< Chapter 33: Return of the Soul >
The entire Lava Immortal Palace shook violently!
Ning Zhuo pressed his palms against five stone pillars, while his soul power was being consumed at an alarming rate.
His soul had left his body.
While his physical body remained in Puppet Immortal City, his soul had been drawn into the Lava Immortal Palace. The soul and body were connected by the Divine Ability “Life Hanging by a Thread.”
Ning Zhuo was merely a Qi Refining stage cultivator, while the Buddha Heart Demon Seal was a treasure of the magical artifact level. In normal circumstances, attempting to channel the power of the seal was already quite difficult for him.
Now, with his soul and body separated, and connected only by the thread of “Life Hanging by a Thread,” sensing and channeling the power of the Buddha Heart Demon Seal was exponentially more challenging!
Ning Zhuo’s spiritual power and soul power plummeted like a flood.
He looked up at the ranking board, his heart filled with delight.
Because he saw his name slowly sinking. At this rate, by the time the name he had inscribed on the board aligned with the surface of the stone, he should be able to hide his name!
However, the descent of his name stopped midway.
The puppet Ning Zhuo knelt down, collapsing in front of the stone pillar.
His soul power was almost depleted. His soul had become so weak that it was on the verge of dissipating.
Ning Zhuo couldn’t hold on any longer.
In his attempt to harness the power of the seal, he was like a baby wielding a heavy hammer, his frail body unable to bear it.
The next moment, his soul could no longer hold on. It swiftly rose from the puppet body, traced the thread of “Life Hanging by a Thread,” pierced through space, and instantly returned to his physical body.
With a thud, his puppet body, devoid of soul, fell to the ground, motionless.
Ning Zhuo once again fell unconscious.
In the main hall of the Lava Immortal Palace, the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit leaped and bounded through the air, creating surging waves of fire wherever it went, presenting a terrifying scene!
Suddenly, its entire body froze in place, as it sensed the departure of Ning Zhuo’s soul.
It opened its mouth and roared loudly!
The sound wave spread through the Lava Immortal Palace, clearing away layers of clouds and dispersing the rolling lava.
“It’s that Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit roaring. What on earth is it furious about?” the Lord of Huoshi City exclaimed, forced to urgently activate the city’s grand formation once more.
Countless emerald green formation lines intertwined, crisscrossing like a net, forming a powerful blockade.
The Lord of Huoshi City puffed his beard, glared fiercely, and his robe fluttered as he struggled to suppress the turbulent Lava Immortal Palace. It took him a full half of an incense stick’s time before he gradually stabilized the situation.
“Last time, it was because the palace was attacked by a Golden Core demon cultivator, and it almost ascended.”
“What happened this time?”
“Was it attacked again?”
The Lord of Huoshi City narrowed his eyes, his expression gloomy.
Ever since the palace emerged, he had been stationed at the mountain top, not leaving for a moment.
He was a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, a local lord, personally guarding the place. Who would dare recklessly infiltrate the Lava Immortal Palace?
The Lord of Huoshi City was certain that since he had been stationed atop the mountain, no outsider had entered the palace.
“Even if they tunneled through the mountain, they would face the blockade and detection of the formation, as well as the unrelenting geothermal heat and fire fiend from the ongoing eruptions.”
“Is it that Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit becoming impatient?”
Ning Zhuo slowly awakened.
After a long while, his blurred vision gradually cleared up.
He felt his eyelids were extremely heavy.
“This time, the damage to my soul is much more severe than the last time.”
Ning Zhuo fought against the urge to fall asleep and got up with great difficulty.
Even though he deliberately slowed down his movements, his vision still blacked out, and he felt dizzy and lightheaded.
He struggled to sit up.
This simple movement caused him to break out in a cold sweat, and his vision was filled with overlapping shadows, with the stationary tables, chairs, and benches constantly shaking.
He had to close his eyes. In the darkness, the sound of his heart beating faster turned into intense drumming in his ears.
After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes and felt slightly better.
“My body and soul are originally one, a matched set.”
The body could nourish the soul.
Ning Zhuo could feel somewhat better because of this.
But this process was too slow, and Ning Zhuo needed to make the most of his time, so he had to take medicine.
He slowly stood up, left the bed, activated a mechanism, and opened the basement.
He supported himself on anything that could bear his weight, moving like a snail. He couldn’t move too quickly, to prevent himself from passing out again.
When he reached the middle of the stairs, he couldn’t support himself any longer and slowly sat down.
He curled up, resting his head against the stair railing.
He felt uncomfortable, heavy, weak, dizzy to the point of nausea, and extremely drowsy!
He lowered his head, feeling like his head had swollen several times its size, while his spine felt weak like a nearly withered branch.
He closed his eyes again, and in the darkness, he listened quietly to his heartbeat, which sounded like war drums.
He hunched his back, as if an invisible mountain-like weight was pressing down on him, trying to crush him!
“Heh heh heh.” Ning Zhuo chuckled softly instead.
The more complicated the mechanical constructs, the more he wanted to study them thoroughly. The tougher the situation, the more it awakened the fighting spirit hidden deep in his bones!
His face was as pale as paper, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat, but the corners of his mouth curved into a faintly manic smile.
Soon, his smile faded away.
He opened his eyes again, and his pupils gleamed with determined cold light.
“It’s doable!”
“Using the Buddha Heart Demon Seal, I can continue to live incognito.”
“This was left to me by my mother, and it’s my only chance.”
“If I can’t seize this opportunity, I’d be letting her down, and I’d be utterly useless!”
Ning Zhuo struggled to stand up again, and each unnoticed movement required all his strength.
He walked down the stairs, hugging the wall, and finally reached the cabinet.
He fought off the dizziness, opened the cabinet doors with trembling hands, took out a pill bottle, and painstakingly removed the cork.
When he poured out the pills, his hands were weak, and his vision was blurry, causing many of them to spill onto the ground.
But in the end, he managed to swallow some.
After successfully taking the medicine, Ning Zhuo leaned against the wall and slowly sat on the ground. He bowed his head, and in the next instant, fell asleep.
When he woke up again, it was late at night.
His condition had greatly improved.
Before, everything he saw had double images, and any slight movement made the world spin.
Now, his vision was only slightly blurry, and only when he turned his head too quickly did double images appear.
Using the power of the medicine was far more efficient than sleeping.
Otherwise, why would alchemy be rated as the foremost of the Hundred Arts of Cultivation?
Ning Zhuo picked up the pills that had spilled on the ground, cleaned them, and put them back into the bottle.
These pills were few in number, so he needed to be as frugal as possible.
“It would be best to buy in bulk.”
“Throughout the process of guiding the soul into the palace, soul power is constantly being consumed. Therefore, the demand for soul-nourishing pills will keep increasing.”
“In my case, the situation is even more serious.”
“Even if I bought many soul-nourishing pills, I can’t bring them into the Lava Immortal Palace or take them inside.”
“I must directly raise the foundation of my soul, at least double it. Only then can I last longer and remain incognito on one of the rankings.”