Arc 15: Heavenly Secret Realm | Chapter 278: Encounter

Arc 15: Heavenly Secret Realm | Chapter 278: Encounter

“Hahaha! Since you, Luofu, have wronged me, I will destroy your inheritance! The person you carefully selected will surely fall to demonic corruption, and whoever obtains your inheritance crystal will undoubtedly be a useless fool!” Accompanying this laughter was a wildly arrogant roar, filled with such anger and hatred that it seemed ready to tear through the void and was entirely absorbed by Xu Ziqing’s ears.

Xu Ziqing took a deep breath, struggling to calm the turmoil in his chest.

The laughter continued for a long time before finally ceasing. Even after it completely disappeared, he could still feel a buzzing in his eardrums, and the boundless hatred seemed to fill his sea of consciousness, making it nearly impossible for him to calm down.

His mind was spinning, and his vision was blurred. Xu Ziqing felt a chilling pain that made his head ache terribly, and he was horrified beyond words.

In his dazed state, he seemed to see a colossal demonic shadow amidst the boundless demonic energy, roaring toward the sky with utter arrogance. This was clearly just a trace of an unknown person’s lingering image—formless and elusive—but even so, it was enough to be overwhelming, threatening to shatter his Dao heart.

In the distance, Yun Lie sat cross-legged, fully immersed in refining the demonic flower petals.

The demonic shadow seemed to target only Xu Ziqing, leaving Yun Lie, who was in meditation, completely unaware.

Xu Ziqing was in extreme shock, thinking: Am I destined to die here today?

He then resolutely steeled his resolve and fought back with all his might.

He absolutely could not die here.

Aside from his unwavering quest for immortality and the impossibility of abandoning himself due to a temporary peril, he could not leave his Shixiong behind, who had fallen into demonic corruption and lost all memories.

Thus, Xu Ziqing quickly suppressed his fluctuating Dao heart, becoming like a small boat amidst a giant wave. Despite the relentless assault of the demonic shadow, he firmly maintained his composure and did not let his Dao heart falter.

He endured for an indeterminate amount of time, reaching the limit of his endurance.

Suddenly, a warm current flowed into him from above, and the pure spiritual energy from the outside surged wildly, causing his dantian to rapidly start circulating.

The essence of Yimu1Wood element, which had yet to be refined in his bloodline, transformed into green light spots, freely moving through his meridians, and quickly converged into his dantian, continuously expanding and growing.

The true energy in the Dantian is thickened and compressed layer by layer, and so on, accumulating more and more. When the Dantian is full, it expands outwards, and then breaks very quickly, and is immediately repaired by the essence of Yimu.

After a considerable amount of time, Xu Ziqing felt a release in his chest, and his entire body felt lighter. His cultivation advanced to the mid-stage of Core Formation. At this point, the impact of the demonic sound had slightly diminished, and the constriction in his chest and the pain in his head gradually eased.

He opened his eyes, a green light flashing across them, and his gaze fell on the cold jade pool nearby.

Xu Ziqing remembered that when he was struggling to endure, it was external assistance that helped him pass this tribulation smoothly.

The feeling brought by this external assistance was similar to the power he felt when he first entered this place.

In other words, it was because of the effect of that white lotus.

Xu Ziqing meditated for another half-hour to eliminate all residual effects before standing up and approaching the cold jade pool.

In the pool, the pair of lotus flowers was translucent and beautiful, embodying the spirit of heaven and earth, gathering the pure light of all things. Just a glance made them appear exquisitely detailed, impossible to describe in words.

At this point, even though it was this pair of lotuses that had brought them here, causing Yun Lie to fall into demonic corruption and Xu Ziqing to be nearly severely injured, Xu Ziqing felt no animosity towards them. Instead, he found them quite endearing.

The sincerity of the twin lotus flowers made Xu Ziqing respond with equal sincerity. He closed his eyes and meditated for a moment, gathering the essence of wood from his flesh and blood and focusing it at the tip of his right index finger. The longer he practiced, the more he understood that the essence of wood, being a rare substance, could not be completely refined at his current spiritual level; it had to be gradually absorbed as his cultivation progressed. Dropping two drops at this moment was not too much and did not harm him.

He then raised his hand and released two points of green light, which quickly merged into the buds of the two lotus flowers, eagerly consumed by them.

At this moment, the lotus buds suddenly closed, and the scattered spiritual light was immediately drawn back in.

Xu Ziqing was slightly startled, and upon checking the two balls of spiritual essence he had gathered, he realized that this was part of the process of transforming into a demonic form. If anything unexpected happened, he could still connect his consciousness with the twin lotus flowers through the spiritual essence. With this confirmation, he felt at ease.

Meanwhile, Yun Lie was meditating, and the lotus flowers had also entered a state of deep meditation. Xu Ziqing, having just reached the mid-stage of Core Formation, needed to solidify his cultivation and carefully examine the changes in his dantian.

Fortunately, Xu Ziqing had not advanced in cultivation for the past few years, so the foundation he laid in the early stage of Core Formation was relatively solid. Though the breakthrough came suddenly, it did not leave any hidden dangers. The further refinement of the essence of Wood caused Xu Ziqing’s dantian to expand by twice its original size, and his meridians also widened considerably, allowing the true essence to flow through like a surging river, producing a joyful sound.

After Xu Ziqing completed his meditation and filled his dantian, he found that not only had the true essence accumulated more, but it was also several times thicker. This increase would support various techniques for a longer duration.

The method for the “Ten Thousand Woods Great Heart Planting Technique” in his sea of consciousness flowed rapidly. He closed his eyes and focused more deeply on comprehending the many mysteries within.

After a day and night, Xu Ziqing slowly awakened. As soon as he opened his eyes, he was again startled.

Just like the previous day, a stern face magnified in front of him, their eyes meeting and their noses nearly touching.

Xu Ziqing instinctively looked up and saw that Yun Lie still had a dark red petal in his hair, which was quite intact and had just recently adhered. It seemed that his Shixiong had completed another round of meditation.

Suddenly, Yun Lie tilted his head and leaned in, pressing his lips against Xu Ziqing’s once more.

Indeed... Xu Ziqing couldn’t help but smile wryly.

His Shixiong was always like this. Even though he knew it was a result of Yun Lie’s demonic transformation, it still made his heart waver. If this continued, his heart might jump out—though a cultivator’s heart would not easily falter, Xu Ziqing was quite helpless and could not refuse Yun Lie.

This time, Yun Lie remained silent, but because Xu Ziqing had originally been meditating, his posture had changed. Seeing that this position was rather uncomfortable, Yun Lie extended his arm, wrapped it around Xu Ziqing’s waist, and then, with a bit of force, pulled him into his embrace.

Xu Ziqing was very embarrassed. Being held like a child when tired was already quite shameful, and now being embraced like this with their bodies close... it made his face flush with heat.

Since Yun Lie’s transformation, his actions had become increasingly domineering. Whereas before, he only had an impressive aura that naturally made people follow him, now his behavior was more assertive, leaving no room for rejection.

Thus, as Xu Ziqing gently pushed against him, Yun Lie only tightened his hold, pressing their chests together and making it almost possible to hear each other’s heartbeat.

Xu Ziqing felt a faint sense that his Shixiong’s demonic nature seemed to have intensified...

He closed his eyes and quickly refocused his thoughts.

Yesterday, Yun Lie had sent him to this bright place but did not enter himself. Today, however, Yun Lie had come straight in, which was completely different from yesterday.

Whether this was good or bad was uncertain... Though he still firmly believed his Shixiong would awaken, he became even more vigilant about the Seven Emotions Demonic Flower.

Translator: Lynn

Translations are not 100% correct. Please let me know if there are typos/mistakes in the chapter.

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