Chapter Twenty-Seven
Hundreds of God-Slaying Flowers grew intertwined at the entrance to Purgatory, each one small and delicate, with pink stems. Their tender, enchanting blossoms exuded a mysterious and seductive softness.
"A Jin, are those the God-Slaying Flowers the Dragon Lord mentioned? They're so pretty—they don't look scary at all?" Ayin pointed a tiny wing toward the flowers and whispered.
Before her words had fully faded, the God-Slaying Flowers she had pointed at seemed to hear her, abruptly turning toward the two of them. In an instant, they transformed into towering black stalks, their enormous stamens swelling and contracting like the fangs of a ferocious beast, dark and menacing.
Ayin stared wide-eyed at the God-Slaying Flowers' sudden transformation, shrinking back and falling silent.
The God-Slaying Flowers swayed their stamens, probing the air around the pair. Detecting no trace of their presence, they retracted their tendrils in confusion.
"Don't be afraid. They can't see us," Gu Jin reassured her, gently patting her head.
"A Jin, with all this bloody mist in Purgatory, will we be able to find the phoenix tree?" Having witnessed the terror of the God-Slaying Flowers, Ayin was still trembling with fear, her eyes filled with worry.
"Don't worry." Gu Jin took out the Fire Phoenix Jade from his robes. "Feng Yin's soul fragment is inside this jade. It will lead us to the phoenix tree."
A faint red glow emanated from Feng Yin's weak soul within the Fire Phoenix Jade. Guided by the soul's resonance, the jade floated into the air and drifted leisurely toward the east.
"Let's go." Gu Jin and Ayin followed the Fire Phoenix Jade deeper into Purgatory.
Half an hour later, a golden phoenix tree became faintly visible through the bloody mist. The closer they drew to the tree, the more violently the Fire Phoenix Jade trembled, its inner glow growing increasingly intense.
"Feng Yin's soul is here." Gu Jin gazed at the phoenix tree in the distance, unable to contain his joy.
Ayin's eyes curved into crescents, her delight for Gu Jin evident in her beaming smile. Since leaving Great Marsh Mountain, this was the first time they had encountered one of Feng Yin's scattered soul fragments.
The golden Divine Power surrounding the phoenix tree was gentle and pure, holding the sinister, oppressive bloody mist at bay ten meters away. As the two stepped into the golden light, the phoenix tree's Divine Power washed over them, and they both breathed a sigh of relief, feeling considerably more at ease.
Gu Jin flew into the air, reciting an Immortal Incantation to activate the Fire Phoenix Jade in search of Feng Yin's soul. Under the jade's illumination, a faint red glow emerged from the heart of the phoenix tree, resonating with the Fire Phoenix Jade. After a short while, the jade's light intensified, and the faint red glow from the tree coalesced into a hazy human form, flying toward the Fire Phoenix Jade. It merged with the jade, which then fell silent and dropped into Gu Jin's hand.
Gu Jin and Ayin looked closely and saw an additional soul imprint within the jade.
"This phoenix tree indeed held one of Feng Yin's soul fragments," Gu Jin exhaled deeply. "My master was right—Feng Yin's soul is scattered among phoenix trees throughout the Three Realms. Ayin, wait here while I retrieve the phoenix tree's heart for the Three-Headed Fire Dragon. Then we'll leave."
Protected by the Divine Power surrounding the phoenix tree, the bloody mist and Demon Beasts dared not approach. Ayin could safely leave the Heavenly Shuttle Garment for now. Extracting the tree's heart would require Gu Jin to channel his Immortal Power, and he feared the overflow of Spiritual Power might harm the Water Condensation Beast nestled against his chest.
Ayin obediently flew out from Gu Jin's chest and settled nearby, cautioning him, "A Jin, the phoenix tree is sentient. Be careful."This phoenix tree, capable of growing within the Purgatory and keeping Demon Beasts at bay, naturally possessed profound Spiritual Power. Extracting its heartwood would undoubtedly require considerable effort from Gu Jin. Fortunately, the tree had not yet developed a soul; otherwise, given Gu Jin's nature, he might have been reluctant to take its heartwood.
Gu Jin nodded, leaping into mid-air. With a flick of his finger, the Primordial Spirit Sword unsheathed and flew before him. Grasping the sword, Gu Jin cupped his hands in a respectful salute toward the phoenix tree.
"By another's request, I have no choice but to offend."
As his words fell, the Primordial Spirit Sword gathered a powerful surge of sword energy and shot straight toward the spot where Feng Yin's Soul had emerged earlier. Under attack, the phoenix tree's heartwood erupted with a brilliant golden Divine Power, forming a protective barrier of light before it.
The golden radiance illuminated the area above the phoenix tree, dispersing the surrounding blood mist even further. Ayin, who had been watching Gu Jin intently, suddenly found her gaze drawn to a flicker of fiery red behind the tree. Focusing her sight, she gasped in shock.
There lay a small fox curled into a ball, its fur a blazing crimson. Its eyes were tightly shut, and its entire body was covered in claw marks so deep they reached the bone. Hardly a patch of its fox skin remained intact, and dark red blood flowed from the wounds, nearly soaking the ground.
How could there be a young fox in the Purgatory? Could it be the lost prince of the Fox race that had gone missing? The little fox was still within the protective circle of the phoenix tree's light. Remembering Chang Qin's request to Gu Jin in Tranquil Mountain, Ayin transformed into her human form and flew toward the small fox.
She landed beside it and checked its breathing at the nose, her heart sinking. The little fox was severely injured, its breath faint, teetering on the brink of death.
Ayin glanced toward Gu Jin, who was fully focused on confronting the phoenix tree, unable to spare any attention. Turning back to look at the little fox lying in the pool of blood, she gritted her teeth and prepared to place her hand on its forehead. However, just as her fingers barely touched the fox's brow, the nearly lifeless creature suddenly opened its eyes and looked at her.
Ayin froze. They were extraordinarily beautiful eyes—fiery red, translucent, darkly enchanting and mysterious, like exquisite glass that captivated the soul. Yet these same eyes were also cold, fierce, and utterly chilling, radiating wariness toward all things in the world.
Somehow, the sight of the little fox's bone-deep wounds combined with these eyes made Ayin's nose sting with emotion. As if oblivious to the fox's icy, warning gaze, she still placed her hand on its forehead.
"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. I will save you."
The worry in Ayin's eyes was sincere and genuine, her palm warm as a gentle, pale green Spiritual Power flowed from her hand into the little fox's forehead.
As the Spiritual Power entered its body, the fiery little fox felt the pain in its limbs lessen slightly. The cold fierceness in its gaze toward Ayin diminished somewhat, though it remained wary.
Water Condensation Beasts possessed innate healing abilities, but Ayin's Immortal Power was weak. With her current level of Spiritual Power, she could manage superficial wounds, but healing a severely injured young fox was far beyond her capabilities. Within just a few minutes, she began to show signs of depleted Spiritual Power and exhaustion.
The little fox saw this clearly and couldn't help but show disappointment. Where did this Water Condensation Beast come from, with such meager Spiritual Power, daring to boast about saving him? Forget it, his life was destined to end here in the Nine Nether Purgatory. The little fox sighed inwardly in despair, unaware that Ayin had just caught sight of his hopeless expression.
"Focus on conserving your energy, don't let your thoughts wander," Ayin said solemnly. She withdrew her hand, bit her fingertip, and let her blood drip directly onto the little fox's forehead.Warm blood flowed into the center of her brow. The little fox's wounds slowly healed at a visible rate, but Ayin's face instantly turned pale.
The Water Condensation Beast was a treasure in itself, its blood a sacred medicine for healing, capable of reviving the dead and regenerating flesh and bone. But precisely because of this, the blood of the Water Condensation Beast was extremely precious to itself—depleting its bloodline was equivalent to shortening its lifespan. Bi Bo had been timid since childhood, retreating like a turtle into its shell at the first sign of trouble, and this was the reason he cherished his life like gold.
Ayin had used a life-for-life method on this little fire fox she had never met before. The fire fox clearly understood how precious the blood of a Water Condensation Beast was. It stared blankly at Ayin, its small paws curled up from injury, quietly brushing against the hem of Ayin's clothes.
On the other side, Gu Jin had spent ten years in seclusion cultivating within the Forbidden Valley of Great Marsh Mountain, and with Dong Hua's careful guidance before his Ascension, he was no longer the little plump lord with meager Spiritual Power from years past. Though his Immortal Power was not among the top of the Immortal Tribe, it was exceptionally pure and orthodox. In less than half an hour, he had obtained the heart of the phoenix tree.
"Ayin!" Gu Jin placed the tree heart into the Cosmic Bag and turned to look for Ayin, just in time to see her using her blood to save the fire fox's life. His expression immediately changed as he flew toward the pair.
He had raised Bi Bo since childhood, so of course he knew that the blood of a Water Condensation Beast was equivalent to its Primordial Spirit core.
Ayin was concentrating on healing the fire fox and could not hear Gu Jin's call. Seeing her pale face, Gu Jin's expression grew even colder.
As the phoenix tree heart was taken, the golden Divine Light that had enveloped the phoenix tree slowly faded away. Blood mist spread toward the group, and the restless cries of Demon Beasts rose and fell in the distance. Dark, cold, emerald-green eyes flickered faintly within the blood mist.
Ayin and the fire fox were not within the Concealing Heavenly Shuttle Robe, and their pure Immortal and demonic power had attracted the covetous attention of the Demon Beasts in Purgatory. Soon, an hour would be up. Once the Divine Power of the Heavenly Shuttle Robe was exhausted, even if they left the blood mist, they would not be able to escape the God-Slaying Flowers guarding the entrance to Purgatory.
Gu Jin watched silently as Ayin saved the fire fox, no longer interrupting. Using blood to save a life was a secret healing treasure of the Water Condensation Beast, and forcibly interrupting would only harm its Primordial Spirit. Bi Bo had just taught her this yesterday, and she had already used it today. How carefully and dotingly had he raised her! And yet she valued her life so little!
Gu Jin's heart burned with towering rage, the veins on his hand gripping the Primordial Spirit Sword bulging from the force.
But soon, he had no time to dwell on it. The golden light completely vanished, and the Demon Beasts lurking in the shadows, shielded by the blood mist, charged toward Ayin and the fire fox.
Gu Jin, wearing the Heavenly Shuttle Robe, was invisible to the Demon Beasts, so they naturally focused all their desire on devouring the weak Water Condensation Beast and the nearly dead little fire fox.
However, before the demon horde could get close to Ayin, the Primordial Spirit Sword was already unsheathed. A magnificent sword light swept up a powerful sword aura, repelling the approaching Demon Beasts. With a wave of his hand, Gu Jin transformed the Primordial Spirit Sword into over a dozen sword shadows, forming a sword array that firmly guarded the pair.
By unleashing the Primordial Spirit Sword, Gu Jin's Immortal Power overflowed, and even while wearing the Heavenly Shuttle Robe, he became a moving target.
The repelled Demon Beasts hesitated for a moment but still charged recklessly toward the sword array.
Gu Jin raised his sword to meet them. For a moment, sword light danced, reflecting dazzling white radiance.
In no time, the first wave of Demon Beasts had all been slain beneath the Primordial Spirit Sword. Before Gu Jin could catch his breath, the second wave was already upon him.
His eyes narrowed, his expression grave, as he raised his sword to advance. Yet, a flicker of doubt arose in his heart.From the moment the first wave of demon beasts launched their orderly assault, he had suspected they were being directed by something within the Purgatory. Now, with the arrival of the second wave, his suspicions were confirmed.
The demon beasts in the Purgatory had been thrown in one by one by the four True Gods over tens of thousands of years. They had no prior connections and naturally adhered to the law of the strong within the Purgatory. Logically, when their group entered and was discovered, the first to appear and devour his Spiritual Power should have been the top-tier ferocious beasts of the Purgatory. Yet these demon beasts were clearly of low Demonic Power, sent here to exhaust his Immortal Power.
What kind of ferocious beast could command such obedience from the demon beasts in the Purgatory? A chill ran through Gu Jin’s heart. Just then, several demon beasts with significantly stronger Demonic Power than the previous group suddenly appeared around the sword formation. With furious roars, they slammed their massive paws against the formation, threatening to shatter the protective barrier shielding Ayin and the fire fox.
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