Chapter 884: line with translation of chapter title

Xiao Jiu, with the help of the Mòyù Bānzhǐ, continuously absorbs the Earth Vein Spiritual Energy of the unformed earth fetus, compressing it all into the dantian qi sea, and, using that power in the dantian qi sea, condenses and compresses it, over and over.

This process is extremely long and arduous.

At first, that thing underground kept howling and struggling, but as the pointed horn grew thinner and shorter, it seemed to be gradually drained of all its strength, and it fell silent.

Liu Junyan has been cooperating with Xiao Jiu, his golden-light-flashing dragon body shrinking bit by bit toward the center, controlling the overall situation.

It lasted over three hours straight.

During those over three hours, a crowd came running, but they could only gather above the mountain ridge, unable to approach the cold pool.

Xiao Jiu is very tired.

The process of absorbing and converting Earth Vein Spiritual Energy consumes a lot of mana and stamina; she is constantly drenched, sweat trickles down her cheeks, some gets into her eyes, stinging and painful.

But from beginning to end, Xiao Jiu never relaxed in the slightest.

Since we've come this far, we must seize this earth fetus in one go, otherwise future troubles will be endless.

After over three hours of persistence, until the Mòyù Bānzhǐ shrank back to its original size and returned to Xiao Jiu's right thumb, did she finally relent.

Liu Junyan also immediately transformed back into human form.

Xiao Jiu's body swayed, her vision flashed white repeatedly, and she almost fell over.

Liu Junyan promptly reached out, his broad palm supporting Xiao Jiu's lower back, and pulled her into his embrace, asking softly: "Xiao Jiu, what's wrong? Are you tired? Or have you suffered internal injury?"

While speaking, Liu Junyan had already probed Xiao Jiu's pulse.

Xiao Jiu leaned in Liu Junyan's arms and said, strained: "I'm tired, indeed very tired, but I haven't suffered internal injury; rather, the Earth Vein Spiritual Energy in my dantian qi sea has expanded, making me uncomfortable."

Liu Junyan frowned as he probed Xiao Jiu's pulse.

He also felt it: "You have absorbed and compressed the Earth Vein Spiritual Energy instead of transforming it for your own use; this not only makes your body uncomfortable, but also affects your mana and cultivation, and if not dealt with promptly, it could even endanger your life."

Anything that doesn't belong to oneself must be expelled, otherwise it's like burying a bomb in the body that could explode at any moment.

Xiao Jiu's situation is special; this 'bomb' lies hidden in her dantian qi sea, and once it detonates, the first thing destroyed will be her dantian qi sea.

By then, even if her life is saved, she will no longer be able to cultivate.

That would be worse than killing her.

Liu Junyan placed one hand on Xiao Jiu's lower back and the other three inches below her navel, infusing his palm with true qi, and gently probed to push the compressed Earth Vein Spiritual Energy out of her body.

But as soon as he moved, Xiao Jiu cried out in pain, pressing his hand to stop him.

"Liu Junyan, it hurts so much!"

Liu Junyan quickly withdrew his hand.

Xiao Jiu eased a little and reminded: "One of the Earth Deity Maiden's duties is to guide the mountain and river Earth Vein Spiritual Energy; my body is merely a medium, and this Earth Vein Spiritual Energy is temporarily stored in my body. After the cold pool earth fetus incident is over, the Earth Vein Spiritual Energy in my body can be released and return to the Earth Veins."

Liu Junyan guessed that was the case.

So, the primary task now is to wrap up the cold pool earth fetus incident.

For such matters, the reason Yin Dang Hang got involved is actually just using the 'skin' of Yin Dang Hang; being a leftover affair of Yin Dang Hang, it naturally falls to Xiao Jiu to resolve.

And Xiao Jiu is doing this to cooperate with Liu Junyan.

Liu Junyan helped Xiao Jiu to the side, had her sit against the wall, then turned and headed toward the direction where the pointed horn had shrunk.

Both Xiao Jiu and Liu Junyan believed that creature must be a colossal beast, as indicated by its pointed horn.

But Liu Junyan dug a pit over five meters deep underground and still found nothing.

Xiao Jiu closed her eyes, used her spiritual sense to feel, and said firmly: "It's still down there, but its aura is very faint, feeling like it's about to give out."

Liu Junyan then dug down another three meters with greater effort, and finally found something.

It was an egg.

The eggshell was black, its entire surface covered with cracks, and the top had been broken open and then sealed again.

The egg wasn't large, only slightly bigger than an ostrich egg.

Liu Junyan waved his hand, a gust of palm wind swept over, and the egg cracked open at the top fissure, instantly shattering into pieces.

In the midst of the shattered eggshell lay a withered little beast, with a pointed horn growing from the center of its head, clinging to life.

Its breath was already very faint; without close inspection, one couldn't see any rise and fall of its chest.

Is it pitiful?

No.

Although it looks extremely pitiful right now, it had been voraciously absorbing Earth Vein Spiritual Energy to fuel its own cultivation.

Once this stretch of Earth Vein Spiritual Energy is exhausted, it will bring about a catastrophe of suffering for all living beings.

By then, who knows how many lives will be destroyed at its hands?

Fortunately, without the nourishment of Earth Vein Spiritual Energy, this underdeveloped little beast soon ran out of breath on its own.

Before Liu Junyan could act, Xiao Jiu unleashed a strike of Nirvana fire, incinerating the little beast's corpse on the spot.

Dust to dust, earth to earth.

All dust has settled.

At that moment, the guiding spell reappeared in Xiao Jiu's mind.

She immediately formed hand seals, sacrificed the Mòyù Bānzhǐ, and it fell into the deep pit Liu Junyan had dug.

Immediately afterward, Xiao Jiu felt the Earth Vein Spiritual Energy accumulated in her dantian qi sea being continuously drawn away by the Mòyù Bānzhǐ.

At the same time, Liu Junyan felt the mighty surge of Earth Vein Spiritual Energy flowing back into the Earth Veins.

This process lasted another over an hour.

Liu Junyan was not idle either; as the Earth Vein Spiritual Energy surged back into the Earth Veins, he also had to cooperate with Xiao Jiu to repair this section of the Earth Vein line.

With Xiao Jiu's help, the damage to this Earth Vein segment was reduced to a minimum, making it easy for Liu Junyan to repair.

After over an hour, Xiao Jiu finally exhaled deeply and opened her eyes.

At this moment, her dantian qi sea had finally returned to its former state, and Xiao Jiu felt completely relaxed.

Liu Junyan turned her head and just saw the feather mark between Xiao Jiu's eyebrows; a golden light flashed by and vanished instantly.

His mood instantly improved.

It seems Hou Tu Niangniang did not shortchange Xiao Jiu; the merit she deserved was given without stinginess, right after the matter was settled.

Xiao Jiu also felt it.

Even the Soul-guiding Lamp flickered, the few ghost faces inside its chamber as if they had just eaten a delicious feast, simultaneously letting out a satisfied sigh.

Overall, the Cold Pond Earth Embryo incident was perilous but safe; Liu Junyan and Xiao Jiu cooperated perfectly, leaving everyone delighted.

The Big Family stationed on the mountain ridge saw the two return safely and all let out a great sigh of relief.

Upon returning to Jiuzhou Fu, Liu Junyan was to draft a document to report the matter to the superiors.

Meanwhile, Xiao Jiu did not need to report to Hou Tu Niangniang.

She returned to her mansion, and when she went to look through that pile of files, she discovered that the Cold Pond Earth Embryo incident they had just resolved—on the corresponding file's first page, a Pawn Ticket of Yin Dang Hang appeared out of thin air.

Xiao Jiu reached out to pick it up, but the Pawn Ticket ignited without flame and instantly turned to ash…