Volume 1, Chapter 263 – Essence Soul

“Now that half a year has passed, the battlefield beyond the realm should be nearing a conclusion. Let us hold on a while longer.”

“As long as we wait for the Sovereign and the various high generals to return, not a single one of those demon beasts will leave alive!”

“But the Xianwu Yin-Yang Grand Array will not last much longer.”

“Shi Lan may have a way to have that Sovereign Weapon act once more. If so, perhaps…”

At those words, the Demon-Suppressing Marshals all silently raised their heads.

“Invite her here…”

…

After receiving the invitation from several Demon-Suppressing Marshals, Shi Lan was somewhat baffled.

When she arrived at the central army tent and saw that all of the Demon-Suppressing Marshals were present, she became even more puzzled.

“We called you here this time… mainly because of that Demon Emperor from last time.”

The Demon-Suppressing Marshals looked at one another. In the end, it was Yue Xiuwen, who had met Shi Lan several times before, who spoke first.

“Although that Demon Emperor was not killed by your own hand, it still died because of you, so a portion of the battle merit should belong to you.”

One of the Demon-Suppressing Marshals suddenly raised a hand and drew Shi Lan’s Demon-Suppressing Token into his palm. His divine sense moved slightly, and after a few breaths, he sent the token back to her again.

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Shi Lan took the Demon-Suppressing Token and, when she saw the amount of battle merit recorded inside, she could not help holding her breath.

“One hundred and thirty million…”

That utterly terrifying astronomical number was enough to make even most Demon-Suppressing Generals change expression.

Yue Xiuwen gave a light cough, flipped his hand, took out a long box, and tossed it to Shi Lan.

“This is a personal gift from me.”

Still somewhat dazed, Shi Lan caught the long box and slowly opened it.

The moment the lid parted by the slightest crack, a strand of seven-colored radiance shone out, making Shi Lan narrow her eyes.

In the center of the box lay a transparent pearl the size of a fist. Seven-colored light flowed faintly inside it, crystal-clear and dazzling.

“Seven-Colored Essence Soul…”

A trace of astonishment flashed through Shi Lan’s eyes. By now, she recognized quite a few spiritual objects.

The spiritual objects of the world were divided into three tiers and nine grades. Grades one through three were spirit materials, grades four through six were treasured medicines, and only grades seven through nine could be called immortal roots. This Seven-Colored Essence Soul had already surpassed the category of treasured medicine. It was an immortal root at the peak of the seventh grade.

Any place capable of nurturing an immortal root was a blessed land of outstanding people and abundant spiritual force. But the place that gave birth to this Seven-Colored Essence Soul was even more special, often lying deep underground ten thousand zhang beneath a spirit vein. It could only be encountered by chance, never sought.

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The seven colors within the Seven-Colored Essence Soul were condensed from the qi of the Five Elements and yin and yang between heaven and earth. The Five Elements and yin and yang were naturally mutually generating and mutually restraining, and difficult to fuse into one. Yet through the creation of heaven and earth, the Seven-Colored Essence Soul drew together the qi of the Five Elements and yin and yang and formed an extremely special kind of energy, commonly known as Seven-Spirit Profound Qi.

The energy quality of Seven-Spirit Profound Qi was extraordinarily pure. Using it for cultivation would yield twice the result with half the effort. Moreover, the true qi cultivated from it would carry some of the characteristics of the qi of the Five Elements and yin and yang, subtly improving the physical body. For martial artists of relatively low cultivation, the Seven-Colored Essence Soul was almost the best possible aid to cultivation.

Shi Lan closed the box and looked suspiciously at the Demon-Suppressing Marshals seated above. There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. That was an absolute truth.

If they were truly compensating her because of that Demon Emperor, there was no need to go through all this trouble. In the past half year, they had had more than enough chances to hand over this portion of battle merit to her.

Clearly, the purpose of calling her here today was not as simple as that. There was definitely more to it.

“Why hide things and beat around the bush? Little girl, let me ask you directly.”

One of the Demon-Suppressing Marshals at the side noticed the change in Shi Lan’s expression and spoke with a trace of impatience. He looked to be around forty, with a rough and rugged appearance.

“Do you have any way to invite that Sovereign Weapon, or its incarnation, out again?”

Hearing that, Shi Lan’s heart stirred, and she instantly understood.

“Let us speak plainly. The situation in Xianwu City is not looking very good right now. As for how much longer we can hold out, that is hard to say.”

Shi Lan hesitated for a moment, but in the end slowly shook her head. There was no meaning at all in lying about this.

Back then, when Wuxu had handed that sword to her, he had said that if he had time, he would come in person. But half a year had already passed, and Wuxu was still nowhere to be seen. Clearly, something had happened.

When they saw Shi Lan shake her head, obvious disappointment appeared on the faces of the Demon-Suppressing Marshals.

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“Enough… you may go.”

Yue Xiuwen shook his head slightly and waved a hand.

“This subordinate takes her leave.”

Shi Lan withdrew as instructed.

…

In the Boundless Demon Domain, at the center of an unnamed mountain range stretching more than a hundred thousand li in every direction.

Several figures stood scattered around a blood-colored stone stele. Carved into the stele was a vividly lifelike green lotus. The lotus seemed to have suffered a heavy blow. It was dim and lusterless, its vitality almost extinguished.

“Cangyue, still no message has come back from Your Excellency?”

A man in purple robes shook his head slightly, his brows deeply furrowed.

“Judging from the totem manifestation, Your Excellency has clearly encountered a life-and-death calamity. Her vitality has nearly been scattered. She is in grave danger. Are we only to wait here helplessly?”

“There is no other way. I tried to contact her, but the connection has been cut off from Your Excellency’s side. I cannot sense her location at all.”

The others beside him all sighed, their faces full of worry.

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Not far away, a Profound Jade Leopard lay on the ground, tightly holding a brilliant golden dragon pearl in its mouth.

Cangyue glanced at Tianbai, clenched his sleeve, and thought it over again and again, yet still could not come up with any solution.

As a newly risen clan, the Lan Clan had been developing at a pace that could almost be described as changing with each passing day. Under Cangyue’s tireless efforts, it had already gathered no fewer than a million demon creatures. There were also six unaffiliated transformed Demon Kings who had joined them. Within a radius of several hundred thousand li, they could already be considered a hegemon of one region, and they had even drawn the attention of the Feather Emperor Hall.

Although the Lan Clan looked incomparably glorious for the moment, Cangyue knew very well that the internal ties of the Lan Clan were extremely loose. First, because the clan had been founded too recently. Second, because these demons of different races had only gathered together to seek protection in the first place. A relationship like that had never been reliable. If anything happened to Shi Lan, and there was no longer the binding force of a high-level expert’s bloodline, the Lan Clan would be like a grand hall whose main pillar had been removed, collapsing in an instant.

Cangyue had already poured no small amount of effort into the Lan Clan. He truly did not want all of that work to go to waste. But at this moment, he was utterly powerless. All he could do was silently pray in his heart that Shi Lan was safe and sound.

Not far away, Tianbai lay there staring at the green lotus on the stone stele, now devoid of all vitality. He could not help feeling a surge of melancholy as he tilted his head back to look at the sky.

“Your Excellency, where are you suffering at this moment…?”

…

Xianwu City, third floor of the Battle Merit Hall, inside a quiet room.

Shi Lan stood in the center of the room. Thick spiritual mist filled the surroundings. To one side stood nearly a hundred wooden racks arranged in neat rows, and upon them rested all kinds of spirit materials and treasured ores. The surging spiritual qi was almost liquefied.

One hundred and thirty million battle merit, plus the battle merit she already had, amounted to a fortune that was almost beyond measure.

The more than five thousand kinds of spirit materials needed for the first layer of the True Martial Undying Body had all been gathered in just a few hours.