Volume 1, Chapter 242 – Marshal’s Order

“Don’t worry, Mother. It’s nothing serious. Those people from the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect came looking to stir up trouble, and just happened to run into a passing Demon-Suppressing Marshal.”

With just a couple of simple sentences, Shi Lan glossed the matter over and soothed Su Lanyue.

There were some things she still did not want Su Lanyue to know.

Although Su Lanyue did not quite understand why the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect had suddenly come to the door to cause trouble, out of trust in Shi Lan, she did not ask further. After warning her to be careful a few times, she left.

Within the Shi Residence, aside from Shi Tianlu, who had already entered the sealed chamber enclosed by formations and gone into life-or-death seclusion, nearly everyone else had been drawn over by the commotion just now.

“Qinghu, stay.”

Shi Lan swept her gaze around and stopped Shi Qinghu, who had just been about to leave.

Shi Yiming, who was standing beside Shi Qinghu, hesitated for a moment before turning and leaving on his own.

Shi Lan kept Shi Qinghu behind because the Nine Spirits Foundation-Casting Art she had exchanged for in the Battle Merit Hall the day before yesterday had finally found a use.

The reason Shi Lan had been so delighted when she saw the phoenix blood Gu Rentong had brought was that, aside from being able to increase cultivation, it could also help Shi Qinghu forge the first layer of his foundation.

Naturally, the blood of the living being used to forge one’s foundation was best the stronger it was. Shi Lan could not estimate the level of this phoenix blood.

But in Reincarnation’s view, that divine phoenix had at the very least been a seven-star existence in life. Using its blood to forge Shi Qinghu’s first layer of foundation was more than enough.

“Big Sister, what is it?”

Only after the others had mostly left did Qinghu ask in puzzlement, his still-boyish face full of confusion.

“Wait here for a bit. I’ll explain in a moment.”

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Shi Lan did not elaborate. She looked toward Gu Rentong and the others standing nearby. The phoenix blood did not belong to her yet.

“My apologies, City Lord Gu. Qingcang definitely won’t be entering the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect now. What are your plans?”

Shi Lan felt somewhat apologetic. In truth, with Gu Qingcang’s talent, passing the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect’s selection through the normal route would not have been difficult. But under the current circumstances, that was clearly out of the question.

“Ancient Phoenix City no longer exists, Miss. There’s no need to address me as City Lord anymore. As for Qingcang…”

Gu Rentong shook his head slightly and smiled with easy indifference.

“In this Vast Land of Shenzhou, there will always be a place for us.”

Shi Lan heard the implication in Gu Rentong’s words and could not help frowning slightly before changing her way of addressing him.

“For now, Xianwu City can still be considered safe. Outside, the demon calamity is raging, and all of Chengtian Domain is engulfed in war. Where does Senior Gu intend to go?”

“I plan to take them out of Chengtian Domain.”

The smile faded from Gu Rentong’s face as he answered in a low voice. From the way the Sacred Martial Immortal Sect had behaved earlier, it was obvious they had no confidence at all in being able to hold Xianwu City. They barely even seemed to have the will to resist.

Under such circumstances, Xianwu City was clearly no place to remain for long.

“Leave Chengtian Domain…”

Having received the expected answer, Shi Lan fell silent for a moment. Leaving Chengtian Domain was indeed a path to survival, but now that most of Chengtian Domain had already fallen, the dangers along the way would be enormous.

“Senior Gu, you should still think it over. The situation outside is far too complicated right now…” After hesitating for a moment, Shi Lan tried once more to persuade him.

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“The longer we delay, the more dangerous Chengtian Domain will become. Miss Shi should understand the current situation even better than I do.” Gu Rentong shook his head.

Shi Lan lowered her eyes and said nothing more. Gu Rentong was not wrong. At this point, leaving Chengtian Domain might truly be the best course.

“If you leave Chengtian Domain, you’ll be strangers in an unfamiliar place. Be extra careful,” Wu Lingkong reminded them from the side.

Sometimes, in this world, the human heart was more terrifying than demons or devils.

“Thank you for your concern, Miss. I have an old friend in Haotian Domain. He should be able to help us somewhat once we get there.”

Gu Rentong glanced at the surrounding ruins and cupped his hands.

“That is all we had to say, so we won’t stay any longer. We’ll take our leave now.”

“Please wait, Senior Gu.”

Shi Lan called out to stop Gu Rentong and pointed to the crystal boxes holding the phoenix blood.

“Forgive my bluntness, but this phoenix blood is extremely important to me. I ask that you leave it behind. As long as it is something I can offer, name your terms.”

“Miss Shi jests. What need is there for terms? Just take it. This phoenix blood was never of much use to us in the first place. If anything, it’s more trouble than it’s worth.” Gu Rentong waved a hand dismissively.

Hearing that, Shi Lan did not take it at face value. Gu Rentong was only being polite. Blood of this level could easily be exchanged for quite a few cultivation resources.

And in the current Xianwu City, what there was least shortage of was people who recognized value when they saw it.

…

In the end, Shi Lan still kept the phoenix blood, compensating him with two fourth-grade treasure medicines and several hundred thousand spirit crystals.

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After seeing Gu Rentong’s group out, Shi Lan arranged for the ruins to be cleared and repaired, then brought Shi Qinghu and Wu Lingkong to a secret chamber.

Shi Lan was going to use the Nine Spirits Foundation-Casting Art to forge the first layer of Qinghu’s heavenly foundation.

Once the first layer of his foundation was completed, Shi Qinghu’s cultivation would advance as naturally as flowing water, and he would step into the Innate Realm.

Shi Lan asked Wu Lingkong to stand guard for her, then set up a formation to seal off their aura and wrapped the entire chamber within it.

During the time spent preparing, Shi Lan had already explained the full advantages and drawbacks of the Nine Spirits Foundation-Casting Art to Shi Qinghu. After all, this was the path he himself would walk in the future. He had the right to know.

Shi Qinghu agreed almost without the slightest hesitation. He did not care whether the road ahead would be easy or hard. Right now, all he wanted was to become stronger more quickly.

Shi Lan naturally would not harm Shi Qinghu. His talent was fairly good, but he was still some distance away from those top geniuses. This Nine Spirits Foundation-Casting Art was enough to change some of that innate gap.

Once everything was ready, Shi Lan placed a box of phoenix blood before her and slowly opened the Black Domain.

Shi Qinghu removed his upper garment and sat down cross-legged.

The energy within the phoenix blood was far too overbearing. Even with Shi Lan’s current cultivation, absorbing it would still make her uncomfortable, much less Shi Qinghu.

Under normal circumstances, one should dilute the phoenix blood with spiritual liquid, gradually increase its concentration, merge it into the limbs and bones, and finally gather it in the dantian qi sea, using that process to build the first layer of heavenly foundation.

But that method took far too long. They had no time to waste right now. Shi Lan wanted to take a shortcut—using the Black Domain’s absorption and conversion to directly channel refined phoenix blood into Shi Qinghu’s body.

Shi Lan pressed one hand against Shi Qinghu’s back and began circulating the Black Domain.

The overbearing energy of the phoenix blood quickly filled the entire chamber. The Black Domain slowly absorbed it, refined it into pure blood and qi, and gradually fed it into Shi Qinghu’s body.

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Shi Qinghu’s skin instantly flushed red, every vein standing out as though he might burst apart at any moment.

Shi Lan split her attention in two, controlling the Black Domain on one side while beginning to guide the phoenix-blood qi inside Shi Qinghu downward toward his dantian qi sea.

In only a few breaths, sweat had already soaked Shi Lan’s body, only to be dried again at once by the scorching heat of the phoenix blood.

She had to control her strength to the utmost in order not to injure Shi Qinghu. It was no easy task.

Nearly three hours passed in the blink of an eye.

Shi Qinghu clenched his teeth and endured the intense pain without letting out the slightest sound.

Thread after thread of phoenix-blood qi sank into Shi Qinghu’s dantian, beginning to slowly expand his qi sea. This was the sign that he was about to step into the Innate Realm.

As time passed, strand after strand of blood and qi intertwined into a phantom platform, gradually solidifying, and above it a shadow of a divine phoenix slowly emerged.

Shi Lan relaxed slightly. At this point, so long as nothing major went wrong, success was all but certain.

But before the tension in her heart had eased for long, the Demon-Suppressing Token at Shi Lan’s waist suddenly grew scorching hot, and a marshal’s order entered her mind.

After taking in the information, Shi Lan could not help feeling a jolt run through her heart. She exchanged a look with Wu Lingkong, whose expression had also turned grave.

The contents of the marshal’s order were very simple, but the implication behind them made it impossible to sit still.

The Demon-Suppressing Army… was going to seal the city…