“Dust, she… she looks like the Grey-robed Senior who saved us in the Ancient Desolate Forbidden Zone all those years ago! Seventeen years, wasn’t it?” Yao Yan rasped, his spectral form trembling slightly.
Ye Chen froze, his mind racing. He tried to dredge up any memory, but nothing came. Of course, he’d been an infant then.
Ji Fuyao’s star-bright eyes flickered as she turned to Yao Yan. “Old Man Yao, are you certain?”
Yao Yan paused, a flicker of uncertainty in his spectral form. “I… I can’t be entirely sure.”
“That Senior is currently battling the Eerie Power and Ominous Power that plague her,” Ye Chen said, his voice hushed with respect. “She needs to heal. We can ask her about it once she’s recovered.”
Meanwhile, Xuanji Holy Lord had already settled into a cross-legged position. In her delicate, jade-like hands, the Ancient Great Medicine pulsed, growing incredibly radiant and crystalline. It bloomed like a colossal white lotus, its form expanding rapidly.
Ten zhang! A hundred zhang! A thousand zhang!
It swelled until it overshadowed the sky, a luminous white star blossoming above Xuanji Holy Lord’s head. Brilliant light flowed from it, and a rich, sweet fragrance permeated the air. A terrifyingly potent wave of Vitality, like a surging river, crashed outwards, enveloping everything.
Above them, Heaven and Earth Phenomena erupted in terrifying grandeur. Around Xuanji Holy Lord, countless Dao Patterns swirled and intertwined, like a galaxy of stars revolving around her, creating an incomparably eerie and profound spectacle.
Ji Fuyao, Ye Chen, and Yao Yan watched, utterly awestruck.
“This… this is an Ancient Great Medicine!” Ye Chen breathed, his eyes wide. “A legendary wonder, coveted even by peak magnates!”
Yao Yan’s spectral gaze burned with fervent desire, his very soul-body trembling. “To witness an Ancient Great Medicine in my lifetime… what an immense blessing!” he rasped. “The Yao Family only possesses half an Ancient Great Medicine now. The other half was consumed by one of our Old Ancestors in the Ancient Epoch.”
Ye Chen murmured, “Can this Ancient Great Medicine truly dispel the Eerie Power and Ominous Power?”
Yao Yan pondered for a moment. “The Ancient Great Medicine contains terrifying Vitality,” he explained. “This Vitality is incredibly potent, capable of reversing the ultimate principles of Heaven and Earth itself.”
Ye Chen nodded slowly, his gaze fixed on Xuanji Holy Lord’s flawless back. “I hope Senior will be alright.”
Ji Fuyao, too, studied Xuanji Holy Lord intently, a thoughtful starlight swirling in her eyes, as if she had something to say but held it back.
Junior Brother Ye Chen sent a private Transmission Jade Slip to Ji Fuyao. “Senior Sister, if this Senior truly is Xuanji Holy Lord, why don’t you ask her if she’d be willing to become Master’s disciple?”
Ji Fuyao paused, a faint surprise on her face. “Perhaps it’s best to let Master decide,” she replied. “Master doesn’t choose disciples based on cultivation alone.”
“It’s a pity this Senior never encountered Master,” Ye Chen lamented. “Otherwise, this Eerie Power and Ominous Power would be effortlessly annihilated in Master’s presence!”
Ji Fuyao sighed softly. “There’s a certain destiny to these things, Junior Brother. We shouldn’t force it.” She gazed at Xuanji Holy Lord’s back. Even from behind, there was an indescribable grace, a profound allure. The image of Xuanji Holy Lord’s snow-white, jade-like hands, which she had glimpsed earlier, kept replaying in her mind. They were truly perfect hands!
Ye Chen nodded. “Alright, Senior Sister.”
In the distance, the sentient Ancient Great Medicine continued to plead desperately with Xuanji Holy Lord.
But Xuanji Holy Lord remained unmoving, her crystalline, jade-like hands reaching out, continuously channeling the Xuanji Law, pushing her own state to its absolute limit.
In that instant, Xuanji Holy Lord’s Internal World began to undergo a profound transformation. Her vast, internal space, once a dark and misty expanse, was now being pierced by the power of the Xuanji Law. A wisp of golden divine radiance emerged, the raw, unyielding power of her Dao Foundation.
For countless years, Xuanji Holy Lord had been relentlessly eroded by these two forbidden powers. In response, she had compressed all her strength onto her Dao Foundation, refining it ceaselessly through the eons. Now, this Dao Foundation was her ultimate, final stand.
She would use her Dao Foundation as a sharp blade, and the immense Vitality of the Ancient Great Medicine as her power source, to suppress the Eerie Power and Ominous Power!
Before long, Xuanji Holy Lord’s state reached its absolute peak.
Her delicate lips parted, and she swallowed the Ancient Great Medicine whole.
A thunderous “Boom!”
From within the Ancient Great Medicine, ten thousand divine rays erupted, attempting to pierce through Xuanji Holy Lord’s internal organs. This was pure, unadulterated Vitality – a force capable of both saving and destroying!
But it was useless. Not only was Xuanji Holy Lord’s body already saturated with two potent forbidden powers, but her own profound Dao Rhyme far surpassed that of the Ancient Great Medicine.
In that instant, divine light erupted from Xuanji Holy Lord’s entire being. Her Three Thousand Zang of White Hair, now imbued with Dao Patterns, floated around her like a celestial halo, revealing a figure of breathtaking elegance. Her exquisite back, a vision of ethereal beauty, seemed to have stepped directly from an ancient painting. As she sat cross-legged, she resembled a heavenly immortal, utterly untouched by the mortal world, impossibly ethereal and sacred.
Xuanji Holy Lord’s hands shifted through complex spiritual incantations, continuously refining the torrent of Vitality. This potent energy surged through her limbs and bones, strands of golden light, like starlight, flowing to every corner of her body. It relentlessly suppressed the Eerie Power and Ominous Power, causing her almost withered Quasi-Dao Supreme Bloodline to flow anew.
This was no mere Emperor Blood; it was a Quasi-Dao Supreme Bloodline! Though it had been withered, its profound Dao Rhyme remained undiminished, a testament to its boundless potential.
Xuanji Holy Lord turned her perception inward, observing her Internal World. It was a boundless expanse, like a vast domain or a cosmic, dark starry sky, where faint mountains and rivers were beginning to coalesce. Now, guided by the power of the Ancient Great Medicine, it reflected myriad mountains and rivers, transforming into an incomparably radiant and divine space.
A soft “Hiss!”
An ancient, profound aura emanated from Xuanji Holy Lord. The boundless Vitality, like a surging ocean, began to forcefully suppress the Eerie Power and Ominous Power.
The two forbidden powers that had been swirling around her began to retract, their oppressive presence visibly thinning.
Witnessing this, both Ji Fuyao and Ye Chen were filled with surprise.
“It seems Senior has managed to suppress the Eerie Power and Ominous Power,” Ye Chen observed, a note of awe in his voice.
Ji Fuyao tilted her snow-white neck, nodding. A wisp of divine radiance escaped her delicate lips as she spoke. “Let’s refine this surge of Vitality within our own bodies as well!”
Ye Chen nodded eagerly.
Ji Fuyao settled into a cross-legged position, her fiery red gown cascading around her. Starlight seemed to overflow from her exquisite face, making her appear utterly pure and pristine. A vast, surging Vitality enveloped her, swirling around her form.
Ye Chen likewise sat cross-legged, his hands forming spiritual incantations. He began to guide the potent Vitality, letting it surge and circulate through his meridians.
His cultivation foundation began to surge explosively! He was on the verge of breaking through to the Quasi-Emperor realm!
Yao Yan’s spectral form trembled with delight. “Excellent! Dust is about to break through to Quasi-Emperor!”
***
Meanwhile, in the Stone Forest Land.
The Demon Court had claimed this ancient Ominous Place. It was here that the inheritance of an Outer World Overlord-level Power lay hidden. For over ten days, the Demon Court’s forces had been meticulously exploring, yet they had still not unearthed all of its profound cultivation resources.
The Stone Forest Land was a treacherous expanse of continuous mountains, uneven terrain, and rolling boulders. Ancient cave dwellings and stone halls, remnants of the Outer World Power, stood eternally. Above them, the very rules of Heaven and Earth had manifested an undying starry sky, where ‘Dao’ and ‘Rhyme’ intertwined in a truly grand and boundless display.
Leading the charge was the Pig-headed Great Emperor, his form radiating the immense pressure of a Nine-star Emperor Realm expert. He continuously unleashed powerful blasts, forcefully dismantling the lingering array formations within the stone halls.
Just then, the Transmission Jade Slip in his storage ring began to vibrate incessantly.
He extended his Divine Sense into it.
The voice of the Giant Crocodile Old Ancestor crackled through: “We’ve located Ji Fuyao and Ye Chen! They’re at the site of the Ancient Great Medicine!”
The Pig-headed Great Emperor’s face twisted into a look of ecstatic glee. “Excellent!” he roared. “Kill Ye Chen, and bring back Ji Fuyao and the Ancient Great Medicine! I will reward you handsomely! I’ll even report your merits to our clan’s Old Ancestor, and he will bestow upon you an even greater bounty!”
The Giant Crocodile Old Ancestor was overjoyed, practically beside himself. “Thank you, Lord! I’ll go capture Ji Fuyao at once!”