Purple Gold Ship

As this Immortal Spiritual Energy entered his body, a faint buzzing sounded from within Xiao Hua. Amid the "woo-woo" hum, his face suddenly flushed red. He did not dare delay, hurriedly sat cross-legged, and used the method of scattered-infant cultivation to refine this Immortal Spiritual Energy. After a moment, delight appeared on Xiao Hua's face. Then, with a "pfft...," he spat out some residue and laughed. "Though this Residue Cleansing Pill was refined rather crudely, it is still an immortal pill. Sure enough, it can replenish Xiao's Immortal Power. If Senior Xu had been even slightly selfish and left some Immortal Arts within the Sacred Lotus Seed's remnants, Xiao should be able to use them now!"

Having said that, Xiao Hua glanced at the still-open cave entrance, rose, and walked outside. The sky beyond the cave had already begun to brighten. A half-moon hung in the night sky, and its moonlight was indeed white. Although Xiao Hua still felt the ice needles and bitter cold, they could no longer be mentioned in the same breath as before.

"Alas, I never expected this Chu Yu to also come from a place called Earth. He stood out through the selection known as Earth's Sole Cultivator. It seems he was Senior Xu's fellow townsman! If he harbored no evil intentions, Xiao might well have taken him to meet Senior Xu."

"They say oranges grown south of the Huai become trifoliate oranges north of it—truly apt. They came from the same place, yet how could the difference be so vast?"

After his thoughts turned a hundred times, Xiao Hua looked back at the cave. Just as he was considering whether he should hide here again and cultivate quietly for a while before leaving, a soft "caw" rang out, followed by the cry of an immortal crane from the void near the cave.

"Who is it?" Xiao Hua was greatly startled and hurriedly activated his Immortal Power in defense.

From the void, a crane phantom about a foot tall flew out. It circled before Xiao Hua for a moment, then shot straight into the cave.

It should be an immortal art similar to sending a letter by flying crane, shouldn't it? Xiao Hua thought as he floated after it.

Sure enough, after entering the cave, the flying crane looked around, then landed where Chu Yu usually sat cross-legged in quiet cultivation. As it spread its wings, it transformed into a human figure clad in black robes, though its face could not be seen. The figure opened its mouth and spoke in a hoarse voice. "Fellow Immortal Chu, today is the day we agreed to head to that place. I have already invited a Fellow Immortal of formidable Mana. There definitely will not be any more problems this time. However, his demands are high. Not only does he insist on entering first once we get inside, he also wants forty percent of whatever we obtain. I think this is a worthwhile bargain. After all, with the strength of just you and me, we cannot enter at all. What do you think? If you agree, take this meeting token from the crane emissary's mouth. Otherwise, let the crane emissary return!"

After the human figure finished speaking, its light and shadow drew in, and it once again became an immortal crane waiting there.

"Oh?" Xiao Hua understood. This was the dangerous place Chu Yu had mentioned he would visit today. Xiao Hua had thought Chu Yu was deceiving him, but it turned out to be true.

"Should I go or not?" Xiao Hua hesitated slightly, but after only a moment, he smiled and muttered to himself, "What is there to hesitate over? Since there is a token for this occasion, this person clearly has never seen Chu Yu's true appearance. Besides, there is no map of Yunmeng Marsh here, only a route leading to a place called Jueyu Pool. If Xiao wants to avoid that Guiding Emissary, going to Jueyu Pool would be best! Hahaha, actually, the most crucial point is that Xiao does not know how to send this crane emissary back."

As he spoke, Xiao Hua raised a hand and took a Bronze Token from the immortal crane's mouth.

"Caw..." The immortal crane gave a clear cry, spread its wings one last time, then turned into a shower of shattered firefly lights in midair and fell to the ground.

Since he had decided to go, Xiao Hua hurriedly checked the items in the Hundred-Gathering Bag once more. He took out a small Flying Shuttle, then another Ink Immortal Pupil. After finding the method for controlling the Flying Shuttle and roughly familiarizing himself with it, he learned that he could control it even with his Nascent Soul Body. He then stored everything in the cave inside the Hundred-Gathering Bag and walked out.

The instant he stepped outside the cave, a soft boom sounded. Layer upon layer of tiny yellow flames actually sprang up over the surface of Xiao Hua's Nascent Soul Body, while agony capable of searing the tip of his heart rose within him. Xiao Hua hurriedly retreated. Only after backing into the shadows did he stare uncertainly at the light outside, which had begun to turn yellow.

Jiaotu Sun has risen! Xiao Hua thought to himself. It seems this fiery yellow sunlight is the great enemy of my Nascent Soul Body! What Xiao most urgently needs now is not a cultivation technique for the Nascent Soul, but Spirit Cleansing Liquid!! According to Chu Yu, these Feather Immortals possess vast divine abilities. Since they can bring cultivators from the mortal world to the Immortal Realm, they must also have Spirit Cleansing Liquid. Unfortunately, Chu Yu was too eager to make his move, so Xiao failed to find out how to obtain it. Still, whether through the Feather Immortals or the Immortal Market, Immortal Spiritual Crystals will be indispensable. I must make a trip to Jueyu Pool! I only hope Chu Yu's Pearl Shirt will work...

Xiao Hua took out the Pearl Shirt and put it on, then somewhat uneasily stepped out of the cave again. Fortunately, though the outer layer of his Nascent Soul Body felt scorching hot, as though it were being burned by fire, it did not actually ignite, and there was only a faint stabbing pain within him.

Xiao Hua let out a breath of relief, activated the Flying Shuttle, stepped onto it, and shot away like a sword. In only a moment, he vanished from sight.

About an hour after Xiao Hua left, the Guiding Emissary's Flying Shuttle crossed the sky and arrived. Looking around, he muttered in disbelief, "That's not right. I already came here last night. How... how could he possibly be here?"

When the Guiding Emissary took out his magic plate and examined it again, he cried out as though he had seen a ghost. "How is this possible? That bastard has vanished without a trace again?"

Putting away the magic plate, the Guiding Emissary released his Emanated Thought. This time, he easily discovered Chu Yu's cave. Standing within it, he looked at the bear beast's bloodstains on the ground, then at the traces inside the cave. His expression turned exceedingly ugly. Almost grinding his teeth to dust, he roared, "So that bastard hid inside an immortal beast's body! He has a Nascent Soul Body. When this emissary's Emanated Thought swept over him, it was easy to mistake him for an immortal beast's crystal! But this cave—whose hiding place was it, some Mortal Immortal's?"

After pondering for a moment, the Guiding Emissary thought to himself again, Since that bastard has already met a Mortal Immortal from Yunmeng Marsh, he must have obtained an immortal artifact that can avoid Jiaotu Sun. However, since it came from a Mortal Immortal, the artifact he obtained can only be a low-grade immortal artifact and will not last long. Therefore, the first thing he must do is seek Spirit Cleansing Liquid. Only by washing away the Dust Qi can he survive in the Immortal Realm. And nearby, the only place where Spirit Cleansing Liquid can be found is Helan Que, guarded by the Azure Jade Gate! This emissary can only pursue him there now. Hopefully, mending the pen after the sheep have fled will not yet be too late!

Just as the Guiding Emissary was about to leave the cave, he suddenly thought of something else. Silver light flickered all around him, and his appearance changed. Even after the silver light faded, his immortal pressure and everything else were concealed. He now looked similar to a Mortal Immortal like Chu Yu.

"If this emissary does this, that bastard surely will not recognize me. Once we meet, this emissary will seize him with Thunderous Means. Let's see where he can run!"

It had to be said that the saying "struggle makes people improve" applied to immortals as well. After only one night of battling wits and courage with Xiao Hua, the Guiding Emissary had already learned far too much from this Ascended Immortal.

Now, Xiao Hua sat cross-legged atop the Flying Shuttle. While controlling it, he familiarized himself with Chu Yu's two immortal artifacts. The chain had no name, while the sickle-shaped one bore an impressively domineering name: Sky Cutter. As Xiao Hua familiarized himself with the two objects, he nearly laughed his jaw off into the gale! Calling these two things immortal artifacts was truly elevating them beyond their station. Aside from the materials used to refine them, which Xiao Hua did not recognize, neither their material nor their quality could enter Xiao Hua's discerning eyes. However, Chu Yu's Ink Immortal Pupil did not mention how to refine immortal artifacts, nor did it contain their grades. Xiao Hua could only hold his nose and casually refine them for the time being.

Xiao Hua was not particularly familiar with this Nascent Soul Body. Controlling the Flying Shuttle and using his scant Immortal Power to refine immortal artifacts also counted as a process of exploration.

As the fiery yellow Jiaotu Sun rose higher, a shrill eagle cry suddenly rang out. Amid the blazing sun, an eagle beast a full hundred zhang in size burst from behind the burning clouds high in the sky. It violently flapped its wings several times, then tucked them behind itself and dove toward Xiao Hua's Flying Shuttle like a meteor!

Seeing the eagle's beak, sharp as a Flying Sword, throw off sparks through the air, and seeing fist-sized runes on its black feathers stretch out as they flowed beneath the force of its dive, Xiao Hua leaped up from the Flying Shuttle in fright. Without a moment's thought, his Heart God swept up the Flying Shuttle as he prepared to use Light Escape to flee. In this world of fire, merely preserving his Nascent Soul Body from burning was already fortunate enough. How could he dare fight an Immortal Bird whose strength he did not know?

The eagle beast dove with extreme speed. Xiao Hua had only just activated his Immortal Power when it was already less than a thousand zhang above his head. The two eagle talons hidden beneath its body suddenly shot out. As soon as they emerged, black patterns appeared in space itself. The patterns flashed and vanished. Then, above Xiao Hua's head, hundreds of rippling spatial patterns fell with a whoosh, sealing off the space around him!

"Th-this is far too powerful, isn't it?" Xiao Hua stood dumbstruck as blurry fiery light and shadows appeared before his eyes.

At that moment, an inexplicable series of firecracker-like pops, pops, pops... rang out above Xiao Hua's head. Countless black-and-white tadpole runes the size of dippers gushed forth like a spring, followed by dazzling purple-gold radiance shooting toward the heavens. A diamond-shaped outline emerged from the void along with that radiance...

The incident had happened too suddenly. How could the eagle beast possibly have time to evade? Its sharp eagle beak, along with its stone-rending talons, slammed straight into that diamond-shaped outline.

The change occurred directly above Xiao Hua's head, and the appearance of the diamond-shaped outline interrupted his Light Escape. Yet precisely because of this, Xiao Hua saw clearly that the moment the eagle beast's talons touched the radiance of the diamond-shaped outline, a thunderous boom erupted. A triangular pillar of golden light shot from the diamond-shaped outline and pierced through the eagle beast's body with the speed of thunder, too swift to cover one's ears. Although the runes over the eagle beast's body flowed frantically and produced green light, that light was no more than a flickering candle flame before the golden radiance, vanishing in an instant.

The eagle beast that had made Xiao Hua look askance with awe was slain by the golden light just like that. Its corpse slid down along the golden beam like a shattered kite. As for the diamond-shaped outline, after it emerged, the sound of wind and thunder rumbled loudly. A ship's prow, a full thousand zhang in size and forged entirely from purple gold, burst out from the void...