Soul Shaking

"I'm furious." Ning Bing looked at Little Frog Jin Guagua, who was still lying unconscious on the soft-jade couch, and could not quell the anger in her heart. Since the day Jin Guagua was born, she had been without a mother. Granny Jin also had to oversee the enormous Money Falling Pavilion, so caring for Jin Guagua had fallen to Ning Bing.

Ten years had passed in a flash. Ning Bing regarded Jin Guagua as her own child, and ordinarily, even the slightest bump or scrape would make her ache with worry for half a day. Yet now, she had actually merged souls with a useless human. How could Ning Bing possibly remain calm?

Jin Guagua was a Star Devouring Toad! She possessed the bloodline of an ancient demon no weaker than Taotie or Taowu!

How could her potential be shackled by a mere human earl?

"Guagua, don't worry. If the Daoist sect has no solution, Aunt Bing will help you undo the Soul Merging even if it costs her life!"

Ning Bing made up her mind.

Overwhelming everything in her path!

Chen Luo suddenly opened his eyes, his face filled with disbelief.

Back when he had been fleeing, he had fought desperately for an entire night just to open six meridians. Later, he had expended great effort to open the Ren and Du Meridians. Yet just now, he had experienced the sensation of flying.

The Red Dust Qi entered the unopened meridians like a train fitted with a piercing engine charging along its tracks.

Mountains—it smashed through them!

Rivers—it burst through them!

It roared forward all the way, unstoppable.

From the moment he had regained consciousness until now, only half a day had passed, yet all six of his remaining regular meridians had been opened!

Of course, Chen Luo had also noticed that this speed came from the mutation the Red Dust Qi had undergone.

The originally seven-colored Red Dust Qi suddenly began to glitter with specks of light after Chen Luo guided it into his meridians, like stars in the night sky. Empowered by those "stars," the Red Dust Qi's might had suddenly increased considerably.

Chen Luo still remembered this power. It was precisely the force he had unleashed after the Little Frog had merged with him.

"So this is the new power produced after Soul Merging, just as Granny Jin said?" Chen Luo understood. "It's practically like equipping a damage-enhancing buff..."

Chen Luo began to waver. Originally, he had planned to cooperate and undo the Soul Merging if there really was a suitable method. But now that he had tasted the benefits, he was actually a little reluctant...

"A wealthy family's live-in son-in-law suffered everyone's disdain and was forced into divorce. Who would have thought that the world's financial magnate would bow before the son-in-law upon meeting him..." Chen Luo rapidly improvised a new-media article in his mind.

"True life: tragic beginnings are mostly alike, while happy endings are basically delusional madness!"

"Cultivate, cultivate..."

Chen Luo cast off his chaotic thoughts and immersed himself in cultivation once more.

A white crane descended from the sky and landed in the courtyard of the Money Falling Pavilion. The crane gently shook its body and transformed into a Daoist Boy who looked about ten years old.

"Good grandson, you're back..." When Steward Crane, who had been waiting there, saw the white-crane Daoist Boy, his face immediately blossomed into a smile. He rushed over and asked, "How did it go? Was the journey smooth?"

The white-crane Daoist Boy nodded. "Smoothly. True Person Yuanxia hadn't gone traveling far. Upon hearing that it concerned Granny, he immediately summoned me over."

At that moment, Granny Jin's voice suddenly appeared beside them. "What did True Person Yuanxia say? Is there any way to undo the Soul Merging?"

The Daoist Boy hurriedly saluted Granny Jin and replied, "The True Person said that besides Soul Splitting, the Soul Shaking method could also be used. By using spells to shake the other party's soul, if the Soul Merging is still in its initial stage, the young master's portion of the soul can be separated."

After speaking, the Daoist Boy flipped his hand and produced an exquisite pagoda. "True Person Yuanxia asked me to bring this Soul Shaking Pagoda over..."

"The Soul Shaking Pagoda!" Granny Jin's expression turned ugly. This was a Daoist sect instrument of punishment.

Those who entered the pagoda were all heinous criminals wanted by the Daoist sect.

Put simply, Soul Splitting cut off a piece from your soul; the actual process happened in one stroke. Soul Shaking, on the other hand, continuously pricked you with needles. It was not fatal and would not leave the body maimed, yet it could drive a person insane.

"Is there no other solution?" Granny Jin asked, clutching at her final glimmer of hope.

The white-crane Daoist Boy shook his head. "The True Person said that unless the Grand Celestial Master bestows the Grand Elixir of Profound Sensing, there is no other way!"

Granny Jin fell silent.

The Grand Elixir of Profound Sensing was a sacred treasure of the Daoist sect, a miraculous guardian elixir for the Daoist sect's peak Dao Lords. Even if the three Daoist lineages—Dragon Tiger Xuan Altar, Jade Clarity, and Numinous Treasure—were counted together, there were probably no more than a handful in existence. Even for a Daoist demon of Granny Jin's status, it was practically a legendary object.

Granny Jin extended her hand and accepted the Soul Shaking Pagoda from the white-crane Daoist Boy. When all was said and done, Jin Guagua was her grandson. Since there was no other way out, the only option now was to cut through the Gordian knot with a swift stroke.

"Granny!" Ning Bing appeared beside Granny Jin and glanced at the Soul Shaking Pagoda. "Let me do it. If the imperial court pursues the matter, I'll bear all the blame."

Granny Jin shook her head slightly. "It's fine. This little bit of guilt is something I, Jin Sanshun, can bear."

After Granny Jin finished speaking, she leaned on her cane and walked step by step toward the small courtyard where Chen Luo was...

"You gave away the Soul Shaking Pagoda? What nonsense!" An angry shout came from a cavern abode thousands of li away. A middle-aged Daoist then flew out of the cavern abode on a cloud, heading straight toward Floating Cloud Market.

A Daoist nun also came out and stepped onto a cloud, following close behind. She looked about thirty years old. Her face was flushed, and she seemed rather aggrieved as she caught up with the middle-aged Daoist and said, "Senior Sister Sanshun said she wanted to undo the Soul Merging technique, but she also refused to harm that imperial earl. That was why I mentioned the Soul Shaking method."

"Besides, didn't you, Master, once mention that Senior Sister Sanshun's grandson possessed an extraordinary bloodline? Several Celestial Masters were planning to select a prodigious Daoist successor and merge souls with that Star Devouring Toad, weren't they?"

"It won't cost him his life or damage his mind. He'll only suffer a little! Why did Master lose his temper so badly the moment you arrived?"

The middle-aged Daoist glared fiercely at True Person Yuanxia. "Suffer a little? The pain of Soul Shaking is unforgettable for a lifetime."

"He's only an earl..."

"Keep spouting nonsense, and don't follow me!" the middle-aged Daoist shouted. "Do you know why I suddenly came to your cavern abode? The Grand Celestial Master ordered me to go meet that earl! I thought you were familiar with Sanshun, so I detoured to find you and have you come with me. Who would have thought..."

"The Celestial Master wants Master to meet that earl?" True Person Yuanxia asked in surprise. "Why?"

"Why? Xuantan Palace has issued an order to confer upon him the title of Virtuous Teacher of our Daoist sect!"

Yuanxia was startled. Outside its own sect, the Daoist sect also granted others certain honorary guest titles. The title of "Virtuous Teacher" was even more venerable than her title of True Person. Generally, only Great Scholars or Great Saints of the Demon Race who had friendly ties with the Daoist sect received such a title.

"Furthermore, it isn't that he asked our Daoist sect for this title. It's that our Daoist sect must give him this title!"

The middle-aged Daoist grabbed True Person Yuanxia and accelerated, flying toward Floating Cloud Market at even greater speed...