Chapter 136: with translation of chapter title

Having snatched the Champion Marquis's most precious Heaven Pillar Divine Stone, Zhou Shuo quietly returned to the Prince Yu's mansion, where he saw Yang Zheng, who had just finished negotiations with the crown prince.

My lord, this time you're sure to achieve instant success. Zhou Shuo looked at Yang Zheng's beaming face and couldn't help asking with a smile.

With Hong Yi's help, it's naturally a sure victory; Shuo brother going to discuss with Yang An, I suppose it's also a case of wishes fulfilled. Yang Zheng wore a satisfied smile. Hong Yi helped him seize the Wusheng Dao's Wusheng Old Mother, grabbed Crown Prince Yang Yuan's little braid, and with the threat of Champion Marquis Yang An, the two sides talked roughly to an agreement, and they got what they were due.

Me! Not bad, counts as wishes fulfilled, also counts as helping you, my lord, get rid of a major trouble; if that Heaven Pillar Divine Stone hatches, the Champion Marquis will have a human immortal avatar, which won't be pleasant at all. Zhou Shuo glanced askance; this time he'd achieved instant success.

Heaven Pillar Divine Stone, human immortal avatar? Yang Zheng's smile froze; there seemed to be a lot of information hidden here.

Yeah, that's how it is. Not long ago, the Champion Marquis somehow provoked the Heaven Snake King Starry Eyes, was chased by her into the northwest Heaven Pillar Divine Mountain; while escaping the Heaven Snake King's pursuit, he also obtained a divine stone. Inside that stone lies a concealed immortal embryo, into which the Champion Marquis dripped his blood and infused his fist intent; once stimulated by thunderbolt, it can burst forth as a god from stone, transforming into a human immortal avatar……

In this world, such divine objects truly exist. Yang Zheng's face turned to astonishment as he looked at Zhou Shuo; this guy actually snatched such a divine object from the Champion Marquis's hands.

When nature concentrates spiritual excellence, my lord, do you want this divine stone? Zhou Shuo looked at the Prince Yu, whose expression was stirred, and couldn't help curling the corner of his mouth.

Saying I don't want it would surely be a lie, but this heaven‑born divine object—I'm afraid I lack the fortune to enjoy it. Shuo brother, what do you intend to use it for? Yang Zheng looked at Zhou Shuo's half‑smile, half‑frown expression, and couldn't help giving a wry smile, while also falling into thought.

My lord, you're truly wise—I want this divine stone to forge a magical treasure to counter the Panhuang Spirit Sword hidden within the Champion Marquis's body. Zhou Shuo looked at the self‑aware guy, chuckled, and subtly hinted: this stone really isn't yours to take, you can't snatch it; the thing I'll use against the Champion Marquis is far stronger than you imagine.

Panhuang Spirit Sword? The Champion Marquis widened his eyes again; one of the three legendary blades of Panhuang, just what sort of person is this Champion Marquis, to possess both the Heaven Pillar Divine Stone and the Panhuang Spirit Sword—two rare treasures in succession.

Indeed, the Panhuang Spirit Sword—I don't know why, but that Champion Marquis hides this divine sword inside his body; once his life is threatened, the sword will automatically protect its master. I must use the Heaven Pillar Divine Stone to forge a treasure to counter it. Zhou Shuo casually made up an excuse to dispel the Prince Yu's covetousness, after all a human immortal avatar is no ordinary thing.

I understand. Yang Zheng felt somewhat relieved; only a stone capable of birthing a human immortal avatar, refined into this sort of strange treasure, could hope to counter the legendary Panhuang Spirit Sword. Though such a stone is hard to refine, since Zhou Shuo managed to seize it, he must have a plan, so Yang Zheng saw no need to pry further.

All right, my lord, I need a quiet chamber, and you'd better prepare as well—the Champion Marquis might not let this rest. Zhou Shuo looked at the relieved guy, smiled, and gave a reminder: he wasn't coming here just to forge a treasure.

Don't worry, Shuo brother, Yang An would never dare to run wild in my manor. Men, take Shuo brother to my training secret chamber; no outsiders may disturb. Yang Zheng immediately understood and summoned attendants to make the arrangements.

Many thanks, my lord. Oh, right, my lord—where's Hong Yi? Zhou Shuo blinked, having returned and not seeing that fellow Hong Yi anywhere.

Hong Yi said he's going to the imperial palace tonight to have a look; I really don't know what to say about him—having become a ghost immortal, he's just bold because of his skill. Yang Zheng heard this, gave a wry smile, and shook his head.

Hehe, my lord, no need to worry—Hong Yi is your lucky star; just watch him work. Zhou Shuo looked at Yang Zheng's wry smile and headshake, couldn't help chuckling. This Prince Yu could become emperor entirely thanks to Hong Yi, the protagonist; if not Hong Yi, who would be his lucky star? That said, when Hong Yi goes wild, he seems hardly inferior to the Champion Marquis.

I can't interfere with his actions either! Yang Zheng couldn't stop his wry smile; Hong Yi is indeed his lucky star, but that fellow is a ghost immortal—coming and going without trace, highly purposeful; even as a lord, he can't rein him in.

That's beyond my power. Zhou Shuo laughed and shook his head, while inwardly musing that Hong Yi's trip to the palace was probably to see Consort Yuan—interesting, but he couldn't attend to it; the priority now is to forge the Heaven Pillar Divine Stone into a treasure.

After a brief chat, Zhou Shuo, led by attendants, entered Yang Zheng's training secret chamber. As the owner of the Prince Yu's mansion, this training place is naturally heavily guarded; the chamber is not only lined with iron plates but also built with special materials to imprison, keeping out both spirits and ghosts. Moreover, the Prince Yu himself is quite considerate, having removed all surveillance to leave an extremely quiet environment.

Zhou Shuo took the Heaven Pillar Divine Stone out of his satchel; the stone, over two meters tall, stood in the dark chamber, appearing plain and unadorned, presenting the unembellished aspect of raw gold and jade. Only the most subtle perception could sense the yang‑rigid power within; of course, it also contained the Champion Marquis's fist intent—a brutal, domineering, wild will to seize everything.

What should I forge it into! Zhou Shuo ignored the stone's fist intent and pondered what to refine this divine stone into, knowing that this raw‑jade immortal stone—whether its exterior rock or the immortal embryo hidden inside—is top‑tier material for crafting.

Never mind, let's hatch it first. After thinking it over three times and still lacking a good plan, Zhou Shuo directed his innate qi, in the form of the Five Yang Thunders, into the stone. Since achieving Golden Core, he can freely unleash Yang Five Thunder, and the divine thunder he releases is virtually indistinguishable from real lightning.

Carrying divine soul, the Yang Five Thunder surged like a flood into the stone, scouring clean the Champion Marquis's fist intent nurtured within the stone embryo, while also infusing Zhou Shuo's will and a vigorous thunder‑born qi. The over‑two‑meter‑long stone instantly, at a visible speed, shifted from rocky to jade‑like, releasing a rich yang‑harmonious vitality as cracks spiderwebbed across its surface.

Interesting. Zhou Shuo kept the lightning output steady, gazing at the core revealed in the cracked stone—a curled immortal embryo, feeling as if it were about to break its cocoon and see the sky. If this immortal embryo were to emerge now, it would become his human immortal avatar.

Human immortal? Zhou Shuo's mind turned for a second, instantly dismissing the thought—does he now need such a human immortal assistant?

A human‑immortal‑level assistant isn't wholly unnecessary, but wasting such a heaven‑earth treasure just for one would be too poor a bargain. Zhou Shuo halted the thunder infusion and instead poured pure innate qi into the embryo, slowly sensing the refined power within—this too is qi, belonging to the stone itself.

What effect would using internal alchemy to temper it have? Zhou Shuo sensed the embryo, a sudden idea sparking, then entered deep meditation, feeling the embryo's body: aside from innate qi, it also possessed five viscera and six bowels, identical to a human's, and internally held one hundred and eight meridian points naturally open—once born, it would be a human immortal.

Zhou Shuo paid no heed to those one hundred and eight points; noticing them would be useless, for these naturally open meridians cannot be borrowed by humans. He focused instead on the embryo's bodily structure: the embryo is humanoid, possesses its own innate qi on the surface, and its five viscera and six bowels match a human's exactly—a natural alchemical cauldron.

Putting the idea into practice, Zhou Shuo sensed the embryo within the stone—a blank white sheet, devoid of thought, perfectly imprinted with his mark; then, following his intent, the innate qi circulated, drawing true qi from the kidneys and true fluid from the heart, yin and yang mingling to forge the great elixir.

Though it was entirely a blank page, the embryo's interior, with its one hundred and eight meridians wide open, produced astonishing minor elixirs; the great elixir almost instantly self‑refined, after which came the Grass Returning Elixir method, gathering the five qi toward the central palace in preparation for golden‑core formation—but at this stage, things were somewhat different.

When Zhou Shuo formed a golden core in a human body, spirit, soul, and intent converged; innate qi underwent a qualitative shift, essence‑marrow fluid filled his physique, and his form likewise transformed, elevating him from Martial Sage to human immortal. But the embryo's core formation proceeded differently: its five viscera and six bowels gradually shrank, the stone embryo's innate qi continually mixed and contracted inward until it vanished, condensing into a fist‑sized golden‑yellow light egg that flew from the shattered jade to Zhou Shuo's face.

It really became an 'elixir'. Zhou Shuo looked at the warm yellow light sphere flying from the shattered stone to his face, couldn't help cracking a smile—the embryo within the Heaven Pillar Divine Stone, after one round of internal alchemy, had returned to its source and truly turned into an 'elixir'.

Not only did it become an elixir, it was a golden core; although it appeared as a warm‑yellow light sphere, it actually possessed spatial qualities. Zhou Shuo swallowed it into his belly, even without circulating his power, this stone‑spirit elixir instantly turned into pure potency that suffused his whole body—yet it could not merge with him.

Zhou Shuo only needed a moment's thought to grasp the situation: although the Heaven Pillar Divine Stone had been successfully forged into a golden core by him, lacking its own spirit, when forcibly re‑refined into an elixir its innate qi vanished, turning into a pure energy; the Jade‑Elixir Return requires full qi and spirit, the Golden‑Elixir Return requires spirit and qi united, but this stone‑spirit elixir has neither qi nor spirit, so the alchemical path ends abruptly.

The energy of the stone‑spirit elixir dispersed within his body; after careful consideration, Zhou Shuo reached a decision: though the elixir lacks qi and spirit, he possesses them. When he later accomplishes the Jade‑Elixir Return, he can use his primordial spirit to rekindle the elixir's energy, merging his spirit with its form to forge a heroic heart, thereby becoming a second primordial spirit.