Chapter 190: Purification

After swallowing the third-grade supreme-grade Fire Reversion Pill, not only was the absorption speed fast, but no pill poison remained in the body. Tong Yao felt his exhausted dantian rapidly filling with spiritual energy. His eyes flickering, he looked at Hua Changxi and试探 ed, "Fellow Daoist Hua... are you perhaps a successor of the Pill Saint Hall?"

The five great holy lands of the Central Continent actually maintained hidden connections.

A cultivator's energy is limited after all; since vast amounts of time are spent on cultivation, the time available for learning other skills naturally cannot be too abundant.

Pill refining, artifact forging, talisman drawing, and array formation serve as indispensable auxiliary skills for cultivators. Even mastering just one is an extremely taxing endeavor. To compensate for these shortcomings, cultivators inevitably exchange resources and knowledge among themselves.

The recovery of spiritual energy actually began long ago. Exactly how long ago, even his honorable master did not know, only deducing it occurred before the founding of the Great Jin Dynasty.

However, initially, the degree of spiritual energy recovery was very low. The concentration of spiritual energy in some ruins and secret realms could at most nourish the physical body, unable even to enable one to guide qi into the body.

Later, as time passed, the degree of spiritual energy recovery gradually increased.

During this period, batches of cultivators successively emerged. To meet the needs of mutual exchange and resource sharing among cultivators, nine ghost markets spontaneously formed around the periphery of the nine great passes guarding the Demon Prison.

In ancient times, the places where cultivators exchanged and shared resources were actually in bustling market towns scattered throughout the mortal world.

Nowadays, establishing these market towns within the Nine Netherworlds is primarily because those cultivators who stepped onto the path of cultivation earlier did not want the matter of spiritual energy recovery to be known by more people, nor did they wish for the already scarce cultivation resources to be divided among more individuals. Thus, they all tacitly concealed the fact of spiritual energy recovery.

Placing the market towns in the Nine Netherworlds, where entry and exit from the ghost markets require carrying a token, is undoubtedly the best method to control information leaks.

Before the earth-shattering great battle erupted at Mount Wuzhi in Qingzhou, the matter of spiritual energy recovery was well-hidden by various factions. Whether the imperial family or powerful noble clans, all were secretly accumulating their own strength.

It was not until the incident at Mount Wuzhi occurred that the matter of spiritual energy recovery could no longer be concealed, and that period coincided precisely with the full-scale commencement of spiritual energy recovery.

Now, when Tong Yao recalls that incident at Mount Wuzhi, he still feels the timing was too coincidental. Without that great battle between Buddhists and demons, the current number of cultivators would be eighty or ninety percent less, and most might still merely be thugs relying on the imperial family and various powerful noble clans for survival.

In his view, this would not be a good thing.

Among the five great holy lands, the Central Holy Land serves as the array core of the Demon Prison, while the other four holy lands act as array nodes, naturally placing them in the same camp. Before the matter of spiritual energy recovery was exposed, the five holy lands had little contact. However, after the incident at Mount Wuzhi in Qingzhou occurred, they established hidden connections among themselves.

Like himself, he knew disciples from the Talisman Saint Pavilion and the Array Saint Sect. His previous trip to Kunmen Pass was at the invitation of Jing Le, the successor of the Talisman Saint Pavilion, to assist and broaden his horizons.

As for the Pill Saint Hall, since its ruins were occupied by the imperial court and converted into the Medical Bureau, with most alchemists inside relying on the imperial family and powerful noble clans, he had rarely come into contact with them.

Fellow Daoist Hua casually gave him third-grade supreme-grade pills, several bottles at that. Such superb alchemy skills, combined with such generous expenditure, made him unable to help but suspect her connection to the Pill Saint Hall.

Hearing Tong Yao's inquiry, Hua Changxi fell silent for a moment.

To say she was a successor of the Pill Saint Hall, she seemed to have received no inheritance from them.

To say she was not, yet she had obtained ten wooden tablets, unlocked nine Qihuang Halls, and possessed the Shennong Cauldron within her sea of consciousness, which seemed to indicate some relationship with the Pill Saint Hall.

Regarding the Pill Saint Hall, she actually felt little sense of belonging. Her continued stay at the Medical Bureau was merely to find a use for her medical skills and to possess a social identity to stand in the world.

Now that she knew the Pill Saint Hall was tasked with guarding the Demon Prison, deep down she did not wish to become too deeply entangled with them.

After thinking for a while, Hua Changxi said vaguely, "I... am a physician, serving in the Medical Bureau."

The current Medical Bureau truly could not be equated with the Pill Saint Hall. Hearing Hua Changxi's answer, Tong Yao found himself momentarily unable to determine whether she was truly a successor of the Pill Saint Hall, but he did not press further.

Feeling that the spiritual energy within his body had recovered significantly, enough to repair the damaged humanoid stone statues, he took out the boundary stone powder he carried and began to focus on refining and repairing them.

Watching Tong Yao skillfully repairing and refining on the spot, Hua Changxi mentally tagged him as 'worth befriending'. Afterwards, she began to investigate the center of this array node crafted from boundary stones.

"Hmm?"

Because she had mastered the law power of flames burning and tearing through space, Hua Changxi was particularly sensitive to spatial fluctuations. When investigating the edge of the northern side of the boundary stone platform, she perceived that the spatial barrier there was somewhat thin.

Her heart stirred, and she condensed a wisp of Great Sun Divine Flame, directing it to burn against the thin space.

Soon, a brilliant red light shot through.

The Great Sun Divine Flame had burned open a spatial rift, and the red light was penetrating through from the opening.

Through the rift, Hua Changxi saw the thick trunk and lush branches and leaves of the Fusang Tree.

This place actually connected to the Divine Wood Space!

"Fellow Daoist Hua, what are you doing?"

Just as Hua Changxi was surprised that the array node center connected to the Divine Wood Space, she heard Tong Yao's startled exclamation from behind. Turning around, she saw Tong Yao rushing over hurriedly, though he stopped after taking only a few steps.

Tong Yao looked incredulously at the white-golden flame in Hua Changxi's hand. Feeling the scorching power emanating from the flame, he dared not approach closer: "This is... this is..."

Hua Changxi said, "This is the Great Sun Divine Flame." Having spoken, she quickly withdrew the flame.

Tong Yao's face displayed both shock and disbelief: "How did you obtain the Great Sun Divine Flame?"

Since Xia Yang and Xia Xue already knew about this, Hua Changxi did not hide it: "It was fused from the seven-colored strange fires within Tang Gu."

Tong Yao's expression became even more shocked: "How is this possible? I also subdued five types of strange fires and tried to fuse them together, yet even fusing two strange fires is extremely difficult. How did you manage to fuse seven types of strange fires?"

Hua Changxi's eyes flickered slightly. Without the Floating Light Sword, she certainly would not have known how to fuse the seven strange fires either: "As for this, I cannot disclose it."

Seeing she was unwilling to say more, Tong Yao felt somewhat regretful. Realizing they were not yet familiar, he did not ask further, merely walking疑惑 ly to the spatial rift burned open by the flame: "I know the Great Sun Divine Flame possesses terrifying power, but I never expected it could actually burn through the spatial barrier."

Hearing these puzzled words, Hua Changxi remained silent, naturally not revealing that she had already mastered the law power of flames tearing through space.

Because the spatial rift connected the boundary stone platform with the Divine Wood Space, the concentration of fire spiritual energy on the boundary stone platform side instantly surged dozens of times. Some of the pressure from the Fusang Divine Wood also permeated through, instantly stabilizing several humanoid stone statues that had been shaken by the impact of demonic energy.

Both Hua Changxi and Tong Yao noticed this.

"Should I burn the rift larger?"

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Hua."

Subsequently, while Tong Yao busied himself repairing the damaged humanoid stone statues, Hua Changxi held up the Great Sun Divine Flame to burn the spatial rift wider.

By the time Tong Yao finished repairing the humanoid stone statues and sealed the cracks leaking demonic energy, the spatial rift had grown from its original fist-size into a gateway large enough for a person to pass through freely.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist!"

Looking at the gateway, now over a person's height tall, connecting to the Divine Wood Space, Tong Yao thanked Hua Changxi once again.

With the pressure spilling over from the Divine Wood, the array node center became even more stable.

Hua Changxi clearly perceived the suppressing effect of the Divine Wood's pressure on this area. Glancing at the Divine Hammer in the center, she pondered for a moment, then looked at Tong Yao, wishing to do him a favor: "Do you wish to take the Divine Hammer?"

Tong Yao's heart skipped a beat as he looked toward the Divine Hammer at the center of the boundary stone platform.

If he obtained the Divine Hammer, not only would his strength improve significantly, but his artifact forging level would also leap forward. Moreover, whoever possesses the Divine Hammer becomes the sect master of the Artifact Saint Palace.

Tong Yao struggled to suppress the heat rising in his heart: "...The array node center still requires the Divine Hammer for suppression. Now is not the time to remove it."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi almost blurted out that she could continue burning the spatial rift wider. If the rift became larger, the Divine Wood's pressure spilling over would become even stronger. With the Divine Wood providing suppression, the role of the Divine Hammer would not be so significant.

But the words reached her lips, and she swallowed them back down.

Almost in the flash of a spark, she suddenly figured something out.

Chasing after someone yields no deal; even if she wished to befriend Tong Yao, she should have kept the initiative in her own hands.

Although she now intended to do Tong Yao a favor, she had handed the decision-making power over to him. Should she ever need Tong Yao's help in the future, even if the probability of his agreement was high, she would have placed herself in a passive position.

The Divine Hammer was the supreme treasure of the Artifact Saint Palace; she did not believe Tong Yao had no designs on it. As long as he wanted it, there would come a day when he needed her.

With this carrot dangling before him, she would hold greater initiative in their future interactions.

She had made a grave mistake in her initial cooperation with You Lao and the other four, resulting in a series of subsequent events where she remained entirely passive.

Such mistakes could not be repeated.

Hua Changxi closed her mouth and mentioned the Divine Hammer no more.

Although the rift leaking demonic qi had been sealed, the demonic qi that had already spilled out still permeated Tang Gu.

"Demonic qi can actually disturb a person's state of mind!"

Hua Changxi discovered that when approaching areas rich in demonic qi, the black awakening mark on the back of her hand would surface.

The appearance of the black awakening mark indicated that the Black Flame was growing; the growth of the Black Flame meant she was being influenced by demonic qi, which had triggered certain negative emotions within her.

Having settled the turmoil in his mind caused by the Divine Hammer, Tong Yao explained, "It is not demonic qi, but demonic energy mixed within it. Demonic energy is spawned by great demons and fierce beasts that have died with heavy resentment and murderous intent; because of this, it easily affects a person's state of mind."

Hua Changxi: "Demonic energy?"

Tong Yao nodded: "What spreads from the Demon Prison is not merely demonic qi, but also violent demonic energy."

Hua Changxi: "So that is how it is. Then how can this demonic qi be removed?"

Tong Yao shook his head: "Demonic qi cannot be removed; it can only be purified!"

Hua Changxi: "How is it purified?"

Tong Yao: "In certain regions of the Nine Netherworlds grow rare treasures possessing purifying abilities. However, for cultivators of today, our range of activity in the Nine Netherworlds is limited to the area around the Nine Passes; venturing further out is quite dangerous. Removing the demonic qi from Tang Gu is impossible in the short term."

"By the way, do you know of the Taisu Palace?"

Hua Changxi nodded: "I do." Was not Shi Niang a disciple of the Taisu Palace?

Tong Yao: "It is said that among the personal disciples of the Taisu Palace Sect Master, one experienced a bloodline regression and acquired the purifying divine ability of the World-Cleansing Green Lotus; that person can purify demonic qi."

Upon hearing this, Hua Changxi's heart skipped a beat, and she inexplicably thought of Hua Shiniang.

She and Shiniang were twins; she had obtained the Fire Lotus divine ability, while Shiniang obtained the Green Lotus divine ability... it seemed quite plausible.

"Do you know that person's name?"

Tong Yao shook his head: "The Taisu Palace protects that person very well and has not announced it to the outside world." He paused, then added, "Besides the purifying divine ability of the World-Cleansing Green Lotus, the Yang Flame of the White Jade Lotus Petal can also purify demonic qi, though the Yang Flame can only purify demonic energy."

At these words, Hua Changxi committed the matter of Hua Shiniang to memory, quickly taking out the White Jade Lotus Petal she had previously obtained: "How does one ignite the Yang Flame?"

Tong Yao looked at the White Jade Lotus Petal in Hua Changxi's hand with surprise. Without asking how she had acquired it, he simply shook his head and said, "I do not know how to ignite the White Flame either. I have heard that only someone of absolute purity and kindness can ignite it."

Hua Changxi frowned: "Absolute purity and kindness? That means an absolutely good person. Does such a person exist?"

Tong Yao: "Yes, among the people I know, there is someone capable of igniting the Yang Flame. If Fellow Daoist Hua wishes to meet them, I can introduce you in the future."

Hua Changxi was indeed eager to resolve the matter of the Black Flame and did not stand on ceremony: "Very well, then many thanks to Fellow Daoist Tong."

It was not advisable to linger on the Realm Stone Platform where demonic qi was diffusing. Tong Yao walked toward Xia Yang and Xia Xue, asking Hua Changxi to help support Xia Xue: "Fellow Daoist Hua, let us leave this place."

Hua Changxi: "How do we leave?"

Supporting Xia Yang, Tong Yao walked to the side of the spatial gate. With his right hand, he drew a rune in mid-air using spiritual power. Soon, a light array inscribed with complex runes appeared on the ground.

Hua Changxi's expression brightened: "A teleportation array!"