Chapter 159: Ghost Realm Soil

The rescue process was far more perilous and arduous than anticipated.

The vitality contained within the Green Wood Origin Fruit was indeed vast and boundless, truly the nemesis of the Silent Extinction Death Qi. But when that strand of life essence guided by Wei Yuzhu touched the black qi at Shi Ran's brow, it was not a simple purification and dispersal, but rather triggered a fierce confrontation between two ultimate powers.

Shi Ran's body became the battlefield. Her meridians trembled violently in the clash between life and death, her features twisted by extreme agony, fine beads of blood seeping from beneath her skin, her whole being seeming as if it might collapse at any moment. That pitch-black Silent Extinction Death Qi was extraordinarily erosive, actually attempting to turn back and devour that strand of vitality, strengthening itself.

"Master! The death qi is counterattacking!" Wei Yuzhu's face turned pale; she could feel the strand of vitality she was guiding being rapidly consumed and corrupted.

Fine sweat beaded on Ling Xiao's forehead. He not only had to protect Shi Ran's heart meridians and soul sea, but also divert attention to suppress his own injuries, which were churning restlessly from the previous great battle. He said in a deep voice: "Don't panic! The Origin Fruit's vitality is endless; steady the output, with the momentum of a thin trickle, gradually nibble away at it! Do not rush, otherwise you will completely provoke a backlash from that ancient consciousness!"

He adjusted his strategy, no longer attempting to forcibly suppress, but instead using his own spiritual power as a bridge, cleverly guiding the Green Wood Origin Fruit's vitality into Shi Ran's four limbs and hundred bones, first stabilizing her own physical foundation and weak origin source, then slowly advancing toward the soul sea. This was painstaking work requiring immense patience and precise control.

Luo Changfeng gripped his long sword tightly, standing guard at the edge of the formation, yet his mind constantly monitored the movements behind him. Watching Master's pale face and Shi Ran's pained appearance, his heart was twisted like a knife, yet he was powerless to help; he could only raise his vigilance to the highest level, guarding against any possible mishap.

Time trickled by. Outside the concealment formation, the Green Wood Ancestral Land remained dead silent, save for the occasional whimper of wind blowing through the ruins. Inside the formation, the atmosphere was tense as a drawn bowstring.

Under Ling Xiao's masterful manipulation and the Green Wood Origin Fruit's powerful nurturing vitality, the situation began to slowly tilt toward the better. The beads of blood on Shi Ran's body surface gradually coagulated, the frequency of her trembling decreased; the black qi at her brow, though still dense, had its expanding momentum checked, and even at its edges there appeared faint signs of being neutralized and dissolved by vitality.

The most obvious change was that Shi Ran's originally icy, lifeless body began to once again emanate a faint warmth of life; though weak, it was an extremely important signal.

"It's working!" Wei Yuzhu cried out in surprised delight.

Ling Xiao nodded slightly, but his gaze remained heavy: "Cannot slacken. The most crucial thing is to awaken her own consciousness. Only when her true self consciousness revives can she truly master her body and expel that foreign Silent Extinction will. Yuzhu, try using divine sense to transmit a call, guide Ranran's consciousness back."

Wei Yuzhu complied, maintaining the vitality delivery on one hand while sending a wisp of gentle divine sense toward the edge of Shi Ran's soul sea, calling softly: "Ranran, wake up... I'm Senior Sister Wei... Master and we are all here... come back quickly..."

Her voice carried spiritual power, like spring wind and rain, seeping again and again into that soul sea shrouded in darkness.

At first, the soul sea was utterly silent, only boundless darkness and cold. But with the continuous infusion of vitality and Wei Yuzhu's tireless calls, in the depths of that darkness, there seemed to be a faint ripple.

In a trance, Shi Ran felt herself sunk in a boundless, freezing abyss, surrounded by eternal silence and void. An ancient and powerful will constantly tempted her to give up resistance, to merge with this Silent Extinction, to gain eternal power.

Just as her consciousness was about to completely sink, a warm sensation transmitted from an unreachable place. Immediately after came fragmented, familiar voices.

"Ranran... wake up..."

"Master..."

"Senior Sister Wei..."

It's Master! It's Senior Sister Wei! And Senior Brother Luo!

A powerful will to survive and longing surged from the bottom of her heart.

"Get out!" Shi Ran's consciousness roared inwardly; her originally weak origin spiritual light suddenly flared bright, beginning to fiercely repel that Silent Extinction will occupying her soul sea.

In the outside world, Ling Xiao and Wei Yuzhu immediately sensed the change!

The black qi at Shi Ran's brow churned violently, no longer the orderly resistance from before, but becoming chaotic, manic. Simultaneously, Shi Ran's eyelids trembled slightly, her fingers also unconsciously curling once.

"Ranran's reacting!" Wei Yuzhu said excitedly.

Ling Xiao's spirit roused; he immediately increased spiritual power output, pouring more refined, pure vitality into Shi Ran's body, while shouting in a low voice: "Ranran, hold fast to your spirit platform, embrace the origin and guard unity! As your Master I'll help you expel the external evil!"

With Master's aid, Shi Ran's true self consciousness resisted ever more fiercely. That Silent Extinction will, though ancient and powerful, was ultimately duckweed without roots, dependent on Shi Ran's physical body and that wisp of origin death qi for existence. Under the Green Wood Origin Fruit's continuous weakening and Shi Ran's own consciousness's tenacious resistance, it began to retreat step by step.

Finally, after a tug-of-war lasting nearly two hours, the black qi at Shi Ran's brow was compressed into a grain-of-rice-sized, unfathomably deep black bead; though still emitting an unsettling aura, it no longer spread wantonly. And Shi Ran's long lashes trembled a few times, finally slowly opening her eyes.

They were a pair of exhausted, weak, yet restored-to-clarity pupils.

"Mas... ter... Senior Sister Wei..." Her voice was hoarse and dry, nearly inaudible, but to Ling Xiao and Wei Yuzhu's ears it was like the music of the spheres.

"She's awake! Ranran you're finally awake!" Wei Yuzhu wept with joy, hurriedly stepping forward to support her.

Luo Changfeng also let out a long breath, his taut nerves finally relaxing somewhat, but he still held his sword, vigilant of the surroundings.

Looking at Shi Ran, joy flashed through Ling Xiao's eyes, but was immediately replaced by gravity. He said gently: "Good that you're awake; how do you feel?"

Shi Ran laboriously rolled her eyes, sensing the lingering weakness in her body and the faint stinging pain from that black bead at her brow, heart still fluttering with fear: "Very weak... but... consciousness is clear. Master, that... thing..."

"It's temporarily suppressed, but not completely eradicated." Ling Xiao said deeply: "That black bead at your brow is the condensation of the Silent Extinction origin, and also the vessel of that ancient consciousness. The Green Wood Origin Fruit's vitality can only suppress it, not uproot it. In the future, you must use your own will to constantly contend with it, slowly refine it, only then can you truly resolve this tribulation."

Hearing this, Shi Ran's small face whitened, but her gaze was exceptionally determined: "Disciple understands... will absolutely never let it control me again!"

At this moment, her gaze fell on the fruit beside her, its light dimmed considerably, her eyes full of guilt: "All to save me, wasting such a precious immortal fruit..."

"Silly girl, the immortal fruit is precious, but not as precious as your life." Ling Xiao shook his head, signaling Wei Yuzhu to put the Origin Fruit away: "This fruit has consumed most of its vitality, but the remainder is still priceless; store it properly."

Just as Wei Yuzhu prepared to reseal the Origin Fruit into the jade bottle, a sudden change occurred!

Perhaps because Shi Ran had awakened, her consciousness clear, forming a more subtle connection with the Silent Extinction origin within her body; or perhaps the collision of ultimate vitality and death qi just now had stirred deeper earth vein changes in this place. The ground beneath Shi Ran suddenly emitted an extremely subtle, yet soul-piercingly cold fluctuation!

This fluctuation was not an attack, yet carried an indescribable heaviness, dead silence, and a contradictory aura nurturing bizarre vitality. It was utterly incompatible with the Green Wood Ancestral Land's flourishing vitality, instead faintly resonating with the Silent Extinction origin within Shi Ran's body!

"Hm?" Ling Xiao was the first to detect the anomaly; his divine sense instantly locked onto the fluctuation's source — it was actually that patch of seemingly ordinary mud where Shi Ran had lain while unconscious!

"This is..." He lowered his body, carefully sensing, his expression gradually turning shocked and uncertain. He extended a finger, pinching up a small handful of mud. The mud was deep black, icy cold and piercing to the touch; looking closely, the mud actually contained countless crystal granules finer than sand grains, flickering with a gloomy luster.

Even stranger, when Ling Xiao attempted to probe into the mud's depths with divine sense, he actually felt his divine sense sink like a clay ox into the sea, swallowed and isolated by an intangible force! Even the spiritual power at his fingertips touching the mud was being slowly absorbed!

Luo Changfeng and Wei Yuzhu also gathered around; sensing the bizarre aura emanating from the mud, both revealed wary expressions.

"Master, this mud is weird! It seems... to be absorbing spiritual power and divine sense?" Luo Changfeng exclaimed in shock.

Ling Xiao did not answer, instead taking out a low-grade magic artifact fragment from his storage ring and placing it on the black mud. The artifact fragment lost its spiritual light at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning dull and lusterless, as if its essence had been sucked away!

Seeing this scene, Ling Xiao's eyes suddenly erupted with unbelievable brilliance; a name existing almost only in ancient classic legends surfaced in his mind!

"Ghost Realm Soil! Could this be... Ghost Realm Soil?!" His voice carried a rare trace of excitement.

"Ghost Realm Soil?" The earth-attribute Immortal Treasure among the Five Directions Immortal Treasures!

Ling Xiao took a deep breath, pressing down the surging waves in his heart, and explained: "Legend says there are extremely yin, dead silent places in heaven and earth; after being steeped in netherworld qi for ten thousand ages, they give birth to a peculiar soil, named 'Ghost Realm Soil'. This soil can isolate and devour all divine sense and spiritual power; it is a supreme immortal material for refining top-grade concealment treasures, sealing heavy weapons, and even cultivating certain special divine abilities! It is the most mysterious and unfathomable of the Five Directions Immortal Treasures... for a situation like Ranran's, it may have unimaginable wonderful uses!"

He looked at Shi Ran with blazing eyes: "If this truly is Ghost Realm Soil, then only one Immortal Treasure remains to resolve your Red Silk Entanglement!"

These words left all three stunned. They never expected that in the depths of this vitality-filled Green Wood Ancestral Land, there would actually be hidden Ghost Realm Soil, its polar opposite!

"But Master, why would Ghost Realm Soil appear here?" Wei Yuzhu raised the question.

Ling Xiao pondered: "All things in heaven and earth, yin and yang complement each other, life and death cycle. The Green Wood Ancestral Land's vitality reaches the extreme; when things reach an extreme they reverse, so giving birth to extremely yin, dead silent Ghost Realm Soil in its earth vein depths is not impossible. Perhaps that white jade skeleton we encountered earlier, what it suppressed was not merely the Green Wood Origin Fruit, but might also be related to this underground Ghost Realm Soil. The great battle we just had with that ancient consciousness, the fierce collision of vitality and death qi, may have inadvertently destroyed a certain balance, causing this deeply buried Ghost Realm Soil's aura to leak out."

He decided promptly: "Changfeng, Yuzhu, protect Ranran well. I'll investigate just how large a range of Ghost Realm Soil lies below, and whether a Netherworld Crystal Core truly exists!"

Ling Xiao forcibly endured his injuries, pressing both hands on the ground; even purer, more vast divine sense power slowly permeated downward. Sure enough, the deeper he went, the stronger that isolating, devouring force became; his divine sense probing was exceptionally difficult. But relying on his profound cultivation, he still roughly ascertained that at roughly three zhang deep, there existed a not-too-large but extremely high-quality Ghost Realm Soil vein! And at the vein's core, he faintly sensed a fluctuation of extremely pure frigid energy!

"There really is! And the quality is extremely high!" Ling Xiao withdrew his divine sense, joy appearing on his face: "Though collection won't be easy, it's worth a try!"

He took out several specially made jade spades and sealing jade boxes, carefully collecting the surface layer of Ghost Realm Soil beneath Shi Ran. Then he activated a divine ability, beginning to excavate downward. The process was extremely slow, because spiritual power consumption was extremely fast, and he needed to constantly contend with that devouring force.

It took a full half an hour before Lingxiao finally broke through the hard rock layer and reached the deeply buried ghostly soil vein. At the center of the black soil lay a crystal about the size of a chicken egg, entirely black yet emitting a faint, dark glow, as if liquid flowed within it—still and quiet. It was the Netherworld Crystal Core!

The moment the crystal core appeared, the surrounding temperature plummeted, and even the air seemed to freeze. The black pearl on Shiran's brow trembled violently, transmitting a complex mix of longing and fear.

Lingxiao carefully extracted the Netherworld Crystal Core along with a large quantity of the ghostly soil, sealing it into a jade box covered in talismans. After completing this, he finally exhaled fully, his face showing exhaustion he could not hide, yet more so the joy of harvest.

"Though this journey was perilous, obtaining the source fruit, this ghostly soil, and the Netherworld Crystal Core is already a great fortune!" Lingxiao looked at the three disciples, "Especially Shiran—you are only one step away."

Shiran gazed gratefully at her master and senior brothers and sisters, whispering, "Thank you, Master, thank you, senior brothers and sisters... If not for you, I would have already..."

Lingxiao waved his hand, "The urgent task is to leave the Qingmu Ancestral Grounds quickly. My injuries are serious; I need to find a place to cultivate in seclusion. Shiran also needs time to restore her origin and heal her sea of consciousness."

He gazed toward the depths of the ancestral grounds, his eyes deep. This experience has given him a deeper apprehension of the Qingmu Ancestral Grounds' secrets. The emerald phantom appearing beside the spring, the origin of the white jade skeleton, and the emergence of this ghostly soil—all indicate this place is far from benign, hiding a tremendous secret.

But now is not the time to investigate.

After a brief rest, Lingxiao led Luo Changfeng and Wei Yuzhu, whose injuries were lighter, taking turns flying on their swords as they hurried toward the outskirts of the Qingmu Ancestral Grounds. Though danger had lurked on the way in, the return journey also demanded no carelessness.

Not long after they departed, beneath the ruins where they had once hidden, deeper underground, a pair of eyes that seemed to have slept for countless ages—devoid of life—slowly opened a slit, gazing in the direction they had gone, then slowly closed again, as if nothing had happened.