rushed over, asking frantically in panic.
At that moment, Lian Yunzhi’s spiritual power had recovered, and he could open his Storage Ring again. Fang Tianxin fumbled around inside it in a flurry: “What pills do you need right now? Qi-Gathering Spirit-Replenishing Pills? Condense Spirit Calm Mind Pills? Or something else…”
Lian Yunzhi shook his head and did not ask Fang Tianxin to help channel his spiritual power.
Mu Cheng had been able to channel spiritual power for him because they had Dual Cultivated multiple times—Mu Cheng knew his meridian pathways like the back of his hand, and since the Black Mist was under his control to begin with, having him guide it had been perfectly natural.
If someone else tried, his body would probably explode the moment the spiritual power entered.
“Let’s leave this place first,” Fu Qing said in a low voice as he somehow produced a massive and ornate Spirit Boat. “The commotion was too big just now—people are already coming.”
Lian Yunzhi leaned on Fang Tianxin to stand up from the ground and walked toward the Spirit Boat.
Suddenly, he kicked something.
Looking down… it was the Pure Bottle.
The Pure Bottle had shrunk to the size of half an arm, and without its golden inscriptions, it looked plain and simple, no different from an ordinary jade bottle.
Yet this thing had trapped Mu Cheng for ten thousand years!
In a rage, Lian Yunzhi kicked it.
This kick carried the power of his Soul Transformation stage cultivation. He had expected the little bottle to shatter into pieces, but instead, it smashed through several boulders before “bang”—crashing a huge hole into the Spirit Boat that Fu Qing had just taken out.
Lian Yunzhi: “…”
Fang Tianxin: “…”
Fu Qing opened his mouth, stored the Spirit Boat away, and took out a slightly smaller one, saying dryly: “…It’s fine. Just a Spirit Boat—not worth much.”
At that moment, the Pure Bottle rolled back toward Lian Yunzhi with a clatter and stopped at his feet again.
Lian Yunzhi wrapped it up with his Vines.
Fu Qing said thoughtfully: “I hear that ancient immortal artifacts all share one trait: if they are unclaimed and happen to be suppressed or broken by someone, they will automatically recognize a master. You forced it open, so it has probably recognized you as its master by now.”
Lian Yunzhi had no interest in this immortal artifact at all, but he still stored it away, planning to smash it to pieces and sink it into a pond some other time.
.
As a flying Magic Artifact, Fu Qing’s Spirit Boat looked only slightly luxurious from the outside, but its interior was extravagantly opulent.
Lian Yunzhi’s body felt unwell, so after entering, he lay down on a soft couch by the window. Fang Tianxin had not fully recovered his memories yet, and upon boarding the Spirit Boat, he gaped like a bumpkin entering the city—touching here, looking there, his eyes wide with unconcealed amazement.
“Xiao Xin, come here.”
Fu Qing beckoned to Fang Tianxin from in front of a Prayer Mat: “I’ll teach you the Spirit Dispersal Technique now. Disperse the cultivation you gained in the Illusion Realm.”
Fang Tianxin’s face stiffened: “…All of it?”
Though he was only at Foundation Establishment Early Stage, it was the result of nearly twenty years of painstaking cultivation.
He was reluctant.
But Fu Qing was no longer the obedient servant A Qing from before. He stared fixedly at Fang Tianxin and said: “All of it. The power from the Illusion Realm has a sinister origin. If you don’t disperse it, you’ll suffer qi deviation.”
Fang Tianxin: “Then… what about my original cultivation? What stage was I at before entering the Illusion Realm? Where did my cultivation go?”
Fu Qing: “You were also at Foundation Establishment originally, but you were too thoroughly assimilated by the Illusion Realm. Your original cultivation dissipated the moment you were assimilated.”
Fang Tianxin: “Then if I disperse my current cultivation, won’t I have none left at all…”
Fu Qing said: “You can cultivate again from scratch.”
Fang Tianxin pulled a long face and said nothing, his feet rooted in place as he refused to walk toward the Prayer Mat.
Lian Yunzhi, who was nearby, thought for a moment and said: “I can help purify the spiritual energy in your body.”
Fang Tianxin’s eyes lit up: “Really?”
Lian Yunzhi nodded: “It should be no problem.”
He paused, then added: “But my body doesn’t feel well right now, so it might take some time.”
Lian Yunzhi was not sure how long it would take for his body to recover.
The last time he had recovered so quickly was because he had Dual Cultivated with Mu Cheng. But now that Mu Cheng was gone, no one knew how long he would have to endure.
The moment he thought of Mu Cheng, Lian Yunzhi fell silent again.
He curled up on the soft couch, feeling every inch of his skin, every section of his meridians, every gap between his bones aching faintly. The pain was almost too much to bear.
Fang Tianxin watched as Lian Yunzhi’s eyes suddenly reddened. He opened his mouth, then closed it—he had no idea what Lian Yunzhi was suffering from, let alone how to comfort him. He looked pleadingly at Fu Qing.
“Actually,” Fu Qing suddenly spoke up. Observing Lian Yunzhi’s expression, he probed tentatively: “…Myriad Absorption Spiritual Roots aren’t unique to Mu Cheng. There are others outside.”
Lian Yunzhi wiped away a tear and lifted his head, his voice hoarse as he asked: “Really?”
Outside the Spirit Boat, beneath the clouds, the endless specks of light like fireflies falling upon Xiaoze State’s land suddenly paused for an instant.
Fu Qing breathed a sigh of relief, pulled over a chair, and sat across from him: “Of course it’s true. And that person is in our sect. Though you can’t take him as a Human Cauldron anymore, if you try hard, you might still be able to form a Dao Companion bond with him.”
“What is he like?” Lian Yunzhi asked.
Fu Qing leaned back in his chair, lost in recollection: “He’s the genius our entire sect has pinned its hopes on. From childhood, he’s been meticulously nurtured by countless Void Refining and even Great Ascension cultivators, with heavenly treasures and earthly rarities sent to him like flowing water. He uses nothing but Top-Grade Spirit Stones and drinks only flawless spiritual spring water. Not yet thirty, and he’s already at Soul Transformation. The whole sect is waiting for him to Ascend at a hundred. In terms of background alone, ten Mu Chengs couldn’t compare. If you could become his Dao Companion… Hmm? Wind picking up? Why is the Spirit Boat suddenly so bumpy…”
Lian Yunzhi hung his head and said nothing.
Fu Qing chuckled lightly: “What do you think? Moved? Though the people who want to form a Dao Companion bond with him could line up across the Endless Sea, he once declared he would find someone worthy of him. Just looking at bone age, you’re not yet thirty and already at Soul Transformation—the only person in the entire cultivation world who can match him.”
But Lian Yunzhi looked up at Fu Qing and asked: “No one extracts his Spiritual Root?”
Fu Qing froze.
Lian Yunzhi asked: “He’s also a Myriad Absorption Spiritual Root. Why hasn’t anyone extracted his Spiritual Root? No one cuts his flesh or drinks his blood? Instead, they revere him and treat him so well?”
Fu Qing opened his mouth but did not know what to say.
The air fell silent.
The sudden wind also stilled.
Then, the wind gently, ever so gently, gave the Spirit Boat a push forward.
