Chapter 68: Passing Immortal Sect 26 Part 2

“Qi Xia Fairy, what are you still waiting for?” Perfected Guan Yu urged. “This thing isn’t easy to control. Hurry and carve out her heart!”

Qi Xia Fairy’s face was icy cold. She formed a blade with her fingers, and a qi blade shot from her hand straight toward Wei Qianqian’s heart!

“Clang!”

A crisp sword cry echoed through the Passing Immortal Bridge. An ice-blue Flying Sword burst from underground and steadfastly blocked Qi Xia Fairy’s qi blade.

“Who?!”

Qi Xia Fairy shouted sharply, but then a rumbling of earth shaking filled her ears!

“Boom!!”

Sand and stones flew, dust rose high, and the ground cracked open in a massive chasm. A Golden Toad the size of a small mountain burst from the earth, leaped several dozen feet, and landed steadily.

Four figures jumped down from the Golden Toad, one of whom rushed straight toward Wei Qianqian.

“What have you done to her?!” Shock and fury mixed on Wei Luoheng’s face. After confirming Wei Qianqian was still alive, the Falling Star Disk spun out from his hand, weaving a golden net that firmly protected her.

“Senior Brother? Yun Ting? How did you come here?” Yulan Zhenren was greatly startled.

“Li Hanzhao!” Qiong Jin Zhenren, the Heguang Sect Sect Leader, roared in anger. “Who let you come?!”

Perfected Guan Yu scanned the surroundings coldly. “Shouldn’t Jiyang Zhenren be locked in the dungeon? And what’s with these juniors? Shouldn’t the various Sect Leaders give an explanation?”

“And what are you Sect Leaders doing here?” Wei Luoheng’s face darkened. “Shouldn’t you give me an explanation?”

“Sect Leader Zhenren, didn’t you say the Immortal Alliance Conference champion can enter the Passing Immortal Bridge to cultivate? Why are you all here? Why is Fairy Wei unconscious on the ground?” A trace of fear showed on Li Hanzhao’s face as he pointed at the throbbing crimson thing controlled by the Sect Leaders. “And… what is that?”

“Thump!”

Lu Yun Ting’s face paled as he clutched his heart and knelt on the ground.

“Lu Yun Ting!” Xun Ji supported him and asked in a low voice, “Are you alright?”

Lu Yun Ting’s eyes deadlocked on that throbbing crimson mass, his voice hoarse. “Shizun… that’s…”

Xun Ji’s eyes darkened. He reached out and stroked his back. “Hold on a bit.”

He stood up, his palm lifting slightly, and the Chijun Sword flew out, carrying blazing flames as it assaulted the thing!

“Raise the formation!” Yulan Zhenren shouted sharply. Eight beams of light shot up from the ground, converging into a solid barrier that blocked Xun Ji’s strike.

“Senior Brother, what are you doing?!” Seeing that the strike’s power wasn’t great, Yulan Zhenren breathed a sigh of relief, a mix of confusion and anxiety on his face. “You should know how important this thing is!”

Xun Ji smiled. “Why so nervous, Junior Brother? This thing can’t be destroyed anyway. At most, it’ll just go out of control.”

“Amitabha, this is a matter of great importance. Jiyang Zhenren must not speak recklessly.” Grandmaster Zhan Xu of Baochan Temple had a solemn expression.

“Grandmaster Zhan Xu, speaking of which, I have some connection to your ancestor Fan Tian Grandmaster.” Xun Ji’s smile turned cold. “I wonder if he knew that Baochan Temple preaches great compassion on the surface but resorts to such methods in secret for cultivation, whether he’d be so angry he’d come back to life.”

Grandmaster Zhan Xu gazed at him calmly. “If Ancestor Fan Tian were still here, Baochan Temple wouldn’t need to do this. If the Dao does not exist, how can there be compassion?”

“What a ‘If the Dao does not exist, how can there be compassion!’” Xun Ji asked loudly. “Eating people—is that your Dao?!”

“Ea-eating people?” Li Hanzhao stammered blankly. “Jiyang Zhenren, what are you talking about?”

“What exactly is the thing they’re protecting? Please enlighten us, Immortal Lord.” Perhaps having guessed something, Wei Luoheng’s face turned ashen, a faint blood-red glint in his eyes.

Xun Ji looked toward the pulsating mass of flesh and slowly uttered two words.

“Dragon Heart.”

A thousand years ago, a True Dragon from the upper realms passed through this world and was jointly besieged and slaughtered by the sects of the Cultivation World at Trapped Dragon Hill. The True Dragon fell, its blood and flesh dissipated, leaving only its corpse bones to form the Passing Immortal Bridge, suppressing this realm.

But in truth, those with ulterior motives not only preserved parts of the True Dragon’s blood and flesh but also forcibly carved out its Dragon Heart.

The True Dragon’s blood and flesh were divided and consumed by the major sects. A group of great powers thereby broke through their bodily shackles, ascended the great Dao, and soared to immortality, benefiting later generations. Over a millennium, the True Dragon’s blood and flesh had long been exhausted with nothing left. The Dragon Heart’s power was too immense; even cultivators couldn’t control it. Those who tried to devour it all exploded and died without exception.

The sects refused to abandon this vast power. After repeated attempts, they finally devised a method.

They selected individuals of outstanding talent whose cultivation hadn’t yet reached the peak, carved out their hearts, and replaced them with the Dragon Heart. After careful nurturing, the Dragon Heart fused with their bodies, and the chosen one’s blood and flesh would be tainted with Dragon Breath, gaining part of the Dragon Heart’s power.

One month later, once the blood and flesh matured, they carved out the Dragon Heart and divided the body for consumption. Though this method was slightly less effective than directly consuming True Dragon blood and flesh, it still brought great benefits.

After about ten years, once the blood and flesh power was fully refined, the Dragon Heart could be implanted into another person. In this cycle, the power was inexhaustible, and cultivation became effortless.