Chapter 33: Returning to the Soul

The entire Lava Immortal Palace was shaking violently!

Ning Zhuo supported himself against the five stone pillars, his own soul force being consumed at a terrifying rate.

His soul had left his body.

His physical body remained in Fire Persimmon Immortal City, but his soul was drawn into the Lava Immortal Palace. His physical body and soul were connected by the supernatural lifeline technique.

Ning Zhuo was merely a Qi Refining stage cultivator, but the Buddha Heart Demon Seal was a magic treasure. Under normal circumstances, attempting to draw upon the power of the treasure was already extremely difficult for him.

Now, with his soul and body separated, and the lifeline technique acting as an intermediary, attempting to sense and draw upon the Buddha Heart Demon Seal was several times more challenging!

Ning Zhuo's spiritual and soul energy plummeted like a breached dam.

He looked up at the ranking list, but was filled with joy.

He saw his name slowly sinking. At this rate, once his carved name was level with the stone surface, he should be able to conceal his identity!

However, the sinking of the name stopped abruptly.

The puppet Ning Zhuo fell to his knees, collapsing in front of the stone pillars.

His soul force was almost completely exhausted. His soul had become extremely weak, on the verge of dissipating.

Ning Zhuo couldn't hold on any longer.

His all-out effort to draw upon the power of the treasure seal was like a child wielding a sledgehammer; his small frame couldn't withstand the strain.

In the next moment, his soul could no longer be maintained. It rapidly ascended from the puppet's body, passing through space along the lifeline technique, and instantly returning to his physical body.

*Thud.*

His puppet body, without a soul to inhabit it, fell directly to the ground, motionless.

Ning Zhuo once again lost consciousness.

Inside the main hall of the Lava Immortal Palace.

The Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit leaped up and down in mid-air, unleashing terrifying waves of fire wherever it went!

Suddenly, its entire body froze, as it sensed Ning Zhuo's soul departing.

It opened its mouth and roared loudly!

The sound waves spread through the Lava Immortal Palace, clearing away layers of clouds and dispersing the surging magma.

"It's that Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit roaring. What on earth is it doing?"

The Fire Persimmon City Lord had no choice but to go all out, once again urgently activating the Fire Persimmon Immortal City's grand formation.

Countless emerald-green formation patterns outlined the heavens and the earth, crisscrossing like a net, forming a powerful barrier.

The Fire Persimmon City Lord glared, his sleeves fluttering as he struggled to resist the violent Lava Immortal Palace. He barely managed to stabilize the situation after half an incense stick's worth of time.

"Last time, the Immortal Palace was attacked by a Core Formation demon cultivator, and it almost ascended."

"What's happening this time?"

"Is it being attacked again?"

The Fire Persimmon City Lord narrowed his eyes, his expression grim.

Since the Immortal Palace had appeared, he had been stationed high on the mountain, without leaving for even a moment.

He was a dignified Nascent Soul cultivator, a master of this region, personally present. Who would dare to be so presumptuous as to sneak into the Lava Immortal Palace?

The Fire Persimmon City Lord was certain that no outsiders had entered the Immortal Palace since he had been stationed in the sky above the mountain.

"Even if they tried to sneak in through the mountain, they would have to face the barrier and detection of the grand formation, as well as the endless geothermal energy and fiery miasma that have yet to subside."

"Is the Dragon Turtle Fire Spirit just impatient?"

Ning Zhuo slowly regained consciousness.

After quite some time, his blurred vision gradually cleared.

He felt his eyelids were extremely heavy.

"This time, the damage to my soul is even more severe than last time."

Ning Zhuo resisted the urge to fall asleep and struggled to sit up.

Even though he had deliberately slowed his movements, his vision still went black, and he felt dizzy.

He managed to sit up.

This simple action made him break out in a cold sweat, and the light and shadows in his vision overlapped. The stationary tables and chairs were constantly shaking.

He could only close his eyes first. In the darkness, the sound of his heart accelerating became a fierce drumbeat in his ears.

After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes, feeling slightly better.

"My physical body and soul are originally one, a perfectly matched set."

The physical body can nourish the soul.

Ning Zhuo could feel some improvement precisely because of this.

But the process was too slow, far too slow. Ning Zhuo needed to seize the moment, and to do that, he had to take medicine.

He slowly stood up, left the bed, activated the mechanism, and opened the basement.

He supported himself on anything he could, moving like a snail. He couldn't move too fast, for fear of losing consciousness again.

When he reached the middle of the stairs, he could no longer hold on and slowly sat down.

He curled up, resting his head on the handrail.

Discomfort, heaviness, weakness, dizziness to the point of nausea, and an extreme desire to sleep!

He lowered his head, feeling his head swell several times in size, while his spine was so weak it felt like a branch about to completely decay.

He closed his eyes again, silently listening to the war drum-like beating of his heart in the darkness.

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 instead let out a soft laugh.

The more complex the mechanical creation, the more he wanted to study it thoroughly. The more difficult the situation, the more it could stimulate the fighting spirit that was hidden and deeply buried within him!

His face was as pale as paper, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat, but the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, forming a somewhat mad smile.

Soon, his smile disappeared without a trace.

He opened his eyes again, his pupils filled with a decisive cold light.

"It's feasible!"

"Using the Buddha Heart Demon Seal, I can continue to conceal my identity."

"This was left to me by my mother, and it's my only chance."

"If I can't grasp this, I'll be letting my mother down, and I'll be too useless!"

Ning Zhuo struggled to stand up again, each inconspicuous movement requiring him to exert all his strength.

He walked down the stairs, leaning against the wall, finally reaching the cabinet.

He endured the dizziness, and with trembling hands, opened the cabinet door, took out the medicinal pill bottle, and struggled to remove the stopper.

When he poured out the pills, his hands and feet were weak, and he couldn't see clearly, spilling many on the ground.

But he finally managed to eat some.

Successfully taking the medicine, Ning Zhuo leaned against the wall and slowly sat on the ground. He lowered his head and immediately fell asleep.

When he woke up again, it was already late at night.

His condition had improved greatly.

Before, everything he saw had double images, and the world spun with the slightest movement.

But now, his vision was only slightly blurred, and double images only appeared when he turned his head too quickly.

Utilizing the power of medicinal pills was far more efficient than sleeping. Otherwise, how could alchemy be rated as the first 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 medicine bottle.

There weren't many of these pills left, so he had to be as economical as possible.

"It's best to buy a large supply."

"Soul force is consumed throughout the entire process of guiding the soul into the palace. Therefore, the demand for medicinal pills that nourish the soul will only increase."

"For me, the situation is even more serious."

"Even if I buy a lot of soul-nourishing pills, I can't bring them into the Lava Immortal Palace, and I can't take medicine inside the palace."

"I must directly raise the foundation of my own soul force, at least doubling it. Only then can I last longer and conceal my identity on a ranking list."