"Primordial Furnace Spirit-Tempering Method!"
The reward Shi Zhao received this time was precisely the missing half of the Primordial Spirit secret method she had obtained when she first broke a record.
She fitted the two bone fragments together. Sure enough, they belonged to the same scripture.
Unfortunately, it was still incomplete, with a few pieces missing around the edges.
It contained only a few hundred words, so not a single word could be overlooked.
The scripture was called "Primordial Furnace Spirit-Tempering." Its origins were unknown, but it was a secret manual for the Primordial Spirit, using "furnace fire" to temper the mind and nurture and strengthen spiritual sense.
Ultimately, the primordial furnace was to temper and nurture the purest, most vigorous thoughts of the Primordial Spirit, like a bright moon hanging in the night sky, like a blazing sun shining upon all creation.
Shi Zhao soon gained some insight. She had already obtained half the scripture before, and now that she could glimpse the whole, understanding came as naturally as water flowing into a channel, without the slightest obstruction.
Within her Sea of Consciousness, her Primordial Spirit transformed into a primordial furnace. Mental fire blazed fiercely, burning wisps of "impurities" to ash, while her spiritual sense grew ever purer and stronger.
"What an excellent method. It actually transformed my mind. I really am about to open a heavenly eye."
The girl's long, upturned lashes fluttered slightly, then her eyes suddenly opened, her bright gaze as brilliant as a river of stars.
At the center of her brows, a dazzling purple-gold radiance flashed, glittering brightly.
Then, as though she had noticed something, Shi Zhao raised her slender brows slightly.
"Heh heh heh! Run! Why aren't you running anymore?"
Two panting old men had surrounded her, one in front and one behind. The old man with a Five-Colored Bird perched on his shoulder was even snarling threats.
Well, he certainly had the air of a villain.
After all, what decent person opened his mouth with a "heh heh heh"?
"You little brat can really run. You've worn this old man out!" Essence Jades pointed at her with one hand, still panting as he spoke irritably.
Shi Zhao's expression remained unchanged. She quietly retreated half a step and shook her head. "You two have become attached to appearances. It wasn't I who was running, but your hearts that were in turmoil."
"What gibberish are you spouting? Pay up!" Lord Bird shouted, his face dark.
"I'm broke." Shi Zhao shrugged and spread her little hands. They could do whatever they liked.
Essence Jades did not join in the threats. Instead, he kept studying the girl closely, his brows knitting ever tighter. Some of the cloudiness faded from his aged eyes, leaving them increasingly profound.
Seemingly stirred by the record she had just broken, he suddenly appeared to remember something. Even his bearing changed, taking on an air of transcendence beyond the mortal world.
At first glance, he really did look rather like an immortal.
"What's gotten into you?" Lord Bird was startled too and could not help asking.
Essence Jades seemed to awaken from a dream. That immortal-like bearing abruptly vanished, and he returned to his former self. Only his brows remained tightly furrowed as he struggled to remember.
"Why do I feel as though I've seen her somewhere before?" he mused.
"Obviously. Didn't we meet her a few years ago..." Lord Bird rolled his eyes.
Essence Jades first nodded, then shook his head. His aged eyes suddenly shifted, and he adopted the look of an enlightened master.
He gazed skyward and sighed deeply. "After dreaming for countless ages, only today do I know that I am myself. Young friend, what happened just now was merely a misunderstanding. Please don't take it to heart."
"Who am I, and who is me? My heart was veiled in dust, but now I've suddenly remembered a few extraordinary things as well." Lord Bird nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Shrewd as he was, he knew his old companion intended to seize this chance to fleece the little girl, so he obligingly joined the performance.
Shi Zhao was a little uncertain too, because she knew these two really were the souls of Immortal Kings. They had simply been separated from their bodies for too long and lost themselves.
If they truly recovered some memories, that would be extraordinary.
But she soon keenly noticed the sly little smiles at the corners of both old men's mouths.
"..."
So they were still putting on an act for me?
Sometimes, knowing too much did not seem to be a good thing either. It made it easy to overthink.
Shi Zhao's eyes flickered, and a plan immediately came to mind.
"Congratulations. You two fellow Daoists have finally understood your past lives. In that case, my task is complete." She lifted her fair chin, a faint smile playing on her lips, looking serene and transcendent.
With a hum, a river of stars manifested, enveloping the girl.
Seven great stars also rose and fell behind her. Chaos Qi billowed, and auspicious radiance wreathed her, making her look like an immortal or a Buddha descended into the mortal world.
Lord Bird and Essence Jades stared, dumbstruck. They spent their days swindling and deceiving people in the Void God Realm, yet now they had been taken in themselves.
"Y-you are?" Essence Jades could not help asking.
Shi Zhao laughed inwardly, but outwardly she gave a soft sigh. "Fellow Daoist, you have been lost for far too long. Now that you have unlocked some long-sealed memories, can you truly not even remember me?"
"Ahem, of course I remember. We were very close back then-dearest friends!" Lord Bird lied through his teeth. Surely he could not go wrong by playing along.
"Of course we were friends. In those days, we were all kings among immortals. You, fellow Daoist, were the Dragon clan's Second Under Heaven, losing to the True Dragon by only half a move. Our other fellow Daoist was Immortal Gold that gained sentience and took form, his corporeal vessel supremely durable and imperishable. And I was the Ancestral Sacrificial Spirit of Immortal Ancient... er, a friend of theirs."
Shi Zhao also spun her tale without hesitation, directly exposing their true backgrounds. She genuinely wanted to know whether revealing their origins would jolt them awake.
But toward the end, she instinctively glanced at the sky and hastily retracted a rather dangerous statement.
At her words, both old men froze. Their gazes grew bewildered, yet their auras became increasingly powerful, taking on a transcendent quality, as though they did not belong to the mortal world.
Did that really stir something? Shi Zhao was startled. She hurriedly strode away on her long legs, quietly slipping off while their awareness remained hazy.
Time to make myself scarce!
In the Second Ancestral Land, the girl pushed open the door and emerged. She stretched her waist and smiled faintly, keeping her deeds and renown hidden.
Within a few days, news of Shi Yi breaking records one after another in the Void God Realm had reached even the frontier.
The entire Stone Kingdom was shaken. This undoubtedly confirmed the legend that the Double Pupils One was born divine, destined to reign supreme and become a god, sweeping across the six directions and the Eight Desolations.
However, another piece of news arrived along with it, stirring equally enormous waves.
On the very day Shi Yi broke the records, someone else had broken two major records as well, and one of those previous records had been set by that same person a few years earlier.
All the major powers issued orders, seeking to find this mysterious person.
Many believed this person could not be very old either and was another extraordinary genius of the age, perhaps capable of rivaling the Double Pupils One. Such a person was absolutely worth recruiting at any cost.
"Investigate! We must find out
who it is. We cannot overlook them or let this opportunity slip away."
"Whoever it is, we must find them. Since they chose to break records on the same day as Yi, they must have done it deliberately. They could very well become an enemy in the future."
Some members of Martial King Manor and the Rain Clan looked distinctly unhappy. They had painstakingly planned to build momentum for Shi Yi's debut, but now it seemed someone else had stolen his thunder.
Meanwhile, in the Western Frontier, a group of Rain Clan members was heading toward the Stone Kingdom's Second Ancestral Land.
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