Inside the Storage Ring, Yao Chen had just dug out a yellowed pill recipe and was about to tell Xiao Baichuan that he had found the formula for the Illusionary Love Pill. But when he turned, he discovered that Xiao Baichuan's soul presence had vanished.
Yao Chen froze.
"Kid?"
No one answered.
He floated out of the Storage Ring and landed beside Xiao Baichuan. Xiao Baichuan's body was still sitting cross-legged where he had been, breathing steadily, but his eyes were hollow and lifeless, like a shell without a soul.
Yao Chen's expression changed abruptly.
"Xiao Baichuan! Kid!"
He reached out to check Xiao Baichuan's breathing. He was breathing.
Then he used his Soul Force to sense his Dantian. His Dou Qi was still there, and his sea of Qi was normal too.
But where was his soul?
His soul was gone.
Yao Chen panicked, his illusory figure circling around Xiao Baichuan.
"This is bad, this is bad! How did this kid's soul disappear?"
"Could it be someone from the Soul Hall? Impossible. I was watching the whole time. I didn't sense anyone approaching."
"Then where did his soul go? Did it vanish into thin air?"
Yao Chen circled faster and faster, even his beard trembling.
Xiao Baichuan was his only hope of resurrection. If anything happened to this kid, he, Yao Chen, really would have to remain a wandering ghost in these desolate mountains.
Meanwhile, inside the jade pendant's space.
Xiao Baichuan landed beside the Nine-Colored Stream. Looking up, he saw Ling Xi standing on the opposite bank, her arms folded and her expression cold.
Xiao Baichuan walked over.
"Did you take care of things over there?"
Ling Xi glanced at him, her tone casual.
"With this emperor handling it personally, how could it possibly go wrong?"
Xiao Baichuan gave her a thumbs-up.
"Fucking awesome."
Then he remembered what he had come for and hurriedly spoke.
"Right, I came across a very special physique."
Ling Xi raised an eyebrow.
"What physique?"
Xiao Baichuan kept her guessing. "Come out with me and you'll see!"
Hearing this, Ling Xi did not refuse.
The scene shifted.
The moment Xiao Baichuan opened his eyes, he saw Yao Chen's illusory face right in front of him, his eyes wide and round, his beard quivering.
"Kid! You're awake!"
Even Yao Chen's voice was trembling.
"Where did you just go?! I couldn't sense your soul. I thought someone from the Soul Hall had taken you!"
Xiao Baichuan paused, then remembered that he had left in such a hurry that he had forgotten to tell Yao Chen.
He scratched his head.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I went into the jade pendant to cultivate my Soul Force."
Yao Chen froze.
"The jade pendant?"
Only then did he catch on, remembering that the Twin Fish Jade Pendant did indeed have the ability to nourish souls.
It was just that entering the jade pendant automatically cut one off from the outside world.
However, the space where Xiao Baichuan and Ling Xi spent time together and the Spirit-Nurturing Pool were two completely separate spaces.
Nourishing souls was merely its outward function. Traveling through time and space was the jade pendant's true purpose.
But this function seemed to work only for Xiao Baichuan and Ling Xi. No one else could access it at all.
Looking through Xiao Baichuan's eyes, Ling Xi noticed the spreading poisonous mist in the valley ahead.
Dark purple puddles, dead trees, and roiling poisonous Qi.
Her phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, and a trace of surprise entered her voice.
"Is this... the Woeful Poison Body?"
Xiao Baichuan paused, not having expected Ling Xi to be so knowledgeable.
"Damn, you recognized it at a glance?"
Ling Xi said casually.
"Obviously. Ten thousand years ago, there was a Dou Di on the Dou Qi Continent who possessed the Woeful Poison Body. How could this emperor not recognize it?"
Xiao Baichuan's eyes widened in disbelief.
"What! Someone with the Woeful Poison Body could become a Dou Di too?"
He had always thought the Woeful Poison Body's upper limit was only Dou Sheng. He had never imagined it could actually break through to Dou Di.
Ling Xi glanced at him and began explaining the distribution of powers on the Dou Qi Continent ten thousand years ago.
"Ten thousand years ago, the Dou Qi Continent's power structure was different from what it is today."
"The Southwest Continent, also known as the Beast Region, had three Dou Di."
"The Great Void Dragon Emperor of the Primordial Void Gu Clan, the Heavenly Phoenix Emperor of the Heavenly Phoenix Clan, and this emperor."
Xiao Baichuan nodded, committing it to memory.
Ling Xi continued.
"The Northwest Continent had only one Dou Di presiding over it."
"That was the Northwest Poison Emperor, who possessed the Woeful Poison Body."
"And the Eastern Province was controlled by the Emperor Tunling of the Tunling Clan."
"What about the Central Plains?" Xiao Baichuan pressed.
Ling Xi's tone was calm, but what she said made Xiao Baichuan's heart pound with alarm.
"The Central Plains had the most Dou Di. Eight in total."
"The Xiao Clan, Heavenly Emperor Xiao."
"The Hun Clan, Emperor Hun Xuan."
"The Gu Clan, Ancient Emperor."
"The Yan Clan, Yan Emperor."
"The Lei Clan, Cang Emperor."
"The Yao Clan, Yao Emperor."
"The Spirit Clan, Ling Emperor."
"The Stone Clan, Hao Emperor."
"Oh, and in the far north, there was a mysterious unaffiliated Dou Di known as the Ice Emperor!"
The Central Plains alone had eight Dou Di.
Adding the three in the Beast Region, one in the northwest, one in the Eastern Province, and one in the far north.
The Dou Qi Continent ten thousand years ago had a full fourteen Dou Di.
Yet ten thousand years later, Dou Di had vanished entirely.
Ling Xi continued.
"Among these thirteen Dou Di, three were the strongest."
"Heavenly Emperor Xiao, Emperor Tunling, and Emperor Hun Xuan."
"All three were third-grade Dou Di. With just one more step, they could tear through the planar space and leave the Dou Qi Continent."
Of course, Xiao Baichuan knew that after tearing through the planar space, these Dou Di could go to the higher plane of the Great Thousand World to cultivate.
It was a world broader and vaster than the Dou Qi Continent.
Ling Xi glanced at him, seemingly guessing what he was thinking, but did not ask further. Instead, she changed the subject.
"Right, aside from those Dou Di, the Dou Qi Continent also had an existence comparable to a Dou Di."
Xiao Baichuan looked up.
"What?"
Ling Xi's tone was calm, but the name she spoke sent a jolt through Xiao Baichuan's heart.
"The Bodhi Ancient Tree."
Xiao Baichuan's pupils contracted slightly.
Ling Xi continued on her own.
"Although this tree hasn't reached the Dou Di realm, its strength allows it to clash head-on with a true Dou Di without falling behind."
"It's an extremely special and mysterious existence on the Dou Qi Continent."
Xiao Baichuan nodded silently.
The Bodhi Ancient Tree matured once every hundred thousand years and appeared in the world once every thousand years.
Of course he knew about it.
In his mind, this thing was rather like an incarnation of the Dou Qi Continent's Heavenly Dao.
It neither cultivated the Dao nor practiced cultivation arts, yet it stood above the heads of all cultivators.
Seeing the unusual look on his face, Ling Xi asked.
"You know about the Bodhi Ancient Tree too?"
Xiao Baichuan nodded.
"I've heard a little."
Remembering the contents of the original novel he had read, he suddenly spoke.
"As far as I know, this Bodhi Ancient Tree seems to have cooperated with a Dou Di, joining forces to kill another Dou Di."
Hearing this, Ling Xi frowned.
"Joined forces to kill a Dou Di?"
There was clear puzzlement in her voice.
"This emperor has never heard of that."
"But..."
She paused, seemingly recalling something.
"Ten thousand years ago, there were indeed Dou Di who set their sights on the Bodhi Ancient Tree, and more than one at that."
"But none of them succeeded in the end."
Xiao Baichuan pressed.
"Why?"
Ling Xi shook her head.
"I don't know the details. I only heard that after those Dou Di went in, none of them looked very happy when they came out."
"After that, no one dared set their sights on the Bodhi Ancient Tree again."
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