Chapter 614
The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the sky red, and the entire mountain forest was coated with a layer of blood. Fu Shaoping walked forward on the dead leaves, making a crackling sound under his feet. His robe was torn in several places, and dried blood was faintly visible. The broken Qinglong sword at his waist trembled slightly, and the four symbol runes on the sword were dim, as if the last bit of spirituality had been exhausted.
Nangong Wan walked beside him, the hem of her snow-white dress stained with dark red stains, which was "Her" blood. A golden flame was wrapped around her fingertips, and the flame flickered, like a candle swaying in the wind, which could go out at any time.
"The Purple Mansion Realm requires a perfect soul." Fu Shaoping stopped and looked at the rolling mountains in the distance, his voice low and hoarse, "If there is no Soul Guiding Pill to stabilize the soul, if you force a breakthrough, I'm afraid you will end up with your soul torn apart."
The night wind blew, bringing with it the unique dampness of the forest. Nangong Wan raised her hand, the golden flame in her palm flickered, reflecting her cold and frosty eyebrows. Her eyelashes cast fine shadows under the firelight, and her voice was calm but revealed an unquestionable firmness: "The Heavenly Soul Fruit grows in the depths of the Nether Abyss, nourished by the thousand-year-old ghosts. It takes three hundred years to bloom and three hundred years to bear fruit. Now is the time for it to mature."
Fu Shaoping frowned, his fingers unconsciously stroking the hilt of the broken sword: "The Netherworld Abyss... The Soul Devouring Demon had already reached the half-step Purple Mansion a hundred years ago, and now he is probably even more difficult to deal with."
"What are you afraid of?" The golden flame on Nangong Wan's fingertips suddenly surged, drawing a brilliant trail in the air, illuminating the space between the two of them. A sneer appeared on the corner of her lips, and a golden light flashed in her eyes, "If a mere ghost cultivator dares to block my way, I will burn him."
Three days later, the dark moon was high in the sky.
The ghost market outside the Nether Abyss was shrouded in a gray mist. The dead trees around were hung with pale lanterns, and the flickering candlelight reflected the pale faces. The monks who came and went all wore various masks, some with crying faces, some with smiling faces, and some with hideous ghost faces. It was like a weird feast.
The air was filled with a strange smell of decay and sandalwood, which was sickening yet inexplicably unsettling.
"Do you want Yin Sui Jade?" A hunched-backed old man squatted in front of the stall, his skinny fingers stroking a piece of white bone that was glowing with a faint light, his voice hoarse like sandpaper rubbing, "A top-grade jade that helps ghosts cultivate their souls... only 300 spirit stones..."
Fu Shaoping ignored the old man's greedy gaze, casually threw out a bag of spirit stones, and said in a deep voice: "Ask for some information."
The old man's cloudy eyes rolled around, and he reached out to catch the spirit stone, weighed it, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face. He lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "Three days ago, the Soul Devouring Demon personally sealed the Soul-Breaking Valley..." At this point, he suddenly shuddered, and his voice became even lower, "It is said that there is a Heavenly Soul Fruit tree in the valley that is about to mature, but living people who enter..."
Before he finished speaking, the golden flames on Nangong Wan's fingertips suddenly shot up, and the flames reflected her cold face. Her voice was cold: "Thank you."
The wind howled in the Valley of Broken Souls, and the bone-piercing cold cut through the skin like a knife. The cliffs were densely covered with mummies, and their empty eye sockets stared straight at the visitors, as if silently accusing them of something.
The valley floor was filled with a strange smell of rottenness mixed with sandalwood, making people dizzy. A three-foot-tall gray-white tree quietly grew in the center of the valley floor, with a crystal-clear fruit hanging on its branch. There seemed to be a galaxy flowing inside, emitting an alluring fragrance.
"Hehe..." Hoarse laughter came from all directions, like countless tiny insects crawling around the ears, "How dare you covet my fruit?"
The soul-devouring old demon slowly emerged from the shadows, his black robe fluttering in the wind, his skinny fingers forming a seal, and the Ten Thousand Souls Banner fluttering in the wind. Countless vengeful spirits screamed and pounced on him, their shrill cries deafening.
"Qiang——"
The Broken Dragon Sword was unsheathed, and Fu Shaoping's figure was as fast as lightning. Wherever the sword passed, the negative energy dissipated. His eyes flashed with cold light, and his voice was cold: "Nangong, be careful of his illusion!"
Nangong Wan formed seals with her hands, and golden flames gushed out from her palms, transforming into a long-crying fire phoenix. Wherever it passed, the vengeful spirits turned to ashes. Her long hair fluttered in the wind, and the flame mark on her forehead shone brightly: "A mere vengeful spirit dares to be so presumptuous?"
"A hundred ghosts are parading at night!" the old devil shouted loudly, and more vengeful spirits emerged from the ground, among them were several familiar faces - they were the fellow disciples who had fallen in the past!
Nangong Wan's pupils shrank slightly, and the Fire Phoenix's attack was temporarily halted.
"Illusion!" Fu Shaoping shouted, and the sword suddenly became sharper, "Qinglong Po!"
The sword light was like a dragon, going straight for the ghost bead between the old demon's eyebrows. The old demon tried to resist hastily, but saw Nangong Wan had flashed behind him, and the golden flame turned into a long whip and lashed down fiercely -
"boom!"
The ghost bead shattered, and the old demon let out a shrill scream: "Heavenly Fire...it turned out to be you..." His body disintegrated bit by bit, and finally turned into a wisp of black smoke and dissipated between heaven and earth.
The moment the Heavenly Soul Fruit fell, Nangong Wan flew over to catch it. The fruit was cool to the touch, and the fragrance was refreshing. The flame mark on her forehead suddenly lit up, and her golden hair moved without wind, as if something was awakening...
Inside the alchemy pavilion, the bronze alchemy furnace was more than ten feet tall, with intricate runes carved all over the furnace body, and a faint spiritual light was flowing. The ground fire at the bottom of the furnace was burning fiercely, illuminating the entire alchemy room red.
The white-haired elder stood solemnly, waving the whisk in his hand, and said in a steady voice: "The Heavenly Soul Fruit needs to be refined with the Xuanyin True Fire, the Nine Nether Dew to neutralize its Yin evil, and the Xuanyin Grass to strengthen its soul power. If you are not careful, all your efforts will be wasted."
Nangong Wan sat cross-legged in front of the furnace, the golden flame in her palm turned into silk threads and sank into the furnace. Fine beads of sweat oozed from her forehead, and the mark between her eyebrows flickered, obviously consuming a lot of energy.
Inside the furnace, the Tianhun Fruit slowly melted in the flames, blending with other medicinal herbs and emitting bursts of strange fragrance.
After three days and three nights, the alchemy furnace suddenly vibrated violently, and the furnace cover made a buzzing sound.
"Open the furnace!" the elder gave the order.
The moment the furnace lid was opened, nine golden lights shot up into the sky, illuminating the entire alchemy room as bright as day. The elder was quick-witted and collected eight pills in a row, leaving only one golden pill suspended in the air. The pill pattern was like a dragon or a phoenix, emitting a majestic spiritual power fluctuation.
"Soul-Guiding Pill, done!"
In the retreat room, Fu Shaoping and Nangong Wan sat opposite each other. The pill melted in their mouths, and the powerful medicinal power rushed straight into their sea of consciousness.
Nangong Wan only felt that her soul was wrapped in warmth, and fragments of memories of her past life came flooding back: a raging sea of fire, shrill screams, a blurry figure... The mark on her forehead was burning, as if something was about to break out.
Fu Shaoping saw the shadow of a green dragon hovering in his sea of consciousness. The broken sword actually repaired itself by an inch, and the runes on the sword glowed faintly again.
Seven days later, the sky above the sect was covered with dark clouds, with lightning snakes slithering through the thick clouds and thunder roaring. A dark shadow could be vaguely seen looming in the clouds, with cold vertical pupils staring coldly below.
"The Purple Palace Thunder Tribulation is coming!"
When the first thunderbolt struck, Nangong Wan's golden flame and Fu Shaoping's sword energy met at the same time. And in the higher clouds, "Him"'s vertical pupils narrowed slightly, as if waiting for something...
When the first purple palace thunderbolt struck, the entire mountain gate was shaking. Nangong Wan's golden flame turned into a pillar of fire that shot up into the sky, colliding head-on with the thunderbolt, bursting out with dazzling light. The broken sword in Fu Shaoping's hand hummed, and the shadow of the blue dragon circled up, shattering all the remaining lightning.
"The second one is coming!" Fu Shaoping looked up at the sky. Lightning flashed like dragons and snakes in the dark clouds, more violent than before.
The flame mark on Nangong Wan's brow was burning hot. She suddenly pressed her temples, and fragmented images flashed before her eyes - a burning palace, blood-stained jade steps, and a vague figure reaching out his hand in the fire.
"Nangong?" Fu Shaoping noticed her strangeness. "It's okay." She gritted her teeth and suppressed the surging memories. The golden flame condensed in her palm again, "Concentrate on overcoming the tribulation!"
The second thunder tribulation came faster than expected. Purple lightning as thick as a bucket tore through the clouds and split into two in mid-air, striking the two of them at the same time!
"boom--!"
The blast overturned trees within a radius of a hundred feet. After the smoke and dust cleared, Fu Shaoping knelt on one knee, his broken sword stuck three inches into the ground, and a trace of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. Nangong Wan's long hair was scorched by the lightning, and his cuffs turned to ash, revealing the red curse pattern that appeared on his forearm at some point.
"This curse pattern..." Fu Shaoping's pupils suddenly shrank.
Nangong Wan was also stunned. Those lines were like living things, slowly spreading along her arms. What was even more bizarre was that the third thunder tribulation that was brewing suddenly stopped, and an angry roar of "Him" was heard from the dark clouds.
The thunderclouds were eerily still.
Nangong Wan had a splitting headache, and broken memories came flooding back like a tide——
Three hundred years ago, in the deepest part of the Netherworld Abyss, the young girl was locked in the center of the altar, surrounded by countless ghost cultivators kneeling and worshipping. The shadow on the high seat slowly raised his hand: "The Skyfire Spirit Body is just right as a sacrifice to awaken 'Him'."
In the severe pain, a dazzling golden light suddenly burst out from her forehead. When she woke up again, the entire altar had been reduced to scorched earth, with only that vague figure standing in the sea of fire, reaching out to her.
"Remember?"
A hoarse voice suddenly sounded in her ears. Nangong Wan turned back abruptly, and saw a wisp of black smoke seeping out from the curse pattern on her sleeve, condensing into the distorted face of the Soul Devouring Demon.
"Who do you think took you out of the altar back then?" The old demon's remaining soul laughed grimly, "That curse mark was planted by 'Him' himself."
Fu Shaoping's sword had already arrived, but it pierced through the black smoke and cut into nothing. The old demon's voice echoed between heaven and earth: "The Heavenly Soul Fruit is just a bait. What 'He' really wants is to use your Heavenly Fire to be reborn!"
As if to confirm this, the still thunderclouds suddenly rolled violently. A giant claw covered with scales tore through the clouds, and its vertical pupil locked onto the flame mark on Nangong Wan's forehead.
"I see." Nangong Wan suddenly smiled. She pulled off her charred sleeves and let the red curse pattern crawl all over her body. "No wonder every time I use the Skyfire, I hear whispers."
Fu Shaoping held his sword in front of him: "What should we do now?"
"Simple." A golden flame ignited on her fingertips, and this time there was a trace of black gas in the flame. "Since 'Him' wants my body..." The golden flame suddenly surged and turned into a longbow. "Then let Him have a taste of the backlash of the skyfire!"
The giant claws in the dark clouds slapped down. At the critical moment, Fu Shaoping suddenly stabbed the broken sword deep into the ground: "Blue Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, Black Tortoise - Four Symbols listen to my orders!"
The earth trembled. Three streams of light flew in from afar—they were the other three sacred artifacts that were scattered at the beginning. At the moment when the four artifacts resonated, the complete Four Elephants Formation lit up under the feet of the two, and the giant claws that had been knocked down were forcibly stopped in mid-air.
Nangong Wan's golden flame longbow had been drawn to the full moon. The moment the arrow left the string, she clearly heard the terrified scream of "Him" coming from her body: "No! This flame is..."
The arrow pierced through the clouds, and the entire thundercloud was ablaze with golden fire from the inside out. In the earth-shattering explosion, a certain existence roared unwillingly: "Skyfire. It turned out to be you"
When the last wisp of black smoke dissipated, rare colorful auspicious clouds appeared in the sky.
Nangong Wan slumped on the ground, the curse marks on her body slowly fading. Fu Shaoping came over with the reconnected Qinglong Sword, and suddenly stared at her forehead in a daze: "Your mark..."
The original flame pattern now turned into a budding golden lotus.
"It seems there are still secrets to be solved." She touched her brow lightly and suddenly smelled a faint lotus fragrance. In the distance, the elder of Dan Pavilion ran over with a broken life card in his hand: "The Soul Devouring Demon's life card is broken! But strangely, the fragments are flying towards the Nether Abyss"
Fu Shaoping and Nangong Wan looked at each other and recalled the old demon's last words.
"Let's go to the Netherworld." She stood up, and the golden lotus seal was slightly hot. "This time, I want to personally settle the cause and effect of three hundred years ago."
At the entrance to the Nether Abyss, the wind was howling and the black fog was surging like a living thing.
Fu Shaoping held the Azure Dragon Sword in his hand, with runes flowing on the sword body, reflecting a line of blue light in the darkness. Nangong Wan walked in front, with the golden lotus mark on his forehead flickering slightly, dispelling the coldness around him.
"The remaining soul of the Soul Devouring Demon fled here, there must be something fishy." Fu Shaoping whispered, "The sacrifice three hundred years ago was probably more than just a sacrifice of the Skyfire Spirit."
Nangong Wan did not answer. Her ears were still ringing with the roar of "Him" and the vague figure. The deeper she went into the abyss, the hotter the golden lotus mark became, as if it was responding to something.
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. Countless white bones crawled out of the soil, with green ghost lights dancing in their empty eye sockets and a "crackling" sound of bones rubbing against each other.
"The ghost soldiers are passing through!" Fu Shaoping swept his sword, and the Qinglong sword energy was like a wave, chopping the front row of bones into pieces. "It's the residual soul of the soul-devouring old demon who is controlling it!"
Nangong Wan's fingertips ignited golden flames, but this time, the flames were mixed with a trace of black air. She frowned slightly, sensing something strange in her body - the Heavenly Fire seemed to be being eroded by some force.
"Be careful!" Fu Shaoping suddenly shouted.
A black shadow rushed out from the group of white bones and rushed straight to the back of Nangong Wan!
Nangong Wan dodged sideways, but the black shadow twisted and deformed in mid-air, turning into a wisp of black smoke and drilling into her forehead!
"Ugh--!" She groaned, knelt on one knee, and the golden lotus mark suddenly burst into a dazzling golden light.
Fu Shaoping waved his sword to force the bones back and rushed to Nangong Wan's side: "What's going on?"
"The Soul Devouring Demon didn't flee to the bottom of the abyss," Nangong Wan gritted his teeth, his voice trembling, "He was summoned back by 'Him'!"
(End of this chapter)