Chapter 652
On the day of picking flowers, Nangong Wan put on the "mermaid silk gloves" he got at the auction.
"If the petals touch metal, they turn into water, and if they touch soil or wood, they turn into ash." She carefully avoided the dragon scale pattern on the left petal, "You have to use the energy of a living person."
Fu Shaoping suddenly bit his fingertips, and a blood bead hung three inches above the pistil. Nangong Wan understood, and purple flames gushed out from his palms, refining the blood bead into a golden needle, accurately severing the connection between the calyx and the stem. The moment the lotus fell, the whole plant suddenly grew rapidly, and the dragon's roar and sword whistling turned into a physical sound wave that swept in all directions!
"Catch it!" Nangong Wan threw the right petal to Fu Shaoping and held the left petal herself. The petal melted as soon as it touched her hand, and the dragon soul rushed straight to her heart along her arm, but was led to her dantian by the "heart-to-heart pill" she had swallowed in advance - there was the original cold air brought by Fu Shaoping, and the dragon soul immediately obediently coiled into the shape of wine yeast.
Fu Shaoping's situation was even more difficult. The sword energy petals kept shooting out ice blades in his palms, cutting his sleeves with cracks. Nangong Wan was about to help him, but suddenly he lowered his head and bit the petals, and with his Adam's apple rolling, he swallowed the whole sword lotus alive!
"you"
"Xuan Yin Sect's 'Sword Swallowing Technique'." Blood seeped from Fu Shaoping's lips, and his breath was frosty, "It's faster than brewing."
Nangong Wan suddenly rushed over and licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, and laughed when the other party froze: "The smell of dragon blood and sword energy - just right for wine!"
-
On the night when the wine was ready, a red moon, rarely seen in a century, hung in the sky above the cold pond.
The moment Nangong Wan broke the seal of the wine jar, a dragon-shaped purple flame and a sword energy shot up into the sky at the same time, entangled into a double helix under the moon. The left half of the wine in the jar was frozen, and the right half was on fire, but they blended into a glass-colored jade paste in the center line.
"Twenty-eight constellations cup!" She hooked her fingers drunkenly, and the jade cup flew from the bamboo pavilion into the moon, just catching the first waterfall of wine pouring down.
Fu Shaoping held her hand holding the cup and said, "Drink the contract wine first."
He touched the edge of the altar with his fingertips, and drew a contract in the air with the ice and fire wine. Nangong Wan understood, and Zi Yan completed the other half of the rune. When the four words "live and die together" took shape, the two drank the wine in the cup at the same time -
A black iron sword suddenly appeared in Nangong Wan's purple palace, and an eternal flame ignited in Fu Shaoping's sea of consciousness. In the spiritual resonance deeper than the entanglement of the flesh, they saw the most painful memories and the most secret joys in each other's lives.
"Next time." Nangong Wan fell drunk on Fu Shaoping's shoulder, and the lotus hairpins in her hair fell into the wine jar, "Grow acacia beans."
When Fu Shaoping picked up the jade hairpin, he found that the end of the hairpin had been tangled in his white hair. When the red moon sank to the west, the cold pond was not frozen for the first time.
Nangong Wan's fingertips gently rubbed the yellowed ancient book, and the purple flame flowed between her fingers without damaging the paper. "Found it!" She suddenly slammed the table and stood up, shaking the dozen unsealed wine jars on the table.
Fu Shaoping was practicing sword in the courtyard. He stopped when he heard the words. The frosty white sword energy condensed into an arc of light in the air. He sheathed the sword with a flower. The morning dew on his white hair fell with his movements. "What are you doing so early in the morning?"
"The recipe for Drunken Immortal Brew!" Nangong Wan climbed out of the window, stepped barefoot on the dewy bluestone slab, and flipped to a certain page in the ancient book in his hand, "Look at the seventh ingredient - 'Three pieces of the reverse scales of the Black Frost Dragon, grind them into powder to remove the turbidity in the wine'."
Fu Shaoping took the ancient book and rubbed the edges that were eaten by insects with his fingertips. This was clearly a half-page torn from a thicker book, and there were dried blood stains between the ink. He moved his eyes downward and suddenly focused on the last line of small words: "Matched with a pair of red flame falcon pupils, yin and yang complement each other, it can be brewed." The words behind it were already blurred.
"The Red Flame Falcon lives in the Burning Sky Valley, and the Black Frost Dragon lives in the Cold Mist Swamp." Nangong Wan had leaned over to his shoulder without him noticing, his warm breath carrying a faint scent of wine, "The two places are eight hundred miles apart, so it's just on the way."
When Fu Shaoping closed the ancient book, he found half a bronze fragment falling out of the spine. He bent down to pick it up. There were some ancient runes etched on it, and it glowed strangely green in the sun.
"Oh, this is the point!" Nangong Wan grabbed the fragment and stuffed it into his sleeve pocket. He then unfolded a leather map with seven or eight red dots marked with cinnabar. "I've inquired about it. There are signs of a dragon shedding its skin in the Cold Mist Swamp recently."
Fu Shaoping looked at the lotus hairpins swaying in her hair, and suddenly remembered the red moon night three months ago. When they drank the contract wine together, Nangong Wan's purple palace was filled with his sword intent, and his sea of consciousness was always burning with an eternal purple flame. The thrilling feeling of soul fusion was a hundred times deeper than any physical entanglement.
"We'll set out in three days." This was all he said in the end, but when he turned around, the corners of his mouth slightly raised. Nangong Wan laughed triumphantly behind him, humming a ridiculous tune as he began to pack his bags.
On the day of departure, it was just dawn. Nangong Wan wore a formal dark purple outfit, but there were seven wine gourds of different colors hanging on her waist in a funny way. She was applying some dark red paste on her special shark silk gloves, and when she saw Fu Shaoping coming out, she threw him a green jade bottle.
"The bait made from dragon blood, smear it on the sword." She blinked, "I stole three magical herbs from the Xuanyin Sect's pharmacy to make it."
Fu Shaoping drew his sword from its sheath, and the frosty blade glowed coldly in the morning light. He evenly smeared the ointment on the sword, and the originally silver-white blade gradually began to show strange dark red lines, pulsating slightly like a blood vessel. "The drug is too strong, and it can only last for six hours at most."
"That's enough." Nangong Wan had already jumped onto the bronze carriage parked outside the courtyard. The shaft of the carriage was engraved with intricate water-repellent patterns. "I calculated the time. When we arrive at the swamp at noon, the efficacy of the medicine will reach its peak."
The carriage was horseless and driven by Nangong Wan's purple flame. Fu Shaoping sat beside her, watching the scenery on both sides recede at an alarming speed. Nangong Wan's driving style was as unrestrained as when she was brewing wine. There were several times when the entire carriage tilted almost to 45 degrees when turning.
"Slow down." Fu Shaoping held down her hand that was controlling the purple flame, "Save your energy."
Nangong Wan curled her lips, but her speed really slowed down. She suddenly pulled out a black ribbon from her sleeve: "I almost forgot, close your eyes."
Fu Shaoping frowned, but still closed his eyes. When the ribbon covered his eyes, he smelled a faint scent of agarwood, mixed with a barely perceptible hint of alcohol. Nangong Wan's fingertips occasionally brushed against his earlobe, causing a slight shudder.
"All right." Her voice was filled with undisguised pride. Fu Shaoping opened his eyes and found that the ribbon was actually a magical weapon. Through it, he could clearly see the demonic aura hovering over the cold fog swamp in the distance - the dark blue one was the Black Frost Dragon, the red one was the Red Flame Falcon, and there were countless other demonic beast auras as small as dust.
"I got the 'Dongyoumu' from the Xuanyin Sect from their Saint's boudoir." Nangong Wan shook his head proudly, "It's a pity that it can only be used three times."
Fu Shaoping suddenly reached out and pressed the back of her neck, squeezing it with moderate force. Nangong Wan froze like a cat being pinched by the neck, and the tips of her ears turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye. "You..." "There is an ambush." Fu Shaoping lowered his voice very low, and drew a symbol on the back of her neck with his fingers. Nangong Wan immediately understood, and the purple flame spread silently to the bottom of the car.
Three breaths later, dozens of thorns suddenly sprouted from the bushes on both sides of the road, with poisonous thorns glowing with a faint blue light. Nangong Wan reined in Zi Yan, and the carriage stopped suddenly with a harsh friction sound. Almost at the same time, Fu Shaoping drew his sword from its sheath, and the frosty white sword energy swept across in a fan shape, cutting off all the thorns that attacked.
"The Thousand Thorns Formation of the Xuanyin Sect." Nangong Wan narrowed his eyes, and the purple flames condensed into fine needles in his palms. "It seems that someone doesn't want us to go to the swamp."
Fu Shaoping lightly lifted the tip of his sword, and a broken thorn fell into his palm. He carefully examined the pattern on the stinger, and suddenly used his fingers to scrape off the skin, revealing the bronze core hidden inside. "It's not a thorn, it's a mechanism."
Nangong Wan leaned over to look, her nose almost touching his fingers. She suddenly sneezed, and purple flames burst out uncontrollably, burning the mechanical thorns into ashes. "A-choo! There's soul-breaking pollen mixed in there, a-choo!"
Fu Shaoping immediately took out an ice-crystal pill from his bosom and stuffed it into her mouth. Nangong Wan shivered at the sudden chill, but her sneezing stopped immediately. She looked up with tears in her eyes and found that Fu Shaoping was drawing something on the ground with a sword.
"Someone set up an ambush before we set out." The pattern drawn by the tip of his sword gradually became clear - it was a coiled dragon, and the dragon's head was abruptly connected to the sharp claws of a falcon, "Black Frost Dragon and Red Flame Falcon"
"Someone used forbidden techniques to make them hybrid?" Nangong Wan's eyes widened, "No wonder ancient books use these two materials at the same time!"
Fu Shaoping shook his head and tapped the tip of his sword heavily on the ground. The pattern was instantly frozen into ice by the cold air, and then shattered into countless crystal powders in the next second. "It is more likely that someone deliberately raised mutants."
Nangong Wan suddenly thought of the bronze fragment in her sleeve, and a trace of uneasiness flashed through her heart. But soon she became excited again: "Isn't that better? The wine brewed from the mutated material must be more powerful!"
Fu Shaoping looked at her helplessly and sheathed his sword: "Let's go by water."
They abandoned the car and came to the nearby dark river. Nangong Wan took off a jade gourd from her waist and poured out a few drops of amber liquid. The liquid melted immediately when it entered the water, and in the blink of an eye, a thick layer of ice formed on the river surface. She jumped on it first, but the ice didn't move at all.
"I brewed the 'Treading Snow Without Traces' last year and wanted to use it as fireworks." She smiled and reached out to pull Fu Shaoping, "I didn't expect it could be used this way."
The ice carried them downstream, faster than the carriage. Fu Shaoping held the hilt of his sword and watched the two banks vigilantly. As they approached the cold fog swamp, the air became more and more humid and the temperature dropped sharply. Nangong Wan began to rub his hands and exhale, and the tip of his nose was red from the cold.
"Practice your Qi." Fu Shaoping reminded her, but he took off his cloak and put it on her shoulders. Nangong Wan was about to tease her when she suddenly discovered that the lining of the cloak was embroidered with fine runes and was emitting warmth continuously.
"When did you..." She was stunned. Those runes were clearly embroidered with her purple flames, and each stitch contained pure fire spiritual power.
Fu Shaoping didn't answer, but suddenly pressed her shoulders and said, "We're here."
Suddenly, the view in front of me opened up. A vast swamp was shrouded in thick white fog, with huge black shadows occasionally swimming in the fog. There were many bones scattered on the shore, some human-shaped, and some strange-looking beasts. The most eye-catching were several fresh corpses, all wearing Xuanyin Cult clothing.
Nangong Wan squatted down to examine the nearest corpse and found that the deceased's right hand was clenched tightly, with a little bronze between the fingers. She forced open the already stiff fingers and took out another half of the bronze fragment!
"Fu Shaoping!" Her voice trembled as she put the two halves of the fragment together. A dazzling green light suddenly burst out from the tightly fitting seams, and the runes on the fragments began to wriggle like living things, forming a complete pattern - it was a bronze palace floating in the clouds.
Fu Shaoping suddenly pulled her behind him, and pointed his sword into the depths of the swamp: "Here it comes."
The water surface suddenly churned violently, and the white mist was stirred into a whirlpool by some huge force. A green shadow as thick as three people hugged approached quickly underwater, and the water surface instantly froze wherever it passed.
Nangong Wan quickly took out a handful of golden red seeds from her bosom and scattered them around. The seeds burned as soon as they hit the ground, forming a circle of blazing fire walls. She formed seals with both hands, and purple flames gushed out from her ten fingers, interweaving into a huge net in the air.
"It's the Dragon King!" she shouted, "Ordinary Black Frost Dragons are not this big!"
Before he finished speaking, the water surface exploded. A huge dark blue dragon broke out of the water, with a single horn on its forehead and two pairs of falcon-like claws under its belly! It opened its mouth and sprayed out thick cold mist, and the fire net that Nangong Wan hastily formed was instantly frozen into ice crystals, crackling and shattering all over the ground.
Fu Shaoping leaped up, and the long sword with a dark red medicinal light pierced the dragon's eyes. The dragon king flexibly turned his head to avoid it, and swept his long tail across, forcing Fu Shaoping back several steps. Nangong Wan took the opportunity to pour out a sticky purple liquid from another wine gourd. The liquid ignited when it came into contact with air, forming a fire dragon that pounced on the dragon king.
The dragon king let out a piercing hiss, and actually opened its mouth to suck the purple flame into its stomach. Its dark blue scales suddenly glowed with a strange purple light, and its body suddenly grew by another three points. Fu Shaoping's pupils suddenly shrank: "It's absorbing your purple flame!"
Nangong Wan's expression also changed. She quickly changed her hand seals, trying to recall the purple flame, but found that the connection with that part of the flame was forcibly cut off. The dragon king raised his head proudly, his throat bulging, and was about to spray the strengthened cold mist at them.
At the critical moment, Fu Shaoping suddenly bit his tongue and sprayed a mouthful of blood on the sword. The frost-white blade instantly turned blood red, and he turned into a residual image, with the sword pointing directly at the dragon king's reverse scale.
"Qiang——!"
The loud sound like metal hitting stone made Nangong Wan's eardrum hurt. Fu Shaoping's sword did pierce the reverse scale, but it only left a white mark on it. The dragon king was furious and slapped Fu Shaoping's chest with one claw. He blocked with his sword, but was blown away by the huge impact and hit the rocks on the shore.
"Fu Shaoping!" Nangong Wan's eyes were red with anger, and purple flames burst out of her pores uncontrollably. She had never been so angry before, and the flames turned from purple to black, but the temperature was so high that the surrounding rocks began to melt.
(End of this chapter)