Chapter 86: The Death of Kunpeng

Kunpeng withdrew its gaze and slowly closed its eyes. Suddenly, Kunpeng’s body trembled violently. It wriggled from back to front, and finally, Kunpeng opened its mouth. With great difficulty, it spat out a completely transparent liquid pearl.

It gestured for Xu Ziyan to take the pearl. Xu Ziyan quickly held the Little Kunpeng with one arm and stretched out her other hand to take the liquid-like pearl. She looked at Kunpeng in confusion. She knew this pearl must be very important to Kunpeng, otherwise it wouldn’t have been so difficult to produce. After Xu Ziyan took the pearl, Kunpeng’s spirit clearly withered.

“Xu Ziyan!” Kunpeng caught its breath and said, “This is my Life Essence. It’s different from the Inner Core. The Inner Core exists within my body. If you cut open my body, you would find it. But the Life Essence is different. Although it also exists within my body, it is formless. If I didn’t condense it out, it would scatter upon my death. Moreover, it is the most precious thing for us Kunpeng, far more valuable than the Inner Core. Losing the Inner Core only causes us to drop in level. We can cultivate a new Inner Core through Cultivation. But if we lose our Life Essence, we will surely perish.”

“You should consume it. Its effect on you humans is much greater than that of the Inner Core.”

“Me? But… you will…”

“I am already dying. I won’t live to see tomorrow’s sunrise. If I die, the Life Essence will scatter into the world, which would be a waste.”

Having said this, it looked at Xu Ziyan, who showed concern rather than greed, and said with satisfaction:

“Xu Ziyan, there is another benefit to you consuming my Life Essence. Your body will carry my aura. My daughter will see you as me, so you will be able to raise my daughter.”

“How long can you still live?” Xu Ziyan was still hesitating.

“Don’t worry. I kept some Life Essence inside my body. I can hold on for a little while longer,” Kunpeng said weakly.

Xu Ziyan nodded silently. Under Kunpeng’s urging gaze and looking down at the Little Kunpeng in her arms that kept pecking at her hand, she finally brought the Kunpeng’s Life Essence to her lips.

The Life Essence was very large, as big as Xu Ziyan’s head. But as soon as it touched her lips, it actively flowed into her mouth. Xu Ziyan drank it in big gulps while sinking her consciousness into her body to observe the Kunpeng’s Life Essence.

She saw that as soon as the Kunpeng’s Life Essence flowed into her body, it dispersed into her Meridians and surged violently. After all the Life Essence completely entered Xu Ziyan’s body, her body suddenly swelled up. Her clothes exploded into pieces, and she stood naked in the air.

Impurities and some dark red blood constantly seeped out from her skin. Her body continued to swell, even more terrifying than the last time the Spiritual Spring power erupted. It looked like she was about to explode and die.

Kunpeng, who had been watching Xu Ziyan all along, suddenly opened its mouth. A Light Curtain formed from Life Essence was spat out from its mouth and tightly wrapped around Xu Ziyan, forming a transparent cocoon.

Xu Ziyan’s nearly shattered consciousness immediately cleared. She tried to guide the power of the Life Essence but found she couldn’t control it at all. She could only watch helplessly as it surged on its own within her body. Suddenly, countless streams of Spiritual Spring power gushed out from her Acupoints. They tangled with the Kunpeng’s Life Essence, gradually merging and erupting with even greater, more massive Spiritual Power.

After the 365 Acupoints in Xu Ziyan’s body finished releasing the Spiritual Spring power and merged with the Kunpeng’s Life Essence, they suddenly emitted an extremely strong suction force. They absorbed the liquid formed by the merged Spiritual Spring power and Kunpeng’s Life Essence back inside.

One-third of the liquid was completely absorbed by the Acupoints. Xu Ziyan immediately felt much more relaxed. The remaining two-thirds of the liquid rushed straight into Xu Ziyan’s Dantian. A loud “boom” was heard, as if coming from the Prehistoric Era, continuously shaking within Xu Ziyan’s Dantian.

Xu Ziyan only felt her Dantian expand with a roar. In the center of her Dantian was a constantly spinning Vortex. But now, the Vortex was no longer in its original gaseous state; it had become liquid. Around the Vortex was a murky, sticky substance, half-liquid and half-solid. It was the product of the merged Spiritual Spring power and Kunpeng’s Life Essence that hadn’t been fully absorbed by Xu Ziyan yet.

At this point, Xu Ziyan’s body had completely calmed down. She slowly opened her eyes, unable to hide her excitement. She never expected that, without taking a Foundation Building Pill, and with Kunpeng’s help, she had broken through directly from the 11th Level of Qi Refining Stage, reaching the First Layer of Foundation Building Stage.

Seeing Xu Ziyan open her eyes, Kunpeng withdrew the Light Curtain enveloping her and sucked it back into its mouth. Xu Ziyan looked at Kunpeng gratefully, knowing she had received immense benefits from it. The liquid stored in her Dantian and Acupoints would bring her immeasurable benefits in the future. Thinking of this, Xu Ziyan suddenly remembered the Phoenix behind her. She turned around, pointed at the Phoenix, and said:

“Senior, that Phoenix…”

“It is already dead. Its Life Essence has scattered. Even if it weren’t dead, you couldn’t obtain its Life Essence unless it was willing.”

“Oh~~” Xu Ziyan felt embarrassed, rubbing the back of her head, her face red, and she fell silent.

“I have one more thing to give you!” Kunpeng said calmly.

“Oh?”

Xu Ziyan was startled, wondering what else Kunpeng would give her. But she thought whatever Kunpeng gave must be extraordinary, and her heart couldn’t help but beat excitedly.

A brilliant light suddenly flickered between Kunpeng’s eyes. A mini version of a Kunpeng floated out from between its eyebrows and flew towards Xu Ziyan. It circled around Xu Ziyan’s body once and then flew into her right arm. On Xu Ziyan’s right arm, it turned into a Kunpeng-shaped tattoo.

Seeing Xu Ziyan’s confused look, Kunpeng, whose spirit was now extremely weak, forced itself to speak:

“This is called the Kunpeng Heart! It doesn’t refer to the Kunpeng’s physical heart, but rather a storage space formed within our bodies. Don’t be fooled by its small appearance; the Inner Space inside is actually countless times larger than my body. Moreover, my daughter can live inside it.”

After saying this, Kunpeng’s body began to tremble. The glow of life was gradually fading from its body. It lifted its head with great effort and said to Xu Ziyan pleadingly:

“Xu Ziyan, please be kind to my daughter!”

“I will. Don’t worry, I will treat your daughter as my own family!”

Kunpeng looked at the Little Kunpeng in Xu Ziyan’s arms with deep affection, and finally, it slowly closed its eyes…