Chapter 659
"Ice Phoenix Flame Dance!" The two shouted out the name at the same time, as if the move was engraved deep in their souls. The ice and fire phoenix spread its wings and chirped, dispersing the blood mist wherever it passed. The bronze mask of the robbery leader shattered with a crack, revealing a face covered with black lines - the same origin as the scarred man's tattoo, but more complete and clear.
The battle ended suddenly and tragically. The combined attack was far more powerful than one could imagine. Seven foundation-building cultivators were killed on the spot. Although the leader survived by relying on his golden elixir cultivation, his dantian was destroyed. Fu Shaoping searched three storage bags from his waist, one of which was embroidered with a small golden sword, which was obviously not something that belonged to a cultivator.
"It's a token of the disciples of Jiange," Nangong Wan confirmed after checking, "it seems that they have just robbed and killed people from Jiange." She suddenly took out a black jade token from the leader's arms. The word "Xuanyin" was engraved on the front, and on the back was a complete map of the Fallen Star Valley, with a blood-red skull marked on the bottom of the valley.
Fu Shaoping gasped: "They are not ordinary cultivators, they are scouts sent by the Xuanyin Patriarch!" He quickly counted the spoils. In addition to a large number of spirit stones and common materials, the most precious were three jade bottles marked with "Ningyuan Pills". Unfortunately, there were only one or two pills left in each bottle.
"The market is right before our eyes. Let's cash in these unused items first." Nangong Wan weighed the eight storage bags he had collected. "Especially the materials accumulated by these robbery cultivators. They are enough to exchange for all the spiritual medicines we need."
Wanlingfang City was more prosperous than expected. There were many shops on both sides of the bluestone street, and there were many street vendors. Fu Shaoping noticed that almost every shop had lanterns of different colors hanging in front of the door. Nangong Wan explained that these were the symbols of the major forces.
They first went to an inconspicuous material shop and sold the obviously shady items in Jie Xiu's storage bag in batches. The shopkeeper was a thin old man with sharp eyes, but he was tactful and didn't ask any more questions. When the transaction was over, the old man suddenly lowered his voice and said, "If you two want to buy materials for Ningyuan Dan, you might as well go to the 'Baicaoxuan' in the south of the city. Today, a batch of top-quality Bingxin Yumeduizhi has just arrived."
Fu Shaoping and Nangong Wan looked at each other, knowing that this was probably another test from Xuanyin Pavilion. As expected, as soon as they walked out of the store, they felt someone following them. Nangong Wan pretended not to know and dragged Fu Shaoping around in the alley, finally climbing over the wall and entering the backyard of an inn.
"Take a look at this first." Fu Shaoping set up a soundproof barrier in the room and took out the black jade token of the leader of the robbery. When he put the token together with the map fragments he had collected before, a complete three-dimensional map appeared in the air - there was a secret passage deep in the Starfall Valley that led directly to the core area of the Hundred Thousand Mountains, and there were four creepy words marked there: Xuanyin Blood Pool.
Nangong Wan's fingertips trembled slightly: "According to ancient records, the method practiced by Xuanyin Patriarch was the 'Great Method of Transforming All Souls into Blood', which required collecting the essences of nine hundred and ninety-nine kinds of monsters and the souls of ninety-nine Jindan cultivators." She suddenly stopped, because Fu Shaoping took out a list from the bottom of Jie Xiu's storage bag. It contained detailed information of nearly a hundred cultivators, and their names were written on the last few pages!
"We are not only prey," Fu Shaoping closed the booklet, his voice cold, "but also the key sacrifice of some kind of ritual." Suddenly there was a slight sound of tiles outside the window, and the two men attacked at the same time. The ice needles and fire feathers penetrated the window paper, and the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground was heard outside.
Nangong Wan opened the window and saw a pool of vaporizing black blood and half a piece of black jade made of the same material as the token. "They are everywhere." She closed the window, but her expression was extremely firm. "Since we can't escape, we might as well take the initiative to attack."
Fu Shaoping nodded and took out all the spiritual medicines he had obtained today from his arms: "The most urgent task is to refine the Ningyuan Pill first. I have a hunch that the secret of the Falling Star Valley is related to the resonance of the golden elixir in our bodies."
The moonlight shone through the window lattice, casting the shadows of the two people on the wall. The shadows sometimes separated, sometimes merged, just like the two mysterious golden pills in their bodies, which were gestating secrets that could subvert the world of cultivation in an unknown place.
The bluestone-paved streets glowed with a warm luster under the setting sun, and Fu Shaoping's fingers unconsciously rubbed the edge of the black jade token in his sleeves. The token was icy cold, as if reminding him that the shadow of Xuanyin Pavilion was everywhere.
"How about the 'Qingmingju' in front?" Nangong Wan lowered her voice, and pointed her slender fingers at a building half-hidden by vines at the end of the street. She changed into a plain white dress today, with only a jade hairpin in her hair, which was very different from her usual heroic appearance.
Fu Shaoping looked in the direction she pointed. It was a three-story wooden building with seven bronze lanterns hanging from the eaves, emitting a faint green light in the twilight. The lanterns were engraved with complex cloud patterns, which were the symbol of the Zhongzhou Yun Family - a famous neutral force in the cultivation world.
"The Yun family's property is indeed safer." Fu Shaoping nodded slightly, his eyes sweeping over several cultivators who seemed to be strolling around the corner. One of them had a faint black tattoo on his neck, which was exactly the same as the pattern on the face of the leader of the robbery cultivators. He quietly approached Nangong Wan half a step, and when their sleeves touched, the golden cores in their bodies simultaneously felt a subtle tremor.
The lobby of Qingming Residence was filled with the scent of pure sandalwood. Behind the counter stood a kind-looking old woman, her gray hair tied into a simple bun, wiping a jade abacus with a flannel. Seeing the two people coming in, she raised her cloudy but shrewd eyes and asked, "Are you two Taoist friends staying in the hotel or renting a house?"
"Rent a secluded cave, preferably with an alchemy room." Nangong Wan pushed three mid-grade spirit stones across the counter and tapped the second spirit stone three times with his fingertips - this is a common code in the world of cultivation, indicating that the highest level of privacy protection is required.
The old woman's wrinkled palm wiped the spirit stone and it disappeared without a trace. She took out a jade talisman from the drawer: "No. 3, two medium-grade spirit stones per day, and one more when the restrictions are fully opened." Then she took out two jade slips, "This is the spell to control the restrictions of the cave, which must be returned when leaving the house."
When Fu Shaoping took the jade slip, the old woman suddenly lowered her voice and said, "The market has been unstable recently, and the hounds of Xuanyin Pavilion are sniffing everywhere." She glanced at the jade hairpin in Nangong Wan's hair with a meaningful look, "They dare not touch the guests of the Yun family for the time being."
The cave was more spacious than expected. The front hall was furnished with sandalwood tables and chairs, and on the wall hung a "Four Seasons of Everlasting Spring" that could automatically adjust the spiritual energy; on the left was the practice room with a spirit gathering array, and on the right was the alchemy room equipped with an underground fire mouth. What surprised Fu Shaoping the most was the back window - when he opened it, he could see a spiritual medicine garden, with various rare herbs glowing in the moonlight.
"This place is not simple." Nangong Wan flicked his fingertips, and thirty-six ice crystal needles silently sank into various places on the wall, forming a "Xuanbing Jianying Formation". Fu Shaoping took out nine small red flags from his arms and inserted them around the room according to the nine palace directions. The flags moved without wind, and there was a faint shadow of a fire phoenix flowing.
When the last formation flag returned to its position, the entire cave suddenly trembled slightly. Dense golden runes appeared on the wall and quickly disappeared. Fu Shaoping breathed a sigh of relief: "Now even the consciousness of a Nascent Soul cultivator can't penetrate it."
Nangong Wan had sorted out the items in the eight storage bags. The most eye-catching ones were the three jade bottles with the label "Ning Yuan Dan" and beside them were various spiritual materials looted from Jie Xiu: Blood Ganoderma Lucidum, Millennium Polygonatum, Star Pattern Iron and even a few rare Kong Ming Stones.
"The materials are more complete than expected." Nangong Wan picked up a piece of ore with a blue glow and rubbed it gently, "Ice Heart Jade Marrow Ganoderma, Red Flame Golden Ginseng, Earth Vein Purple Ganoderma. Together with the Nine-Leaf Mysterious Ice Grass we already have, it is enough to refine three furnaces of top-grade Ningyuan Pills." Fu Shaoping took out a palm-sized bronze tripod from his arms. The body of the tripod was engraved with patterns of the sun, moon and stars, and the three legs were shaped like a phoenix head. As soon as it appeared, the temperature in the room suddenly rose. "Fortunately, the leader of the robbery cultivators did not know the value of this 'Three Yang Ninghuo Ding' is a treasure for alchemy."
As the night deepened, the two of them had no desire to sleep. Nangong Wan classified the spiritual medicines according to their properties, while Fu Shaoping carefully studied the alchemy notebook he got from Jie Xiu. When he turned to the page that recorded the formula of the "Yin Yang Condensing Yuan Pill", his fingers suddenly paused: "Wan'er, look at this."
There were two completely different elixir recipes drawn on the parchment, but they strangely intersected into a spiral at the end. Nangong Wan leaned in to take a closer look, and there was a faint scent of snow lotus between his falling hair. "Is this a method of refining two elixirs at the same time?"
"More than that." Fu Shaoping's voice was a little hoarse due to excitement, "Look at the note - 'Those who resonate with the golden elixir can use the heaven and earth as a furnace to refine the Yin-Yang Creation Pill.'" He pointed to a line of small words in the corner of the notebook, "The abnormality of the golden elixir in our bodies is probably not accidental."
Nangong Wan's eyes flickered, and she suddenly took out a crystal clear jade slip from her storage bag and placed it on her forehead. After a moment, she opened her eyes, and there seemed to be ice flames dancing in her pupils: "Similar situations are recorded in the ancient books of our sect. In ancient times, there were Taoist couples who practiced the 'Ice Phoenix Flame Dance'. Their golden elixirs were inductive to each other, and when they attacked together, they could activate the laws of heaven and earth."
The two looked at each other and felt strange pulsations coming from their golden elixirs at the same time. Fu Shaoping's golden elixir was as hot as the sun, while Nangong Wan's was as cold as the moon. At this moment, they were attracted to each other like the two poles of a magnet. He took a deep breath and said, "In this case, let's try this method of refining yin and yang together."
In the alchemy room, the Sanyang Condensing Fire Cauldron had risen to half a person's height, suspended above the ground fire mouth and slowly rotating. Fu Shaoping was shirtless, revealing his strong muscles, and faintly visible red gold lines on his chest; Nangong Wan took off his outer robe and only wore a plain white middle garment, the ice blue lines on his collarbone echoed Fu Shaoping's gold lines.
"I'll go first." Fu Shaoping formed seals with his hands, and the lid of the cauldron rose in response. With a flick of his fingertips, the Red Flame Golden Ginseng was the first to be thrown into the cauldron, and the flames suddenly surged. Then came the earth vein purple ganoderma, thousand-year-old Polygonatum and other positive spiritual medicines. With each one thrown in, the cauldron became brighter.
Nangong Wan stood aside quietly, waiting for all the positive herbs to melt into liquid medicine before she stepped forward. With a light wave of her hand, the Nine-Leaf Mysterious Ice Grass drew a beautiful arc and fell into the cauldron. Surprisingly, the extremely cold spiritual herb not only did not extinguish the flame, but instead made the liquid medicine split into two distinct colors of red and blue.
"Now!" Fu Shaoping shouted, and the two of them simultaneously injected their spiritual power into the cauldron. A red-gold flame spurted out from his palm, and an icy-blue spiritual current flowed from Nangong Wan's fingers. The two diametrically opposed energies intertwined in the cauldron, forming a Tai Chi diagram of ice and fire.
The body of the tripod vibrated violently, and a clear phoenix cry was emitted. Fine beads of sweat oozed out of Fu Shaoping's forehead, and the golden lines on his chest had spread to his neck; Nangong Wan was not much better, with ice-blue lines crawling all over half of his cheeks, and tiny ice crystals forming at the ends of his hair. The most bizarre thing was the space between the two people - vaguely one could see the shadows of two phoenixes, one ice and one fire, intertwining and circling.
"Condensate!" As the two shouted at the same time, the lid of the cauldron slammed shut. The entire alchemy room was filled with a halo of red and blue, and the protective array on the wall was extremely bright. The Three Yang Condensing Fire Cauldron spun wildly in the air, and finally landed on the stone platform with a "clang" sound. The patterns on the cauldron were all lit up, emitting a heart-pounding fluctuation.
Fu Shaoping staggered and held onto the stone platform, while Nangong Wan collapsed directly into his arms. Both of them were soaked as if they had just been pulled out of the water, but they could not hide the ecstasy in their eyes. When the lid of the tripod opened automatically, twelve pills the size of longan floated out - six were red like flames, but had ice patterns on the surface; six were ice blue like jade, but contained gold threads inside.
"Yin and Yang complement each other, ice and fire coexist." Nangong Wan gently pinched a red pill, and the pill trembled slightly at her fingertips, making a clear sound. "This is no longer an ordinary Ningyuan Pill, but the 'Ice Phoenix Flame Dance Pill' recorded in ancient books."
Fu Shaoping was about to put the elixir into the jade bottle when his expression suddenly changed. Nangong Wan also noticed something unusual, and they both looked out the window at the same time - the moonlight above the spiritual medicine garden was being distorted by some force, forming a strange vortex.
"The completion of the elixir has caused strange phenomena in heaven and earth." Fu Shaoping quickly made hand gestures to activate all the protective formations, "It seems that we have caused quite a stir."
Nangong Wan had already changed into tight clothes, with the Qingshuang sword hanging at her waist: "It's a good time to try out the newly refined elixir." She swallowed an ice-blue pill, and countless six-sided ice crystals instantly condensed around her body; Fu Shaoping took a red pill, and the ends of his hair moved without wind, and sparks could be heard faintly.
Surprisingly, the two people's spiritual powers did not repel each other, but formed a perfect balance in the room. Ice crystals and sparks intertwined into a net, covering the entire cave. Fu Shaoping could clearly sense every trace of spiritual power flowing in Nangong Wan's body, as if the two shared the same sea of qi.
"This feeling..." Nangong Wan touched the back of Fu Shaoping's hand with his fingertips, and tiny red and blue electric lights burst out from the place where the two touched, "It's like our souls are connected together."
Fu Shaoping was about to respond when his expression suddenly changed. He took out the black jade token from his arms. At this moment, the token was making a strange humming sound, and the blood-red skull mark on the map on the back was as bright as blood.
"Xuanyin Pavilion has made some moves." He unfolded the parchment scroll he bought in the market during the day, "Coincidentally, tomorrow is the 'Tianzhen Meeting' held once every three years in Wanling Market."
Nangong Wan stared at the flashing mark on the map and suddenly chuckled: "Looks like we have to join in the fun. I want to grab what Xuanyin Pavilion wants."
The next morning, the main street of the market was decorated with lights and colorful flags. The most eye-catching thing was the seven-story pagoda-shaped auction house in the central square - the "Jubao Pavilion". A huge crystal ball was suspended on the top of the tower, projecting the shadow of today's auction items.
(End of this chapter)