“You can help me?” Qin Jianglan quietly gazed at the middle-aged man within the formation. His expression was cold and aloof as he stared at him, asking indifferently, “How will you help me?”
The man’s passionate and stirring speech just now hadn’t stirred much of a ripple in his heart. Because he didn’t trust him, at least not completely.
“The Liuguang Mirror was forged by me, so I know its weaknesses. But I no longer have a physical body.” The middle-aged man looked at Qin Jianglan and said, “You’re actually still alive, your physical body still exists, and hasn’t been completely devoured by the Liuguang Mirror. I only need to temporarily reside within your body and find a way to control the Liuguang Mirror.”
Qin Jianglan had voluntarily sacrificed himself and been accepted by the Liuguang Mirror for another’s rebirth. Yet after rebirth, he was still remembered, and due to the coincidental summoning of dead objects as bonds, he had never disappeared. If he could seize this physical body, he could completely transform the Liuguang Mirror into a demonic artifact, then make the demonic artifact recognize him as master for his use.
He was now in the mirror’s world—subduing the mirror would be incredibly easy. This person was sitting on a treasure mountain, yet didn’t know how to control it. Heaven was truly helping him! He suppressed the excitement in his heart, making himself appear expressionless and unfathomably profound, yet his heart was practically itching to pounce on him and seize this physical body.
Only now his primordial spirit was conscious, but too weak. This man was originally like an ant in his eyes, yet now he couldn’t do anything to him. If he forcibly attempted soul seizure, he would be the one at a disadvantage. But if the man willingly offered his body, that would be much easier to handle.
“Oh.” Qin Jianglan nodded, then took Little Skull’s hand and walked away.
The middle-aged man was stunned, then immediately followed, floating outward. However, he discovered there was a sealing barrier around the soul-gathering formation’s perimeter that he couldn’t leave.
He became anxious and asked, “Don’t you want to leave?” Even while in the mirror, he could sense Qin Jianglan’s urgent desire to leave this place. He didn’t want his life to be erased, didn’t want to forget his beloved woman Su Zhuyi. At this moment, trapped within the mirror, he could empathize with Qin Jianglan’s intense obsession. So he felt this was Qin Jianglan’s weakness—he could use this as bait to lure him into his trap!
Qin Jianglan didn’t look back. He indeed wanted to leave, desperately wanted to leave every moment, but he wasn’t stupid enough to let another person’s primordial spirit invade his physical body. Moreover, Little Skull didn’t like him either.
If Little Skull liked him, he would be happy that this person had awakened. So even though Little Skull hadn’t said anything now, he knew he didn’t like this primordial spirit. He liked the little phoenix that had rushed in earlier, despite its fierce appearance, but didn’t like this seemingly weak and harmless middle-aged man.
Thinking of this, he suddenly stopped and no longer walked forward.
The man in the formation had been anxiously restless, thinking about how to persuade him, but unexpectedly, he stopped on his own. His heart immediately filled with secret joy as he said, “Although someone remembers you, keeping you from being erased temporarily, that power is weak. You’ll eventually disappear. Only I can help you get out.”
Qin Jianglan walked back beside the formation. He picked up the phoenix crystal that had been placed in the formation. The crystal wouldn’t be completely consumed for a while and was still glowing red and beautiful. He handed the stone to Little Skull, “Take this back as a gift for your little sister.”
“Little sister loves red gemstones the most,” Little Skull said happily.
“Hey, you, you—do you not want to go out anymore?”
“I have a way!”
“Come back…”
…
When Su Zhuyi woke up, she was already on Luoxue Peak.
She opened her eyes and swept with her divine consciousness, seeing Qinghe sitting by the room’s entrance. He usually sat at Master’s door, but this time he was guarding her door instead.
Su Zhuyi wanted to sit up, but as soon as she moved slightly, she discovered she couldn’t move. Her whole body was wrapped like a zongzi. Just then, Qinghe pushed the door open and entered. Standing at the doorway, he said, “You collapsed in the maple forest.”
“Your whole body was injured, your physical body nearly shattered.”
Oh, that was because her primordial spirit had suddenly strengthened and nearly burst her body.
Seeing herself wrapped tightly, Su Zhuyi was reminded of those six hundred years ago. Initially, she too had been too severely injured, her whole body wrapped in bandages like a cocoon. But the next moment, she asked, “Eh? Who treated my injuries?”
Qinghe glanced at her, “Naturally, it was Danhe Sect’s Sect Master Dan Qingshan—well, Dan Ruyun did it.”
At that time, her condition was so critical, and Dan Qingshan was the strongest alchemist present. Under Qinghe’s intimidation, Dan Qingshan didn’t say a single word of refusal and directly treated Su Zhuyi’s injuries.
“How long did I sleep?” Su Zhuyi lay on the bed, looking at the ceiling, continuing to ask. Even turning her head was exhausting now.
“Three days.”
“Oh, that’s not too bad—I wasn’t unconscious for long.” Su Zhuyi thought to herself. Though she had been severely injured this time, it wasn’t a loss. Due to a fortunate coincidence, her physical cultivation had actually increased, her primordial spirit’s seal had been released, and it had strengthened considerably. It was completely a blessing in disguise.
She hadn’t died from her physical body exploding. Su Zhuyi felt it should be because of that azure leaf from the Jianmu Tree that had fallen on her at the end.
When that leaf fell on her, it seemed infinite vitality had surged into her body, causing her cultivation to advance and her physical injuries to be alleviated. She just didn’t know how that giant tree that had violated the rules of the Heavenly Dao was doing now.
“Since you’re awake, and seeing your aura is still decent—even stronger than before—I’ll temporarily leave.” Qinghe turned to go, then suddenly stopped at the door. He asked, “Your previous symptoms were your primordial spirit suddenly strengthening while your physical body couldn’t contain it. If it were a demonic cultivator’s soul seizure, why would seizing a child’s body still allow survival…”
He said this while looking at the white snow outside the door, “When you feel like talking someday, tell me.”
Su Zhuyi struggled to turn her head slightly. After thinking, she grinned and said, “Actually, I’m reborn. My mission in returning through rebirth is to watch over you and Master, to keep you both alive and well. So don’t cause me any trouble, or else I’ll fail in my mission and be struck dead by the Heavenly Dao!”
As her words fell, muffled thunder rumbled outside, making Su Zhuyi slightly startled and causing her body to shiver.
Qinghe said nothing. After a long while, he finally responded, “Mm.”
After speaking, he left the room. Now it was Su Zhuyi’s turn to feel conflicted. Did Qinghe believe her or not? Could he really have believed her? She didn’t know that when she was stuck in that barrier unable to enter, Qinghe had also had different insights.
Su Zhuyi squinted her eyes. Her body was very tired, but her consciousness was clear. She now closed her eyes to focus and began using her divine consciousness to sense the Liuguang Mirror within her body.
Now that her divine consciousness had recovered, she could see the Liuguang Mirror’s existence.
Being able to see the Liuguang Mirror meant she could also contact Qin Jianglan.
What had Jianmu said earlier? That Qin Jianglan couldn’t be allowed to develop resentment, thus causing the Liuguang Mirror to completely fall and become a demonic artifact? She didn’t quite understand, but the general idea was that she needed to placate Qin Jianglan, and she was very good at that.
Since her body couldn’t move anyway, and her divine consciousness was particularly abundant with nothing else to do, Su Zhuyi infused her divine consciousness into the Liuguang Mirror. This time, she could see clearly.
“Qin Jianglan.” She called his name once and began laughing to herself.
After divine consciousness reached the Nascent Soul stage, it could transform from ethereal to substantial. Her divine consciousness could now even lightly touch Qin Jianglan. Su Zhuyi’s divine consciousness swept over Qin Jianglan’s body in waves, finding it quite amusing.
Qin Jianglan: “…”
There was a feeling of being stripped naked and standing before someone else. He hadn’t expected to be able to contact her again so soon. His mood was somewhat joyful, yet also slightly uneasy.
Being caressed by those waves of divine consciousness, even Qin Jianglan’s earlobes were turning red. He silently recited calming mantras, then took the initiative to speak: “A few days ago, that primordial spirit regained consciousness.”
“Oh.” Su Zhuyi also put away her playful thoughts and asked seriously, “What did he say?”
“He said he forged the Liuguang Mirror, but the Liuguang Mirror went out of control and devoured all living beings in the True Spirit Realm. He said if I lend him my physical body, he can help me leave the Liuguang Mirror.” Qin Jianglan frowned.
Su Zhuyi then said, “He’s lying to you. The Liuguang Mirror was forged by a mountain-river spirit from the Quicksand River, trying to defy heaven and change fate through a Dao artifact to break the Heavenly Dao’s rules and become a god, but never succeeded.”
Her divine consciousness swept and detected the middle-aged man in the formation. Seeing his primordial spirit so weak, Su Zhuyi giggled a couple of times. Then she pressed on the middle-aged man’s primordial spirit like squashing an ant, “You’re that powerful being who sacrificed the entire True Spirit Realm to the Liuguang Mirror hoping to return to the past and defy heaven to change fate, only to discover the True Spirit Realm had completely disappeared while you could only barely survive in the cultivation world?”
“If I hadn’t found the Liuguang Mirror and returned to a thousand years ago, you would have already dissipated.” In her previous life, he had already disappeared before she found the Liuguang Mirror. Su Zhuyi’s return to a thousand years ago, through a coincidental encounter with that soul weapon, had allowed him to awaken before dissipating and enter the Liuguang Mirror due to his obsession with it.
“Tell me, should I comply with heavenly fate and directly crush you to death, or defy heaven to change fate and spare your life for now?” Su Zhuyi looked at the weak soul in the formation, smiling as she spoke.
That primordial spirit snorted coldly, “Just because your divine consciousness can enter, you think you’re the Liuguang Mirror’s master?”
“You think you can control the Liuguang Mirror? What a joke.”
He, too, had thought he could become the Liuguang Mirror’s master, but actually couldn’t. They had only been reborn through the Liuguang Mirror and couldn’t control it. The Liuguang Mirror’s original master should have been that mountain-river spirit, but unfortunately, the mountain-river spirit had exhausted its spiritual energy through multiple time reversals and vanished between heaven and earth.
Only Qin Jianglan, who had voluntarily sacrificed himself and whose physical body still existed within the Liuguang Mirror, had the possibility of becoming the Liuguang Mirror’s master. His desire for Qin Jianglan’s physical body was naturally for this reason. Now, that Su Zhuyi’s divine consciousness could indeed enter, but if she wanted to kill him, it was completely impossible. Everything inside, whether living or dead, centered around Qin Jianglan.
“Really can’t kill him?” Despite the primordial spirit appearing so weak, after Su Zhuyi tried for a long time, she really couldn’t do anything to him.
How strange.