Above Luoqie Lake, White Deer Immortal transformed into the form of a deer. Chen Renfeng did not mount her. Instead, he bowed to White Deer Immortal and said, "Immortal, I'll go north to the Ice Island and call for White Crane. I won't trouble you any further!"
White Deer Immortal let out a cold snort when she heard this, transformed into a streak of seven-colored clouds, and disappeared.
Seeing White Deer depart, Chen Renfeng flew north. Along the way, he first transformed into a white pigeon and flew for a while, then changed into a wild goose and flew back.
Over these ten years, Chen Renfeng's Karma Value had broken through its limit. As a Penglai Immortal Official, he received offerings from all the cultivators on Penglai Immortal Island every day, allowing him to gain a thousand points daily, just like Ancestor Lu and White Deer Immortal. Over the decade, he had gained 3.6 million points.
As his Karma Value rose, his cultivation rose with it. He first broke through the Body Integration Stage, then cultivated to the perfected Great Ascension Stage. White Crane sold him ten True Soul Pills, which he took.
Before the three-thousand-year heavenly tribulation appeared, he happened to help White Deer Immortal calculate Qing Shi and Bai Yu's Karma Values, and was rewarded with two immortal peaches, which he ate.
With enough Karma Value, immortal pills consumed, immortal peaches eaten, and abundant immortal spiritual power, he broke through to the True Immortal Realm through a stroke of good fortune.
The immortal spiritual power within Chen Renfeng's body could freely change his physical form, and each transformation could last for more than half an hour.
After the wild goose Chen Renfeng had transformed into plunged beneath the waters of Luoqie Lake, he changed into a large blue fish and swam toward the depths of the lake.
In the Small World, after the Great General's Nascent Soul and the Princess's Nascent Soul had returned injured and hidden in the lake to recuperate, they began plotting to seize Bai Xue and Chen Qing's bodies.
Over these ten years, Bai Xue and Chen Qing had long since successfully established their foundations. The Great General's Nascent Soul had also taught them the Sea Expansion Art, which broadened their Sea of Dantian. Their Seas of Dantian had already reached nine cun and nine chi in width, and were filled with magical power.
In the Siheyuan Courtyard, Bai Xue and Chen Qing lay side by side on reclining chairs. Beside them, a pair of black-and-white swans waddled around with their feet splayed outward, randomly picking up pills from the ground and eating them. Bai Xue never tested the pills she refined for poison, worried they would cause diarrhea, so she fed them all to the swans.
Spiritual energy visibly coiled around the bodies of the swans, and they were three times larger than ordinary swans. Their wingspans were at least six meters, but unfortunately, they had eaten too many pills and had not laid a single egg in ten years.
Bai Xue and Chen Qing were lying there comfortably when they suddenly heard strange cries coming from the lakeside. At first, they ignored them, but the cackling cries continued without pause. Chen Qing cursed, "What are those two ugly freaks going crazy about? I'll go take a look."
Chen Qing left the Siheyuan Courtyard and walked toward the lakeside.
Bai Xue waited in the courtyard for a while. The strange cries did not stop, and Chen Qing still had not returned. Worried, she also rose and left the Siheyuan Courtyard, heading toward the lake.
When Bai Xue reached the lakeside, everything was peaceful and quiet. There was nothing there, and only strange cries came from beneath the water. Bai Xue shouted, "Chen Qing... Chen Qing..."
For a long time, there was no reply!
Worried about Chen Qing's safety, Bai Xue plunged into the lake and swam toward the bottom.
She had swum only a dozen meters when a force suddenly bound her, leaving her unable to move in the water. Then a white figure began circling her, moving faster and faster. A vortex formed beneath the lake, lifting her from the water and bursting through the surface, leaving her suspended in midair.
Chen Qing also shot out from beneath the water, suspended in midair and unable to move.
After the Great General's Nascent Soul let out a cackling laugh, he said, "Yu, do it!"
The Princess's Nascent Soul transformed into a streak of flowing light and plunged into Bai Xue through the center of her brow. Just as she was about to annihilate Bai Xue's soul and occupy her upper dantian, a sigil blocked her attack and sent her flying back.
The Great General's Nascent Soul also transformed into a streak of flowing light and entered Chen Qing through the center of his brow. When he tried to annihilate Chen Qing's soul, he likewise encountered a sigil that blocked his attack.
Once the body-seizing technique was activated, there was no retreat. The host would either be devoured by the Nascent Soul, or defeat the Nascent Soul with a powerful divine sense.
Bai Xue and Chen Qing's divine senses were naturally no match for the Nascent Souls. Clutching their aching heads, they screamed in agony. If not for the sigils Professor Chen had left behind, their souls would already have been annihilated.
Chen Renfeng's primordial spirit had just entered the Small World when he heard Chen Qing and Bai Xue's anguished cries from far away. With a flash, he appeared above the lake.
Two streams of immortal spiritual energy wrapped around the two of them, freeing them from the lake's restraints.
Chen Renfeng swept them with his gaze and shouted coldly, "You two fools who don't know when to stop—I had already spared you, yet you dared to attack my students."
"I'll use your Nascent Souls to help Bai Xue and Chen Qing form their Golden Cores, then use the Law of Reincarnation to give them the cultivation and achievements of your lifetimes."
After Chen Renfeng finished speaking, he formed hand seals. A stream of immortal spiritual energy carrying the words of fate from the Law of Reincarnation entered Bai Xue and Chen Qing's ears and flowed into their seas of consciousness.
Bai Xue sensed that the Princess's Nascent Soul had stopped striking at the sigil blocking her. Instead, it clutched its head in terror with both hands. Then cracks appeared across the Nascent Soul's body—one, two, countless irregular cracks. With a bang, it exploded.
The Princess's Nascent Soul vanished. Fragments of memories surged into Bai Xue's divine sense. Everything from the Princess's childhood memories to her tragic death on her wedding night appeared with perfect clarity: human relationships, romantic attachments, the six arts of civil and martial accomplishment, and the stages of cultivation—Qi refinement, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation.
"Ah..." Bai Xue let out a great cry. The Princess's entire life had become part of her.
Before Bai Xue could process it, her Sea of Dantian was drawn into motion and began to spin. First, several strands of her soul were forcibly pulled from her sea of consciousness into the vortex of magical power in her Sea of Dantian.
The vortex spun faster and faster. Her soul was wrapped up like a seed. The vortex was initially insubstantial, formed from water-like magical power, but eventually became a solid mass.
At last, a round, golden sphere hung above her Sea of Dantian. The magical power in the dantian below had dried up. If one had to compare it to something, it looked like a huge pomelo.
Bai Xue had successfully formed her Golden Core, and her Sea of Dantian had expanded to thirty zhang in width.
Chen Qing went through the same process as Bai Xue, except that the Great General's entire life also became part of him.
Chen Renfeng had only recently broken through to the True Immortal Realm, and this was his first time using the Law of Reincarnation. He had nearly caused a disaster, but fortunately, Bai Xue and Chen Qing possessed powerful wills and survived the ordeal.
After Bai Xue and Chen Qing regained consciousness, they immediately hugged Chen Renfeng and burst into loud sobs. They had been terrified today, and Professor Chen's return had also left them overwhelmed with excitement.
"Professor, you're back!"
"Uncle Chen, we almost died!"
Chen Renfeng comforted them for a while, then led them back to the Siheyuan Courtyard.
The three of them sat around the courtyard's stone table. Professor Chen swept the two of them with his divine sense and asked in confusion, "Chen Qing, how large was the Golden Core you formed?"
Chen Qing scratched his head, mentally looked inside his Sea of Dantian, and gestured with two fingers. He had no idea whether it was large or small.
Bai Xue also gestured, and hers was about the same size.
Seeing this, Professor Chen laughed heartily. "Who would have thought that you two would turn disaster into fortune? An ordinary cultivator's Golden Core is the size of a thumb, one with high talent has one the size of an egg, and a genius has one the size of a duck egg. Yet your Golden Cores are the size of soccer balls. Truly rare."
The two exchanged a glance, the corners of their mouths lifting.
Professor Chen continued, "Do you know where we are outside?"
The two looked around and shook their heads.
Professor Chen smiled. "We're in the cave at the bottom of Fuxian Lake. The jade pendant is still on the bodies of the two corpses inside the bronze coffin. We've returned to where it all began."
As soon as Professor Chen finished speaking, the two laughed happily. They could go back.
"Professor, when can we return?" Chen Qing asked urgently.
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