Chapter 257: Qi Rui, the Old Demon, and Jin Zhi
Within a subterranean cave dwelling in the Yunhua Mountain Range.
Qi Rui looked at the Rebirth Pill in his hand, his face showing satisfaction.
In his early years, he had a great opportunity and obtained methods such as the Five Elements Extinction Divine Light, Myriad Blood Profound Array, Rebirth Pill, and Bloodline Possession Technique.
Since then, he had always been scheming for his own path to immortality.
His talents were mediocre, as was his background; he could never break through to the Golden Core Stage in his lifetime.
He had already accepted his fate until he received that opportunity.
The method to refine this Rebirth Pill was simple, but the ingredients were hard to come by, and he had only recently collected them all.
However, the most important catalyst for the pill was the fresh blood of ten thousand clane members who were cultivators.
He had already planned to take action soon, but he did not expect Fu Nian to come seeking revenge at just the right time, nearly ruining his plans.
Fortunately, he had left measures in place at the Qis.
Watching Qi Hong, who was still unconscious on the stone bed in front of him, Qi Rui grinned devilishly.
After setting up the Myriad Blood Profound Array, he pressed his forehead against Qi Hong's and used the Bloodline Possession Technique.
Qi Rui's soul entered Qi Hong's Sea of Consciousness.
Soon, Qi Hong's body began to shake, and gradually, the shaking diminished until it stopped completely.
More than an hour later, "Qi Hong" suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a sinister smile that grew wider and wider.
"Hahaha~ from now on, I am Qi Hong! It's great to be young!"
"Qi Hong" pushed Qi Rui's body to one side, then swallowed the Rebirth Pill.
With this pill, Qi Hong's already decent Spirit Root could be enhanced further, likely reaching the caliber of a top-tier Metal Spirit Root.
Thereafter, "Qi Hong" would also need to refine Qi Rui's body into a Third-Grade Puppet.
...
In a room within the small courtyard of the Tan Immortal Fan Club in Wendao Immortal City, the figure of Yu Qingtan appeared.
Every Tan Immortal Fan Club location had a room reserved for Yu Qingtan, and wherever she had been, she left a Soul Marking Seal.
Upon arrival, Yu Qingtan sent a message to Hao Can to meet her, instructed him about the establishment of the Tan Immortal Fund, and told him not to divulge that she had been there.
Hao Can naturally complied.
Then, Yu Qingtan, under a disguised identity, went to the Heavenly Secret Tower in Wendao Immortal City to purchase information about Qi Rui and Misty Rain Tower.
Unfortunately, she did not acquire any especially valuable information.
Qi Rui, after faking his death to escape, seldom exposed his whereabouts; Yu Qingtan felt that the cost needed to divine his location using divination techniques was not worth it.
The Misty Rain Tower only had some public information, like where their bases were located, which even the Heavenly Secret Tower said would be extremely expensive to reveal.
Behind Misty Rain Tower were many Nascent Soul Cultivators who generally did not provoke forces at the level of Divinity Transformation; the Heavenly Secret Tower did not wish to offend them too much either.
Moreover, the locations of Misty Rain Tower's bases often changed, the larger the Immortal City, the more frequent the relocations, and they typically moved after making significant deals.
Yu Qingtan was slightly disappointed, but she believed there would always be opportunities and methods.
After visiting Wendao Immortal City, Yu Qingtan used her Shadow Clone Divine Skill to reach Tianxiang Immortal City, approached the vicinity of Tianxiang Valley, and sent a message to True Water Rhythm, Yan Xi, and others saying she had encountered some trouble and asked True Water Rhythm to send a Golden Core Cultivator later to escort Yan Xi, Xiang Yiyi, and Wen Jin back to Wendao Sect.
True Water Rhythm naturally agreed.
Returning to the inn in Suichuan Immortal City, Fu Nian also returned after finishing his business.
Yu Qingtan then sought instruction from Fu Nian on the Dao of talisman crafting, and Fu Nian wholeheartedly taught him. He even shared with Yu Qingtan the methods of drawing precious talismans such as the "Escape Talismans" that he had inherited.
Unfortunately, Yu Qingtan's talent in the Talisman Dao was far inferior to Fu Nian's. Previously, it was only with the help of the system's cheats that he had become a Second-Stage Talisman Master.
However, after this period of learning, his foundation had become much more solid.
A few days later, Yu Qingtan and Fu Nian rode on an unmarked third-grade lower-quality Flying Boat, rushing towards their destination.
After passing the outer perimeter of the Yunhua Mountain Range, the two no longer used the Flying Boat, opting to move forward stealthily instead.
Yu Qingtan used the Breath-Concealing Technique, while Fu Nian employed a Breath-Concealing Talisman.
The reason was, as Fu Nian had mentioned, the abode of the Divine Rune Honored One was located close to the inner part of the Yunhua Mountain Range.
It was previously by chance that the Qis, while being chased by Demonic Beasts, had stumbled upon it.
Before long, they entered the territory of a clan ruled by Fourth-Grade Demon Kings and became even more cautious, proceeding directly underground.
After traveling underground for several days, they arrived at a subterranean cavern.
"We're here; this is the place! This is where the inheritance was discovered previously, and when I came last time, I found that there were formations below," said Fu Nian, pointing to a corner of the cavern, which housed a simple cultivation cave dwelling.
Yu Qingtan spread out his Divine Sense and found nothing of value in the cavern, but he detected subtle formation fluctuations twenty fathoms below.
"Let's go down and take a look!" Yu Qingtan said, and he began to descend using the Earth Escape Skill, with Fu Nian following behind using an Earth Escape Talisman.
After descending twenty fathoms, the pair were obstructed by an invisible barrier.
Yu Qingtan began to carefully probe the formation with sharp earth spikes while also using his Divine Sense and the Blue Clear Spiritual Pupil Technique to investigate.
"This should be the Wu Earth Divine Defense Formation, a purely defensive Fourth-Stage formation with a range of a sphere with a diameter of a hundred fathoms. However, its power has indeed significantly weakened, making it not difficult to break," Yu Qingtan stated after his examination.
"Indeed, bringing you here, Qingtan, was a wise decision," remarked Fu Nian, who had found himself at a loss about how to deal with this turtle-shell-like formation.
Yu Qingtan asked Fu Nian to back off a bit, then took out the Canglan Umbrella and began to employ the Five Elements Extinction Divine Light.
She didn't use the Five Elements Extinction Divine Light to directly attack the Wu Earth Divine Defense Formation; instead, she amassed over ten thousand strands of the Five Elements Extinction Divine Light and bombarded the formation's several weak points that she had identified.
As previously mentioned, the Five Elements Extinction Divine Light was not really light, so Yu Qingtan could control its speed and timing of attack just as she did with the Water Blade Technique.
"Bang bang bang~"
After a series of loud noises, the Wu Earth Divine Defense Formation was broken, and the yard-thick layer of earth was penetrated, revealing a large hollow space within.
In the midst of the hollow, a resplendent golden hall floated in the air.
"A Taoist Instrument!" Seeing the hall, Fu Nian's breathing became somewhat heavy.
"Who has awakened me from my slumber, eh? A Golden Core early stage and a Golden Core middle stage managed to break the Wu Earth Divine Defense Formation, not bad!"
At that moment, a somewhat brassy female voice sounded, and a woman dressed in revealing golden garments appeared above the hall.
The lady had phoenix eyes, willow-shaped eyebrows, a voluptuous figure with a matronly charm that made Fu Nian blush a bit.
"Greetings to the senior!" Yu Qingtan was the first to bow respectfully. Despite the lack of any show of might, in such a place and with such a tone of voice, one could be sure she was a figure of high standing.
Only then did Fu Nian belatedly follow suit with his salutations.
"I'm Jin Zhi, that old fart grew tired of me and left me abandoned here in this lightless underworld for a thousand years, purportedly to help him find a successor in his hometown. He said the more hidden the place, the more it was meant to be found only by those with destiny, which resulted in me waiting for so long.
That old fart also set up two little Talisman Dao challenges; if you can't pass them, I'll let you know the consequences of waking me up!" Jin Zhi in the golden dress said fiercely.