Chapter 229: Brother Lin Jin, is it really you (6k)

The demon race is very different from the human race; they rarely encounter bottlenecks in the process of cultivation.

On weekdays, they only need to constantly swallow the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and refine various heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

When the spiritual power accumulated in the body reaches a certain level, they will naturally step into the next realm.

So many demon races are born with the ability to perceive various spiritual medicines and guard them, swallowing them the moment they mature.

In contrast, the human race not only needs exquisite cultivation methods, but their own foundation is also crucial, and subsequent cultivation progress involves many auxiliary elixirs, comprehension of the realm of understanding, etc.

But heaven is fair.

Although the demon race has no cultivation bottlenecks and is born with strong physiques and long lifespans, and even comes with various innate divine abilities.

But in terms of intelligence enlightenment, they are far inferior to the human race in the early stages.

However, this situation changes after the Nascent Soul and Divine Transformation stages.

Especially in the Soul Severance Realm, their wisdom, appearance, etc., are almost no different from humans.

So, Master Lu's talent is still very terrifying.

Zhou Qing first sent a message to Lu Yaoyao's communication token, and after seeing no reply, he thought Master Lu probably wasn't there either, accompanying her to practice in the secret realm.

After a while, Yan Xiaohu came back after walking the chicken.

However, after entering the cave dwelling, before Zhou Qing could speak, Yan Xiaohu first looked around vigilantly, and then probed with spiritual power, only then letting out a long sigh of relief.

"It looks like she hasn't returned yet; she must have been kept for dinner by that mother-in-law. Two vixen spirits, how can Old Four handle it."

"Speaking of which, this current Emperor's bloodline is quite powerful; the child born with a vixen spirit doesn't look like there's any trace of the demon race at all, completely following himself."

"Old hen, follow me from now on; be careful that Xuan Yuan Muqian turns into a fox one day and eats you because she's greedy."

And the old hen, after hearing this, flapped its wings and headed toward where Zhou Qing was.

"Where are you running to again? You walked a big circle, why is your energy still so vigorous... Old Four? When did you come back?"

When he saw the old hen jump into Zhou Qing's arms familiarly, Yan Xiaohu finally reacted.

The expression on his face instantly solidified, his eyes widened, as if he had seen a ghost.

No, he clearly checked that there was no one there; where exactly did you pop out from?

Zhou Qing stroked the old hen's increasingly smooth back and sighed helplessly.

Afterward, Yan Xiaohu hurriedly approached with a full face of smiles, his eyes full of curiosity, and said: "How is it, how is it?"

"Not so good, I've already politely refused," Zhou Qing said with a calm expression and a flat tone.

Yan Xiaohu was startled and said: "Refused? Could it be that it's really as I guessed, the Imperial Consort intends to match you two?"

Zhou Qing looked at him and nodded slightly: "Hmm, Imperial Consort Chen's words indeed had that meaning, but my ambition is not here."

After speaking, he gently put the old hen down from his arms and fed it two mid-grade spirit stones.

Yan Xiaohu smacked his lips, full of regret, but changed from his just-now joking state.

He said seriously: "Actually, refusing is quite good; with that thing you possess, let alone a princess, maybe the current Emperor, in order to win you over, will directly give you both mother and daughter..."

"Get lost!"

"Alright!"

That night, a whistling sound suddenly came from outside.

Without thinking, Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu knew that the person in white had come; they originally planned to ignore it as usual, but this time a female voice full of sorrow suddenly sounded.

"Is it you? Is it really you? Brother Lin Jin—"

Zhou Qing's eyes narrowed, and he instantly appeared outside the cave dwelling.

Looking up, he saw a white figure flying past above the canyon, disappearing at the end of his vision in a blink.

And behind him, a palace woman was chasing hard with tears streaming down her face; the seven tails behind her were so obvious.

Who else could it be but Imperial Consort Chen?

But at this moment, she no longer had her usual charm and elegance, just chasing hard with a determination that ignored everything.

"Heavenly Bodhisattva, what did I see?" Yan Xiaohu, who followed closely, was full of shock.

Before he could react, Zhou Qing suddenly grabbed him and flashed into the cave dwelling.

The next moment, he saw two maids who usually followed Imperial Consort Chen appear like ghosts and follow closely behind.

After waiting for a while, Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu came out again.

Yan Xiaohu was very excited.

After all, that person in white hadn't just teased him once or twice; now it was good, he ate a big melon.

From now on, as long as you dare to come, I will use my rough voice to call you "Brother Lin Jin" and disgust you to death.

Zhou Qing stared at the night, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Lin Jin? Is this his name?"

Now that the innate skill 【Heart Appraisal Vision】 was about to be upgraded to level five, if this was his real name, he could directly bind it.

By then, he could determine what he really wanted to do based on his opinion of himself.

But then again, Er Daye was successfully bound by him; could this really be his name?

And there's a surname Er?

The next day, just as Zhou Qing was preparing to go out, Xuan Yuan Muqian came.

"Brother Zhou, I'm going back!" Xuan Yuan Muqian said with a lonely expression.

Although Zhou Qing was a bit surprised, he didn't feel too unexpected.

The eyeliner left by the current Emperor beside her mother had seen such a scene with his own eyes; how could he let her continue to stay here.

"Are you okay?" Zhou Qing asked with concern.

Xuan Yuan Muqian shook her head lightly and managed to squeeze out a smile.

"I'm fine; you and Yaoyao come to the capital to walk around when you have time; Seventh Imperial Brother and I will definitely treat you well. After all, we don't have many friends, but you definitely count as one."

Zhou Qing looked at her pitiful appearance and had to nod in response: "Good, I'll come when I have time."

"That's a promise!" Hearing Zhou Qing's answer, Xuan Yuan Muqian was happy again, jumping and turning to leave.

Zhou Qing watched her back and sighed lightly.

Actually, being able to not come into contact with those power struggles and conspiracy calculations, and being able to live so carefree, might also be a rare kind of happiness.

But he didn't expect that in the afternoon of the same day, Lu Yuanzhi would come, and Lin Daochen would come with her.

"Zhou Qing, it's great that you're here!" Seeing Zhou Qing from afar, Lin Daochen's face immediately showed a look of relief.

Zhou Qing's heart surged with confusion, and his gaze immediately turned to Lu Yuanzhi, asking anxiously: "What's wrong? Did something happen to Junior Sister Lu?"

Lu Yuanzhi hurriedly shook her head and said: "She's fine, I just want to ask you for a favor."

After a hurried narration, Zhou Qing gradually understood what had happened.

It turned out that Master Lu had set up a four-colored formation in the academy's secret realm, but recently the situation was a bit similar to the border, and it began to show signs of instability, and even faintly had the possibility of collapsing.

In a hurry, she found the Dean for the first time.

The Dean looked at it, and for a while, he didn't know where to start; after all, he wasn't a formation master himself, and could only barely help stabilize the state of the formation temporarily.

Helplessly, Lu Yuanzhi hurriedly woke up Lin Daochen, who was in seclusion.

But no one knew better than Lin Daochen how the four-colored formation at the border was repaired.

He had to hurriedly put down the insights of Master Situ Jiuyao that he was studying, and came to find Zhou Qing with Lu Yuanzhi in a hurry.

At this moment, seeing that Zhou Qing was still in the academy and hadn't returned with Er Daye, the hanging hearts of the two were slightly put down.

Although Lu Yuanzhi didn't know why Lin Shi had to bring Zhou Qing, the situation was urgent, and she couldn't care about much, so she hurriedly bowed to Zhou Qing: "Zhou Qing, please help."

Seeing this, Zhou Qing said hurriedly: "Master Lu is too polite, I will try my best."

After speaking, the three hurriedly headed toward the direction of the secret realm.

And Zhou Qing originally wanted to hand the jade box to her, but seeing the situation now, it was obviously inappropriate.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the three appeared under a towering cliff.

And Lu Yuanzhi couldn't wait to take out a token and inject spiritual power into it.

Soon, many intertwined runes appeared on the cliff, and the light was great.

In a few breaths, those originally closely connected rune lines began to flow, gradually converging into a huge circular light array.

As the light array rotated slowly, it emitted a low humming sound, and immediately after, ripples appeared on the cliff, and one could vaguely see that inside seemed to be a lush mountain range.

So this is the secret realm of Bai Yu Taixu Academy; it is truly cleverly designed.

But then again, whether in reality or simulation, he had entered his own cave heaven countless times, and until now he didn't know where the real entrance was.

"Go!" Lu Yuanzhi put away the token and rushed in first; Zhou Qing and Lu Yuanzhi followed closely behind.

As soon as they entered, a fresh spiritual energy rushed toward them, making people feel refreshed.

There were even several mountains rising and falling, straight into the clouds; the most eye-catching was that two of the mountains were covered with a layer of dazzling ice crystals.

"Yaoyao is practicing in that ice mountain on the left, and she will come out of seclusion in half a month,"

Seeming to let Zhou Qing rest assured, Lu Yuanzhi pointed to an ice mountain while walking hurriedly toward the direction of the formation, saying eagerly.

Zhou Qing followed her gaze and didn't say anything more, but looking at the place they were going to this time, it seemed to be another ice mountain.

Since this secret realm is Dean Weng's, why did she set up a four-colored formation here?

Sure enough, they arrived at another mountain covered in ice and snow; as soon as they landed, the three clearly felt a wave of chaotic spiritual power rushing toward them.

Zhou Qing and Lin Daochen looked at each other, then followed silently behind Lu Yuanzhi.

After passing through a corridor and arriving at the bottom of the ice mountain, they saw a huge four-colored formation outline vaguely, and the runes on it were flickering.

Besides that, there was a familiar back view watching quietly.

"Seen the Dean!" Seeing Old Weng here, Zhou Qing and Lin Daochen bowed together.

Weng Yunqi turned around, looked at the two, and nodded slightly.

"It's good to be back; those places are ultimately full of right and wrong, no matter which cultivation country, it's better to have less contact with royal family members!" Weng Yunqi said.

The two nodded knowingly.

Afterward, Weng Yunqi turned his gaze to Lu Yuanzhi and said: "The formation was destroyed by herself; you should know that she is seeking death."

After Lu Yuanzhi heard this, her face turned pale, she bit her lower lip tightly, and shook her head hard: "I won't let her die, no matter what."

Weng Yunqi sighed, his voice full of vicissitudes: "Perhaps death is a relief for you and her."

As soon as the words fell, a shrill roar came from inside the formation.

Lu Yuanzhi rushed into the formation without hesitation.

Zhou Qing and Lin Daochen looked at each other, vaguely guessing something.

Weng Yunqi slowly turned his gaze to Lin Daochen and Zhou Qing, and said peacefully: "This formation is called the Taiyin Nourishing Spirit Array, which I obtained by accident in the past."

"But the construction method of this formation and the trajectory of the internal spiritual power operation, etc., I know nothing about."

"So, to repair this formation, you can only rely on your own exploration."

When Lin Daochen heard this, his face instantly became solemn, and his eyes were full of embarrassment.

After all, when repairing the four-colored formation at the border, at least there were jade slips left by that fourth-level formation master from that year.

Inside, the key information such as the rune arrangement of each area was recorded in detail.

He hadn't even heard of this Taiyin Nourishing Spirit Array before; how easy is it to repair it?

Zhou Qing looked at the four colors flowing constantly on the surface of the formation and frowned slightly.

Who is the "she" Old Weng just mentioned?

Looking at Master Lu's anxious appearance, this person should be very important to her.

Could this formation...

Zhou Qing immediately entered the inheritance left to him by Xuanqing to check, and sure enough, in the fourth-level area, he found records about this formation.

The main function of this formation is to nourish spiritual bodies, nurture spiritual objects, and purify spiritual power.

Unfortunately, the specific spiritual seals he had were not enough, so he couldn't watch it.

"Go in and take a look!" Seeing the two silent, Old Weng said.

Lin Daochen subconsciously cast his gaze toward Zhou Qing; at this moment, his mind was in chaos, and he could only look at Zhou Qing.

Zhou Qing smiled and said: "Do your best, listen to heaven's will."

Lin Daochen then let out a long sigh of relief and entered.

As soon as he entered, he saw a huge eight-tailed white fox struggling and roaring constantly in the center of the formation.

Because her physical body was constantly in a cycle of tearing and repairing, and above her head, there was a huge blue formation hanging high.

Blue threads of spiritual power poured continuously from the magic array into its body, seemingly repairing it, but at the same time, they trapped her.

Meanwhile, Lu Yuanzhi stood to the side, cold air overflowing from her body as her hands moved rapidly to form seals.

Wisps of ice-attribute light surged endlessly from her palms, sinking into the body of this enormous fox.

Seeing this scene, both Zhou Qing and Lin Daochen felt a shock in their hearts.

Lu Yuanzhi was drenched in sweat, her face pale; it was evident that maintaining this output of icy breath was an immense drain on her.

"A-Zhi, let me be free!" the eight-tailed fox spoke with difficulty, its voice hoarse and weak.

Hearing this, Lu Yuanzhi's tears burst forth instantly; she shook her head desperately and hissed, "No, Big Sister, you are the only family I have left."

The eight-tailed fox endured the bone-gnawing pain, using all its strength to slowly turn its massive head, gazing tenderly at Lu Yuanzhi.

Its eyes were full of pity and self-reproach as it whispered, "But I have dragged you down for too long. You should have stepped into Soul Severance long ago, yet you forcibly suppressed yourself until now for my sake. I... I cannot bear it."

"But I am willing, Big Sister. Don't speak for now; it won't hurt in a moment," Lu Yuanzhi said, increasing the input of her spiritual power.

Seemingly not wanting to cause Lu Yuanzhi further worry, the eight-tailed fox gritted its teeth, enduring the spasms of a new wave of intense pain, and swallowed the groan that had reached its lips.

Watching this, Zhou Qing could not help but think of Imperial Consort Chen.

It seemed they must be three sisters.

So, was the feud between Lu Shimei and Imperial Consort Chen all because of this eight-tailed fox before them?

"Lin Shi, I hope you can help!" Lu Yuanzhi turned her head to look at Lin Daochen.

Lin Daochen nodded and brought Zhou Qing closer, but looking at the chaotic spiritual power and flickering runes all around, he truly did not know where to begin.

He then looked at Zhou Qing.

Zhou Qing scanned the surroundings, carefully recalling the insights on arrays left by Master Situ, and began to search for the core location.

Lin Daochen immediately understood; after all, he had also been studying them during these days.

Not long after, the two finally identified the spiritual patterns of the core area, but everything here was normal; there was nothing to repair.

Zhou Qing gritted his teeth, walked up to the giant fox, and said, "Senior, this junior would like to ask, which direction did you specifically damage?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yuanzhi hurriedly looked at her Big Sister.

But the eight-tailed fox only glanced coldly at Zhou Qing before enduring the pain in its body, slowly closing its eyes, and remaining silent.

"Big Sister, I beg you!" Lu Yuanzhi pleaded with a sobbing voice.

A trail of tears flowed down the corner of the eight-tailed fox's eye; in the end, it simply turned its head to the side, avoiding Lu Yuanzhi's gaze.

Seeing this, Lu Yuanzhi stopped her movements, panting, ran to the other side, knelt on both knees, and cried out in near collapse.

"Big Sister, say something! I really only have you left..."

But the eight-tailed fox trembled all over, still not saying a word.

Just at this moment of stalemate, a sudden change occurred.

The jade box in Zhou Qing's arms seemed to sense something and suddenly floated out uncontrollably.

Immediately following, it opened slowly, and a gentle light spilled out from within, with the phantom of Imperial Consort Chen gradually solidifying in the light.

To avoid unnecessary misunderstanding, Zhou Qing hurriedly sent a voice transmission to Lu Yuanzhi, quickly explaining the ins and outs of the matter.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yuanzhi stood up in anger, about to move to shatter that wisp of divine sense, but at this moment, Imperial Consort Chen had completely solidified.

The moment she saw the eight-tailed fox suffering so much, she froze, her heart aching as tears streamed down her face, her eyes filled with guilt and self-reproach.

"Big Sister, it's me, it's A-Chen. I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry—" Imperial Consort Chen's voice trembled as she knelt down from a distance.

Hearing this familiar voice, the eight-tailed fox slowly opened its eyes again, its gaze falling on the phantom of Imperial Consort Chen, its eyes filled with complexity.

"A-Zhi!" Just as spiritual power surged around Lu Yuanzhi, preparing to strike, the eight-tailed fox endured the bone-gnawing pain to stop her.

Then, looking at Imperial Consort Chen, she said, "Looking at you like this, you seem to be doing quite well. Seeing that, I can rest easy."

Hearing this, Imperial Consort Chen was already weeping, sobbing incessantly: "Big Sister, I had my reasons for doing that back then. You had already failed at Soul Severance once, and that time you nearly had your soul scattered; relying on those Nine Nether Lotus Seeds, you simply couldn't cross that step."

"Big Sister couldn't cross it, so you stole all the lotus seeds?" Hearing this, Lu Yuanzhi could no longer suppress the anger in her heart and roared loudly.

Hearing the conversation between the three, Zhou Qing and Lin Daochen looked at each other and quietly retreated to the side.

They never expected that the feud between the three sisters was because of this.

Lin Daochen was even more surprised; was Lu Shimei of the demon race? And was she a relative of the Imperial Consort?

At this moment, Imperial Consort Chen raised her tear-stained face and explained eagerly: "Ever since Brother Lin Jin died, you have been the people closest to me. I really didn't want anything else to happen to you."

"Second Sister, at the time, I truly didn't know that Big Sister had already taken one Nine Nether Lotus Seed and was attempting a second breakthrough."

"Otherwise, I would never have taken all the lotus seeds away, causing Big Sister to break through halfway and suffer such a backlash. I, I..."

A biting cold aura instantly radiated from beneath Lu Yuanzhi's feet, causing the surrounding air to freeze.

She gritted her teeth and said coldly, "You still remember Lin Jin? If he knew that he sacrificed himself to save you, and within three years, you took all the lotus seeds Big Sister was guarding to the current Emperor and became an Imperial Consort, I don't know how much he would regret it."

Hearing this, Imperial Consort Chen's phantom flickered, her face full of pain, but she soon raised her head and roared: "Do you think I wanted to do this? I used the Nine Nether Lotus Seeds as a token of allegiance just so that one day I could obtain it."

As she spoke, she took a yellowed piece of paper from the jade box with trembling hands.

"This is the thing I exchanged my entire life's happiness for!"

Holding the paper, Imperial Consort Chen suddenly burst into laughter, but as she laughed, she cried again.

It seemed that years of repression had completely erupted at this moment.

"I don't like Xuan Yuanhao, even though I have already borne him a daughter, I still don't like him."

"Do you know what it feels like to be with someone you don't like every single day, and still have to pretend to be happy?"

Imperial Consort Chen questioned.

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the two changed.

"But ever since Brother Lin Jin died, my heart has been completely dead. I didn't want to watch Big Sister leave me, and then you! I cannot lose any more family!"

Imperial Consort Chen wept, her emotions near collapse.

Afterward, she used all her strength to throw the note to Lu Yuanzhi.

"These are the other things needed to break through the Soul Severance Realm. As long as Big Sister breaks through successfully, everything can still be saved."

Looking at the paper drifting over, and their third sister crying her heart out.

Lu Yuanzhi and the eight-tailed fox finally realized.

No wonder she had suddenly changed her personality, resolutely stealing the Nine Nether Lotus Seeds and leaving, and decisively marrying into the Xuan Yuan family; it turned out the purpose of doing so was all for them.

At this moment, the resentment that had accumulated in their hearts for years completely dissipated, replaced by deep heartache.

Since childhood, the third sister had been mischievous and full of ideas, but they never imagined that this girl would actually enter the game herself and make such a huge sacrifice for them.

In fact, they had previously sought help from the old Emperor, but because Big Sister had suffered severe damage to her body and spirit after the failed Soul Severance.

The old Emperor refused directly because there was no investment value.

Even if they spent a great price to help her break through, it was estimated she wouldn't go far in the future.

On the contrary, Lu Yuanzhi's bloodline awakening was quite good; now, without relying on anything, she was already close to Soul Severance.

But because the sisters practiced the same ancestral mental cultivation method called "Moon Worship Art," their spiritual powers could resonate with each other.

Therefore, Lu Yuanzhi had to inject spiritual power into Big Sister's body every so often to alleviate the pain she suffered from the breakthrough backlash.

However, this method had a drawback: once one of them broke through the Soul Severance Realm, the nature of the spiritual power produced would change drastically, and they would no longer be able to maintain the original resonance.

Therefore, for so many years, Lu Yuanzhi had been willing to suppress her own cultivation base for Big Sister's sake.

Not only that, she had traveled everywhere, trying every possible way to help other Soul Severance experts, just so they might save Big Sister in return for the favor.

But the results were mostly futile, either being brushed off or having other harsh conditions proposed.

Except for the current Principal Weng Yunqi, who had protected Big Sister to this day with this "Taiyin Nourishing Spirit Array."

At this moment, all misunderstandings were finally cleared up.

Whether it was Lu Yuanzhi or the eight-tailed fox, their hearts were already aching with sorrow.

"Silly girl!" The eight-tailed fox's tears rolled down.

(End of chapter)