Soul Returns

The entire Magma Immortal Palace was shaking violently!

Ning Zhuo pressed his palms against the Five-Sided Stone Pillar, his soul power depleting at a terrifying speed.

His soul had left his body.

His physical body remained in Fire Persimmon Immortal City, but his soul had been drawn into the Magma Immortal Palace. His physical body and soul were connected by the divine ability Life Hanging by a Thread.

Ning Zhuo was only a Qi Refining Stage cultivator, but My Buddha Heart Demon Seal was a treasure-grade item. Under normal circumstances, it was already extremely difficult for him to draw upon the treasure seal's power.

Now, with his soul and physical body separated, and with Life Hanging by a Thread connecting them, he had to sense and draw upon My Buddha Heart Demon Seal. The difficulty had directly increased by more than ten times!

Ning Zhuo's spiritual power and soul power plummeted like a flood.

He looked up at the ranking list, his heart filled with pleasant surprise.

Because he saw: his name was slowly sinking. At this rate, when his name, carved in positive relief, became level with the surface of the stone slab, he should be able to Hide Name and Conceal Identity!

However, the sinking of his name stopped abruptly midway.

Puppet Ning Zhuo knelt on both knees, collapsing before the stone pillar.

His soul power was almost completely depleted. His soul was extremely weak, almost on the verge of Soul Returns.

Ning Zhuo couldn't hold on any longer.

He was using all his strength to draw upon the treasure seal's power, like an infant wielding a large hammer, his small frame unable to bear the weight.

The next moment, his soul could no longer maintain its connection and rapidly ascended from the puppet's body, following Life Hanging by a Thread, piercing through space, and instantly returning to his physical body.

Thud.

His puppet body, without a soul residing in it, fell directly to the ground, motionless.

Ning Zhuo fainted once again.

In the main hall of the Magma Immortal Palace.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit was leaping up and down in mid-air, stirring up surging waves of fire wherever it went, a terrifying sight!

Suddenly, its entire body abruptly paused, because it sensed Ning Zhuo's soul leaving.

It opened its mouth and roared loudly!

The sound waves spread outwards through the Magma Immortal Palace, clearing away layers of clouds and smoke and pushing aside rolling magma wherever they reached.

"That's the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit roaring. What in the world is it going crazy about?"

The Fire Persimmon City Lord had no choice but to go all out and urgently activate the Fire Persimmon Immortal City Grand Formation again.

Countless emerald green formation patterns outlined the heavens and earth, crisscrossing like a net, forming a powerful blockade.

The Fire Persimmon City Lord's beard bristled and his eyes widened, his robes fluttering as he struggled to resist the rampaging Magma Immortal Palace. He held on for a full half-incense stick of time before gradually stabilizing the situation.

"Last time, the Immortal Palace was attacked by a Golden Core Demonic Cultivator and almost ascended."

"What's happening this time?"

"Could it be under attack again?"

The Fire Persimmon City Lord narrowed his eyes, his expression grim.

Ever since the Immortal Palace appeared, he had been stationed high above the mountain peak, not leaving for a moment.

He was a dignified Nascent Soul level cultivator, a lord of a region, personally on guard. Who would dare to overestimate themselves and sneak into the Magma Immortal Palace?

The Fire Persimmon City Lord was certain that since he had been stationed in the sky above the mountain peak, no outsider had entered the Immortal Palace.

"Even if they were to sneak in from within the mountain, they would have to face the blockade and detection of the grand formation, as well as the endless geothermal heat and fire evil that haven't calmed down after the terrifying riot."

"Is this Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit getting impatient?"

Ning Zhuo slowly woke up.

After a long while, his blurry vision gradually cleared.

He felt his eyelids were extremely heavy.

"This time, my soul is damaged even more severely than the last time."

Ning Zhuo suppressed the urge to fall asleep and struggled to get up.

Even though he had deliberately slowed down his movements, his vision still went black and he felt dizzy.

He struggled to sit up his upper body.

This simple action made him break out in a cold sweat. Light and shadows overlapped in his vision, and the still tables, chairs, and benches were constantly shaking.

He had to close his eyes first. In the darkness, the sound of his heart accelerating its beat transformed into violent drumming in his ears.

After a long time, he slowly opened his eyes, feeling a little better.

"My physical body and soul are originally one, a complete set."

The physical body can nourish the soul.

Ning Zhuo felt better precisely because of this.

But this speed was too slow, too slow. Ning Zhuo needed to race against time, so he had to take medicine.

He slowly stood up, left the bed, activated the mechanism, and opened the basement door.

He leaned on everything that could support him, moving like a snail. He couldn't move too fast, to prevent himself from fainting again.

When he reached the middle of the stairs, he could no longer support himself and slowly sat down.

He curled up his body and rested his head against the stair railing.

Discomfort, heaviness, weakness, dizziness to the point of wanting to vomit, and extreme sleepiness!

He lowered his head, feeling his head had swollen several times larger, while his spine was so weak it felt like a branch about to completely wither.

He closed his eyes again, and in the darkness, quietly listened to his heart beating like a war drum.

He was hunched over, as if an invisible, mountain-like weight was pressing down on him.

Trying to crush him!

"Hehehe." Ning Zhuo instead let out a light chuckle.

The more complex the mechanism or creation, the more he wanted to thoroughly understand it. The more difficult the situation, the more it ignited the fighting desire hidden within him, deeply buried in his bones!

His face was as pale as paper, covered in cold sweat, but the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, sketching a hint of a crazy smile.

Soon, his smile vanished.

He opened his eyes again, his pupils filled with a cold, resolute light.

"It's feasible!"

"Using the My Buddha Heart Demon Seal, I can continue to hide my name and conceal my identity."

"This is what mother left me, and it's my only chance."

"If I can't even grasp this, I'll be letting mother down and be utterly useless!"

Ning Zhuo struggled to get up again, every seemingly insignificant movement requiring his utmost effort.

He walked down the stairs, keeping close to the wall, and finally reached the standing cabinet.

He suppressed his dizziness, opened the cabinet door with trembling hands, took out the pill bottle, and painstakingly pulled out the stopper.

When pouring out the pills, his limbs were weak, and he couldn't see clearly, spilling many on the ground.

But he finally managed to take some.

After successfully taking the medicine, Ning Zhuo leaned against the wall and slowly sat on the ground. He lowered his head and immediately fell into a deep sleep the next moment.

When he woke up again, it was already late at night.

His condition had significantly improved.

Before, everything he saw had double vision, and even slight movement caused the world to spin.

But now, his vision was only slightly blurry, and double vision only occurred when he turned his head too quickly.

Using the power of the pills was far more efficient than sleeping. Otherwise, why would alchemy be ranked as the foremost of the hundred arts of cultivation?

Ning Zhuo picked up the pills scattered on the ground, cleaned them, and put them back into the bottle.

There weren't many of these pills left, so he had to be as frugal as possible.

"It would be best to buy a large quantity."

"Throughout the entire process of guiding the soul into the palace, soul power is consumed. Therefore, the demand for soul nourishing pills will become increasingly high."

"For me, the situation is even more severe."

"Even if I buy a lot of soul nourishing pills, I can't bring them into the Magma Immortal Palace and can't take them inside."

"I must directly increase the foundation of my soul, at least doubling it. Only then can I last longer and manage to hide my name and conceal my identity on a ranking list."