"Release your mind!"
Just as Yun Ze panicked, Wei Lanshu's voice suddenly rang out!
He had no time to think and could only choose to trust the sister he had just recognized, completely releasing his mind.
The next moment, Yun Ze felt a coolness coming from between his eyebrows!
Xiao Shu seemed to have smeared something on his brow.
Yun Ze was still wondering when the coolness began to spread from his brow to his entire body, and then began to converge towards his Qi Sea.
A trace of crimson gold kept condensing in the Qi Sea!
The previously dilapidated Qi Sea instantly stopped collapsing and began to slowly repair itself at an extremely slow speed.
What... what was going on?
Yun Ze was instantly shocked!
He was afraid he had misjudged, so he calmed his mind, concentrated his qi, and felt the changes in his entire Qi Sea again, his heart instantly filled with joy!
Not only was the Qi Sea continuously repairing, but a fourth qi vortex was also gradually taking shape!
What exactly was that trace of crimson gold?
It actually had such a miraculous effect!
No matter what it was, the most important thing now was to repair the Qi Sea. If there was a chance, he might even be able to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining. This would give him more confidence when facing Chen Xiao!
About fifteen minutes later.
The Qi Sea had been restored, and the fourth qi vortex was gradually condensing. Breaking through was only a matter of time.
The spiritual energy around the lone peak surged, pouring wildly into Yun Ze's body.
Wei Lanshu, who had been worried by his side, finally felt a stone lifted from her heart as she saw Yun Ze's aura gradually rising.
He should be fine now.
Her face was pale, and she collapsed directly onto the ground. She felt the spiritual energy concentration around her continuously rising but was unable to draw it into her body, only gasping for breath.
"Xiao Shu!"
Li Po also rushed back from outside. As soon as she entered the cave dwelling, she saw Wei Lanshu sitting on the ground with a terrible complexion!
She hurried forward and squatted beside Wei Lanshu, "Xiao Shu, what's wrong with you..."
Before she could finish speaking, Li Po's gaze fell on Yun Ze, staring intently at the trace of crimson gold on his brow.
That was... Destiny Blood!
This Destiny Blood was condensed from a special technique practiced by the Old Man of Destiny. It took a thousand years to condense a single drop!
Wei Lanshu was born with sword qi surging through her body and was not expected to live for more than three days. It was the family head who took her to the Old Man of Destiny and, after paying a great price, begged him to help.
Besides giving the name of the Guiwu Sword Sect, the Old Man of Destiny also left a drop of Destiny Blood within Wei Lanshu's body to suppress the sword qi within her, which allowed her to live until today.
Besides suppressing the sword qi within Wei Lanshu, this Destiny Blood could bestow immense fortune upon its possessor and even allow them to glimpse a trace of destiny!
Among the Nine Heavens, few could obtain a drop of Destiny Blood from the Old Man of Destiny. Even powerful beings were willing to offer a seventh-grade spiritual artifact in exchange, but the Old Man of Destiny had never agreed.
Yet now... the young lady had actually given the Destiny Blood to this brat!
Li Po's teeth itched, but she dared not act.
She could only look at Wei Lanshu in front of her and shake her head helplessly, "Miss, you are being foolish!"
"Li Po, I am not foolish."
Wei Lanshu was extremely weak at the moment but not in mortal danger. She looked at Yun Ze with a slight smile, "This thing should have belonged to him."
"Nonsense!"
Li Po was now full of disappointment and frustration. If it weren't for the fact that only the host could expel the Destiny Blood after it entered the body, she would have already grabbed this brat by the neck and forced him to spit it out!
She quickly took out a restorative pill from her Qiankun bag and offered it to Wei Lanshu's lips, "Miss, you are the one with destiny! What is this brat?
You take the pill first, and when he wakes up, I will make him return the Destiny Blood to you! If he refuses, I..."
"Li Po!"
"Miss!"
Li Po did not stop this time and was extremely firm, "Without the Destiny Blood, you will live for at most another year!
If he cannot cure your ailment, you will only die! Do you trust him so much?"
"But..."
Wei Lanshu knew that Li Po was concerned about her and could only smile helplessly, "What if this Destiny Blood itself belonged to him?"
"Hmm?"
Now it was Li Po's turn to be stunned.
Had the young lady truly lost her mind? Or had this brat charmed her into speaking such nonsense?
"Li Po, don't look at me like that. I am very clear-headed now and know what I am doing."
Having spent sixteen years with Li Po, Wei Lanshu could naturally read her thoughts from her expression.
She took the pill, slowly stood up, and without looking at Yun Ze behind her, walked towards the outside of the cave.
Li Po had no choice but to follow.
The two came to the outside of the lone peak and looked at the gradually setting sun in the west.
For some reason, Li Po felt that the young lady's aura had changed, as if she had shed a burden she had carried for many years, and her entire being had become lighter and more ethereal.
"Li Po."
Wei Lanshu spoke slowly, and this time, there was no sword qi scattering the clouds, only a clear echo, "For the past sixteen years, I have had the same dream. Do you know what it is?"
Li Po shook her head and remained silent.
She knew that her young lady had dreams, but she didn't know what they were about.
"In the dream, there was an old man in gray robes, sitting cross-legged, constantly muttering one sentence..."
"Blood returns to the sky curtain day, golden phoenix Nirvana time."
"Sky curtain?"
Li Po frowned, "What does this sky curtain have to do with that brat?"
"The curtain of the sky is clouds,"
Wei Lanshu said calmly, staring at the crimson cloud in the sky, "This sentence has been repeated in my ears for sixteen years. It's time to return this thing to the person it truly belongs to."
Li Po immediately fell silent.
She knew her young lady's personality. With things having reached this point, anything she said would be useless.
She could only report to the family head.
Buzz!
Just as Li Po was about to take out the sound transmission jade slip, a jade token in her Qiankun bag vibrated.
She ignored it and took out the sound transmission jade slip, formulating her thoughts in her mind, considering how to report.
That jade token recorded the Heaven Ranking. Every vibration meant a change had occurred on the Heaven Ranking.
The Heaven Ranking was updated at any time. As long as one paid one hundred spirit stones, they could buy such a jade token to carry with them and check the rankings on the Heaven Ranking at any time.
If it were in the past, Li Po might have taken it out to see what new prodigies had emerged under the Nine Heavens.
But now... she just wanted to quickly inform the family head of what had happened here.
Buzz buzz~
Two more vibrations came. Li Po's thoughts were forcibly pulled back, and she frowned.
Three changes in a row?
Could it be that someone had obtained a great opportunity and was breaking through consecutively?
Buzz buzz buzz!
Three more vibrations came!
Wei Lanshu, who was beside her, also became curious. She looked at Li Po, "Li Po, why don't we check the Heaven Ranking first? Perhaps a strange beast has appeared?"
"Alright."
Li Po said, and then took out her Qiankun bag again, retrieved the jade token, and infused it with spiritual energy.
Nine major rankings popped up and hung in the air!
Immediately after, another buzzing sound occurred. While the other eight rankings remained unchanged, a new person appeared on the ranking on the far left, the Qi Refining Ranking.
[One Hundred: Li Chankui, Qi Refining Fifth Level, peak of the Six Realms Qi Sea.]
"Qi Refining Ranking?"
Li Po couldn't help but frown, "Could it be that the secret realm is opening again? But that doesn't make sense. If the secret realm were opening, news should have arrived. Why did these people disappear from the ranking before the secret realm opened?
And they were all at the ninth level of Qi Refining. Can't they wait any longer?"
"Secret realm?"
Wei Lanshu didn't know what Li Po was talking about, but then several more vibrations came.
Li Chankui, who was originally ranked one hundred, was instantly pushed to ninety-third place, and the name of the newly appeared person instantly caught Wei Lanshu's attention!
[Ninety-Nine: Yun Ze, Qi Refining Fourth Level, mid-stage of the Six Realms Qi Sea.]
He was on the list too!
"No, it's not a secret realm! I know why!"
Li Po's voice trembled slightly as she stared intently at the person at the top of the ranking, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"Why?"
Wei Lanshu subconsciously asked, but Li Po did not respond, her gaze fixed on the top of the ranking.
She followed Li Po's gaze, and with just one look, she was also stunned in place.
[One: Xiu Yun, Qi Refining Ninth Level, early stage of the Nine Realms Qi Sea.]
She had also heard this name before.
Xiu Yun, the prodigy of the Demonic Path, the second son of the Lord of the Demonic Cave!
...
After an unknown amount of time, Yun Ze emerged from his cultivation state.
This time, it was a blessing in disguise. Not only had his Qi Sea expanded to forty-eight times its original size, but his cultivation had also advanced to the fourth level of Qi Refining.
At the same time, something else had appeared in his Qi Sea.
Blood!
A drop of crimson-gold blood!
He had seen this blood before.
The first time he helped Xiao Shu channel sword qi, his Qi Sea had also been turbulent, and Xiao Shu had wanted to give him this blood, but Li Po had stopped her.
Now, this thing had still ended up in his Qi Sea.
But Yun Ze didn't know what it was. It looked like blood, but where did crimson-gold blood come from?
Forget it, instead of guessing here, it would be better to ask Xiao Shu.
As soon as Yun Ze withdrew his consciousness from his Qi Sea and opened his eyes, he saw an old man and a young woman guarding him.
Li Po's face was as sour as he had imagined, but for some reason, Xiao Shu also looked troubled.
Seeing Yun Ze awaken, Li Po spoke first.
"Brat, you're in big trouble!"
"Senior..."
Yun Ze also gave a wry smile, knowing that he had taken something he shouldn't have. His first words were an apology, "The situation was critical just now, but that thing is still in my Qi Sea. If it can be expelled..."
Li Po waved her hand, interrupting Yun Ze, "I'm not talking about that."
"Hmm? Then what is it?"
Li Po took out a jade token from her embrace, activated her spiritual energy, and displayed the nine rankings in front of them.
Yun Ze only glanced at it and saw the name at the top of the first ranking on the left!
He was instantly shocked!
Qi Refining Ninth Level plus Nine Realms Qi Sea!
What kind of monster was this person named Xiu Yun!? Was he trying to achieve Heavenly Foundation Establishment?
Wait, wasn't this one of the Heaven Rankings, the Qi Refining Ranking?
"Look here first."
Li Po's voice rang out. Yun Ze followed the direction of her finger and saw a pleasant surprise!
[Ninety-Four: Yun Ze, Qi Refining Fourth Level, mid-stage of the Four Realms Qi Sea.]
As the rankings continued to update, his name had already risen to ninety-fourth place.
Yun Ze's pupils trembled. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Li Po's voice again.
"Don't get excited yet. Judging by your expression, you should know what the Heaven Ranking is. Do you know about the phenomenon of heavenly prodigies disappearing once every hundred years?"
Yun Ze suppressed the tremor in his heart and nodded silently.
"Good, that saves me the trouble of explaining."
Li Po said, placing a wine pot and a jade bottle in front of Yun Ze, "There are at most three months left until the hundred-year mark.
Now that such a monstrous talent has appeared on the list, if you go with your current cultivation, you will likely die without a doubt.
If you want to survive, there is only one option..."
"Drink this cup of wine, and I will help you establish your foundation."
This was the result she had obtained after reporting to the family head and weighing the options.
The matter of the Destiny Blood could be put aside for now, but no matter what, this brat could not be in any danger before Xiao Shu's illness was cured!
Even if it meant paying some extra price, it was acceptable. As long as he reached Foundation Establishment, he would be safe!
Yun Ze also knew what this elder intended to do.
He picked up the wine pot and sniffed it, then smiled helplessly.
This scent... was so familiar!
"Senior, this pot of wine of yours... isn't it Ascension?"