Chapter 480: Old Courtyard

The Zhu Que Army taking over the county seat of Nanxiang County did not cause any waves on the surface, but under the calm, the surging undercurrents were not small, and they continued to expand with an unstoppable trend.

The Chu Dynasty, although the name still existed, the power had fallen into other hands.

Hua Changxi sat cross-legged above the county seat of Nanxiang County for three days. After confirming that no one was making trouble, she turned into a red stream of light and headed straight for the Ghost Fire Well.

After nearly half a year of repair and recuperation, the injuries of Fang Zuyue and the Zhu Que Army had all healed; even Jing Sheng had woken up, and the nine blood holes behind him had completely healed.

"Jing Sheng."

Hua Changxi stepped slowly to the side of the Ghost Fire Well on the bottom floor of the prison tower, raised her eyes to look at the figure floating and sitting above the wellhead.

At this moment, Jing Sheng was no longer the childish boy he once was, but had become a young man with a firm expression and a straight posture.

Hearing the soft call, Jing Sheng opened his eyes abruptly. Seeing Hua Changxi, he immediately swept down as lightly as a swallow, landed steadily, and then bowed deeply to Hua Changxi with a solemn expression, his voice trembling slightly: "Thank you, Big Sister, for saving my life."

Hua Changxi flicked her fingertips, waving a gentle spiritual energy to help Jing Sheng up, and then asked with a smile: "How do you feel now? Is there any discomfort in your body?"

Jing Sheng shook his head: "The injuries have also healed."

Not only had he healed, he had also broken the five heavy shackles of the physical body, as if reborn.

At this moment, the blood and Qi in his body were like a dragon, surging endlessly, watering every inch of his muscles and bones.

In the past, the lingering emptiness and weakness during cultivation had completely dissipated. Replacing it was an unprecedented fullness and strength—this was the peak of power he had never touched since he began cultivating.

And all this transformation stemmed from the person in front of him.

Hua Changxi smiled brightly: "That's good. However, the backlash you suffered this time was too great, and your physical body was nearly shattered. Don't rush to cultivate; you need to recuperate for a few more days."

She paused.

"You probably haven't fully absorbed and refined the medicinal power of the Profound Yellow Fruit yet. You should go into the Zhurong Tomb to cultivate for a period of time, continue to nourish and consolidate your physical body, and strive to take your physical body to the next level."

Jing Sheng nodded seriously, indicating that he had remembered. Then, his right hand flipped, and he held out a token flowing with eerie light—the Ghost Fire Token.

"Big Sister, I am fine now. You should take back this Ghost Fire Token."

Hua Changxi looked at the Ghost Fire Token and did not take it: "I remember you said you were the Well Guardian?"

Jing Sheng nodded.

Hua Changxi looked at him: "Will you guard the Ghost Fire Well well and not let ghost energy and ghost fire escape into the human world?"

Jing Sheng's expression suddenly became solemn, and he nodded heavily again: "Of course, this is my duty."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi smiled: "Since that's the case, you should keep this Ghost Fire Token."

Jing Sheng looked troubled: "Big Sister, you treat me like this, how can I repay you?"

Not only the Ghost Fire Token, he also heard from Battalion Commander Fang that to save him, Big Sister had spared no cost to help him refine and absorb five precious Profound Yellow Fruits.

This kindness was too great.

Hua Changxi smiled: "Guarding the Ghost Fire Well well is the best repayment to me."

Jing Sheng bowed deeply to Hua Changxi, his voice clanging: "Big Sister, don't worry, I will definitely not fail the trust."

Hua Changxi said "Hmm," walked to the Ghost Fire Well, and leaned in to look inside.

Seeing this, Jing Sheng was a bit strange: "Big Sister, what are you doing?"

Hua Changxi turned to look at him: "After your body is completely recovered, I want to enter the Ghost Domain again from the Ghost Fire Well." As she said this, she smiled, "At that time, if I encounter danger, you must pull me."

Jing Sheng's expression became solemn, he didn't ask anything, just nodded heavily: "Hmm."

Hua Changxi looked into the bottom of the well with deep eyes, and a black knife appeared in her hand, pitted and rusty, with half of the blade broken.

This black broken knife was one of the three soul weapons she exchanged from the Instrument Saint Palace using the method of "Seven-Colored Exotic Fire Converting into Great Sun Divine Flame."

Tong Yao told her that this knife had no fixed grade, and the grade depended on the strength of the user.

Originally, she had almost forgotten about this broken knife. Who would have thought that when she entered the Ghost Domain forbidden area before, this black broken knife actually vibrated slightly.

Hua Changxi still remembered that the reason she took this badly damaged black knife at the beginning was because the black knife seemed to be able to induce black flames.

The black knife vibrated in the Ghost Domain forbidden area, so she had to go and explore what was going on!

"Let's go, I'll send you to the Zhurong Tomb."

After instructing Fang Zuyue to guard the Ghost Fire Well well, Hua Changxi took Jing Sheng straight to the Zhurong Tomb. Afterwards, she watched Jing Sheng enter the Zhurong Tomb, returned to Lingguang Hall, and then transferred back to the Pill Origin Secret Realm.

Because of treating the Zhu Que Army, Jing Sheng, Song Weimin, and others, the resources Hua Changxi had accumulated before were almost exhausted. Among them, the one that made her heart ache the most was that the Soul River water was used up.

Although she was still only a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, she had to prepare for breaking through to the Spirit Platform stage.

Once a cultivator steps into the Spirit Platform stage, the focus of cultivation will undergo a fundamental change—from "opening the sea of Qi and condensing spiritual energy to strengthen the inner core Nascent Soul" to "opening the sea of consciousness and accumulating soul power to condense and strengthen the primordial spirit."

Whether it is opening the sea of consciousness or condensing the primordial spirit, both require a massive supply of soul power.

Soul River water was the only resource she knew of that could efficiently replenish soul power. Now that it was exhausted, she had to find a way to make up for it quickly, otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.

At that time, let alone the breakthrough, even if she encountered an accident that caused damage to her soul body, she would be in a situation with no resources to use.

After leaving the secret realm, Hua Changxi headed straight for the old courtyard on the square where Gu Xing lived at the north end of the Pill Cauldron Altar square.

The Soul River water she had in her hand before was taken from the Fusang Divine Tree space of the Instrument Saint Palace.

Since the Divine Tree space of the Instrument Saint Palace connected to the Soul River, could it be inferred from this that the Divine Tree space of the Pill Saint Hall also ten-to-nine connected to the Soul River?

Hua Changxi felt this inference was very reasonable.

She, an outsider, was not easy to enter the Divine Tree space of the Instrument Saint Palace casually.

But the Divine Tree space of the Pill Saint Hall was different. She was a member of the Pill Saint Hall and had made some contributions to the Pill Saint Hall. Entering the Divine Tree space and taking a little Soul River water should be no problem, right?

Looking at the entire Pill Saint Hall, the place Hua Changxi could think of that connected to the Divine Tree space was the old courtyard where Gu Xing lived.

You know, she had seen the phantom of the towering giant tree through the old courtyard at the beginning.

That towering giant tree must be the Undying Divine Tree!

Hua Changxi left Pill Origin Peak, and as soon as she appeared on the square, she immediately attracted the attention of various people inside the Pill Saint Hall.

"Senior Gu!"

Looking at the handsome middle-aged uncle in the courtyard, Hua Changxi was still a bit unaccustomed to it. She still preferred Gu Xing's former image as an old man.

Gu Xing looked at Hua Changxi, his eyes flickering.

It had only been about half a year since the earth-shattering battle in the Ghost Domain forbidden area, yet this girl's aura had been completely restrained, and she could no longer be detected at all, which showed that her injuries had healed.

Knowing that she wouldn't visit without a reason, Gu Xing asked indifferently: "Do you have something to find me for?"

Hua Changxi looked at him with a smile: "I want to visit this old courtyard."

Hearing this, Gu Xing's eyelids jumped violently, and then he saw Hua Changxi wandering around in the courtyard, knocking here and stepping there from time to time.