Soul Continuation

Jiang Zizai, clad in a coarse linen robe, emerged from the lightning with a hearty laugh, the vertical eye on his brow flashing with brilliance. With a light whistle that carried the sound of a crane's cry, he gracefully flew before the five individuals, clasping his hands and exclaiming, "Fellow Daoists Qing Yi and Qing Chu, it's been over a hundred years! Where have you been enjoying your freedom? Hmm, and who are these three?" Jiang Zizai looked at Golden Venerable, Flower Goddess, and Old Man Gu with utter astonishment and a completely bewildered expression.

"This is Fellow Daoist Golden Venerable, Fellow Daoist Flower Goddess, and Fellow Daoist Old Man Gu," introduced Daoist Qing Yi, dressed in a green crane cloak, to Jiang Zizai with a smile. Golden Venerable, Flower Goddess, and Old Man Gu nodded at Jiang Zizai with a neither warm nor cold demeanor. Their three pairs of sharp, shining eyes continuously scanned Jiang Zizai. Gradually, a hint of surprise appeared on the faces of Golden Venerable, Flower Goddess, and Old Man Gu. Golden Venerable was the first to lose patience, letting out a soft "Hmph."

Qing Yi and Qing Chu blinked in surprise. Simultaneously, they unleashed their divine abilities to examine Jiang Zizai. Their long brows rose, and they both burst into laughter, "Congratulations, Fellow Daoist, congratulations! It's been over a hundred years, and you've also broken through that barrier. Once you reach the Void Realm, you've truly attained great freedom! Congratulations, congratulations!" Qing Yi and Qing Chu continuously offered their congratulations to Jiang Zizai. The two Daoists were overjoyed. With another righteous Daoist in the Void Realm, it meant an additional helper when exploring the ruins!

Jiang Zizai smiled slightly and clasped his hands, "The same to you, the same to you! These past days, I've been comprehending the Heavenly Dao and have gained some insights, leading to this small progress. It's nothing compared to you two." Shaking his hands, Jiang Zizai sighed with emotion, "Upon entering the Void Realm, I realized that you two have long been figures of the Void Realm. I am ashamed, truly ashamed!"

Qing Yi and Qing Chu exchanged a smile. Qing Yi shook his head, "You are too kind, Fellow Daoist. My junior brother and I were fortunate enough to step into the Void Realm back then, but we kept it a secret. It was merely..." He paused, then Qing Yi smiled, "The reasons behind it, I can now tell you, Fellow Daoist. Hmm, why have you come to Qi Yuan Star? Why not come to my Origin Sect for a cup of tea!"

Qing Yi spoke courteously. Beside him, Golden Venerable clapped his hands and laughed heartily, "Indeed. This young Daoist's cultivation is sufficient, and he is qualified to join us in visiting that place. Perhaps he can gain something. Especially since he specializes in lightning techniques, his Divine Lightning Eye is extremely exquisite, and some of the heavenly lightning restrictions within it would be useful to him!"

Jiang Zizai's eyes darted around. He glanced at Qing Yi and the other four, then suddenly burst into laughter, "In that case, it's better to obey than to refuse. I shall impose upon you!"

The six of them laughed in unison. Six streaks of light flashed, and the six of them rapidly flew towards Qi Yuan Star.

As they flew rapidly, Jiang Zizai said casually, "For the past few months, I've been pursuing Immortal Miao. Just a few days ago, I chased him to this area, destroyed his physical body with lightning techniques, and annihilated his Nascent Soul. Only then did I realize I was near Qi Yuan Star. I was intending to visit Origin Sect for some wine, but who knew I'd run into you all. Heh heh, where did you all come from? Fellow Daoists Qing Yi and Qing Chu, where have you been enjoying your freedom these past hundred years?"

Flower Goddess's eyes flickered, and she suddenly spoke, "Immortal Miao, that lecher, was killed by you? Excellent! I owe you this favor, Flower Goddess. Seventeen hundred years ago, I also pursued Immortal Miao, but he escaped me twice, and in the end, I only managed to severely wound him. Today, him dying by your hand is truly the working of fate."

Jiang Zizai quickly offered a few humble words. He gazed deeply at Flower Goddess with a smile and asked, "Listening to your words, Senior, are you perhaps—"

Qing Chu smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Jiang, these three Seniors have cultivated for thousands of years in the Void Realm. However, for thousands of years, they have been quietly exploring and investigating in a certain place, hence their low profile in the cultivation world. If we speak of it, these three Seniors have the highest seniority and the most profound cultivation in the current cultivation world. Take Senior Old Man Gu, for example. He had already reached the Nascent Soul Stage three thousand years ago. If not for certain unforeseen circumstances, he would have ascended long ago and would not be in this cultivation world."

"Senior Old Man Gu! Three thousand years ago!" Jiang Zizai's mouth twitched. The vertical eye on his brow spun rapidly. He suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be that Senior Old Man Gu is the current Island Master of 'Canglang Island'?"

"Eh? Interesting! You child actually know about Canglang Island!" Old Man Gu looked at Jiang Zizai with surprise, frowning, "My Canglang Island lineage has always been a single lineage, passed down from one generation to the next. Apart from a few close friends, no outsiders know of Canglang Island's existence. Where did you, child, learn of this old man's name?"

Jiang Zizai suddenly stopped his escape light, and Qing Yi and the others followed suit. Jiang Zizai hovered in the void, his expression fluctuating as he looked at Old Man Gu. He suddenly laughed heartily towards the sky. Qing Yi and the others looked at Jiang Zizai in surprise, wondering what had gone wrong with him. They then heard Jiang Zizai laugh, "This old ancestor naturally knows! Back then, I, this old ancestor, had met you. Hmm, weren't you the little fellow following that old man Li Weng? Heh heh, back then, this ancestor bestowed upon you a Blood Soul Yin Lightning, but your master blocked it with his own body!"

Old Man Gu's expression changed. He suddenly raised his fishing rod, bringing down thousands of azure water lights towards Jiang Zizai. Old Man Gu shrieked, "Blood God Ancestor! It's you, you demon! Die!" Within the water light, thumb-sized Kui Water Divine Lightning flickered in and out of existence, densely surging towards Jiang Zizai.

The situation changed abruptly. Qing Yi and Qing Chu had no time to react. None of them could have imagined how the renowned Demon Subduing True Person Jiang Zizai of the cultivation world became associated with some Blood God Ancestor! However, seeing the usually amiable Old Man Gu's face filled with murderous intent, and the terrifying blood-red light that suddenly appeared on Jiang Zizai's face, Qing Yi and the others instinctively reacted. Several sword lights shot out from their hands, hesitantly intertwining towards Jiang Zizai.

Jiang Zizai let out a sinister laugh. His body suddenly transformed into a cloud of blood shadows that shot into the sky. Countless blood-red lights, carrying a pungent smell of blood, surged towards the five of them. As soon as those sword lights came into contact with the blood-red light, they dimmed. The flying swords were tainted by the blood-red light, their spiritual essence greatly weakened. Jiang Zizai had planned to ambush them midway. As his body transformed into countless blood-red lights and soared up, a purple lightning bolt shot out from the blood-red light, silently crashing towards Qing Yi's chest. Following the blood-red and lightning, three wisps of red light, as fine as gossamer, trailed behind. Within the red light, countless distorted, tiny faces rapidly shifted. As soon as the three wisps of red light appeared, sharp ghost cries echoed out of nowhere in the void.

Golden Venerable, Flower Goddess, and Old Man Gu had extremely deep cultivation and were protected by powerful treasures. Several balls of bright light enveloped their bodies, preventing the external blood-red light from approaching.

Qing Yi and Qing Chu, due to Jiang Zizai's reputation as the Demon Subduing True Person, and because of their past relationship with Jiang Zizai, were completely unguarded. Even though they instinctively unleashed two sword lights, the trajectory of the swords was unsteady. They also failed to activate their protective magical treasures in time. Countless blood-red lights penetrated their bodies and emerged from behind them. The purple lightning bolt blasted a transparent hole, as thick as a bowl, in Qing Yi's chest. The lightning exploded, scattering Qing Yi's flesh and blood, and he immediately lost consciousness. The three fine wisps of blood-red light burrowed into Qing Chu's body. Qing Chu's body stiffened abruptly, thick black energy erupted from beneath his skin, and viscous black blood spurted from his seven orifices.

Countless blood-red lights emerged from Qing Yi and Qing Chu's bodies, their color becoming several shades brighter. Jiang Zizai's triumphant laughter echoed in the void, "Origin Sect destroyed Immortal Miao, and this ancestor will destroy their ancestor! Heh heh! Heh heh! Heh heh heh!" Amidst the sinister laughter, countless blood-red lights twisted and reformed into Jiang Zizai's true body. He then prepared to flee into the distance with a lightning bolt over a hundred zhang long.

"Trying to escape?" Golden Venerable sneered.

"You look down on us too much!" Flower Goddess giggled charmingly.

"Heaven Splitting Seal! Open!" Old Man Gu roared. His thin, withered body expanded like a balloon, growing to about a zhang tall. He floated before Golden Venerable and Flower Goddess. Golden Venerable and Flower Goddess formed strange hand seals. Their palms gently touched Old Man Gu's back, and streams of purple light rapidly flowed into Old Man Gu's body. Old Man Gu let out a clear roar, his hands changing hand seals nine times consecutively. His right thumb suddenly expanded to three times its original thickness. He lightly tapped his thumb towards the lightning bolt that had already fled nearly a hundred miles away.

Bang. Old Man Gu's thumb exploded. The void flickered with light and shadow. The space within a hundred zhang of Jiang Zizai, who was fleeing rapidly, suddenly collapsed. A dark, black hole abruptly appeared, swallowing nearby spiritual energy, various stray energies, and even the light in the void.

Jiang Zizai let out a terrified howl, which was even swallowed by the black hole. His physical body, along with his escape light, was torn apart by the destructive energy within the black hole. In an instant, his physical body turned to ashes, and the wisp of Nascent Soul that had separated was also scattered into nothingness.

"Ancient talismans and seals are indeed more powerful than our current Daoist techniques," Old Man Gu stared blankly at his torn and bleeding thumb, sighing somewhat desolately, "Unfortunately, we can only enter the third level."

Golden Venerable crossed his arms and looked up at the sky, humming indifferently.

Flower Goddess floated to Qing Yi and Qing Chu's side, wringing her hands and saying repeatedly, "This is bad, Qing Yi and Qing Chu's vital blood has been completely drained by the blood-red light, and their Nascent Souls have almost dispersed. Qing Yi's physical injuries are concentrated, and Qing Chu has a potent evil curse hidden within him that is consuming his Nascent Soul. What… what can be done?"

Old Man Gu's long brows rose, and he said urgently, "Quickly use the 'Purple Green Luo Pill' we obtained from the ruins to protect their Nascent Souls and keep them alive. Hmm, hurry to Origin Sect. Their Origin Sect has vast resources; let's see if they have any life-saving treasures! They were attacked by the Blood God Ancestor's 'Scattered Soul Blood Light,' their vital blood was sucked dry, and now their souls have left their bodies. Whether they can be saved is truly uncertain!"

Old Man Gu and Golden Venerable picked up Qing Yi and Qing Chu. Flower Goddess led the way. Three streaks of light rapidly headed towards Origin Sect.

In the rear mountain of Medicine Mountain at Origin Sect, within the cave where Yaoying had cultivated that day, Lin Xiao and Qing Chu squatted by the side of the water pool, quietly observing Yaoying, who had just grown a head, half of her upper body, and a right arm in the pool. Part of Yaoying's body had differentiated into countless mosses covering the cave. From the underground river, she continuously drew spiritual medicine power from the discarded residue and medicinal liquids from Origin Sect's pill hall, condensing it into a viscous medicinal juice that slowly gathered back into the pool. Yaoying drew a small amount of spiritual energy from the medicinal juice to repair her body.

Qing Chu stared blankly at Yaoying. After a long while, she sighed softly, "Little Qing… no more recklessness in the future! Look at this time, you've been shattered into pieces again!"

Still busy repairing her body and not yet able to grow hair, Yaoying, with a bare little head, tilted her mouth and snorted coldly, "Don't worry, even if I'm shattered into pieces, as long as my demon consciousness exists and my demon core is not broken, I'm not afraid. Hmm~ Stingy Brother Lin, you won't let Yaoying eat those ready-made spiritual medicines and insist that I painstakingly draw medicinal power from that river."

Lin Xiao extended his right index finger and flicked Yaoying's head hard. Lin Xiao said coldly, "This is a lesson for you. You'll use the medicinal power in this underground river to recover your body. If I let you consume those high-quality spiritual medicines and recover too quickly with their help, you'll be this reckless again next time!" The flick was extremely hard, and Yaoying cried out in pain. Her large eyes immediately filled with tears, and she looked at Lin Xiao pitifully.

After reprimanding Yaoying a few times, Lin Xiao stood up, pulled Qing Chu, and said indifferently, "Qing Chu, let Yaoying reflect here properly. If she acts up like this again next time, she might not be so lucky." Glaring fiercely at Yaoying, who was putting on a pitiful act, Lin Xiao pulled Qing Chu and walked out of the cave. He summoned a faint white cloud and soared away. Lin Xiao's Crimson Dragon Sword had been destroyed, and he hadn't found a pure fire-attribute flying sword yet, so he learned the art of cloud riding and fog travel from Origin Sect for transportation.

Yaoying angrily punched the water pool fiercely. She looked pitifully at her broken body and muttered in a low voice, "Yaoying, you are so pitiful~ so pitiful~ shattered again~ sob sob!"

Lin Xiao had only learned the art of cloud riding and fog travel a few days ago, and his flying speed was not much faster than that of a galloping horse. He leisurely flew towards the direction of the residence with Qing Chu, pointing and commenting on the scenery of Origin Sect.

Suddenly, alarm bells sounded on the mountain peaks of Origin Sect simultaneously. Countless sword lights shot up into the sky from afar and near, instantly sealing the sect's mountain gate within a radius of tens of thousands of miles.

Lin Xiao and Qing Chu were stunned, not understanding what had happened. Suddenly, a ball of white cloud rapidly flew over from a distance. Daoist Yi Yi, with a sweep of his wide sleeve, rolled up Lin Xiao and Qing Chu and turned back in the direction they came from. Rolled up by Daoist Yi Yi's forbidden technique and dizzy, Lin Xiao vaguely heard Daoist Yi Yi shouting, "This is terrible! The two ancestors of the Qing generation are severely injured and about to have their souls scattered. We've searched the sect's inventory but couldn't find any life-saving treasures. Young friend, it all depends on you now."

With whistling sounds of breaking through the air, Daoist Yi Yi, as if driven mad, flew with Lin Xiao and Qing Chu into a grand hall. He unfurled his wide sleeve and carelessly threw Lin Xiao onto the ground. Lin Xiao stumbled but managed to stand steadily. Qing Chu, however, tumbled all the way and fell far away in a disheveled manner. Fortunately, Yi Xin was quick-witted and grabbed Qing Chu, preventing her from crashing into a pillar of the hall. Qing Chu, who was disoriented from the fall, had just stabilized herself when she saw all the elders of Origin Sect in the hall. She immediately shut her mouth, squatted obediently behind Yi Xin, and dared not move.

Before Lin Xiao could recover, Daoist Yi Yi pushed him towards the center of the hall. On the ground in the center of the hall, Qing Yi and Qing Chu lay like corpses. Only a wisp of warm air remained in their chests. It was the three of them, Old Man Gu, Golden Venerable, and Flower Goddess, who had continuously used the spiritual medicines they obtained from the ruins to sustain the two's lives, allowing them to barely cling to existence until now.

Lin Xiao didn't have time to ask for details. He squatted beside Qing Yi and Qing Chu, his hands rapidly stroking their vital points. He also probed their internal conditions with his divine sense before looking up and saying firmly to the worried elders of Origin Sect around him, "They can be saved! However, it requires the 'Profound' grade Immortal Pill 'Soul Continuation Pill'! I know the pill formula and the spiritual incantation, but my cultivation is far from sufficient to refine the Soul Continuation Pill!"

Daoist Yi Xing stepped forward abruptly and asked in surprise, "What cultivation is required to refine the Soul Continuation Pill?"

Lin Xiao said gravely, "At least the late stage of the Void Realm! I can provide the pill formula and the spiritual incantation for refining the pill, but… this is, after all, the secret inheritance of my Great Luo Pill Dao!"

Daoist Xuanyuan beside him said solemnly, "The pill formula and spiritual incantation will absolutely not be leaked. In the future, our Origin Sect will never refine another Soul Continuation Pill! Also, to thank you for your kindness, our Origin Sect will offer a generous reward."

Lin Xiao shook his head and waved his hand, "As for rewards, they are not important. However, the medicinal ingredients required to refine the Soul Continuation Pill, all others are easy to find, but one of them… is extremely difficult!"

Flower Goddess, standing beside Qing Yi, stepped forward gracefully and asked softly, "Fellow Daoist, could you please tell us what this most difficult-to-find spiritual medicine is?"