Chapter 103: Cold Crystal Illusion Flower
Chapter 103: Cold Crystal Illusion Flower
Cheng Lingyu glanced over but remained silent.
Seeing this, the other cultivators assumed he’d grown lenient and tried to flee, only to be frozen by a terrifying strength.
“Hand over your resources, or forfeit your lives.”
“Why does that woman get to leave, but not us?”
A cultivator retorted. Cheng Lingyu answered flatly, “Beautiful women may leave. The rest can too—if they pay.”
“You… you’re… utterly… shameless!”
Cheng Lingyu smirked. “Can’t help it. I’m beginning to relish this. Who knew tormenting others felt so good? What a waste my past life was.”
Hearing this, Lan Xiaozhu stifled a laugh.
Cheng Lingyu’s roguish demeanor and taunting words now carried a hint of malice.
“Mark my words, brat. I’ll settle this someday.”
Grudgingly, the cultivators tossed down their storage rings before fleeing.
Cheng Lingyu gathered dozens of rings, his smirk widening as he turned to Lu Yu, Jiang Mufeng, Nangong Zuoye, Du Bin, and Nie Jiaolong.
Lu Yu snarled, “Enough of this arrogance, Cheng Lingyu!”
Cheng Lingyu tilted his head. “Arrogance? Would slaughtering you all be more… modest?”
Jiang Mufeng hissed, “That divine weapon won’t protect you forever. Leave Guishun Valley, and you’ll die nameless.”
Cheng Lingyu shrugged. “Why rush? Once I break through to the Soul Martial Realm, I’ll stroll outside, bait some Spirit Masters here, and slaughter them. Sounds fun, no?”
Nangong Zuoye spat, “Delusional fool!”
Cheng Lingyu grinned. “In Guishun Valley, Spirit Masters’ cultivation drops to Soul Martial level—easy prey. Better yet, fetch Blood Martial experts from Yunyang City. Ones you hate. I’ll bury them here for you.”
“You vile worm!” Nangong Zuoye roared.
Lan Xiaozhu stepped forward, addressing Nie Jiaolong softly. “Leave.”
Nie Jiaolong studied her. “Lan Xiaozhu?”
“Names matter less than survival.”
After a silent pause, Nie Jiaolong departed with a sigh.
Cheng Lingyu eyed Lu Yu, Jiang Mufeng, Nangong Zuoye, and Du Bin. “Bet? Survive ten strikes together, and I’ll spare you.”
Du Bin snorted. “Think us fools?” He tossed his ring and left.
Though seething, Lu Yu, Jiang Mufeng, and Nangong Zuoye followed suit.
Cheng Lingyu watched them go, eyes icy. “They’ve always despised me. Next meeting, we’ll be mortal foes.”
Lan Xiaozhu murmured, “Such is your path. Enemies and hardships shape destiny.”
Cheng Lingyu’s sly aura faded. Calm again, he donned fresh robes.
In the ravine, white mist churned, flowers bloomed one after another, and beasts soared through the air.
Cheng Lingyu stared for a long while, a peculiar feeling growing in his heart.
“Let’s go down.”
Gripping Lan Xiaozhu’s hand, Cheng Lingyu jumped into the ravine, plummeting downward.
As the white mist parted, he saw the ravine floor below – a small stream trickled between scattered rocks under a biting wind, the entire scene bleak and lonely.
The bottom of the ravine appeared ancient and crumbling, desolate yet filled with eerie strangeness.
After landing, Cheng Lingyu scanned his surroundings before looking upward. An ink-black strange flower materialized on the rocky cliff, emitting a faint, ghostly aura that seemed present yet intangible.
“Someone’s here.”
Lan Xiaozhu squeezed his hand tighter, her gaze locked on a particular spot.
Cheng Lingyu tore his eyes from the black flower and followed her line of sight. A dusty gray figure sat cross-legged beneath a stone wall, its back to them, radiating decay.
Behind this gray figure bubbled a small pool. Wisps of white mist rose from its surface, sometimes shaping into flowers, sometimes morphing into beasts.
Cheng Lingyu’s brow furrowed. Both the gray figure and the pool gave him uneasy feelings, clearly hiding secrets.
Noticing his tension, Lan Xiaozhu whispered, “Should we leave?”
Cheng Lingyu looked into her soft eyes, feeling sudden courage surge through him.
“Let’s investigate.”
He strode toward the pool, footsteps echoing loudly. The gray figure remained motionless.
Reaching the pool’s edge, Cheng Lingyu peered into crystal-clear water that revealed… nothing.
“How?” Lan Xiaozhu gasped.
Cheng Lingyu’s eyes glowed oddly as he activated the Magic Eyes technique. Though the pool appeared empty, the tiny plant in his sea of consciousness shook violently – its leaves fluttering as spiritual light raced across them, emitting mysterious power that sharpened his vision.
Suddenly, a translucent vortex appeared in his sight, spinning silently at the pool’s center. Invisible to normal eyes and undetectable by thought, it nevertheless released mist tendrils that formed flowers and beasts in the ravine.
In his mind, the plant’s left leaf bloomed with shifting floral patterns while the right leaf teemed with beastly shapes – the plant was deciphering the vortex’s nature.
After what felt like hours, understanding crystallized in Cheng Lingyu’s mind:
“Immortal Soul… Cold Crystal Illusion Flower.”
The little grass transmitted information to Cheng Lingyu, revealing that the invisible entity in the pool was the Cold Crystal Illusion Flower – an Immortal Soul.
This world contained many special physiques categorized as Heavenly Pulse, Earth Bone, Human Blood, and Beast Soul.
Beast Souls referred to innate martial souls existing in one’s mind since birth, requiring no external absorption. Through cultivation to the Soul Martial Realm, these could fully integrate with their host.
Such souls belonged to the innate Immortal Soul category – exceptionally rare and superior to ordinary Beast Souls or plant souls.
Souls in Guishun Valley were mostly acquired martial souls with limited abilities, easily destroyed when facing danger.
Innate Immortal Souls differed fundamentally, possessing not only immense power but near-indestructibility.
While destruction remained relative, innate Immortal Souls undoubtedly represented the pinnacle of martial souls.
Understanding the Immortal Soul’s value filled Cheng Lingyu with awe and excitement, but soon practical concerns emerged – how to absorb and merge with such an entity?
Ordinary Beast Souls proved challenging to subdue, let alone an Immortal Soul ten or hundredfold more powerful.
Remembering the Gray Figure, Cheng Lingyu proposed, “Let’s investigate over there.”
Guiding Lan Xiaozhu by hand, they approached the stone wall. The Gray Figure sat motionless beneath it, dust-covered with brittle hair and no discernible aura – resembling a desiccated corpse.
Cheng Lingyu cautiously examined both figure and wall, noticing carved characters. Lan Xiaozhu gripped his hand tighter, seeking reassurance.
Closer inspection revealed the Gray Figure as a gray-robed man with face-obscuring hair, his vital status unclear. The thick dust suggested prolonged immobility – fatal for mortals, but uncertain for cultivators.
After lengthy observation, Cheng Lingyu focused on the wall’s inscription:
“Cold Crystal Illusion Flower requires Xuan Yin Sunflower Blood Sacrifice.”
Lan Xiaozhu blushed instantly. “Who’d scribble such nonsense here?”
“Not nonsense,” Cheng Lingyu countered. “Likely left by this gray-robed man as guidance, though few would comprehend it.”
“But how confirm he wrote it?” Lan Xiaozhu challenged. “Perhaps he came later, pondered these words, then died here or entered transcendent meditation.”
“Plausible. Let’s withdraw.”
Returning to the pool, Cheng Lingyu studied the massive stone wall above them, particularly the eerie black blossom.
“What holds your attention?”
Following his gaze to the barren stone surface, Lan Xiaozhu saw nothing remarkable.
“That flower.”
“What flower? Where?”
Cheng Lingyu pointed at the wall. “There. Can’t you see?”
Lan Xiaozhu shook her head. “The wall’s empty.”