Chapter 448: One Hundred Thousand Zhu Que Soldiers

Cleansing impure qi from spiritual roots and cleansing impure qi from the dantian are not tasks of the same magnitude; moreover, since a considerable number of Zhu Que soldiers had ghost qi infiltrating their dantians, Hua Changxi worked day and night for a full three months before finally purging all the ghost qi from every Zhu Que soldier's body.

As for other injuries caused by ghost qi erosion, they could only be repaired and nurtured through the consumption of corresponding pills.

Now, only Yang Zhao's injuries remained unresolved.

Hua Changxi 'looked' at the nascent soul within Yang Zhao's dantian, bound tight by chains of ghost qi, her brows knitting slightly.

She had attempted to use the remedial methods from the 'Hand of Creation' inheritance to clear the ghost qi chains, but unfortunately, all attempts had failed.

Prior to this, she had always believed the ghost qi chains to be an offensive technique designed to gradually damage the nascent soul.

Yet after Yang Zhao's nascent soul manifested, her careful observation revealed that the chains had inflicted little actual damage upon it; instead, they seemed more like a form of 'punishment.'

Just as in the mortal world, placing chains on a person serves to restrict their freedom, so too do chains placed on a nascent soul serve to restrict its cultivation.

For a cultivator, having one's cultivation restricted is undoubtedly a punishment.

Ghost qi chains...

Chains...

Punishment...

Suddenly, the figure of Jing Sheng, the boy with the Nether Eye from the mortuary, along with his 'Chain' bloodline totem, flashed through Hua Changxi's mind.

Could the ghost qi chains be related to Jing Sheng's chain totem?

Might both of these share some connection with the Ghost Fire Well?

Suppressing her swirling thoughts, Hua Changxi turned to face Yang Zhao, who stood before her looking somewhat nervous and apprehensive: "Your injury is rather peculiar; I cannot resolve it for now."

"Until the ghost qi chains are dealt with, you should focus on tempering your physical body."

Although he had mentally prepared himself, hearing that his injury could not be fundamentally cured still filled Yang Zhao with unavoidable disappointment.

Yun You glanced at him with concern and patted his shoulder comfortingly.

After briefly discussing with Yun You the urgent arrangement for Disciple Saint Hall disciples to enter the Wutong Forest for cultivation, Hua Changxi prepared to depart.

For reasons unknown even to himself, just as Hua Changxi was leaving, Yang Zhao suddenly blurted out: "The affairs of the Discipline Hall are currently being handled by several deputy stewards."

Upon hearing this, Hua Changxi raised an eyebrow, then nodded in approval: "That is for the best; you can rest assured and focus on recovering."

Only after seeing Hua Changxi off did Yun You turn to Yang Zhao: "Why report the Lingguang Hall's administrative arrangements to Peak Master Hua? Do you truly still consider her the Hall Master?"

Rubbing his forehead, Yang Zhao offered no reply; truth be told, he himself was somewhat confused, as it seemed he had simply acted on a sudden impulse and spoken without thinking.

Just as the two were at a loss, Hua Changxi, who should have already departed Lingguang Hall, appeared within the hall's main palace.

The reason for her return was the vibration of the 'Zhu Que Army Register.'

While Hua Changxi had been purging ghost qi from the Zhu Que soldiers, the number of soldiers recorded on the 'Zhu Que Army Register' had reached one hundred thousand!

With a flip of her palm, the 'Zhu Que Army Register' materialized in Hua Changxi's hand.

The register trembled continuously, emitting a steady stream of crystalline crimson light.

As this radiance bathed her body, Hua Changxi felt her blood boil, as if a black hole had formed within her, craving desperately to devour.

This sensation was not unfamiliar; she had experienced the same ravenous reaction when Elder Yi Ming of the Artifact Saint Palace had previously gifted her a drop of Zhu Que essence blood.

The crimson light rapidly coalesced, and soon, a blood-red amber bead formed above the 'Zhu Que Army Register,' within which a miniature, sleeping Zhu Que was sealed.

"It truly is Zhu Que essence blood!"

Hua Changxi's mouth fell open in delighted surprise; she had never expected that recruiting a full complement of one hundred thousand Zhu Que soldiers would yield such an unexpected boon.

While obtaining a drop of Zhu Que essence blood was certainly cause for joy, Hua Changxi quickly noticed an anomaly on the 'Zhu Que Army Register': she discovered that the names of a certain group of Zhu Que soldiers appeared exceedingly dim.

Previously, she had assumed that those with dim names were precisely the soldiers who had suffered ghost qi invasion, yet after her treatment, the brightness of their names had clearly increased.

However, the batch of names she observed now remained stubbornly dim.

Moreover, the numbers did not match up.

Hua Changxi's eyes flickered rapidly as a suspicion formed in her mind.

These Zhu Que soldiers with dim names must be the ones who had gone missing earlier; they were not dead!

"Not dead..."

Hua Changxi's gaze sharpened; nine times out of ten, those people were still trapped within the Ghost Fire Well!

Thinking of the Ghost Fire Well, Hua Changxi glanced at the Zhu Que essence blood in her hand, pondered for a moment, then took out a Thought-Link to notify the steward of the Transmission Hall to suspend the recruitment of new Zhu Que soldiers, before directly exercising her Hall Master authority to seal the Transmission Hall's gates.

Afterwards, upon leaving Lingguang Hall, Hua Changxi did not return directly to the Disciple Saint Hall but first went to the Wutong Forest; as soon as she arrived, Die Wu came rushing over.

"Master, you have come!"

Looking at Die Wu, Hua Changxi handed her a storage ring: "I am assigning you two tasks."

"First, from now on, you must make a trip every month to Lingguang Hall and the Lihuo Cliff."

"Go first to the Logistics Department of Lingguang Hall to collect the monthly stipends and cultivation resources for the artifact-refining cultivators of Lihuo Cliff, then deliver them to the person in charge at Lihuo Cliff."

"Second, since Wutong wood is the primary material for forging Zhu Que spears, you must regularly deliver Wutong wood to Lihuo Cliff in the future."

Hearing this, Die Wu replied joyfully: "Die Wu guarantees the completion of these tasks."

After assigning the tasks, Hua Changxi sized up Die Wu and smiled: "Your cultivation has advanced again."

Die Wu was equally pleased by this: "The Wutong Forest is a treasure land for fire-attributed beings to cultivate; cultivation here is several times more effective than in the outside world, so naturally, strength improves rapidly."

After a moment's thought, Hua Changxi gave Die Wu a Zhu Que token: "As a demon race member traveling among humans, if you encounter human cultivators causing you trouble, present this Zhu Que token and tell them you are the guardian beast of the Wutong Forest."

Upon hearing these words, Die Wu's eyes instantly brightened, and she jumped up in sheer delight.

So many demons of the Phoenix clan had died without managing to seize the Wutong Forest, yet she, having paid almost nothing (merely swearing loyalty to her master), had become the guardian beast of the Wutong Forest; she was truly incredibly fortunate.

Seeing her reaction, Hua Changxi smiled and shook her head, her gaze shifting toward Yu Fu and the other three cultivating at the periphery of the Wutong Forest.

After three months of cultivation, the four of them had not only increased their degree of bloodline regression and refined their bloodline divine abilities, but their body refinement had also reached the fifth stage of Blood Refining; henceforth, even when encountering Spirit Platform cultivators, they would have no need to fear.

Taking out a Thought-Link, Hua Changxi informed the stewards of Lingguang Hall about Die Wu's status, then departed the Wutong Forest.

Afterwards, she went to the Zhurong Tomb to gather a batch of Zhurong stones, then proceeded to Lihuo Cliff.

Hua Changxi met with several persons in charge, provided them with a batch of Zhurong stones for cultivation purposes, and urged them to increase the production of military equipment.

After leaving the Lihuo Cliff, Hua Changxi went to inspect the Yehuo Platform and the Jiutian Fire Spring.

Lingguang Hall, the Wutong Forest, the Yehuo Platform, the Jiutian Fire Spring, the Zhurong Tomb, and the Lihuo Cliff—these six blessed grotto-heavens; apart from the Yehuo Platform, Zhu Que's army had already set foot in the other five.

"Six blessed grotto-heavens remain..."

The Nirvana Pool, Suiren Valley, Chiyuan Mountain, the Huoyun Cave, the Huoyan Stone Grotto, and the Ghostfire Well!

Afterwards, Hua Changxi made an appearance at the Dansheng Hall, sent messages to Yu Fu and the other three ordering them to return and hold the line at Danyuan Peak and Danding Peak, then announced she would enter secluded cultivation to research methods for healing spiritual roots.

Moments later, Hua Changxi appeared atop the stone cliff within the formation beneath the Lecture Hall of Lingguang Hall, where the Lecture Stones were kept.

When she had previously absorbed the essence blood of Zhu Que, the water in the hot spring had dropped by a section; she knew that absorbing Zhu Que's essence blood required abundant fire spiritual energy.

The sea of magma and fire beneath the Lecture Stone possessed a concentration of fire spiritual energy no lower than that of Tang Gu.

Without hesitation, Hua Changxi swallowed the essence blood of Zhu Que in one gulp, then leaped into the sea of magma and fire.