Chapter Fifty-Four: The Inner Elixir and the Immortal Core

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After the match, only eight contestants remained. The next round was tentatively scheduled for ten days later, giving the injured contestants time to recover properly. Of course, if anyone had lost an arm or a leg, there was no recovering from that; they could only blame their bad luck and withdraw from the next match.

Qiufeng had appeared to be seriously injured, but after one night’s rest, he was already full of vigor, without the slightest trace of lasting harm. Li Chengzhu finally relaxed. All that remained was to wait for the eighth round to begin and then fight for a place in the top four.

What puzzled Li Chengzhu, however, was how Qiufeng had managed to perform that deception—an illusion so convincing that neither Gu Linglong nor Yuan Mu had seen through it. Though both had only recently become immortals, they were still immortals all the same, yet Qiufeng had fooled them completely. Fortunately, his beautiful martial grand-aunt had warned him at the time. Otherwise, would he not have remained on edge all this while?

In answer to Boss Li’s question, Qiufeng merely smiled and refused to answer. He told Li Chengzhu to study it slowly after obtaining the Nine Heavens Grand Luo Cauldron.

What a bunch of bastards, Boss Li cursed inwardly. If they really provoked him, he would have Little Thing strip them naked, down to their underwear.

Imagining Qiufeng standing completely naked, Li Chengzhu grinned wickedly. It would certainly be quite a spectacle.

During the ten-day break in Qiufeng’s matches, Li Chengzhu took his two wives, Yuan Mu, and Yuchun out to tour Tiandu. Their previous outing had been cut short after they encountered his beautiful martial grand-aunt, but after Little Shadow suggested it, Boss Li decided they would explore the city thoroughly this time. More importantly, he wanted to show off the bearing of a sixth-grade Battle General.

Little Shadow was nearly three months pregnant now, and her belly had begun to show the faintest curve. Although she had deliberately chosen loose clothing to conceal it, whenever the wind blew, the fabric clung to her stomach and outlined the undeniable fact of her pregnancy with perfect clarity.

Boss Li often stroked his chin and stared foolishly at Little Shadow’s belly. Even in sleep, his large hand remained firmly protective over that spot. Gu Linglong watched from the side with unconcealed envy. Little Shadow, meanwhile, had become a specially protected creature of Rainbow City. Whenever they went out, Yuan Mu and Boss Li guarded her on either side, both wearing fierce expressions like hired thugs. Qiufeng claimed that he needed to rest and did not accompany them this time.

Little Shadow had an excellent appetite, particularly for sweet-and-sour foods. Things in Tiandu were expensive, and to satisfy her cravings, Li Chengzhu bought several hundred high-grade spirit stones’ worth of food and stored it in the Azure Blood Ring.

Those things were not what interested Boss Li most. What caught his attention were the materials. Whether for refining weapons or concocting pills, the materials sold in Tiandu were many times better than those in that backwater called Rainbow City, and the stores held vastly greater quantities. Wearing the sixth-grade Battle General insignia pinned to his white robe, Li Chengzhu managed to secure a twenty-percent discount from every shopkeeper.

What excited Boss Li even more was the discovery of several ores with special attributes, such as Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Crystal and Thousand-Year Ice Soul. He had obtained a piece of Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Crystal back when he was selling flying swords in Rainbow City, but if he had not seen one in Tiandu, he would have completely forgotten about it.

He searched through the Azure Blood Ring for half a day and finally found the crimson Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Crystal, buried beneath countless Heavenly Secret Stones. Together with the Thousand-Year Ice Soul he had just purchased, he tossed it into the ring’s space for storing living creatures. Through his spiritual sense, he told Keba to study them and come take a look when he had the time.

Li Chengzhu was still brooding over that inconceivable method of increasing his strength.

Watching Boss Li spend money so recklessly on those expensive items, Yuan Mu cursed him inwardly for being wasteful. Even if one had money, there was no reason to spend it like that. In such a short while, he had already used several hundred high-grade spirit stones.

The owner of the materials shop cheerfully explained the origin and uses of each material to Li Chengzhu.

Suddenly, a blue-green crystal appeared before Li Chengzhu’s eyes, and a familiar energy fluctuation reached him.

“What is this?” Li Chengzhu picked up the crystal and examined it carefully.

“To be honest, I have no idea either.” The shopkeeper gave an awkward smile. This was the only material in his store whose origin he did not know.

“Hmm?” The more Li Chengzhu looked at it, the more familiar it seemed. He felt as though he had seen it somewhere before.

“A customer sold it to my shop. I simply don’t know where he obtained it,” the shopkeeper explained with a genial smile.

“Do you recognize it?” Li Chengzhu handed the blue-green crystal to Yuan Mu.

Yuan Mu took it and held it in his palm. Only after a moment did he speak.

“I don’t recognize it, but it contains a vast amount of wood-attributed spiritual energy.”

“Of course I know that.” Boss Li snatched the crystal back and pondered where he could have seen it before.

“And…” Yuan Mu hesitated slightly, as though doubting his own judgment. “It also feels somewhat like the core of an immortal beast.”

“The core of an immortal beast?” Boss Li frowned. “An immortal beast?”

“Yes.” As he spoke, Yuan Mu took a round, ocher-yellow bead from his ring.

“What is this?” Boss Li seized it as though he had found a priceless treasure and examined it intently in his hand.

“The core of the Thousand-Thousand Immortal Crane,” Yuan Mu replied proudly. Then he remembered how his three brothers had once fought that Thousand-Thousand Immortal Crane, and how he alone remained unharmed. His expression darkened.

Gu Linglong naturally recognized the object. She had helped the three brothers kill the Thousand-Thousand Immortal Crane back then, refining the crane’s flesh, blood, and essence into Thousand-Thousand Crane Talismans. Only through that had everyone managed to escape from the angel faction. Seeing Yuan Mu’s expression, Gu Linglong knew what he was remembering and gently consoled him.

“As long as we find that thing, Yuan Sen still has hope.”

Yuan Mu forced a smile and nodded. Yuan Sen still possessed that faint, illusory hope—but what about Yuan Lin? He had not even managed to escape with his nascent soul. He had long since been reduced to ashes.

Li Chengzhu, however, had devoted all his attention to the two objects, one ocher-yellow and one blue-green.

Their colors were different, their shapes were different, and even their attributes were different, yet one could still vaguely sense that they resembled each other greatly.

Little Shadow timidly tried to show her usefulness before Boss Li and proposed a baseless theory.

“Could this also be the core of an immortal beast?”

“No.” Yuan Mu answered with certainty. “The cores of immortal beasts are all spherical. This thing is oval, and it also has irregular angular edges.”

“Haha! I know what it is now!” Boss Li burst into laughter. At last, he had figured out what the blue-green crystal really was. He turned and kissed Little Shadow on the cheek, then cheerfully examined the two objects in his hands.

“What do you know?” Yuan Mu asked, mouth hanging open. Why had this man suddenly become so excited?

“Heh heh. It’s a secret.” Li Chengzhu smiled, though one question remained unresolved. “Yuan Mu, you’ve lived in the immortal world longer than we have. Have you ever seen an immortal beast whose core wasn’t round?”

“Wasn’t round?”

“Yes. For example…” Li Chengzhu raised the blue-green crystal in his hand. “Something shaped like this.”

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“No.” Yuan Mu looked agitated, as though Boss Li’s question had challenged his authority. “Some cores may not be perfectly round, but they absolutely never have a shape like this.”

“I was only asking. Don’t get so worked up.” Li Chengzhu was in an excellent mood. He reached out and patted Yuan Mu on the shoulder. “Then what are immortal beast cores used for?”

“They have countless uses.” Yuan Mu slowly calmed himself, his face once again filled with pride.

“They can be used to refine pills, form arrays, or be absorbed into magical treasures with special attributes to increase their offensive power.” Little Shadow quickly answered from the side.

Yuan Mu curled his lips and fell silent. He had been planning to show off his profound knowledge, only to have someone steal the opportunity from him. This left him rather dejected. He secretly glanced at Yuchun beside him. At least she was listening attentively.

“Increase the power of a magical treasure?” Li Chengzhu’s eyes lit up.

“Yes.” Little Shadow was very pleased with herself. Her cultivation was not as high as her sister’s, but she knew more things. After all, she had lived in the immortal world for several hundred years.

“For example, if you had a wood-attributed offensive treasure, you could use a special absorption method to draw the wood-attributed spiritual energy from this crystal into the treasure. Then, during battle, its owner would not need to supply it with as much spiritual energy, and its power would also increase.”

“Now that’s a good thing.” Boss Li licked his lips, wearing a lascivious expression.

“Pillar, what exactly is this?” Gu Linglong interrupted.

“Heh heh.” Li Chengzhu smiled without answering. “A very good thing.”

Everyone looked at him with contempt. Even the materials shopkeeper, who had been listening with pricked ears, wore an expression of disdain. He had originally wanted to fleece this fat sheep, but now that he did not know the object’s value, he found it difficult to name a price.

In the end, Li Chengzhu purchased the wood-attributed crystal for ten high-grade spirit stones and tossed it, together with the Thousand-Thousand Immortal Crane’s core, into the Azure Blood Ring. He left Keba to study them.

Yuan Mu opened his mouth several times but ultimately said nothing. He could only curse inwardly at this heartless Boss Li. The chances of getting the object back from him were practically zero.

After discovering the crystal, Li Chengzhu’s enthusiasm for sightseeing was thoroughly rekindled. He dragged everyone through all of Tiandu, searching out materials shops in the hope of finding more crystals like it. Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed. Not a single shop carried anything similar.

The group could only return home. Once they were back in their room, Gu Linglong finally asked, “Pillar, what exactly was that thing you bought?”

Li Chengzhu put an arm around each of his two wives and took two crystals from his ring. The moment they appeared, Gu Linglong sensed two entirely different energies radiating from them.

“What are these?” Little Shadow asked curiously as she picked up the two crystals, one bright and one dim.

“What if I told you that these were also the cores of immortal beasts?” Boss Li said gravely.

“That can’t be right, can it? Yuan Mu said no core has that shape. And these two attributes…” Little Shadow hesitated. The attributes were extraordinarily strange. Though she did not recognize them, she could tell with certainty that they were opposites.

“These really were dug out of an immortal beast,” Li Chengzhu replied with a firm nod.

The two crystals were precisely the two crystals Li Chengzhu had obtained while hunting in the Forbidden Immortal Grounds. One was bright and the other dim. They were unique, and he had been unwilling to let Little Thing consume them. That was why, out of the enormous number of immortal cores he had once possessed, only these two remained.

“Immortal cores?” Little Shadow held the two crystals between her fingers before handing them to Gu Linglong.

“Yes. That was what I called them back then. I simply never imagined they were actually the cores of immortal beasts.”

“These are not cores.” Gu Linglong carefully examined the two objects and answered with certainty.

“Why not?” Li Chengzhu asked in confusion.

“The core is the source of an immortal beast’s innate power. The reason it can release spells is precisely because of the core.” Gu Linglong glanced at Little Shadow before continuing. “Although I have only been in the immortal world for a little over four years, I fought the Thousand-Thousand Immortal Crane, so I know quite a bit about its core. The outer layer of a core is covered by an extremely hard shell—one might even call it a protective barrier.”

“Like our protective spiritual energy?”

“Yes. And as far as I know, there is a miniature immortal beast inside the core.”

“A nascent soul?” Boss Li was stunned.

“That would seem to be the case.” Gu Linglong nodded.

Li Chengzhu took the ocher-yellow bead from his ring and tried his best to send his spiritual sense into it. Yet the protective layer outside remained as solid as an iron wall, resisting his intrusion.

“As expected of the core of an eighth-rank immortal beast.” After struggling for a long while, Li Chengzhu finally gave up.

“As for these two things, let us temporarily call them immortal crystals. They do not contain anything of the sort.” Gu Linglong lifted the two immortal crystals in her hand.

Li Chengzhu’s spiritual sense entered them without the slightest obstruction. Just as Gu Linglong had said, there was nothing inside—only pure energy.

“And moreover…” Gu Linglong’s expression grew somewhat grave. “Do you feel that this resembles something?” As she spoke, she raised the white crystal.

“A Divine Crystal.” A cold smile touched the corners of Li Chengzhu’s mouth. He had known it from the moment he took it out, and now he also understood why the Divine Crystal he had first obtained on the Red Rock Plateau had seemed so familiar.

“Really?” Little Shadow’s mouth opened adorably, and she covered her belly with one small hand.

“It resembles one, but it is not exactly the same.” Li Chengzhu raised the white crystal and examined it carefully.

The questions in his heart multiplied. How could the immortal beasts of the immortal world possess something from the angelic realm?

“Forget it. I’m not thinking about this anymore.” Boss Li threw everything to Keba and left him to conduct the research alone.

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Gu Linglong opened her mouth, but in the end said nothing.

For the remaining few days, Li Chengzhu stayed inside the Azure Blood Ring, discussing the matter of these pure-attributed energy stones with Keba.

According to Keba’s deductions, these pure energies could indeed provide the energy of the five elements. The problem was how to convert the laws governing that energy into the space created through the Mustard Seed Containing Mount Sumeru technique.

It was not enough simply to release the five elemental spiritual energies and fill the entire space with them. If that were done, the energies would inevitably merge again and transform into chaotic spiritual energy. Perhaps a small amount of the five elemental energies would remain, but it would never be enough to support the amount required for living creatures to survive.

That amount was the standard—the minimum standard for a living creature to survive within a space.

“I need a large quantity of these pure-attributed energy crystals,” Keba told Li Chengzhu.

Boss Li now wished he could tear Little Thing’s mouth apart.

How many immortal cores had he obtained in the Forbidden Immortal Grounds? Several hundred at the very least—more than a thousand, even. Yet Little Thing had gobbled them all up in a few noisy bites.

That wasteful beast.

The day Li Chengzhu emerged from seclusion was also the day Qiufeng would fight in the eighth round. Boss Li had no choice but to pay attention to Qiufeng’s progress. After all, it concerned his twenty high-grade Heavenly Secret Spirit Stones.

But when he saw the result of the draw, Boss Li laughed.

Qiufeng had actually been matched against his own father-in-law.

Boss Li felt an inexplicable urge. This time, he absolutely had to stab his father-in-law right in the ass.

Little Shadow, by contrast, was visibly tense. That was her father, after all. Subconsciously, she naturally hoped that her father would win the match. But beginning with the seventh round, the powerful guardian talisman was no longer allowed. If something went wrong and her father were injured or worse, it would be unbearable. Qiufeng’s strength was obvious, and besides, her husband had returned the Nine Heavens Grand Luo Cauldron to Qiufeng.

For the first time, Little Shadow gave Boss Li a hostile look and complained bitterly that he should never have helped that pretty boy Qiufeng.

Li Chengzhu smiled apologetically and exchanged meaningful glances with Gu Linglong.

Gu Linglong glared at him reproachfully. Although she did not know why he had returned the Nine Heavens Grand Luo Cauldron to Qiufeng, given his temperament, he had surely reached some sort of deal with him. Gu Linglong could almost imagine Qiufeng’s father being thoroughly defeated. Even so, she fulfilled her responsibilities as the senior wife, doing her best to comfort Little Shadow and speak reassuringly to her.

Great Immortal Yuan Mu cast sidelong glances at Li Chengzhu, trying to detect even the slightest sign that something was amiss.

Before the match came the same tedious announcement as always. But once the battle began, Qiufeng attacked first, completely unlike his usual style. Eight hundred flying swords burst from the Nine Heavens Grand Luo Cauldron in an instant. This time, they were blue-green.

Li Chengzhu had used this second-grade immortal artifact before and naturally knew something about it. The flying swords seemed to come in three colors: white at the lowest level, blue-green above that, and gold at the highest level—just as when Li Chengzhu had unlocked the second form of the God-Slaying Bow. Qiufeng had also used the golden swords in the final strike of the seventh round.

Anyone Qiufeng took seriously was certainly no ordinary opponent. Unfortunately, Boss Li’s eyesight was not yet sharp enough to distinguish the differences in cultivation between immortals. Otherwise, he would not have failed all this time to realize that Qiufeng had placed third in the previous tournament.

The only one he could blame was himself. His cultivation was simply too low. He had never settled down to train properly. His cultivation had done nothing but surge wildly, growing through reckless leaps.

Facing the former third-place winner, Xiao Changchuan did not dare be careless. He swept his immortal sword in a broad arc to meet the eight hundred flying swords of the Nine Heavens Grand Luo Cauldron. The flying swords were far inferior in rank to his immortal sword. With a single strike, more than half of them vanished.

Qiufeng did not form another array this time. Perhaps a trick that had already been used once would lose much of its effectiveness. Instead, he directly summoned another full set of eight hundred flying swords and sent them surging toward Xiao Changchuan without the slightest reduction in force.

Xiao Changchuan was stunned. He evidently had not expected his opponent to be so formidable, nor to possess such powerful follow-up attacks. In a panic, he released another one of his immortal artifacts: the Blue God Sand.

The Blue God Sand was a third-grade immortal artifact, one grade higher than the Nine Heavens Grand Luo Cauldron. Though it consisted of only three hundred and sixty grains, each grain was tiny and possessed immense power. Breaking two flying swords with a single grain was effortless.

Both sides relied on numbers. They shifted their footwork without pause, rapidly forming hand seals as they sought to deliver a fatal blow.

Yuan Mu stroked his chin from the sidelines. “Qiufeng is in serious trouble.”

“How so?” Boss Li asked in confusion from his chair. “Qiufeng is doing quite well, isn’t he?”

“You don’t understand.” Yuan Mu began showing off his knowledge again. “Besides attacking the enemy, the Blue God Sand can absorb an opponent’s spiritual energy through contact with their magical treasures or body. Given enough time, it will drain Qiufeng nearly dry. At that point, he probably won’t be able to fight anymore.”

“Damn! There’s an immortal artifact that vicious?” Li Chengzhu was astonished. If Yuan Mu was telling the truth, then this battle was absolutely unsuitable for a war of attrition. The sooner it ended, the better. Surely Qiufeng, with his experience, knew the origin and nature of the Blue God Sand. Li Chengzhu consoled himself with that thought.

But if Qiufeng really lost, he would have no choice but to place his hopes on his father-in-law, praying that the man could claim first place and give him fifty high-grade Heavenly Secret Spirit Stones to save his life.

The child in Little Shadow’s belly would reach the five-month mark in less than two months, yet Li Chengzhu did not possess even a single high-grade Heavenly Secret Spirit Stone. He could not help feeling anxious.

At that moment, another change appeared on the battlefield. Qiufeng’s Nine Heavens Grand Luo Cauldron finally broke through the Blue God Sand’s interception. Although only a few dozen flying swords struck Xiao Changchuan, they still left him drenched in cold sweat. His opponent’s reaction speed and the speed with which he formed hand seals were far beyond anything Xiao Changchuan could match.

As expected of the former third-place winner.

The few dozen flying swords were stopped outside his body by his protective magical treasure. Xiao Changchuan was just preparing to catch his breath when something flashed before his eyes. A rope-like object shot toward him.

In his panic, he hurriedly retreated, but the artifact came with fierce momentum and incredible speed. It wrapped directly around his ankle and nearly dragged him off his feet.

Xiao Changchuan was an old fox with years of experience. Rather than continue retreating, he flew directly toward Qiufeng. The Blue God Sand opened the way before him, while his immortal sword circled overhead with a ringing hum, guarding against any unforeseen attack.

His hands moved rapidly through a series of seals. Two bells appeared above his head. With Xiao Changchuan’s movement, the bells struck each other with a sharp chime.

An ear-piercing ringing sound reached Li Chengzhu’s ears.

Li Chengzhu’s heart trembled where he sat. His heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and his face flushed crimson. He hurriedly held his breath, quieted his voice, and sank his mind into stillness.

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